; when the tapir will swallow the
dream, and no evil results will happen to the dreamer.

Little Silver listened with both eyes and open mouth to this account of
the tapir, and then making the picture and wrapping it around her
pillow, she fell asleep. I suspect that the kowameshi (red rice) of which
she had eaten so heartily at supper time, until her waist strings
tightened, had something to do with her travels in dream-land.

* * * * *

She thought she had gone down to Ozaka, and there got on a junk and
sailed far away to the southwest, through the Inland sea. One night the
water seemed full of white ghosts of men and women. Some of them were
walking on, and in, the water. Some were running about. Here and there
groups appeared to be talking together. Once in a while the junk would
run against one of them; and when Little Silver looked to see if he were
hurt or knocked over, she could see nothing until the junk passed by,
when the ghost would appear standing in the same place, as though the
ship had gone through empty air.

Occasionally a ghost would come up to the side of the ship, and in a
squeaky voice ask for a dipper. While she would be wondering what a ghost
wanted to do with a dipper, a sailor would quietly open a locker, take
out a dipper having no bottom, and give one every time he was asked for
them. Little Silver noticed a large bundle of these dippers ready. The
ghosts would then begin to bail up water out of the sea to empty it in
the boat. All night they followed the junk, holding on with one hand to
the gunwale, while they vainly dipped up water with the other, trying to
swamp the boat. If dippers with bottoms in them had been given them, the
sailors said, the boat would have been sunk. When daylight appeared the
shadowy host of people vanished.

In the morning they passed an island, the shores of which were high rocks
of red coral. A great earthen jar stood on the beach, and around it lay
long-handled ladles holding a half-gallon or more, and piles of very
large shallow red lacquered wine cups, which seemed as big as the full
moon. After the sun had been risen some time, there came down from over
the hills a troop of the most curious looking people. Many were short,
little wizen-faced folks, that looked very old; or rather, they seemed
old before they ought to be. Some were very aged and crooked, with
hickory-nut faces, and hair of a reddish gray tint. All the others