Page:Zodiac stories by Blanche Mary Channing.pdf/49

32 the path into the valley, and, after an interval of invisibility among the trees, slowly emerging on the opposite slope.

There was the old ruin, looking to Plum-Blossom so fearful in its nearness, that she threw herself down without more ado, and rubbed her little brown nose in the dust.

"O august Dragon! O serene Dragon! do not eat us up!" she moaned through her fingers.

Cherry-Bloom had not prostrated herself.

"Get up!" she said, "there is no Dragon here. It is safe as far as the gateway; have I not proved it?" And she marched on, dragging her reluctant sister with her.

"I will go no farther!" screamed Plum-Blossom, after another ten steps, "I hear the Dragon! "And down she went again, trembling with fright.

"You heard nothing," said