t die within him, while his heart, it sing.

"He go back to girl. She no hurt at all. She put her arms round Theeka's
neck and kiss him. Then Theeka say, 'Let strongest thing go. I love you,
O sweet as arrow weed in spring!'

"And beautiful girl, she say: 'I show you strongest thing in world.
Come!' And she take him by hand and lead him on toward elephant. And
that elephant, all of a sudden, it stand still. They come up to it. They
see it stand still because little To-hee bird, she circle round his
head, sing him love songs.

"'O yahee! O yahai!
Sweet as arrow weed in spring!'

sing that little bird to Elephant. And he stop, stop so long here by
river while that little bird build her nest in his side, he turn to
stone and live forever.

"Then Theeka, he sabez. He lead his beautiful girl back to chief and he
say to chief: 'I have found strongest thing in world. It is love.'

"And chief, he say: 'You and your children's children shall be chiefs. I
have not known love and so I die.'"

Suma-theek's mellow voice merged into the desert silence. "But the eagle
and the flag?" asked Jim.

"Injuns no understand about them," replied the old chief. "You sabez the
story old Suma-theek tell you?"

"I understand," replied Jim.

"Then I go home to sleep," said Suma-theek, and he left Jim alone on the
Elephant's back.

Jim sat long alone on the night stars. The sense of failure was heavy
upon him. Wherein, he asked himself, had he failed? How could he find
himself? Was his life to be like his father's after all? Had he put off
until too late the mission he had set himself so long ago, that of
seeking the secret of his father's inadequacy? For a few wild moments,
Jim planned to answer the Secretary's letter with his resignation, to
give up the thankless fight and return--to what?

Jim could not picture for himself any work or life but that which he was
doing; could not by the utmost effort of imagination separate himself
from his job. His mind went back to Charlie Tuck. He wondered what
Charlie would have said to the Secretary's letter. It seemed to Jim that
Charlie had had more imagination than he. Perhaps Charlie would have
been able to have helped him now. Then he thought of Iron Skull and of
that last interrupted talk with him. What had Iron Skull planned to say?
What had he foreseen that Jim had been unable to see? It seemed to Jim
that he would have given a year of his life to know what advice had been
in hi