Page:Zodiac stories by Blanche Mary Channing.pdf/52

Rh along, climbed them and stood on the threshold. The door was gone from between the great door-posts, and the children found themselves looking into a roofless court, empty and desolate, grass and weeds sprouting through the cracks in the floor. Opposite them was another open doorway, and crossing the courtyard very cautiously, for now they were in the Dragon's power if there really were a Dragon—and very softly, because (like all well brought-up Japanese) they had put off their small shoes at the outer door,—they approached the entrance.

"Let us go no further!" begged Plum-Blossom in a faint whisper. "Not a step, dearest sister, I entreat! The Dragon may be in there where it is so dark, watching us, ready to snap us up in another moment!"

Cherry-Bloom's pink cheeks turned quite white, and it is more than possible that if she had been alone she would