Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-11-21
DEPARTMENT.
SINGLE
The DEVIL TO ~.

u
fill it, While he pondered is mighty
question of state, the devil ne to him,
not in dream, but in sdr earnest.
And the devil, as is his hak went at
once to business.
.'You are in trouble, sir, said he to
the King; "shall / help youat of it?"
mo, thank you," replieithe King,
''you charge too much for yR help. ]
do not. forget that my faSr is still
working out debt to yo,6hich was
beyond all proportion to yoaseryice. -
YES" said the devil. II u charge
the old man about all the tic would
bear; but l have tried to be 1siderate.
and although he is still worhE out the
debt, let me assure you that 1 position
is the most comfortable, irainter, in
all my dominions. But thsHs beside
thequestion. Your treasury il pty, and
I can fill it. Twill make no ] Editions.
You may command me frey What
say you?" 4
.And has the devil turned nt?' the
King inquired. 49,. /.
s.Not by long shot. I shag my
pay; though not from you, m your
subjects" u
my subjects be -" 4
ssStop!" interrupted the III, 'that
sentiment is not original wi you. 1t
is the motto of my kingdom, won't
permit it to be appropriated nth i'm
punity. Come, what do you shall l
tell you how. to fill your tread ?"
EYES," the King whispered
"Then, listen. All your SUI PTS have
plenty, have they not?"
"They have. There is not Dor man
in my kingdom, except myse1
GLOW do they get 'it?''
'They work for it, !.
why do you allow them td|rll?'
.'It is the command of God g
"Silence!" the devil screamSh his face
purple with rage and his tail ing the
floor of the palace till the airks laden
with sparks.
We'll, them" gasped the htened
king, they would starve ifetopped
them, and what good wouldn't do
me?"
est would do you no goff they
starved" the devil answered., lie gath
cred his tail under, his. leftlm and
opened-the window to let out Astifling
fumes. "But it would do youhe good
to charge them for worlSingouldn't
it? They would pay rather I'll starve,
eh?"
Good idea!' exclaimed thehg.
81 thought 3d." said the deJ CHOW,
suppose you issue proclamSn that
no one may work without n char
ter" II
EYES," the king interrupt impa-
tiently. a
"And then suppose you sell ters to
one man to work in certai}rritory
and to another man to work another
territory, and so on
Eyes" 4,. ~.
J.. "And suppose you allow tn liners of
these charters to farm out thdvileges
under them.'' 81 IN
Eyes,"
"And suppose you issue barters
at all for some Of the ~ satttory;;
don't yoy-see that. yop wi ~, .yiot Of
ready money from the sale ofIarters
and have permanent incomebm the
territory reserved, and be faM with
wealthy leisure class in whotociety
you may enjoy yourself?
"Capital!" exclaimed the Il, but
before the word was out of mouth
the devil had vanished.
The King lost no time. Hing is
sued his proclamation forbiddiAis be-
loved subjects to weary themsee with
work, he sent for his attornebneral
and ordered that functionary, die ba-
sis of contingent fee, to drad form
of charter. 1t read in substa like
this: Be it known that his .pb and
gracious majesty, Impecunious hav-
ing from love of his faithful biects
forbidden them to work With his
command, does now, by these bents,
confer upon his well-beloved B3hote,
lord of ToWmaytokahn hill, theirs
and assigns forever, full poweM au-
thority to permit the good peolpf all
that territory known as Qul and
bounded, etc, ETC., etc., to woAr not
to work.. as to him may seem bl and
,onsuch terms as to him may seliust.
Signed, sealed, ETC., etc., etc.
The proclamation caused anbroar.
among the people, for the seedindason
was just opening; but when Lobyli-
ghote appeared with his charter iIuad,
quiet was restored and terms wer(ade.
81 will give SO much year to be, Owed
to work. said one. and 81 will fe SO
much" said another And in tAway
it weAt, until Lord Bylighote ar
ranged with all the people in hierri-
tory. And while Lord Bylighdwas
adjusting things in Quad. Lord II and
Lord That and Lord Tother wer@ine
the sasae in Guam and Quinn andurl.
And SO it was that the Kings ,tr|uHy
was fuM from the sale of chartelam
tho L"rd$, instead of working aleh
used To 90, lived on what the bpk
paid them for the privilege OF BET al
lowed 70 work. while the Attorne1en
erals contingent fee was big enoh tx
make shyster respectable. Abe
tweer- them the King, the Lords aithe
Attorney General enjoyed their lure
amazingly. m
But as the Kings subjects increld a
great many could not buy the rit to
work and had to hire themsell to
those who could, and many Of hse