lieve
has power to keep off the bad spirits, so every man who thinks that a
demon has possession of him tears a piece of cloth from his garment and
carefully ties it to a branch. That is how all these strips you see come
to be hanging above you. Some have hung there so long that the wind and
rain have torn them to rags."

"Yes, but why is this done?" asked Yung Pak.

"Because," was the reply, "a man who is possessed by an evil spirit
thinks that by thus tying a part of his clothing to the tree he may
induce the spirit to attach himself to it instead of to his own person."

Yung Pak's curiosity satisfied, they returned to the road, mounted their
ponies, and quickly caught up with the rest of the party.

No further incidents of special importance marked this first day's
journey, and shortly before nightfall they arrived at the town of
Yong-pyoeng. They found the village inn to be a series of low, small
buildings built on three sides of a courtyard. Into low sheds in this
yard the ponies were crowded and the luggage removed from their backs.
Ki Pak's servants proceeded to build a fire in the centre of the yard
and the cook made preparations for getting supper. Travellers had to
provide a large part of their own meals, for, as already stated, these
village inns were not hotels in the real sense of the word. They were
simply rude lodging-places where travellers might be protected from the
night air and have a chance to sleep while passing through the country.

Into the main waiting-room of the inn Yung Pak, with his father and
tutor, entered. At the door they removed their shoes and left them
outside. In the room were several other travellers seated upon the
floor, which was covered with oiled paper and grass mats. There was
absolutely no furniture. The walls were covered with clean white paper.
Each man in the room was smoking a pipe, which consisted of a brass bowl
and a reed stem over three feet long. All wore long white robes, though
one of the occupants had hung his hat upon the wall.

Into this room after a time the cook brought supper for his masters.
Other servants brought in boxes which were used as tables, and though
the style was not just what Yung Pak was used to, he managed to eat a
hearty meal. The day in the open air had given him a hunger and a zest
he rarely knew.

After supper, for a short time Yung Pak and Wang Ken talked over with Ki
Pak the events of the day. A servant soon announced that their
s