Page:Frank Owen - The Scarlett Hill, 1941.djvu/346

RV 341 (VICTORY) As she spoke, she flung herself into his arms and clung to him. With her head against his breast she sobbed piteously. She was weak and she wanted to be brave. She was so very young to die. But she fought desperately for control, and soon her strong will conquered.

"Grant me one privilege," she implored, in a barely audible voice.

"Anything! Anything!" he said. "There is nothing I would not do for you."

"Let it be your hands that tighten the cord about my throat, so that I may smile into your eyes as the doors close upon me forever."

"I cannot," he said huskily. "I dare not. My hands would turn upon me. They would tear out my eyes that they need never look upon such sacrilege."

"Then," said she, "it must be Kao."

Kao entered the garden in which a single lantern burned. The sky was overcast, as though nature had drawn a veil to hide the stars. He carried a red lacquer box containing a rope of yellow silk.

Ming Huang wandered about as though in a daze, crushed by the burden of duty and despair. The final adieus had been said, he could bear no more. As he walked near a clump of trees they reached down their branches as though to give him strength.

"Kao, I am frightened," whispered Yang Kuei-fei. "Don't let me become weak. Do not listen, if in the RV 341 (341)