supper the old woman sat down by the
fire-place, and they talked together for a long time. The pilgrim
thought to himself that he had been very lucky to come across such a
kind, hospitable old woman. At last the wood gave out, and as the fire
died slowly down he began to shiver with cold just as he had done when
he arrived.

"I see you are cold," said the old woman; "I will go out and gather
some wood, for we have used it all. You must stay and take care of the
house while I am gone."

"No, no," said the pilgrim, "let me go instead, for you are old, and I
cannot think of letting you go out to get wood for me this cold night!"

The old woman shook her head and said:

"You must stay quietly here, for you are my guest." Then she left him
and went out.

In a minute she came back and said:

"You must sit where you are and not move, and whatever happens don't go
near or look into the inner room. Now mind what I tell you!"

"If you tell me not to go near the back room, of course I won't," said
the priest, rather bewildered.

The old woman then went out again, and the priest was left alone. The
fire had died out, and the only light in the hut was that of a dim
lantern. For the first time that night he began to feel that he was in
a weird place, and the old woman's words, "Whatever you do don't peep
into the back room," aroused his curiosity and his fear.

What hidden thing could be in that room that she did not wish him to
see? For some time the remembrance of his promise to the old woman kept
him still, but at last he could no longer resist his curiosity to peep
into the forbidden place.

He got up and began to move slowly towards the back room. Then the
thought that the old woman would be very angry with him if he disobeyed
her made him come back to his place by the fireside.

As the minutes went slowly by and the old woman did not return, he
began to feel more and more frightened, and to wonder what dreadful
secret was in the room behind him. He must find out.

"She will not know that I have looked unless I tell her. I will just
have a peep before she comes back," said the man to himself.

With these words he got up on his feet (for he had been sitting all
this time in Japanese fashion with his feet under him) and stealthily
crept towards the forbidden spot. With trembling hands he pushed back
the sliding door and looked in. What he saw froze the blood in his
veins. The room was full of dead men's bones and t