Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1872-02-01

H.
you will see on it, TAT THE Cnx OF
hoME. The condition of our compact
is fulfilled you belong to me !"
Seeing himself entrapped by the
Devil, Pan Twardowski did not lose his
head. He seized, in his cradle, the
child from whom baptism had Just TAX
en- away original sin, and sheltered
himself behind the innocent creature,
as beneath the buckler of an all. power
full exorcism. The devil did not even
attempt to break the charm by vio-
lence; he knew we'll that all the strength |
and all the rage of hell could do moth
ing against pure soul, even though !
it be that of a child born the previous
evening. He assumed grave mir !; Bit !
ing Oft his sentences with the tone of a |
pedant, he said to Pan Twardowski !: |
Verbasne mobile debet esse Stable j;
which means, if I still recollect a little
Latin The word of q gentleman ought
to be sure and sacred You have
to ensnare me by cunning trick re-
Piled the Polish doctor, in order to
justify hlmself. ',Ihave only returned
to You change for your money. For a
Jesuit-a Jesuit and half
u" Evidently, here was material for
lawsuit on the. interpretation of the
compact. But, AZ no tribunal in this
world could judge each q cause, the
parties did that which all litigious per-
sons ought to do ). they made an ami
cable settlement. One put back his
conjuring-book into his pocket, the
other the child in his cradle ! and,
without witness, they signed a new
contract, in which Pan Twardowski en-
gagged; to give himself up to the devil
as soon as the said devil should have
fulfilled three conditions, imposed upon
him by the said Pan Twardowski
which Il not fulfilled, the compact be-.
became void. b
"The trial began Immediately. Pan
Twardowski straightway ordered the
devil to take horse which was painted
on the fatal sign of the inn, and gallop
three times around the tower of the
church. Every one knows that hell,
like heaven, is controlled by number
thraa' Without further par1ey, Czer-
nebog picked up a bit of straw from
the earth, and transformed it into o
horsewhip. Touched by the end of his
wand, the painted horse obediently de.
scended from the sign, all saddled and
bridled, his ,nostrils breathing fire. The
devil got astride his steed and three
times made an internal circuit around
Ethe church, morelrapid than that: of the
ballad. lies 'neor's cont vite - and
more furious than gallop of debard-
eurs at the masked ball of your opera
at Paris.
" By the ease with which the devil
11n1,n
Twardowski saw very we'll that the
twelve labors of Hercules would be
mere bagatelles to him, and, in orde,
to oblige such an antagonist to acknowl.
! edge himself conquered, it was neces
saFy to quit the physical order o1
things, and try something in the moral
Recalling to his mind the recent nd
3 venture with the child, and the mira
culous protection that he had received
from his god-daughter, he ordered thu
, Devil to take a, bath in, the vessel ofholy
! water that the priest had brought hith
, ler for the baptism. At this order Czer
9 enbog made a horrible grimace. HI
trembled from head to foot, ground hi
g teeth, rolled his eyes, and for some mo
9 ments showed himself irresolute. Blu
i at length the desire to snatch a son
y from paradise-which is the incessan
); and exclusive occupation of the evil on
u got the mastery over his natural hol
IL ror of holy water. He began to shrink
It and curl himself up, to fold himsel
, over and over, until he became abou
l. the size of mouse. Then, approach
O. ing the basin in which is washed ava
ID all the sins of men, he resolutely plunf
n ed in, and dived head foremost as fro1
b, the bridge of the Neva. One hear
1t that kind of devll-hissing that red d-ht
10 iron makes when being tempered
le cold water: only, it was not the Dew
ID who burnt the holy water, but the hol
1e water that burnt the Devil; for stron
RS odor of scorched flesh was sprea
le around and throughout the house.
re Nevertheless, Czernebog came out
at the baptistry, scalded, but triumphan
ID "When he presented himself befo
OF Pan Twardowski, having resumed h
ns natural form, laughing with the sata
H. ic sneer by which all devils EXPIRE
n their contentment after having pcrfor1
ag ed some trick of their trade, the, po
ne doctor in his turn trcmbled: one wou
or have said he felt the roasting of his ov
body.
,s- "But there remained third tai