thing, including his designs on the beautiful fairy, and
how he hoped by compromising her to lead her to share his fate.

"Truly the imp cut but a sorry figure when compelled to thus stand up in
the Old Market place at the corner of the Palazzo Cavolaia before a vast
multitude and avow all his dirty little tricks; but he contrived withal
to so artfully represent his passionate love for the fairy, and to turn
all his sins to that account, that many had compassion on him, so that
indeed among the people, in time, no one ever spoke ill of the _doppio
povero diavolo_, or doubly poor devil, for they said he was to be pitied
since he had no love on earth and was shut out of heaven.

"Nor did he quite lose his power, for it was said that after he had been
confined in the bronze image, if any one spoke ill of him or said, 'This
is a devil, and as a devil he can never enter Paradise,' then the imp
would persecute that man with strange voices and sounds until such time
as the offender should betake himself to the Palazzo della Cavolaia, and
there, standing before the bronze image, should ask his pardon.

"And if it pleased the Diavolino, he forgave them, and they had peace;
but if it did not, they were pursued by the double mocking voice which
made dialogue or sang duets over all their sins and follies and
disgraces. And whether they stayed at home or went abroad, the voices
were ever about them, crying aloud or tittering and whispering or
hissing, so that they had no rest by day or night; and this is what
befell all who spoke ill of the Diavolino del Canto dei Diavoli."

* * * * *

The saint mentioned in this story was certainly Pietro Martire or Peter
the Martyrer, better deserving the name of murderer, who, preaching at
the very corner where the bronze imp was afterwards placed, declared that
he beheld the devil, and promptly exorcised him. There can be little
doubt that the image was placed there to commemorate this probably "pious
fraud."

It is only since I wrote all this that I learned that there were formerly
_two_ of these devils, one having been stolen not many years ago. This
verifies to some extent the consistency of the author of the legend, "The
Devil of the Mercato Vecchio," who says there were four.

There is a very amusing and curious trait of character manifested in the
conclusion of this story which might escape the reader's attention were
it not indicated. It is the vi