thickly
covered with vines and mosses like an arbor. From this point, the view
over the plains below commanded a space of hundreds of miles. In the
distance the red pagodas, white temple-gables and castle towers of Kioto
were visible.

Inside the cave was a banqueting hall large enough to seat one hundred
persons. The floor was neatly covered with new, clean mats of sea-green
rice-straw, on which tables, silken cushions, arm-rests, drinking-cups,
bottles and many other articles of comfort lay about. The stone walls
were richly decorated with curtains and hangings of fine silken stuffs.

At the end of the long hall, on a raised dais, our heroes presently
observed, as a curtain was lifted, the chief demon, Shi-ten d[=o]ji, of
august, yet frightful appearance. He was seated on a heap of luxurious
cushions made of blue and crimson crape, stuffed with swan's down. He was
leaning on a golden arm-rest. His body was quite red, and he was round
and fat like a baby grown up. He had very black hair cut like a small
boy's, and on the top of his head, just peeping through the hair were
two very short horns. Around him were a score of lovely maidens--the
fairest of Kioto--on whose beautiful faces was stamped the misery they
dared not fully show, yet could not entirely conceal. Along the wall
other demons sat or lay at full length, each one with his handmaid seated
beside him to wait on him and pour out his wine. All of them were of
horrible aspect, which only made the beauty of the maidens more
conspicuous. Seeing our heroes walk in the hall led by the cook, each one
of the demons was as happy as a spider, when in his lurking hole he feels
the jerk on his web-thread that tells him a fly is caught. All of them at
once poured out a fresh saucer of sake and drank it down.

Raiko and his men separated, and began talking freely with the demons
until the partitions at one corner were slid aside, and a troop of
little demons who were waiter-boys entered. They brought in a host of
dishes, and the onis fell to and ate. The noise of their jaws sounded
like the pounding of a rice mill.

Our heroes were nearly sickened at the repast, for it consisted chiefly
of human flesh, while the wine-cups were made of empty human skulls.
However, they laughed and talked and excused themselves from eating,
saying they had just lunched.

As the demons drank more and more they grew lively, laughed till the cave
echoed, and sang uproarious songs. Every ti