the onslaught of the Demon.

And what a battle it was that then ensued in the dim and shadowy
temple! It was a conflict of great and deadly significance, waged on
one side for the deliverance of helpless childhood, and on the other
for the basest schemes that the spirits of evil could devise. It was a
battle royal, in which no quarter was either asked or given. The clash
of weapons, and sounds unfamiliar to the human ear, and groans and
cries which seemed to come from a lost soul, filled the temple with
their hideous uproar.

At last the Demon, who seemed to have been grievously wounded, though
by his magic art he had caused his wounds to be instantly healed, began
to see that the day was going against him. One more mighty lunge with
his broadsword, and one more furious onset, and his craven heart failed
him. With a cry of despair he fled from the temple, and plunged
headlong into the river flowing by its walls.

Great were the rejoicings when Chiau and Chu returned to report to
Sam-Chung the glorious victory they had gained over the Demon.
Laughter and rejoicing were heard in every home, and men and women
assembled in front of their doors and at the corners of the narrow
alley-ways to congratulate each other on the great deliverance which
that day had come to them and to their children. The dread of the
Demon had already vanished, and a feeling of freedom so inspired the
men of the village that as if by a common impulse, they rushed
impetuously down to where the temple stood, and in the course of a few
hours every vestige of it had disappeared beneath the waters into which
the Demon had plunged.

After his great defeat the baffled spirit made his way to the grotto
beneath the waters, where he and the other demons had taken up their
abode. A general council was called to devise plans to wipe out the
disgrace which had been sustained, and to regain the power that had
slipped from the Demon's grasp. They wished also to visit Sam-Chung
with condign punishment which would render him helpless for the future.

"We must capture him," said one wicked-looking imp, who always acted as
counsellor to the rest. "I have been told that to devour some of his
flesh would ensure the prolongation of life for more than a thousand
years."

The suggestion to seize Sam-Chung was unanimously accepted as a very
inspiration of genius, and the precise measures which were to be
adopted in order to capture him were agreed to after a