VALLEYS, PLAINS, AND LOWLANDS 
237 
peal are terrific; the roll from side to side is 
repeated again and again, until at last it dies 
off up the gulch in a muttering rumble that 
shakes the whole atmospheric envelope. It 
is only an accidental affair, and as soon as 
the storm has passed, the valley once more ad- 
dresses itself to sleep. The mountain-shadows 
lie clear and cool along the ascending slopes, 
and as the valley drowses the day through, these 
shadows grow longer, each one stealing silently 
down the western side, crossing the valley- 
brook, and creeping up the far eastern slopes 
as the sun sinks down beyond the mountain- 
peaks. 
And what masses of shadow there are in a 
valley! However it may lie as regards the 
points of the compass it is always sure to have 
its slopes, its hills, and its mounds that cut 
off the sun’s rays and create the dark-green 
patch. Even where the valley is quite wide, 
the timber that usually grows thick in the 
basin creates its own shadow in an almost im- 
penetrable screen of foliage that shuts out the 
sun. These forest shadows are usually dark, 
moisture-laden masses, deep green in hue, and 
seldom marked by brilliant colors. In fact, the 
mountain-valley is not the place where nature 
Echoes. 
Shadows in 
the valley. 
