Page:Frank Owen - The Wind That Tramps the World (1929).djvu/59

 dream which he had lost and which was more precious than life itself.

Then one day a strange decision came to him. It was a semi-mad delusion but he yielded to it. He would journey once more into the winding crooked alleys, into the criss-cross snake-like alleys that wind interminably throughout the Chinese quarter of Canton. Perhaps somewhere in the noise and clamor of the alleys he would find his little lost dream again. It was almost as wild an idea as the search for a vanished sunset or for the fragrance of a dead rose. Still it was better than remaining forever grieving in his garden.

So he wandered out into the alleys and it so happened that in the course of his quest he found little Lee Cheng who, too, was lost. Impulsively he took the little boy's hand. He was a merry little fellow who laughed and chatted incessantly as he capered along beside him. He could give no reason for his presence in those alleys. He was just a little lost China-boy who had been wandering about for days sleeping in dark doorways or under deserted carts. From that moment on Woo Fung commenced to awaken from his despair. Life was sad but it was not yet done.

Lee Cheng took up his residence in the house of Woo Fung as though he had dwelt there always. At night he loved to sit on the wall of the garden, crooning to the moon. The garden seemed to brighten