THE STRUGGLES OF A SCOTCH PINE 237 
and dashed it down into the snow bank. Firmly 
and stiffly did the old pine hold out against each 
onslaught of the gale, but fiercer came the gusts and 
half a dozen limbs lay half buried in the snow, and only 
the stout stubs stood out where once large branches 
were. Finally the wind subsided, and the old pine 
still stands, with only its bare trunk left, stripped of 
its bark and splendid branches, a wreck of its former 
noble self. It is a sorrowful ending for the grand 
old tree. 
