the morning by our time. At last she became very sick,
through want of sleep and through fright. But the little men would not
leave her alone.

When her husband came back home he was very sorry to find her sick in
bed. At first she was afraid to tell him what had made her ill, for fear
that he would laugh at her. But he was so kind, and coaxed her so
gently, that after a while she told him what happened every night.

He did not laugh at her at all, but looked very serious for a time. Then
he asked:

"At what time do they come?"

She answered, "Always at the same hour--the 'hour of the ox.'"

"Very well," said her husband; "to-night I shall hide, and watch for
them. Do not be frightened."

So that night the warrior hid himself in a closet in the sleeping-room,
and kept watch through a chink between the sliding doors.

He waited and watched until the "hour of the ox." Then, all at once, the
little men came up through the mats, and began their dance and their
song:

"Chin-chin Kobakama,
Yomo fuke s[=o]ro...."

They looked so queer, and danced in such a funny way, that the warrior
could scarcely keep from laughing. But he saw his young wife's
frightened face; and then, remembering that nearly all Japanese ghosts
and goblins are afraid of a sword, he drew his blade and rushed out of
the closet, and struck at the little dancers. Immediately they all
turned into--what do you think?

_Toothpicks!_

There were no more little warriors--only a lot of old toothpicks
scattered over the mats.

The young wife had been too lazy to put her toothpicks away properly;
and every day, after having used a new toothpick, she would stick it
down between the mats on the floor, to get rid of it. So the little
fairies who take care of the floor-mats became angry with her, and
tormented her.

Her husband scolded her, and she was so ashamed that she did not know
what to do. A servant was called, and the toothpicks were taken away and
burned, and after that the little men never came back again.

THE WONDERFUL MALLET

Once upon a time there were two brothers. The elder was an honest and
good man, but he was very poor, while the younger, who was dishonest and
stingy, had managed to pile up a large fortune. The name of the elder
was Kane, and that of the younger was Cho.

Now, one day Kane went to Cho's house, and begged for the loan of some
seed-rice and some silkworms' eggs, for last season had been
unfortun