EVERYONE TO his own taste in food, I always say. As for me, I eat pretty hearty when I’m in the mountains, especially if I’m doin’ hard work. But I can remember one little old maiden lady from back east who didn’t feel that way. She was plum agin’ eatin’ any sort of food ’ceptin fruit.and vegetables. She felt so strongly about it that she tried to convert everyone else ridin’ on the stagecoach with her to the same idea.

“Lots of Yosemite tourists climbed to the top of Half Dame in those days and she was one of ’em. Nothin’ wrong with that ’ceptin’ she kept braggin’ that all she had for nourishment on the 16-mile trip was two died apricots! Got sorta tiresome about the sixth time you heard it. But she got her comeuppance when we got back to where we met the train. We all were eatin’ in the railroad dining room. One of the passengers tapped me on the shoulder and pointed. There in the corner sat our little old lady, wolfing down a huge beefsteak!”

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