Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-02-08
THE DEVIL AND TOM WALKER.


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with regret on the bargain he had made
with his black friend, and put his wits tc
work to cheat him out Of his conditions
He became, therefore all of sudden, {
violent church-goer. He prayed loudly
and strenuously as If heaven were TO b.
carried by force of lungs. Indeed, one
might always tell when he had sinneC
most during the week by the clamor o
his Sunday devotionl The quiet Chris
tians who had been modestly and quiet
ly travelling Iionward were struck will
self-reproaOh at seeing themselves 81
suddenly outstripped in their career BY
this new-made convert. Tom was al
rigid in religion as in money matters
he was a stern supervisor and censurel
of his neighbors, and seemed to thinl
every sin entered up to their accoun
became a credit on his page. He ever
talked of the expediency Of reviving the
persecution of the Quakers and the Ana
baptists. In word, Tom S zeal became
as his riches.
Still in spite of his strenuous atten
ton to forms, Tom had a lurking dread
that the devil after all would have his
due. That he might not be taken un-
awares, therefore, it is said he always
carried small Bible in his pocket. He
also had a great folio Bible on his count.
ing-house desk, and would frequently be
found reading when people called on
business; on such occasions he would lay
his green spectacles ON the book to mark
the place, while he turned around to
drive some usurous bargain. tUl
Some say Tom grew a little crack
Drained in his older days, and that,
fancying his end approaching, he had
his horse new shod, saddled and bridled,
and buried with his feet uppermost, be-
cause that, at the last day, the world
would be turned upside down, in which
case he would find his horse ready for
mounting, and he was determined at the
worst to give his friend run forit This,
however, is probably mere old wife S
fable. If he really did take that precau-
ton, it was totally superhuous-at least,
so says the authentic old legend, which
closes his story in the following manner;
One hot afternoon in the dog-days,
Just as a terrible black thunder gust
came up, Tom sat in his counting-house
in his white linen cap and India silk
gown. He was on the point of
a mortgage, by which he
would complete the ruin of an unhappy
speculator for whom he had professed
the greatest friendship. The poor land
jobber begged him to granta few months
indulgence. Tom had grown testy and
irri5ated, and refused another day.
My family will be ruined and brought
upon the parish" said the land;jobber.
" Charity begins at home replied
Tom. must take care of myself these
hard times"
You have made so much money out
Of me, said the speculator.
Tom lost his patience and his piety.
" The devil take me, said he, "if have
made farthing."
just then there were three loud knocks
at the street door. He stepped out to
see who was there. A black man with a
black horse, which neighed and stamped
with impatience.
Tom, you are come for said the
black fellow gruffly Tom shrunk back,
but too late. He had left his little Bible
at the bottom of his coat pocket, and
his big Bible on the desk buried under
the mortgage he was ebout to foreclose
never was a poor sinner taken more
unawares The black man whisked him
like a child astride the horse, and away
he galloped in the midst of thunder
storm. The clerks stuck their pens
behind their ears and stared after him
from the windows. Away went Tom
Walker dashing down the, streets, his
white cap bobbing up and down, his
morning gown huttering in the wind, and
MS steed striking fire out of the pave
ments at every bound. When the clerks
turned to look, the black man had dis
Tom Walker never returned to fore
close the mortgage. A countryman who
lived near the swamp reported that in
the height Of the thunder gust he had
heard a great clattering of hoofs and
bowling along the road, and that when
he ran to the window he just caught sight
Of figure such as / have described, on
A horse that galloped like mad across
.he fields, over the hills, and down into
.he black hemlock swamps toward the
1ld Indian fort, and that shortly after a
fell in that direction, which
seemed to set the whole forest in a
blaze.
The good people of Boston shook their
heads and shrugged their shoulders
They had been so accustomed to witches
md goblins, and tricks of the devil in
Ill kinds of shapes, from the first settle
nent of the colony, that they were not
20 much horror-struck as might have
leen expected Trustees were appointed
% take charge of Toms effects. There
vas nothing, however, to administer
ipon. On searching his Golfers, all his
ponds and mortgages we're found reduced
@ einders. In place of gold and silver,
Ills iron chest was filed with chips and
ihavings, two skeletons lay in his stable
instead Of his half-starved horses, and
he very next day his great house took
ire and was burned to the ground.
Such was the end of Tom Walker and
lis ill-gotten wealth. Let all gripping
lay the story well to
ieart. The truth is not to be doubted.
The very hole under the oak trees, from
whence he dug Kidd's money, is to be
ieen to this day, and the neighboring
iwamp and the old Indian fort is often
haunted in stormy nights by a figure on
in a morning gown and white
zap, which is doubtless the troubled
ipirit of the usurer In fact, the story
las resolved itself into a proferb, and is
he origin of the popular saying preva-
ent throughout New England Of the
levil and Tom Walker"
The Starved Preacher.
From the Louisville Courier-Journal.l
Whnn Gnnrrn Holland the rnnd old