The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1874-09-18

there slid down the mountain with all
the loose earth, leaving that long rocky
scar, as broad as the river and as long
as from here to Grandpa's.'
Why, it doesn't seem bigger than
my hand I" said Johnny. at must
be very great Observation-Disclosures than
this"
"Very much higher-may be as high
as all these hills round here piled top of
each other" said.
Johnny looked Mt them a long time,
trying very hard to think how big that
would be. Finally he said /: "Do you
think this mountain will ever be as big
as that ?"
"NO,"I replied, ct don't think it
ever will. 1t is more like to get smaller.
All the mountains round here seem to
be wearing out.
wearing out Do mountains ever
wear out ? How can they?'
"Not exactly as your hat or shoes
do" / replied; "still they are con-
stantly wearing away little by little,
and must finally become much smaller
than they are now. You can see for
yourself"
"Can II" Johnny asked eagerly.
"What wears them-the clouds ?"
Johnny had seen the rain clouds
driving over the mountains furiously,
with great roar of wind and thunder,
and it was natural that he should think
of them first.
"But why didn't they break down
the trees then ?" he went on moment
after, doubling the correctness of his
suspicion.
cit is rather what comes out of the
Clouds" 1 said.
ooh, 1 know" said Johnny, " the
Lightning p
"The lightnings help a little, may
be, but the rain does most. You saw
how muddy the river was yesterday
after the shower ?"
"Guess 1 did /" said Johnny. cit
spoiled the swimming
Where did the mud come from ?"
"Out of the road"
"Some of it but more came from
the hillsides. Where do you think this
white sand comes from ?" L continued,
scraping a handful from a clear space
at the lower edge of the big rock we
had been sitting on.
"The rain must have washed it there
yesterday" said Johnny, seeing how
fresh and moist it was.
"Where did the rain find it?"
Johnny gave a quick glance toward
the top of the rock. There was nothing
but clean rock to be seen that way, for
we were on the very brow of the hill
He thought moment, then asked me
TO help him to the very top.
"Could the wind blow the sand
here ?" he inquired, after we were rested
little from our scramble up the slop-
ing rock.
Possibly but this doesn't look like
the sand down in the valley, and it
seems too coarse to be blown so far"
replied, rubbing little of it in my
hand.
While 1 was speaking Johnny's busy
fingers began to flake of small scales of
stone where a shallow pool of rain-water
stood in little basin in the rock.
took couple, rubbed them together,
and they crumbled into sand like that l
had brought from below. Johnny's
eyes frightened at the sight.
81 think the sand must have come
from here" he said.
Fright" said L. "Part of it at
least. In the winter the water in the
rock freezes and bursts off these scales,
and makes them crumbly. Then the
rain batters them to pieces and washes
the sand away"
We slid down the rock and found
quite stream off coarse sand along its
lower edge. AT one point the water had
overrun the grass, fiattenlng it and scat
tering sand over it. Lower down it
poured over another sloping rock and
united with several other little streams.
The further we went the greater the
rush CT water seemed to have been until
we came to gully where there must
have been quite torrent during the
storm. Here good deal of sand was
strewn along, with spaces of mud where
pools of water still remained.
"We might follow this channel all
the way down the mountain to where it
joins the brook we got drink out of
coming up" I said, "but it is easier to
take the path.
Yesterday and every day when it
rains thousands of streams like this
rush down this and the other noun
tains, each more or less colored by the
sand and earth it washes from among
the rocks. The little streams run into
the brooks into the river, and all are
busy carrying away the substance of the
mountains. Is it any wonder that they
are wearing out ?"
1t will take ever and ever so long to
wear them quite small, won't it?"
"What makes you think so ?"
They're so large and the rocks are
so hard"
True, it will take more years than
you will ever be able to number"
'"I'm glad of that" said Johnny,
hopefully.
"Why ?"
=" Because and the little fellow
looked over the sea of mountains with
the air of great explorer" because
I'm going to climb them all when I'm
man, and want them to be big. -
Christian Union.
The Three Stages.
Arctic expeditions are said to be made
/ AL~A Il - "A. II a