Thereat he grinned ghastily, and wagged his head, while I felt my heart
turn sick, and my bowels tremble. But I answered:
"I want that which is as far removed from you and your accursed power as
God and his angels--a real woman's love!"
Now he laughed in raucous glee.
"And that's what you have lost--by playing the fool! Is it not so?"
"That's what I have lost--perhaps by playing the fool," I replied.
Said the Devil to me:
"And that very day you went back about sunset, driven by the barbs of
your passion, to tell the old woman the truth. You could not gain
admittance to the house. You saw no one. You have been back twice. You
have laid in wait. But you have failed to get speech with any in the
house. Is it not so?"