grew wonderfully fast, for in five days he was a full-grown
youth. But the parents could not but blame themselves for their
impious act. They intended to keep the secret from their son; but
they could not do so, for the boy was always asking about the nature
of his existence. So when Pedro--they called him by this name--knew
of his pitiful lot, he decided not to marry until he had succeeded
in wresting the golden document from the hands of Satan.

Now, Pedro knew that devils do not like crosses, and cannot even stay
where they have to look at them. So one day he asked his mother to make
for him two gowns, one having little crosses hanging from it. When
these had been finished, Pedro asked his father to give him over to
Satan, so that he might work with the demons in hell. No sooner had
he expressed his desire to his father than the Devil appeared and took
the young man off to his kingdom. There Pedro was assigned the task of
directing the demons in hauling the logs that were to be used for fuel.

Pedro ordered the demons to tie a strong piece of rope to one end of a
log, and ordered them to pull it while he stood on the other end. Every
time he counted "One, two, three!" he would hold up his outer gown;
and the demons, seeing the crosses, would run away in confusion. As
the devils could not endure Pedro's conduct, they ran to their master
Satan, and asked him to send the young man away, for he could not
do any work. The demons could not say anything about Pedro's trick,
however, for they did not dare even speak the word "cross." Satan
then summoned Pedro to his office, and had him work there.

Now, the young man had put a strong piece of rope under his gown. One
day, when Satan was taking his siesta in a rocking-chair, Pedro
tied him fast to the chair. Then he removed his outer gown and woke
Satan. The Devil with closed eyes struggled hard to escape; but he
could not get loose. So he humbly requested Pedro to go away and
leave him alone; but Pedro would neither leave him nor let him go. He
demanded the document, but Satan would not give it up. So Pedro kept on
frightening the Devil until at last Satan said that he would give up
the document if Pedro would release him. Pedro put on his outer robe,
and the Devil called his secretary and told him to give the golden
document to the young man. Pedro threw the bond into the fire; and when
he saw that it was completely melted, he took off his outer robe again,
and turned Sa