usly, making the night horrible with their yells. The
full moon lighted up the weird scene, and the young warrior gazed
with astonishment, taking great care to keep still, lest he should be
discovered. After some time he thought that in the midst of all their
shrieks he could make out the words, 'Do not tell Schippeitaro! Keep it
hidden and secret! Do not tell Schippeitaro!' Then, the midnight
hour having passed, they all vanished, and the youth was left alone.
Exhausted by all that had been going on round him, he flung himself on
the ground and slept till the sun rose.

The moment he woke he felt very hungry, and began to think how he could
get something to eat. So he got up and walked on, and before he had gone
very far was lucky enough to find a little side-path, where he could
trace men's footsteps. He followed the track, and by-and-by came on some
scattered huts, beyond which lay a village. Delighted at this discovery,
he was about to hasten to the village when he heard a woman's voice
weeping and lamenting, and calling on the men to take pity on her and
help her. The sound of her distress made him forget he was hungry, and
he strode into the hut to find out for himself what was wrong. But
the men whom he asked only shook their heads and told him it was not a
matter in which he could give any help, for all this sorrow was caused
by the Spirit of the Mountain, to whom every year they were bound to
furnish a maiden for him to eat.

'To-morrow night,' said they, 'the horrible creature will come for his
dinner, and the cries you have heard were uttered by the girl before
you, upon whom the lot has fallen.'

And when the young man asked if the girl was carried off straight from
her home, they answered no, but that a large cask was set in the forest
chapel, and into this she was fastened.

As he listened to this story, the young man was filled with a great
longing to rescue the maiden from her dreadful fate. The mention of the
chapel set him thinking of the scene of the previous night, and he
went over all the details again in his mind. 'Who is Schippeitaro?' he
suddenly asked; 'can any of you tell me?'

'Schippeitaro is the great dog that belongs to the overseer of our
prince,' said they; 'and he lives not far away.' And they began to laugh
at the question, which seemed to them so odd and useless.

The young man did not laugh with them, but instead left the hut and went
straight to the owner of the dog, whom he be