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Show - 91 - running off and getting lost, do you hear?" The little dog stopped and waited for his mistress and they slowly walked down the path towards the gardens. When they reached the little bridge Penny stopped because she remembered howunfriendly the coolies had been, and stood there looking curiously over the neat green rows of vegetables. She noticed that there were no workers in sight. Perhaps they were indoors eating their afternoon meal, she speculated. Her eyes strayed over the area and she thought of the night when Claudine had brought her here for the first time and observed Dirk concealing the contraband liquor. Everything seemed the same. Nothing much had changed in the years since, the lovers roamed the fog shrouded hills. For the first time, she noticed a person off to the left of the pagoda roofed house. In a little clump of trees was a figure kneeling on the ground, and she immediately recognized the ancient Oriental that had spoken to them that first time. The very same person she had seen in the house on that dark and frightening night with Claudine. He was weeding the flowers, in a little fenced-in area, with meticulous care, and as if he sensed the girl's presence, the old man lifted his head and looked straight at her. Penny was taken aback at the suddenness of his action, but she gazed at him calmly. With a great deal of effort he arose from his knees and started to hobble over to where she was standing. He stopped short of the bridge and stood there. His baggy old smock and trousers hung looselyon his thin frame, while his slippers, which were much too large for him, flopped as he walked. From beneath his old straw hat she could see his long braided snowwhite que hanging limply down his back and it reached below his waist. He reminded her of an old skinny crow. With one knarled finger he beckoned Without „ . , , . , . her to come across. any hesitation Penny walked over to him. |