The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1872-12-05

unbolted it, all the while rubbing hel
eyes as if just out of sleep.
'I was asleep and didn't hear yor
before" whimpered the woman
"And don't, for Gods sake, curse sc
much, for there is Methodist minis
ter up in the garrett"
"Who cares for Methodist minis
ter, I'd like to know? But I'll soon
have him out of his hole. Here, you
old canting hypocrit, come out of this
and show yourself, or I'll make you,
he exclaimed with many imprecations,
as he set the ladder before the trap
door. The poor parson, almost dead
with fright, slowly descended the lad
der, looking as white as a ghost, for,
from the rufian's manner, he expect
ed he would be a ghost soon.
':Don't hurt the poor man. See
how sleepy he looks!' exclaimed the
woman, pitying the poor creatures
distress.
''You shut up and mind your own
business, or it Will be the worse for
you" was the gracious reply of her
lord; then turning to the trembling
parson, he asked: care you q Metho-
dist minister, and do you believe in
hell and the devil?"
The parson replied in the afirma-
tive. r-5a
"Well, by the Eternal, I don't; if
you believe in the devil, you'll either
have to make him appear Or I'll cut
your throat and make you appear be
fore him!" and he drew his bowie
knife in q threatening manner. The
poor preacher was in anything but an
enviable situation, and thoughts of
another world began to fill his mind
with anxious forebodings; for it is a
remarkable fact that however much
clergymen may preach and talk of the
future world, they prefer to have 9th
ers go and enjoy it. This may be
sef-abnegation, or pure selfshness,
heaven knows.
care you most ready?" asked the
rufian, raising his knife as he saw the
other hesitate. 'In give you just
three minutes, and if the devil is not
here you'll be with the devil"
"My friend" said the pastor, into
whose head a brilliant idea had pop
ped, "that there is hell is well es
tablished fact, as I can prove by hun
dreds of writer's, and that the devil
exists allows of no contradiction; and
that I have the power to make him
appear is also true; but dreadful to
you Will be the consequences if he
does! Better for you had you never
been born than to see Satan face to
face in the wicked state which you
are in"
Oh you, stop your preaching
and call the old boy! I'll stand the
consequences, and be quick, for the
time is up!"
The parson went to the fireplace
and took a brand, which he applied
to the box of flax. 1t blazed up al
most like gunpowder, and the un-
earthly yell that issued from the poor
devil in the box was truly appalling.
With an acrobatic power, of the
possession of which he was unaware,
he leaped out of the box, covered from
head to foot with burning fax. With
roars and howls of agony he made
straight for the door, but he was not
SO quick as the owner of the premises,
for with one look of terror at the
burning figure, he fed out of the
house, closely followed by his satanic
majesty"
. When they were both gone, the par
son gave his hostess short but ef-
fective lecture on. connubial duties, af-
ter which he seated himself comforta-
bly, before the fire
When the woman's husband return
ed, he treated the parson with the
greatest respect, fully convinced that
he had the power to raise the devil
at will.