Ito. Then I return. Shall I play-act the doctor or the funeral?
Mimosa. All the play-acting. Only return. (Ito bows. EXIT L.) O joy, joy! Shall I with haste fly to the Princess? Ah, she comes, with worshipful lady and venerated Ancient One!
ENTER Princess R. with Lady C. and Miss P., followed by three girls.
Princess. This, O kind ones, is the Chrysanthemum Garden. See honorable blossoms, how fresh and sweet. They will be gathered for thee; deign to accept. I will not myself pluck, lest evil come.
Cecil (briskly). Dear Princess, you are very kind. May I tell you more about my brother’s search for the little one?
Mimosa (throws herself with a cry at feet of Princess). O dear lady, forgive, the gods have sent Mimosa wisdom. Deign to remember. (Princess starts.) Nay, O most beloved, it is not evil. Condescend to remember the words of the most worthy Yamen who sleeps with the gods. Did he not say the gods of the sea sent thee to cheer his house with honorable laughter?
Princess (with surprise). I remember well, O Mimosa San. Sometimes when still a little one I heard in the dark the sound of angry waves and strange moanings, as of voices calling in the hours when sleep condescended not to rest on my eyelids. He told me to still childish fears.
Cecil (aside to Miss P.). G., this is exciting. We are not only explorers, but discoverers, and that is more than your professor will ever be!
Miss P. (to Princess, speaking in loud voice). Are your father and mother dead?
Princess. The noble Yamen and the exalted lady sleep with the gods.