e planted.

One of Gud's newly employed assistants had made the count of the
mortals, and the Devil had marvelled at his accuracy, for there were
only six souls left over. These Gud had laughingly handed to the Devil,
who had given them to six of his firemen--appreciative chaps they were,
and it hadn't spoiled them, this thing of having two souls.

After the soul planting was finished, the Devil and Gud had parted
cordially enough. They had agreed it was best not to be seen together
after that. By the agreement Gud was first to visit the sphere alone and
give out his revelation, and the Devil was then to make one visit to sow
doubts and temptations.

The Devil had glanced at Gud's revelation most casually; it seemed quite
ordinary--old stuff, and he had been rather careless in planting his
doubts and temptations. The competition had looked easy. But now two
generations had passed on the sphere and not a soul had arrived for
torment.

The Devil was profoundly puzzled. He wondered if Gud had been unethical
and double-crossed him with a spurious revelation, getting out another
one later with utterly different beliefs and morals, so that the doubts
and temptations were thus all obsoleted. This possibility made the Devil
furious, for it was plausible enough--yet that Gud chap had seemed such
a fair and simple sort!

Half a dozen times the Devil started to go up and see about it--yet, had
he not pledged his own incombustibility on his keeping away from the
sphere after the first visit? He had been a simple fool, and here he was
with a fully equipped hell on his hands and a big payroll to meet and
the best of his helpers deserting right and left, because they were
bored with idleness. As good a hell as ever burned brimstone and not a
soul to roast!

Drearily enough, the Devil began his rounds again. He had to keep the
boys cheered up. How he wished that he had not been so democratic and
told them just when things had been started on the sphere. The best he
could do now, was to lie out of that and claim that this was just a
trial run. But he could see that many of his once loyal helpers had
utterly lost faith in his leadership. He had been proud of those
helpers, some of the brightest demons in the game. He had bid them off
good jobs in older hells by promises of greater freedom to try out their
own ideas. In that way he had obtained a superior set of tortures for
special sins. But now no souls--and half his demons deser