ItdidnotseemtomethatIwaslost，yetlostIwas。Thepeakswerenotinsight。Thecanyonwideneddowntheslope，andIwasprettysurethatitopenedoutflatintothegreatpineforestofPenetier。Theonlythingthatbotheredmewasthelossofmymustangandoutfit;Icouldnotreconcilemyselftothat。SoIwanderedaboutwithastrange，fullsenseoffreedomsuchasIhadneverbeforeknown。WhatwastobetheendofmyadventureI
couldnotguess，andIwastednotimeworryingoverit。
TheknowledgeIhadofforestryItriedtoapply。Istudiedthenorthandsouthslopesofthecanyon，observinghowthetreesprosperedonthesunnyside。Certainsaplingsofaspeciesunknowntomehadbeengnawedfullytenfeetfromtheground。Thispuzzledme。Squirrelscouldnothavedoneit，norrabbits，norbirds。PresentlyIhituponthesolution。Thebarkandboughsofthisparticularsaplingwerefoodfordeer，andtognawsohighthedeermusthavestooduponsixorsevenfeetofsnow。
Idugintothesoftduffunderthepines。Thiscoveringoftherootswasverythickanddeep。Imadeitouttobecomposedofpine—needles，leaves，andearth。Itwaslikeasponge。Nowondersuchcoveringheldthewater！I
priedbarkoffdeadtreesanddugintodecayedlogstofindtheinsectenemiesofthetrees。Theopenplaces，wherelittlecoloniesofpinesproutsgrew，seemedgenerallytobedown—slopefromtheparenttrees。Itwaseasytotelltheplaceswherethewindhadblowntheseeds。