the
slope of the mountain and out into the plain they followed the way of
the shadow. And all the time the white banner waved at the head of the
column. The people said little to one another, but that little was a
word of praise and rejoicing.

But it came to pass, as the day wore on, that the sun rose in the sky,
and drew the mists up from the valley. With them vanished the long
shadow of the staff, and in its place appeared the sandy plain. The
feet of the people were sore with the rocks and stones. The air was
thick with dust. Their hearts were uplifted no longer. Instead they
were filled with doubt and distress.

And the people repined and murmured against their leader. But the
leader said that all was well; even in the way he went there had been
stones and hindrances. More than once had he carried a heavy burden
along a dusty road. But he never doubted nor complained, and so the
radiance round about him never faded away.

But all the more the people clamored for a sign. Let the bright vision
of the morning appear to us again. At length, worn with much entreaty,
the leader raised once more his staff above his head. The sun at noon
fell upon it. But as the people gazed they saw no long line of
radiance stretching out across the plains amid a halo of shining mist.
The shadow of the staff was a little shapeless mark upon the sand at
their very feet.

Then the leader cast his staff away and went by himself alone, sad and
sorrowful. That night, as he lay by the roadside, he looked upward to
the clear, calm, honest stars. They seemed to say to him, "See all
things as they really are. This was his way. 'In spirit and in truth'
means in the light of no illusion. Not all the visions of mist or of
sunshine can make the journey other than it is."

So he came to look closely at all things on the road. Day by day he
read the lessons of the desert and the mountain. He learned to know
directions by the growth of the trees. By the perfume of the lilies,
he sought out the hidden springs. By the red clouds at evening, he
knew that the sky would be fair. By the red light in the morning, he
was warned of the coming storm. And there were many who followed him
and his way, though he did not will it so.

And he taught his companions, saying: "We must seek his way in the
nature of the things that abide. To learn this nature of things is the
beginning of wisdom. For day unto day uttereth speech, and night u