Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1872-02-08

without witness, they signed a new
contract, III which Pan Twardowsk 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 Twaryiowski ::
which If not fulfilled, the compact be-
became void.
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
three. Without further parley, Ger
nebog picked up a bit of straw from
the earth, and transformed it into
horsewhip. Touched by the end of his
wand, the painted horse obeliently de.
scenfd from the sign, all saddled and
bridledr his nostrils breathing fire. The.
devil go5 astride his steed and three
times made an internal circuit around
the church, more rapid than that of the
. ballad. les 1}Or's UOnt Uite :. and
more turIous than gallop of ae6aTd-
ours at the masked ball of your opera
Mt Paris.
" BY the ease with which tbs devil
had accomplished the first trial, Pan
/ rwardowskl saw very well that the
/ twelve labOrs of Hercules would be
raere bagatelles to him, and, in order
/ to oblige such an antagonist to acLnowl-
/ edge hmself conquered, it was leces.
sasy to quit the physical order of
/ Things, and tEy something in the moral
/ Recalling to his mind the recent ad-
venture with the child, and the mira.
culous protection that he had ecetved
| FROM his god-oaughter, he ordered the
| Devil to take bath in, the vessel of ,oly
water that the priest had brought hith-
er for the baptism, AT this order Ger
enbog made n horrible grimace. He
trem3led from bead to foot, ground his
teeth, rolled his. eyes, and for some ID-
ment.,showed himself igresolute. Eat
at length the desire to snatch soul
from paradise-which is the incessaat
and exclusive occupation Of the evil one
got the mastery over his natural hoy.
ror OF holy water. He began to shrink,
and curl himself up, to- fold himself
over and over, Until he became about
the size of mouse. Then, approach.
ing the basin in which is washed away
all the sins of men, he resclutely plung-
ed in, and Owed head foremost as irons
the bridge of the Heva One heard
that kind Of devll-hissing chat red hot
iron makes when being tempered III
cold wattaf only, It was not the Devil
who burnt the holy water, but the holy
water that burnt the, Devil. for a strong
OdOr of scOrched fash was spread /,
around and throughout the house -
Nevertheless, Czet2eoag came ont OF /.
the baptistty, scalded, bat triumphant. .
When he presented himself before .
Pan Twardowski, having resumed his Z
natural form, laughing with the satan I
ic sneer 10y which al devils express ,
their contentment after having perform
ed some tgrck of their trade, the poor |
doctor in his turn trembled one would |
have said lie felt the'ronss ling ofhis own !
body.
But there remained third task |
for him pr pose Go, the devil. Seeing
what a terrible adversary he had to
overcome, Pan Twardowsbi resolved to
strike the decisive Blow, and to bring
into battle his last reserve TO play, as
we say at cards, his ace of trumps. He
ordered the devil TO pass one entire |
month in company with Pan Twardow-
ska-his wife. The devil knew her as
well as he did the wife of Socrates, for
she was one of those dame Honestas
who necessarily are the curse of their
husbands.
. At this magic name he instantly
cried out, sAbren,aatj0 u, l gave it up
and, leaving Pan Twardowskl, he ram
to hide hiashame ana defeat in the far
thest depth Of hell. Let no one say,
after this, that bad woman is good,
for nothing
Ny companion, laughing in his icy
beard, coughed that little dry cough Of
the orator who pauses ID give place to
the applause of the audience. ...
This history" said to him, : like
the bad woman, is worth more than
nothing, and I am satisfied with 1t but
do not see the least connection be-
tween Pan Twardowski and light of the
moon. " - All it is true, replied he
- forgot to tell you there were two
versions of the history Of my Polish
sorcerer. The tirst--that which / have
Just related to you--ls that OF the scan
dal-loving tongues OF persons WHO pre-
tend that the doctor was married. But
the serious and rational men who at
firm shat Pan Twardowski renamed all
his life bachelor, these relate his con-
test with the devil III another way
They say that, instead OF ordering the
malicious spirit to pass anenulre month
with the wicked woman, living, IKE a
legitimate husband, under the same
root, At the same table, IN the same
bed, he proposed for a last trial some
+b;Dcr castor and more acCepta BILE for