Excerpt from The Californian, Vol. 3: A Western Monthly Magazine; January June, 1881 As I look back it seems like the bright and the dark sides of a dream. From out the heart of June was born the fairest scene that ever went unframed. The little valley lay, an uncombed lawn, between the sloping forests; and a small. Stream, babbling and tinkling, lost a mimic battle-shout as it ran somewhere between en trance and outlet, gleaming like a string of wa ter-pearls, shut in between banks. The milk ers, at sunrise, went in among the cows, call ing and soothing and laughing, and I took my cup, with the webs of sleep still tangling across my eyes, and, listening to the plash of the stream, looked off down the valley. A herd of antelopes sped away out of vision, frightened at the echoes of their own retreat. The dark verd ure of the forest swept up to the skies that lay beyond, and miles and miles away rose the beautiful Mount St. Francisco, his head hoary with snow. In my Child-heart I bowed before that wondrous mountain and did him rever ence. He seemed like God, weird and strange and set apart; a veil-like atmosphere wound about him like a garment of holiness; the snow was upon his breast like a beard. The whole world seemed filled with happiness and plenty. Months after I returned to the spot. I re member that I was hungry. Dry leaves skip ped and danced about, and a sharp wind swirled through the little valley. My clothes were old and worn, and I should have liked a shawl to wrap around me. Somewhat dwarfed by greater that I had seen, there was Mount St. Francisco, with a sheet of rain lying between us. He was gray and dull, and his glory was dim med. The little stream was gathering itself for winter. I was filled with a sense of desolation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.