Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1847-08-18
81 RAFlgNNA OHIO, WEDNESDAY AUGUST IS 1871 - ! ]
The Devil in Sala manca,

81 The Devil in Salamanca,
. Or. He @ho loses his Honor. loses his IShadou
q Itssis said that many centuries ago, tn
devil himself figured in person as professo
II in thehigh school at Salamanca, and rea
= lectures on the black art. ..-
; f He taught nanny useful branches of sci
ence and was much resorteds saio;. anon,
i other things, for instance, he introduces
bills of exchange, and presided over severa
Systems of theolegy.sz He also taught tn,
arteof writing love-letters which the coldes
fnire one could net Withstand. And when
i ihisspupils found the sstudysofe enIag gic rathej
z#1dfy he entertained fheaT with droflefy and
\ jokes, so that the number of his students
daily increased; the more SO as he used tc
deliver his lectures in an old wine cellar
in the back part of. which were. several
casks of excellent sack. From these, a
little familiar Of the professors used to draw
and fill the Students cups whenever they
desired, without asking any payment.
It may be imagined how pleasing this
was TO the, young gentlemen. tits certain
that they all felt regret at the conclusion oil
the halfyearly term and the course of
lectures. .. -. -,
The Evil One failed not to observe this,
and on the last day of his course addressed
the class-''Gentlemen, am pleased to say
that you have proved yourselves such zeal.
Gus lovers of knowledge, such creditable
pupils, as no other professor can boast of
having, not only in Salamanca, but in the
whole world. / am certain, also, that you
will do me the justice to confess that my
instruction has proved eminently usefut not
merely in the letter but in practice. Have
any of you aught to say against this?"
! "No-no!' cried the students with one
voice-''You are the best instructor in the
world, sir, and you must let US have the
farther advantage of your lectures!''
The man of science bowed low and smil-
ed. 81 am moved by your attachment,
gentlemen" hes said, in his blandest manner,
and ready to do my part toward the fulfil
ment of your urgent and to me highly fiat.
tering request. But have small favor
to ask in return for what have done dur
ing the late session, and hope you will not
misunderstood my motives. | wish not to
be impertinent, but really have an ardent
desire for the soul of one of you! Here are
dice; throw, one after another, and the gen.
tleman that throws the lowest and goes out
last shall belong to me-"
1t may be conceived with what consterna-
ton the singular proposal was received by
the class of students, to whom it was wholly
unexpected. During some minutes they
stood dumb and pale with terror; then their
courage returned, and they expressed their
indignation in no measured terms, unre-
strained by fear of the professor, whom they
now reproached Us severely as they had
just before warmly praised him. They
called him all manner of angry names
among which ''Deceiver," s'Old Dragon"
"Philistine,''' and even worse appeallations
were distinguished. But the more violent
they were, the more bland and courteous
was the old gentleman, though he showed
determination to insist on what he called
his right. The last one who left the lee
ture room should be his, he reiterated; and
meanwhile he ordered the familiar TO bring
out his wine. The cups were soon filled
with the sparkling liquor and placed it on
the round table. The young gentlemen
drank, and then thought they saw nothing
better to be done than to perform their
teachers will.
The dice were thrown by one after the
other. The lowest fell to the lot of hand
some young man-the son of a nobleman.
He was clever youth withal, and said to
himself
sThe Devil has me not yet, nor shall if
mother wit can help meP' He kept up his
courage and waited for the moment of action.
The old gentleman placed himself at the
door, and suffered the students one after
another to pass him and go out in the order
in which they had thrown. AS the young
counts turn came, he caught hold of him;
but the young man cried, ssNay, sir, it is
not II! The lot fell on him who comes
after mel" pointing 10 his shadow on the
wall. The Devil let the count go, and,
blinded as he was by the sunshine, seized
upon the shadow. The student laughed as
he darted out of the door, having escaped
the power Of the arch enemy. But his
mirth soon subsided when he saw the looks
of fear and horror in the faces Of all he
met. AS he stood in the sunshine, he
observed for the first time that he had no
shadoo! The Devil had carried it off,
O. A good anecdote is told of the father
of Governor Skunk, who once kept toll
gate in Montgomery county. One day, a
genius of the dandy kind drove up, and af-
ter enquiring the amount Of toll to be paid,
and being informed that it was five cents,
he took half dollar from his pocket, and
threw it into the mud on the road, instead
of politely handing 1t. Mr.. Skunk, with
out saying word, went into the house, and
brought out his change, consisting Of forty
fue Coppers, which he also threw in the
mud, in the same place where he received
tee specie, and silently returned to the house.
The dandy Of course did not relish this
much, and after some cursing and swear
ing, gave the whip to his horse, and drove
off, leaving Mr.. Skunk to gather the PEN
MES for his trouble.
SLANDER.-An Exchange paper says
the man who condescends to dip his tongue
! into the black and bitter pool of slander,
and will SO prostitute the soul which his
Maker gave him, as to make or propagate
the tales Of malice, deserves to be linked
for life with cross-eyed, cross grained,
cross-tempered, lath-fgured, big-footed,