a good boy he shall have the ball and the top. The other things are for his
sister and brother. Now that you have seen these nice things that are for
good children, I want to show you the part that is to be yours, but you
will have to go out in the kitchen to see it."

On the way to the kitchen Old Nick, who had taken up his whip, flourished
it to hurry the child along, saying as he did so, "Now, you little gump,
here's your treat." Then he threw a few nuts upon the kitchen-floor and
ordered Edwin to hurry and pick them up. As the child obeyed, down came the
lash of the whip upon his fingers, and the blood began at once to ooze from
the deep gashes. When the hand was withdrawn, the lash fell upon his body.
Next he was told to dance and then to sing and at last to pray. As he each
time tried to obey, the whip was used upon him. The dance and the song were
both very crude, but the prayer was the words that he had learned from the
old lady at the alms-house. Those words Edwin felt were appropriate because
Old Nick had knelt beside a chair when explaining what he wanted him to do,
and he remembered that he had knelt thus at the old lady's knee. But before
the list of terrible tortures was exhausted, Edwin could stand no more.
Weakened by the loss of blood from his wounds and by the extreme fear, he
fell as though dead.

How long he was there or what happened after he had fainted Edwin could
never tell, but when he became conscious, he was alone and the room was
cold. Painfully he arose and by the aid of the lamp that was still burning
low, he crept away to his bed, which was fortunately very close to the
kitchen.

As the sun arose in the eastern sky, it cast its bright rays upon the
snow-covered ground around the home of Mrs. Fischer and caused a dazzling
brightness, but it did not erase the many footprints that had been made the