The story of one of the highest peaks, El Capitan, is very
interesting. One day some Indian boys went fishing in a
beautiful lake in the Yosemite, and after they had grown tired
they lay down in the sun upon a rock beside the lake. They soon
fell fast asleep. How long they slept they did not know, but
when they awoke they found that during their sleep the rock on
which they lay had been stood on end, so that they were now
nearly a mile high in the air and had no means of getting down.
They were in a bad plight. But the animals in the valley which
were friendly to mountaineers saw their misfortune and held a
conference as to how to help the boys get down. They decided
that the only thing to do was to try to climb up the face of the
cliff. But the rock, was too steep, and so they tried to jump
up. First the raccoon tried it, then the bear, then the
squirrel, then the fox, and finally the mountain-goat. It was
all to no avail, however, and they gave up in discouragement,
and were about to leave the boys to peris