Page:Sidnay McCall--The dragon painter2.djvu/38

 morning-glories on their trellises had begun to droop. A little later they would hang, wretched and limp, mere faded scraps of dissolution. Overhead the temple bell struck seven. Kano shuddered at this foreign marking out of hours. A melancholy, intense as had been his former ecstacy, began to enfold his spirit. Perhaps he had waited too long for the simple breakfast; perhaps the recent glory had drained him of vital force. A hopelessness, alike of life and death, rose about him in a tide.

Umè prostrated herself upon the veranda near him. "Good morning, august father. Will you deign to enter now and partake of food?"

Her voice and the morning face she lifted might have won a smile from a stone image. Kano turned sourly. "Why," he thought, "in Shaka's name, could n't she have been a son?"

He rose, however, shaking off his wooden clogs so that they remained upon the path