at last, when the priest felt he could run no more, the dawn broke, and with the darkness of night the goblin vanished and he was safe. the priest now knew that he had met the goblin of adachigahara, the story of whom he had often heard but never believed to be true. he felt that he owed his wonderful escape to the protection of buddha to whom he had prayed for help, so he took out his rosary and bowing his head as the sun rose he said his prayers and made his thanksgiving earnestly. he then set forward for another part of the country, only too glad to leave the haunted plain behind him.