ive them souls they might reject them."

"I can solve that," laughed the Devil. "Give the souls to the females
first."

"What!" exclaimed Gud, "that has never been heard of. To give them all
souls at once is quite as radical a move as I could consider."

"Well, I won't quibble over details. How long will it take you to fix up
your pace?"

"I should say it would take me an eon."

"Make it an epoch."

"Oh, very well."

"And how do you propose to divide the booty? Would you be satisfied with
predestination on a fifty-fifty split?"

"I would not," returned Gud decisively. "I consider such collusion to
suppress competition most unprofessional. I will give them a revelation,
you can plant seeds of doubt and temptation, and we will divide on the
usual tests of faith."

"But what about those that pass over without hearing the revelation?"

"I get them on the mercy clause," said Gud.

"That's too liberal," replied the Devil, "and you know it; they belong
to me by right of original sin. If you insist on taking them we will
call the whole deal off."

"Let's compromise on transmigration and reincarnate them till they do
hear my revelation. It will mean quite a saving in the stock of new
souls, for we will have to buy them. I was never good at designing
home-made souls; I could never get them of even size, and the big ones
were always knocking the little ones about."

"Very well," agreed the Devil, who was anxious to get going. "Order the
souls when you get ready."

Just then the volcano conveniently erupted and dematerialized the king
in exile and the bricklayer on strike.

Chapter LXII

Once Gud sat all alone
High on his shining throne.
The Devil had been driven
Flaming out of heaven;
And this was eons after
Gud suddenly burst with laughter,
Remembering with a shout
A story the Devil told
Before they drove him out--
(Though even then 'twas old)

Chapter LXIII

I. B. Devil paced restlessly about in his brand new Hell. Everything was
running in apple pie order, but not a soul in torment. That fact worried
him, for it had been nearly two generations since Gud had planted the
souls. He had done it well, had plunged the busy sphere into a day of
thick darkness. There had been a mad howling and babble among the
conceited rationals until the whole race of them had tumbled in their
tracks and fallen into a profound slumber. It was then that the souls
wer