90 THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURE GUIDE 



hat shot forward, pointing straight at a lower and 

 near-by Hghting place. 



A flock of rosy finches were feeding off the stuff 

 that sifted down out of the wind. As I watched 

 them, they were unmindful of the wind and had 

 thought of no danger. But behind a near-by stone 

 a beady-eyed weasel watched and waited. 



Far down the range to the south quantities of 

 snow were being explosively hurled into the air. 

 This showed that there had been a recent snowfall 

 and also that the wind had just reached that scene. 

 The scattered snow was thrown high in the air 

 into spirals and whirls and then seized and carried 

 flying to the leeward. This powdered snow trim- 

 med the Peak points with steamy whirls and gauzy 

 banners and silky pennants through which the 

 sunlight played. Northward for one hundred 

 miles the gale was sweeping eastward, and a 

 stratum of dust hid the Wyoming plains. The sky 

 above was clear and strangely blue. The sun shone 

 brightly. My shadow against a granite monolith 

 stood out as if of a dark and sculptured figure cut 

 from stone. 



