The deep shadows were lightened by shafts of sunshine which, here and there, managed to pierce the canopy of foliage . . .

Kenneth wants nothing more than to be a forester. Lumbermen have been wiping out the timber and never thinking of the future: he knows that. The time has come for forestry to take a bigger role, out in the Alleghenies and farther west -- and he wants a part in it.

But he has to convince his father, who wants to see his son become a doctor -- and prove it is more than just wanting to hunt bears and the big cats -- more than just embracing the joys of outdoor life, of camping beneath the open stars