“And you will also observe,” announced Emma Dean, standing up in her stirrups and waving her sombrero, “that many of them are from ten to twenty feet in diameter. At the great height to which they grow, the least leaning either way would cause the trees to break off. You will observe, also, the perfect symmetry of the trees. They are perfect works of art,” finished Emma, resuming her seat on the saddle.
“Hooray!” shouted Stacy Brown. “Emma has transmigrated again.”
Emma’s companions looked at her in amazement, then burst out laughing.
“Where in the world did you learn all that, darlin’?” questioned Nora Wingate admiringly.
“I heard the postmaster at Gardner telling Hippy about it,” answered Emma meekly, amid shouts of laughter at Lieutenant Wingate’s expense.
The scene was so impressive that the laughter of the Overland Riders soon died away, for the great silence of this wonderful forest had taken strong hold on them. Whereas all other forests in which they had traveled, were continually nodding and murmuring, the giant Sequoias stood in absolute calm. Tom Gray explained this silence by saying that, owing to their great height, the trunks were solid, the branches rigid and the movement very slight. Even though there might be some slight murmurings, the tops were so far above the ground that the human ear could not catch the faint rustling up there.
As the party moved on through the silent forest aisles, the bigness of the trees grew Upon them.
“You savvy big tlees?” asked Woo Smith finally, after a long period of silence on his part.
The Overlanders nodded.
“Do you know where there is a spring or a creek?” asked Tom.