Page:Frank Owen - The Wind That Tramps the World (1929).djvu/33

 mind contains only impressions which have passed at some time or other through one's consciousness. At that moment he became almost as mad as Hi Ling. He knew that he had heard the voice of 'Dawn-Girl' and he did not wonder that Hi Ling had renounced all else in the world for love of her. For a while longer the singing continued, then it ceased. It ended on a final beautiful note that seemed almost a moan. With a start, Steppling came back to reality. The room was now in total darkness. The moon-lantern had been ruthlessly torn from its hanging and as it fell it had spluttered out. Now the fury of the Wind increased, if increase it could. Occasionally Hi Ling uttered a cry of excitement, of anger or delight. And the Wind roared back in a tremendous voice which Steppling construed as a threat. How long the fight continued, John Steppling could not tell. He crouched in his corner as nervous as a new-born kitten that is snatched from its mother.

Sunrise came at last. As it did so the Wind passed out of the window to return no more. As the first shafts of the sun cut over the jagged mountain peaks and crept into the room, John Steppling gazed cautiously about him. Hi Ling lay prone on the floor before the altar. At once Steppling rushed to his side. He turned the limp body over, but it was useless. He could do nothing. The chest had been completely stove in. Hi Ling had collapsed even as an old frail house might collapse in a cyclone. For a moment Steppling