Page:Henry rideout--The siamese cat.djvu/72

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THE SIAMESE CAT

twilight; the bodies of kites roosting in high branches showed dark and indistinct as clusters of jack-fruit. And through the temple doors came an increasing light, as an old priest in saffron robe, the tiny flame of a taper in his shaking hand, moved among the leaping shadows of the sanctuary, from lamp to lamp, before the golden-glimmering Buddhas.

Even Borkman's voice became an undertone, as he stood expounding to Aunt Julia the doctrine of the Fully Enlightened One:

"The Hinayâna church differs from the Mahâyâna on those points above all. And yet curiously.…"

From a safe distance behind them, Laura, stroking Chao Phya's head, pursued a train of thought broken only by two miles of space and a hundred varied sights:

"I had to accept it," she whispered to Owen;

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