Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1890-07-12
ONE GENT


continued Daniel. so release the
thousand and one souls you owe me
when you refuse to obey me.
20 Daniel!" whimpered the devil.
how can you treat me SOP Haven't
always been good to you? Haven't
given you riches and prosperity Does
no sentiment of friendship"
Hush. said Daniel, interrupting him.
al have already told you a thousand
times that our relations were simply
those of one business man TO another. 1t
now bchooves you to fulfil your part of
our compact; eventually | shall fulfil
mime Come, now, to b..sinessi Win
you or viii you not keep your word and
bond? 2"
The devil was sorely put to his trumps.
But when itcame to releasing thousand
and one souls from hell--ah, that stag
gered himl He had to build the church,
and a noble one it was, too. Then he en-
dowed the church, and finally he built
parsonage; altogether it was a stupen-
dous work, and Daniel got all the credit
| for it. The preacher whom Daniel in-
stalled in this magnificent temple was
severely orthodox, and one of the first
things he did was to preach series OF
sermons upon the personality of the
devil, wherein he inveiged most bitterly
against that person and his work.
BY and by Daniel made the devil en-
dow and build number of hospitals,
charity schools, free baths, libraries, and
other institutions of similar character.
Then he made him secure the election OF
honest men to office, and of upright
| judges to the bench 1t almost broke
the DEVILS heart to do it, but the devil
was prepared to do almost anything
rather than forfeit his bond, and give up
those one thousand and one souls By
this time Daniel came to be known far
and wide for his philanthropy and his
piety. This gratified him, of course, but
most of all he gloried in the circumstance
that he was business man.
"Have you anything for me to do to-
day." asked the devil one morning. He
had grown to be a very meek and cour-
teous devil; steady employment in
righteous causes had chastened him to a
degree and purged away somewhat of
the violence of his nature. On this par
ticular morning he looked haggard and
/ ill--yes, and he looked, too, as blue as
milestone.
II am not feeling robust, explained
the devil. "To tell the truth, am some
what i'll.
IL am sorry to hear it, said Daniel,
"but as am not conducting a sanitarium
can donothing further than express my
regrets that you are ailing. OF course
our business relations do not contemplate
any interchange of sympathies; still, I'll
go easy with you to-day. You may go
up to the house and look afler the chill
dren; see that they don't smoke ciga-
rettes or quarrel, or tease the cat or do
anything out of the way,
Now that was fine business for the
devil TO be in, but how could the devil
help himself? He was wholly at Daniels
mercy. He went about the humiliating
task.
The crash came at last. 1t was when
the devil informed Daniel one day that
he wasn't going to work for him any
more.
@You have ruined my business, said
the devil, wearily. "A committee of
imps waited upon me last night and told
me that unless / severed my connection
with you permanent suspension Of my
interests down yonder would be neces-
STATED. While have been running
around doing your insane errands my
personal business has gone to the dogs
wouldn't be at all surprised if / were
to have to get new plant altogether.
My reputation has suffered; ] am no
longer respected, and the number of my
recruits is daily becoming smaller
give up--I make no further sacrifice.
~Then you are prepared to forfeit your
bond?" asked Daniel.
%Not by any means, replied the devil.
I propose to throw the matter into the
courts.
THAT will hardly be to your interest,
said Daniel, @since, as you well know,
we have recently elected honest men to
the bench, and as recoIlect, most of our
judges are members in good standing of
the church we built some years ago.
The devil howled with rage. Then,
presently, he began to whimper.
For the last time, expostulated DAN
;el, "let me remind you that sentiment
loes not enter into this affair at all. We
are simply two business parties cooper
ating in a business scheme. Our respect
I'VE duties are exactly defined in the
bonds we hold. You keep your contract,
and Ill keep mine. Let me see, still
have margin of 13 years.
The devil groaned and writhed.
@They call me dude, whimperedt the
devil.
Who do?p asked Daniel.
rBeelzebub and the rest, said the
devil. i have been trotting around do-
ing pious errands so long that I've lost
all my sulphur and birthstone flavor, and
now smell like spikenard and myrrh-
@Poohl" said Daniel.
@WellIdo, insisted the devil You've
Inundated me 50 that haven't got any
mara arnhitinra Veg Daniel uoal,za