OCR Text |
Show - 169 - CHAPTER XXV The girls groped in the dark but were able to keep right behind Chang Lin. Where could he be taking them? He cautiously picked his way through the vegetables and around the old house. Penny's curiousity was almost more than she could bear. She knew that Vicky felt the same by the way she clutched the back of her coat. The night air had become sharp and the mists were rolling in from the ocean. When they left the house there had been no sign of fog, but in the short time it had begun creeping close to the ground and was already thick around their feet. All of a sudden the trees looked like phantoms moving in the dark. They had difficulty in orientating themselves and the fog complicated their sense of direction. "Chang Lin, can I turn on the flashlight? We're certainly going to stumble and break a limb in this pitch darkness and fog." whispered Penny in a hoarse voice. "Not yet," he answered. "I do not want to awaken the coolies. When we reach our destination, I will light the lantern." A moment later they secluded arrived at the little patch behind the Pagoda roofed house and he lit the lantern again. Its rays cast long shadows around them. The profusion of flowers gave forth a lovely perfume, even that late at night. "Why have you brought us to your little garden?" said Penny in surprise. "What can there be here that might help us?" "Remember when you asked for the last piece of the puzzle. Well, I have brought you to it, my little friend." said Chang Lin. There was a note of sorrow and remorse in his voice. It was as though his long years had finally caught up with him and the burden was almost too much for him to bear. Still, the girls did not understand and they looked at him in complete bewilderment and waited for him to speak again. Instead, he bent over a |