eir
tempting, and represented the case to be gained by the sale of men's
souls. One man, bolder than the rest, made a bargain with the demons
and gave them his soul for three hundred crowns of gold, and from that
time he in his turn became a tempter. He boasted of his wealth, of the
rich food the merchants gave him at times, of the potent wine he drank
from their generously opened bottles, and, best of all, he vaunted
his freedom from pity, conscience, or remorse.

Trade Increases

Gradually many people came to the forest dwelling and trafficked with
the demon merchants. The purchase of souls went on busily, and the
demons paid prices varying according to the worth of the soul and the
record of its former sins; but to all who sold they gave food and
wine, and in gloating over their gold and satisfying hunger and
thirst, men forgot to ask whence came this food and wine and the
endless stores of coin. Now many people ventured into the forest to
deal with the demons, and the narrow track grew into a broad beaten
way with the numbers of those who came, and all returned fed and
warmed, and bearing bags heavy with coin, and the promise of abundant
food and easy service. Those who had sold their souls rioted with the
money, for the demons gave them food, and they bought wine from the
inexhaustible stores of the evil merchants. The poor, lost people knew
that there was no hope for them after death, and they tried by all
means to keep themselves alive and to enjoy what was yet left to them;
but their mirth was fearful and they durst not stop to think.

Cathleen Hears of the Demon Traders

At first the Countess Cathleen knew nothing of the terrible doings of
the demons, for she never passed beyond her castle gates, but spent
her time in prayer for her people's safety and for the speedy return
of her messengers; but when the starving throng of pensioners at her
gates grew daily less, and there were fewer claimants for the pitiful
allowance which was all she had to give, she wondered if some other
mightier helper had come to Ireland. But she could hear of none,
and soon the shameless rioting and drunkenness in the village came to
her knowledge, and she wondered yet more whence her clansmen obtained
the means for their excesses, for she felt instinctively that the
origin of all this rioting must be evil. Cathleen therefore called to
her an old peasant, whose wife had died of hunger in the early days of
the famine, so that h