The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1890-11-06
n.ner. anal uroie I'm Iarge letters ODE

paper, and wrote In large letters the
following words:
/, the undersigned, do hereby
agree TO deliver up my soul to Satan
provided he bestow on me ten years
riches.
FERNAND DE ROCHEFEUIL.
1.-The window CHANGED to be open
nj that moment. There came sud-
den gust Of air. The wind snapped
up the sheet Of paper, swept 1t
through the window, and carried IL
10 the deyII-I mean 10 his address"
"How did you come to the knOwl-
edge Of all these things, sir?"
ALLOW me 10 finish my story, II
you please. From the following
morning your life was n perfect run
Of good luck. Fortune few 10 you.
In rummAging one day under an old
piece OF furniture, you discovered
large roll Of money. without know
ing how Il came thsre-lO,OOo francs
In coin. Having gone to Baden
Baden, you risked the entire sum
three successive times on the wheel
OF fortune and won each time.
With this capital you then engaged
In railroad speculation. Before q
week had passed you found yourself
q rich man."
well, sir, what about it,"
"Just this NJ. de Roehefenil: In
IS hours hence your tenth year will
have expired"
"Well, and what then"
"Iu ~ hours you will belong TO me.
Z am the devil"
One would naturally imagine that
Fernand and his six friends would
only burst into NJ Of laughter at this
strange declaration from this unex-
pected visitor. To-day we may be
sure he would be told TO carry his
transparent joke elsewhere. But
this happened some time ago, when
his Satanic majesty figured promi-
nently in romantic literature. In
the first place the fantastic writings
Of that day had q great number OF
readers on account Of the stories Of
Theodore Hoffman, then largely
scattered throughout France. Again,
Frederic sOuIin, still living, had
made his sable majesty quite fash
IonabIe by the recent publication Of
the "MemoIrs Of the Deyll."
Nevertheless, Fernand and his
comrades laughed In chorus, one Of
them remarking:
mons. Satan, a. this 10 the first
time we have had the pleasure Of
your distinguished presence, you
will do US the honor OF accepting q
glass Of champagne"
my ordinary beverage IL human
tears" replied the king Of terrors,
"but ] suppose may make one ex-
ception. Pour out the wlnew
He emptied his glass with apparent
rest, bowed gracefully aud retired,
saying. as he Withdrew, 70 Feruand:
Monsieur Rochsfeuil, I expect TO
have the honor Of calling on you to-
morrow"
With that not very encouraging
remark he withdrew.
So soon a. he had gone the young
men laughed heartily. but the sup
per came TO an end, and a. about |
three o'clock In the morning, all re-
tired TO their homes.
At noon the following day, just ss
Fernand was about to rise, q servant
entered his room and handed him
three letters and o card. This last
was . duplicate Of the card OF the
evening before.
"Ah, indeed! The DEVILS eardI"
muttsred Fernand. at seems Satan
does not intend tn give me much
respite"
As for the three letters, they wee
but pleasant reading.
The fir-t announced that the bank
er, Isaae H, with whom Fer
nand had deposited the greater part
Of his fortune, was suddenly ruined
by . fail In stoke, and, having
secured all the money he could. had
hed 60 America on q Havre packet.
The second letter-anonymous OF
him that Mime. de
Lueay, the charming young widow
whom he was 10 marry In q day or
Two, had given him the slip, and was
about tn wed one Of his most init
mate fFiends-One OF those siz
gallants who were seated ut the
liable with him the evening before.
Of course, . man Of honor should
not be annoyed At anything con-
tained In an anonymous letter.
always written by . eowsFdI never
Iheless, he found such precise de-
iaiIs Of things that be knew 10 be
rue, and which he thought 20 be
unknown 10 others, that he could
lot help give eredenee 20 the whole
etter.
The third letter contained . sseno-
yrapbic account Of . conversation
hat recently occurred In Q club, Of
which FernsHd de RoquefeuIl was
,rominent member. Il YES . sort
{ r1nnlngt commentary Of the
'siaelpal members Of the club, On
he meFits and character Of Fernsnd
himself. The latter vas by no
means flatssred; On Ne contrary. he
res regarded - the moss lnslsnih-
ant 81 men. 4,
well. these are ed series % coin
idsaeee, {" sxciainaea - anaeoelssa4