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It was finally agreed that Daniel should sell his soul to the Devil upon condition that for the space of twenty-four years the Devil should serve Daniel faithfully, should provide him with riches, and should do whatsoever he was commanded to do; then, at the end of the twenty-fourth year, Daniel’s soul was to pass into the possession of the Devil, and was to remain there forever, without recourse or benefit of clergy. Surely a more horrible contract was never entered into!

“You will have to sign your name to this contract,” said the Devil, producing a sheet of asbestos paper upon which all the terms of the diabolical treaty were set forth exactly.

“Certainly,” replied Daniel. “I have been a business man long enough to know the propriety and necessity of written contracts. And as for you, you must of course give a bond for the faithful execution of your part of this business.”

“That is something I have never done before,” suggested the Devil.

“I shall insist upon it,” said Daniel, firmly. “This is no affair of sentiment; it is strictly and coldly business: you are to do certain service, and are to receive certain rewards therefor–“

“Yes, your soul!” cried the Devil, gleefully rubbing his callous hands together. “Your soul in twenty-four years!”

“Yes,” said Daniel. “Now, no contract is good unless there is a quid pro quo.”

“That’s so,” said the Devil, “so let’s get a lawyer to draw up the paper for me to sign.”

“Why a lawyer?” queried Daniel. “A contract is a simple instrument; I, as a business man, can frame one sufficiently binding.”

“But I prefer to have a lawyer do it,” urged the Devil.

“And I prefer to do it myself,” said Daniel.

When a business man once gets his mind set, not even an Archimedean lever could stir it. So Daniel drew up the bond for the Devil to sign, and this bond specified that in case the Devil failed at any time during the next twenty-four years to do whatso Daniel commanded him, then should the bond which the Devil held against Daniel become null and void, and upon that same day should a thousand and one souls be released forever from the Devil’s dominion. The Devil winced; he hated to sign this agreement, but he had to. An awful clap of thunder ratified the abominable treaty, and every black cat within a radius of a hundred leagues straightway fell to frothing and to yowling grotesquely.

Presently Daniel began to prosper; the Devil was a faithful slave, and he served Daniel so artfully that no person on earth suspected that Daniel had leagued with the evil one. Daniel had the finest house in the city, his wife dressed magnificently, and his children enjoyed every luxury wealth could provide. Still, Daniel was content to be known as a business man; he deported himself modestly and kindly; he pursued with all his old-time diligence the trade which in earlier days he had found so unproductive of riches. His indifference to the pleasures which money put within his reach was passing strange, and it caused the Devil vast uneasiness.

“Daniel,” said the Devil, one day, “you’re not getting out of this thing all the fun there is in it. You go poking along in the same old rut with never a suspicion that you have it in your power to enjoy every pleasure of human life. Why don’t you break away from the old restraints? Why don’t you avail yourself of the advantages at your command?”

“I know what you ‘re driving at,” said Daniel, shrewdly, “Politics!”

“No, not at all,” remonstrated the Devil. “What I mean is fun,–gayety. Why not have a good time, Daniel?”

“But I am having a good time,” said Daniel. “My business is going along all right, I am rich. I ‘ve got a lovely home; my wife is happy; my children are healthy and contented; I am respected,–what more could I ask? What better time could I demand?”