He drew a long breath, and was silent, embarrassed for words before this mite, searching his mind in vain for the sweet jargon used by women.
"Sool 'im!" he cried at last, and poked his son in the ribs.

The child crowed with delight.

Jonah touched its mouth, and its teeth, like tiny pegs, closed tightly on his fingers.

It lay contentedly on his knees, its eyes closed, already fatigued.

And, as Jonah watched it, there suddenly vibrated in him a strange, new sensation--the sense of paternity, which Nature, crafty beyond man, has planted in him to fulfil her schemes, the imperious need to protect and rejoice in its young that preserves the race from extinction.
Jonah sat motionless, afraid to disturb the child, intoxicated by the first pure emotion of his life, his heart filled with an immense pity for this frail creature.