hat ye be devils I
know right well. And that, while yet afar off, ye did, on beholding me,
have compassion upon me I know right well. While also ye did not in any
wise seek to conceal from me the truth as concerning yourselves. Hence
shall ye, for the remainder of your lives, be GOOD devils; so that at
the last shall matters be rendered easier for you. Do thou, Zmiulan,
become King of the Ocean, and send the winds of the sea to cleanse the
land of foul air. And do thou, Demon, see to it that the cattle shall
eat of no poisonous herb, but that all herbs of the sort be covered
with prickles. Do thou, Igamon, comfort, by night, all comfortless
widows who shall be blaming God for the death of their husbands? And do
thou, Hymen, as the youngest devil of the band, choose for thyself
wherein shall lie thy charge.'

"'Oh Lord,' replied Hymen, 'I do love but to laugh.'

"And the Saviour replied:

"'Then cause thou folk to laugh. Only, mark thou, see to it that they
laugh not IN CHURCH.'

"'Yet even in church would I laugh, Oh Lord,' the devil objected.

"'Jesus Christ Himself laughed.

"'God go with you!' at length He said. 'Then let folk laugh even in
church--but QUIETLY.'

"In such wise did Christ convert those four evil devils into devils of
goodness."

Soaring over the green, bushy sea were a number of old oaks. On them
the yellow leaves were trembling as though chilled; here and there a
sturdy hazel was doffing its withered garments, and elsewhere a wild
cherry was quivering, and elsewhere an almost naked chestnut was
politely rendering obeisance to the earth.

"Did you find that story of mine a good one?" my companion inquired.

"I did, for Christ was so good in it."

"Always and everywhere He is so," Kalinin proudly rejoined. "But do you
also know what an old woman of Smolensk used to sing concerning Him?"

"I do not."

Halting, my strange traveller chanted in a feignedly senile and
tremulous voice, as he beat time with his foot:

In the heavens a flow'r doth blow,
It is the Son of God.
From it all our joys do flow,
It is the Son of God.
In the sun's red rays He dwells
He, the Son of God.
His light our every ill dispels.
Praised be the Son of God!

Each successive line seemed to inspire Kalinin's voice with added
youthfulness, until, indeed, the concluding words--"The One and Only
God"--issued in a high, agreeable tenor.

Suddenly a flash of lightning blazed before us, while dull t