At the very crest of it, floating bravely in the breeze that came with the evening sun, was an American flag! He laughed softly.

These were the people who loved him, who thought of him, who wanted him back.

His heart beat faster, stirred by the old happiness, and he drew himself quickly into a strip of willows that grew almost up to the cottonwoods.

He would surprise them! He would walk suddenly in among them, unseen and unheard.

That was the sort of thing that would amaze and delight them.
He came to the first of the trees and concealed himself carefully.