e detail of plants, trees, and winding trails was
swallowed up, and only the vastness of the valleys and canyons could be
seen, with here and there a silver ribbon of a stream. Far up in the blue
vault two great eagles soared and circled. Here and there the last golden
rays of sunlight fell on the distant ridges and lighted up the tree tops
with a beautiful iridescence.

"What a sight!" exclaimed Willis. "Now, where is Cookstove Mountain, for
I am especially interested in it. O yes, I see it. It's that great
granite cliff that is so flat on the top. Wouldn't it be grand if we
could build a cabin near St. Peter's Dome, so sometimes in the evening we
could climb up here to sit and watch the stars come out? I want to be in
the mountains and camp in them and hike in them. I am beginning to
understand their charm more and more. I know now what it is that Old Ben
has, and Daddy Wright, and the little old lady we saw this afternoon,
that I have not. It is a big optimism, a love for everything that lives
and is a part of the Great Creation."

"I don't know of anything that will take the selfishness and conceit out
of a fellow like a few hours spent on a mountain top," said Mr. Allen.

"It makes a fellow right down glad he's alive," remarked Ham. "I always
get more out of a view like this than I do out of the best sermon I ever
heard."

"I wish we could camp right here," exclaimed Chuck; "but we can't, and we
had better be getting down before dark."

Just at the base of the Dome a little stream trickled over the rocks and
down into the canyon. They followed it back from the railroad and soon
had a cheery fire burning and a comfortable camp made for the night. It
was in a little meadow just at the edge of a grove of small aspens, and
at one side of the tiny stream lay a great round boulder that had
evidently rolled down from the summit of the Dome at some previous date.
Beds were arranged in a row along the side of it, and a pile of dead
sticks placed in a convenient position for the night's fire. The evening
breezes were already beginning to play hide-and-seek in the valley, and
the leaves on the trees were clapping their innumerable hands in applause
at the brightly-burning fire. The sparks flew upward and the shadows
danced in and out of the illuminated circle like so many happy fairies.

"Do you hear it, fellows? There, now, listen! Don't you hear it?" Ham was
saying as he sat back from the fire. "There it is, calling, c