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and deeply green, I was not afraid even of storms 
If dust choked the passages of the air-vessels on 
my surface, a soft shower, or perhaps a hard one, 
washed them clear again. -1 could always breathe 
freely, and you see there are no blemishes upon me, 
and no accident ever marred my growth. I have seen 
many friends flourish around me ; I have waved over 
this pretty lake all summer; the birds have sported 
through these branches ; the butterflies have flitted 
round me with their bright colors, but happily have 
laid no eggs near me, so that the warmth of my life 
has given birth to no caterpillars or canker worms, 
which I see daily destroying and destroyed around 
me. I have seen many unfortunate leaves torn from 
their birth place, because ravaged by the worm. 
“ I am a mountaineer. You may know it by the 
winged seeds I bear. You might know it by my 
channeled leaf-stalks if I were not growing by this 
