ared altogether.

"Day after day they watched for him to come back, but there was no sign
of him; they began to shake their heads and openly talk of choosing a
new king. Only little Mr. Hummer kept his faith and day after day flew
away in the direction old King Eagle had gone, hoping to meet him coming
back. At last a day was set to choose a new king. That morning, as soon
as it was light enough to see, little Mr. Hummer darted away, and his
heart was heavy. He would take no part in choosing a new king. He would
go until he found King Eagle or until something happened to him. Pretty
soon he saw a speck way up against a cloud, a speck no bigger than
himself. It grew bigger and bigger, and at last he knew that it was
King Eagle himself. Little Mr. Hummer turned and flew as he never had
flown before. He wanted to get back before a new king was chosen, so
that King Eagle might never know that his subjects had lost faith in
him.

"He was so out of breath when he reached the other birds that he
couldn't say a word for a few minutes. Then he told them that King Eagle
was coming. The other birds had proved that they were not brave when
they had refused to go out in search of Old Mother Nature, and now they
proved it again. Instead of waiting to give King Eagle a royal welcome,
they hurried away, one after another. They were afraid to meet him,
because in their hearts they knew that they had done a cowardly thing in
deciding to choose a new king. So when King Eagle, weary and with torn
wings and broken tail feathers, dropped down to the tall tree in the
Green Forest, there was none to give him greeting save little Mr.
Hummer.

"King Eagle said nothing about the failure of the other birds to give
him greeting but at once sent little Mr. Hummer around to tell all the
others that far away he had found Old Mother Nature preparing a new land
for them, and that when she gave the word, he would lead them to it.
Then King Eagle flew to his home on the cliff of the mountain, and not
one word did he ever say of his terrible journey, of how he had gone
hungry, had been beaten by storms, and had suffered from cold and
weariness, yet never once had turned back.

"But when Old Mother Nature came later and announced that the new land
was ready for the birds, she first called them together and told them
all that King Eagle had suffered, and how he had proved himself a royal
king. As a reward she promised that his family should be rulers ove