kness, red and yellow and green and
crimson, like tiny magic lanterns hung at intervals high above her head
against the wall.

She began to perceive that they were going deep down under the earth,
and she shivered, partly with cold and partly with fear, as she stepped
carefully and slowly over the uneven path down which she and her guide
were descending.

"Is it far we have to go?" she asked at length, rather timidly.

"Oh no," answered her companion. "This is simply a long corridor that
runs through the base of the hills, but we have almost reached the end
of it. In a few moments I shall lead you into the presence-chamber of
the king."

"The king!" echoed the child, hardly knowing whether to be frightened or
pleased. "And am I to go before a king?"

"Yes, yes," laughed the little man. "You don't suppose we are a people
without a king?"

As he spoke he knocked three times against the wall, and a voice from
within called out, "Who's there? who's there? who's there?"

"Aleck the gate-keeper," answered her companion, and immediately a door
flew open.

[TO BE CONTINUED.]

WILD-BOAR HUNTING IN JAPAN.

BY WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS.

[Illustration: SPEARING A WILD BOAR.--FROM AN ORIGINAL JAPANESE
DRAWING.]

Winter is the harvest-time of the Japanese hunter. The snow-covered
ground is a great tell-tale, and the deer, bears, rabbits, and wild hogs
can be easily tracked. Though the Japanese hunter often uses a matchlock
or rifle, his favorite weapons are his long spear and short sword. He
covers his head with a helmet made of plaited straw, having a long flap
to protect his neck, and keep out the snow or rain. His feet are shod
with a pair of sandals made of rice straw, his baggy cotton trousers are
bound at the calves with a pair of straw leggings, and in wet weather he
puts on a grass rain cloak. To see a group of hunters stalking through
the forests in Japan, as I have often seen them, reminds one of bundles
of straw out on a tramp.

I once enjoyed a dinner of fresh boar-steak at the house of a famous
Japanese hunter named Nakano Kawachi, who lived in a village at the top
of a mountain, between the provinces of Omi and Echizen. I had been
travelling all the morning on snow-shoes through the forests of Echizen.
The snow was full of tracks of deer, hogs, rabbits, woodchucks, weasels,
martens, porcupines, monkeys, and ferrets. The hunters were out in
force, and their shouts made the forest ring with echoes.