صفحة 169 من 483

"Devil," I exclaimed, "do you dare approach me? And do not you

fear the fierce vengeance of my arm wreaked on your miserable

head? Begone, vile insect! Or rather, stay, that I may trample

you to dust! And, oh! That I could, with the extinction of your

miserable existence, restore those victims whom you have so

diabolically murdered!"

"I expected this reception," said the daemon. "All men hate the

wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all

living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy

creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the

annihilation of one of us. You purpose to kill me. How dare you

sport thus with life? Do your duty towards me, and I will do mine

towards you and the rest of mankind. If you will comply with my

conditions, I will leave them and you at peace; but if you

refuse, I will glut the maw of death, until it be satiated with

the blood of your remaining friends."