nt was of any avail. But most of all
did he suffer in the night-time, when his sleep would be troubled and
disturbed by hideous dreams. In consequence of this, his councillors
nightly appointed a hundred of his retainers to sit up and watch over
him; but, strange to say, towards ten o'clock on the very first night
that the watch was set, the guard were seized with a sudden and
unaccountable drowsiness, which they could not resist, until one by
one every man had fallen asleep. Then the false O Toyo came in and
harassed the Prince until morning. The following night the same thing
occurred, and the Prince was subjected to the imp's tyranny, while
his guards slept helplessly around him. Night after night this was
repeated, until at last three of the Prince's councillors determined
themselves to sit up on guard, and see whether they could overcome
this mysterious drowsiness; but they fared no better than the others,
and by ten o'clock were fast asleep. The next day the three
councillors held a solemn conclave, and their chief, one Isahaya
Buzen, said--

"This is a marvellous thing, that a guard of a hundred men should thus
be overcome by sleep. Of a surety, the spell that is upon my lord and
upon his guard must be the work of witchcraft. Now, as all our efforts
are of no avail, let us seek out Ruiten, the chief priest of the
temple called Miyo In, and beseech him to put up prayers for the
recovery of my lord."

[Illustration: THE CAT OF NABESHIMA.]

And the other councillors approving what Isahaya Buzen had said, they
went to the priest Ruiten and engaged him to recite litanies that the
Prince might be restored to health.

So it came to pass that Ruiten, the chief priest of Miyo In, offered
up prayers nightly for the Prince. One night, at the ninth hour
(midnight), when he had finished his religious exercises and was
preparing to lie down to sleep, he fancied that he heard a noise
outside in the garden, as if some one were washing himself at the
well. Deeming this passing strange, he looked down from the window;
and there in the moonlight he saw a handsome young soldier, some
twenty-four years of age, washing himself, who, when he had finished
cleaning himself and had put on his clothes, stood before the figure
of Buddha and prayed fervently for the recovery of my lord the Prince.
Ruiten looked on with admiration; and the young man, when he had made
an end of his prayer, was going away; but the priest stopped him,
call