'A little security--that's all. For five-and-twenty years thou hast
been amassing wealth by duping credulous fools, and it is time I had
my percentage.'
The wizard stared in astonishment. Was the stranger a thief, or worse?
he wondered, but after a time, however, he said, drily--
'Even if thou hadst proved thy right to a portion of the profits of my
honest calling--and thou hast not--thou wouldst not require a
packhorse to carry thy share away. Doth this hovel resemble the abode
of a possessor of great wealth? Two chairs, a table, and a few old
bones, its furniture; and its tenant a half-starved old man, who has
had hard work to support life upon the pittance he receives in return
for priceless words of wisdom! Thou art a stranger to me, and thy
portion of my earnings is correctly represented by a circle.'
A loud and unmusical laugh followed the wizard's words; and before the
unpleasant sound had died away the visitor remarked--
'If I am yet a stranger to thee, Jeremiah, 'tis not thy fault, for
during the last quarter of a century thou hast boasted of me as thy
willing servant, and extorted hard cash from thy customers upon the
strength of my friendship and willingness to help thee; and now, true
to thy beggarly instincts, thou wouldst deny me! But 'twill be in
vain, Jeremiah--'twill be in vain! I have postponed this visit too
long already to be put off with subterfuges now.'
'I repeat, I know thee not,' said the wizard, in a trembling voice.
And, hurriedly rising from his chair, he flung aside the thick
curtain, in order that the light of day might stream into the chamber,
for a nameless fear had taken possession of him, and he did not care
to remain in the darkened apartment with his suspicious visitor. To
his surprise and terror, however, darkness had fallen upon the scene,
and, as he gazed in alarm at the little diamond-framed window,
through which so short a time before he had looked upon a fair
prospect of meadow and mountain, a vivid flash of lightning darted
across the heavens, and a clap of thunder burst over the cottage.
''Twill spoil good men's harvests, Jeremiah,' the stranger calmly
said; 'but it need not interrupt our interesting conversation.'
Angry at the bantering manner in which the visitor spoke, the wizard
flung open the door, and cried--
'Depart from my dwelling, ere I cast thee forth into the mire!'
'Surely thou wouldst not have the heart to fulfil thy threat,' said
the stranger, 'although 'tis true I have but one shoe to be soiled by
the mud.' And as he spoke he quietly crossed his legs, and Jeremiah
perceived a hideous cloven foot.
With a groan, the wizard sank into his chair, and, deaf to the roaring
of the thunder, and to the beating of the rain through the doorway, he
sat helplessly gazing at his guest, whose metallic laughter rang
through the room.
'Hast thou at length recognised me, Jeremiah?' asked the Evil One,
after an interval, during which he had somewhat prominently displayed
the hoof, and gloated over the agony its exhibition had caused his
victim.
The old man was almost too terrified to answer, but at last he
whispered--
'I have.'
'And thou no longer wilt refuse me the security?' hissed the
tormentor, as he placed a parchment upon the table.
'What security dost thou demand?' feebly inquired the quaking wizard.
'Personal only,' said Satan. 'Put thy name to this,' and he pointed to
the bond.
Jeremy pushed his chair as far from the suspicious-looking document as
he could ere he replied--
'Thou shalt not have name of mine.'
He had expected that an outburst of fiendish wrath would follow this
speech, but to his surprise the guest simply remarked--
'Very well, Jeremiah. By to-morrow night, however, thou shalt be
exposed as the base and ignorant pretender thou art. Thou hast
trespassed upon the rightful trade of my faithful servants long
enough, and 'tis time I stopped thy prosperous career. Ere sunset
thou shalt have a rival, who will take the bread from thy ungrateful
mouth.'
After this polite speech the visitor picked up the parchment, and
began to fold it in a methodical manner.
Such utterly unexpected gentlemanly behaviour somewhat reassured
Jeremiah, and in a fainter voice he humbly asked what his visitor had
to give in exchange for a wizard's autograph.
'Twenty-two years of such success as thou hast not even dared to dream
of! No opposition--no exposure to thy miserable dupes,' readily
answered Satan.
Jeremiah considered deeply. The offer undoubtedly was a tempting one,
for after all, his profession had not been very lucrative, and to lose
his customers, therefore, meant starvation. He was certain that if
another wizard opened an establishment the people would flock to him,
even through mere curiosity; but he knew what signing the bond
included, and he was afraid to take the step.
After a long delay, during which Satan carefully removed a sharp
stone from his hoof, Jeremiah therefore firmly said--
'Master, I'll not sign!'
Without more ado the visitor departed, and almost before he was out of
sight the storm abated, and old Pendle again became visible.
A few days passed, and no one came to the dwelling of the wizard; and
as such an absence of customers was very unusual, Jeremy began to fear
that the supernatural stranger had not forgotten his threat. On the
evening of the fifth day he crept into the little town to purchase
some articles of food. Previously, whenever he had had occasion to
make a similar journey, as he passed along the street the children ran
away in terror, and the older people addressed him with remarkable
humility; but this time, as he stepped rapidly past the houses, the
youngsters went on with their games as though only an ordinary mortal
went by, and a burly fellow who was leaning against a door jamb took
his pipe from his mouth to cry familiarly--
'Well, Jerry, owd lad, heaw are ta'?'
These marks of waning power and fading popularity were sufficiently
unmistakable; but as he was making his few purchases he was informed
that a stranger, who seemed to be possessed of miraculous powers, had
arrived in the town, and that many people who had been to him were
going about testifying to his wonderful skill. With a heavy heart the
wizard returned to his cottage. Next night a shower of stones dashed
his window to pieces, and, as he peered into the moonlight lane, he
saw a number of rough fellows, who evidently were waiting and watching
in hopes that he would emerge from his dwelling. These were the only
visitors he had during an entire week; and at length, quite prepared
to capitulate, he said to himself--
'I wish I had another chance.'
No sooner had he uttered the words, than there was a sudden burst of
thunder, wind roared round the house, again the clients' chair was
occupied, and the parchment lay upon the table just as though it had
not been disturbed.
'Art thou ready to sign?' asked Satan.
'Ay!' answered the old man.
The Evil One immediately seized the wizard's hand, upon which Jeremy
gave a piercing yell, as well he might do, for the Satanic grip had
forced the blood from the tips of his fingers.
'Sign!' said the Devil.
'I can't write,' said the wizard.
The Evil One forthwith took hold of one of the victim's fingers, and
using it as a pen, wrote in a peculiarly neat hand 'Jeremiah Parsons,
his x mark,' finishing with a fiendish flourish.
After doing this he again vacated the chair and the room as
mysteriously as on the previous occasion.
The autograph-loving visitor had barely departed with the parchment
ere a knock at the door was heard, and in stepped a man who wished to
have the veil lifted, and who brought the pleasing news that,
influenced by the reports of the opposition wizard, he had been to his
house in Clitheroe, but had found it empty, the whilom tenant having
fled no one knew whither. From that time things looked up with Jeremy,
and money poured into the skulls, for people crowded from far and near
to test his skill. For two-and-twenty years he flourished and was
famous, but the end came.{2} One morning, after a wild night when the
winds howled round Pendle, and it seemed as though all the powers of
darkness were let loose, some labourers who were going to their work
were surprised to find only the ruins of the wizard's cottage. The
place had been consumed by fire; and although search was made for the
magician's remains, only a few charred bones were found, and these,
some averred, were not those of old Jeremy, but were relics of the
dusty old skeleton and the dirty crocodile under the shadow of which
the wizard used to sit.