great weakness had come upon Skag. It was in his limbs and in his
voice and in his mind. It had not been so when the priests were near,
nor when there was work to do. Now they were alone; the jungle was
vast with a new vastness. The girl was taller and more powerful--her
sayings veritable, equitable. There were golden flashes among the rich
shadows of her mind, like the cathedral dimness of the jungle on their
right hand as they walked, slanting shafts of sunlight raining through.

They walked slowly. Skag reflected that since his first sight of the
sambhur, he had watched and done nothing. All his life had been like
that. Yet this girl watched and worked, too. She loved the English
and the natives, too. She had skilled hands, a trained body, a
cultured mind--certainly a wonderful mind, as full of wonder as this
jungle, with a sacred river flowing through.

Moreover, she could ask questions like Cadman--the spirit of things.
He told her of his mother, of his running away from school when he
first saw the animals at Lincoln Park Zoo, how they enveloped him, so
that he thought nothing but of them, lived only for animals later as a
circus trainer, and had come to India to see the life of the wild
creatures outside of cages. . . . His tongue fumbled in the telling.

"But I do not see yet, why the priests of Hanuman let you go with
them--"

"Nor I," said Skag.

"But they know you are not an animal-killer--"

They walked rather slowly. . . . Night was upon them when they reached
the edge of the jungle and heard voices. The back of Skag's hand
nearest Carlin was swiftly touched and she whispered breathlessly:

"My people. They are coming for me--good-bye---"

The last few words had been just for him; the tone might have come up
from the centre of himself.

Skag was alone, but he did not hurry into the city. There was more in
the solitude than ever before, more mystery in the jungle, more in the
dusty scent of the open road. Greater than all, in spite of all
doubting and realisation of insignificance, there was unquestionably
more in himself.

Early the next morning, Skag was abroad in the city and saw the two
priests of Hanuman approach Ratna Ram. They raised their hands in
silent greeting as he came near and immediately arose and turned toward
Carlin's bungalow. Skag was glad to follow, when they signified he
might, for the thing at hand was his own deep concern. There was a
catch in his throat