s a threatening command
to have the victims ready on such a date. Only the day before
yesterday, this summons came to us to have our children ready by
to-morrow morning at break of day. That is why we had a feast to-day,
and performed the funeral rites for the dead, so that their spirits may
not be held under the control of this merciless Damon, but may in time
be permitted to issue from the Land of Shadows, and be born again under
happier circumstances into this world, which they are leaving under
such tragic circumstances."

"But what is the Demon like?" enquired Sam-Chung.

"Oh, no one can ever tell what he is like," said the man. "He has no
bodily form that one can look upon. His presence is known by a strong
blast of wind which fills the place with a peculiar odour, and with an
influence so subtle that you feel yourself within the grip of a
powerful force, and instinctively bow your head as though you were in
the presence of a being who could destroy you in a moment were he so
disposed."

"One more question and I have finished," said Sam-Chung. "Where did
this Demon come from, and how is it that he has acquired such an
overmastering supremacy over the lives of men, that he seems able to
defy even Heaven itself, and all the great hosts of kindly gods who are
working for the salvation of mankind?"

"This Demon," the man replied, "was once an inhabitant of the Western
Heaven, and under the direct control of the Goddess of Mercy. He must,
however, have been filled with evil devices and fiendish instincts from
the very beginning, for he seized the first opportunity to escape to
earth, and to take up his residence in the grottoes and caverns that
lie deep down beneath the waters of the Tien-ho. Other spirits almost
as bad as himself have also taken up their abode there, and they
combine their forces to bring calamity and disaster upon the people of
this region."

Sam-Chung, whose heart was filled with the tenderest feelings of
compassion for all living things, so much so that his name was a
familiar one even amongst the Immortals in the far-off Western Heaven,
felt himself stirred by a mighty indignation when he thought of how
innocent childhood had been sacrificed to minister to the unnatural
passion of this depraved Demon. Chiau and Chu were as profoundly
indignant as he, and a serious consultation ensued as to the best
methods to be adopted to save the little ones who were doomed to
destruction on the m