THE DEVIL CHEATED
The story of how a Faust of the Sea outwitted. the Devil was told to the students of Liverpool College by Mr. John Masefield when he visited the city in connection, with Liverpool's celebration of its "kinship of the sea." A certain Alfonso, he related (according to a report in the "Daily Chronicle")) sold his soul to the Devil on condition that for 20 years he should have whatever he desired. For 19 years 10 months Alfonso had the time of his life. Then, thinking of the Devil coming to claim his price, he went to Liverpool and shipped as an ordinary xeaman. Out in the Indian Ocean the Devil claimed the soul. "Don't keep me long as I'm a busy man," he said. But his agreement was to be cancelled if he were set three tasks which he could not perform, and the captain set him these: —Take a reef in the topsail; step into a boat, and, with a teaspoon, put all the water from one side of the boat to the other; stop the chain cable when the anchor was let go. The topsail was as stiff as a board; the anchor chain had been well greased; and the Devil could not do any of the three taßks. As he hung on to the last link of the chain it broke and carried him to the bottom of the sea, never to be heard of again.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 88, 14 April 1930, Page 9
Word Count
242THE DEVIL CHEATED Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 88, 14 April 1930, Page 9
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