k at the bottle," he said, holding it up; "it is full yet!" I
glanced at Satan, and in that moment he vanished. Then Father Adolf rose
up, flushed and excited, crossed himself, and began to thunder in his
great voice, "This house is bewitched and accursed!" People began to cry
and shriek and crowd toward the door. "I summon this detected household
to--"

His words were cut off short. His face became red, then purple, but he
could not utter another sound. Then I saw Satan, a transparent film,
melt into the astrologer's body; then the astrologer put up his hand,
and apparently in his own voice said, "Wait--remain where you are." All
stopped where they stood. "Bring a funnel!" Ursula brought it, trembling
and scared, and he stuck it in the bottle and took up the great bowl
and began to pour the wine back, the people gazing and dazed with
astonishment, for they knew the bottle was already full before he began.
He emptied the whole of the bowl into the bottle, then smiled out over
the room, chuckled, and said, indifferently: "It is nothing--anybody can
do it! With my powers I can even do much more."

A frightened cry burst out everywhere. "Oh, my God, he is possessed!"
and there was a tumultuous rush for the door which swiftly emptied the
house of all who did not belong in it except us boys and Meidling.
We boys knew the secret, and would have told it if we could, but we
couldn't. We were very thankful to Satan for furnishing that good help
at the needful time.

Marget was pale, and crying; Meidling looked kind of petrified; Ursula
the same; but Gottfried was the worst--he couldn't stand, he was so weak
and scared. For he was of a witch family, you know, and it would be
bad for him to be suspected. Agnes came loafing in, looking pious and
unaware, and wanted to rub up against Ursula and be petted, but Ursula
was afraid of her and shrank away from her, but pretending she was not
meaning any incivility, for she knew very well it wouldn't answer to
have strained relations with that kind of a cat. But we boys took Agnes
and petted her, for Satan would not have befriended her if he had not
had a good opinion of her, and that was indorsement enough for us. He
seemed to trust anything that hadn't the Moral Sense.

Outside, the guests, panic-stricken, scattered in every direction and
fled in a pitiable state of terror; and such a tumult as they made with
their running and sobbing and shrieking and shouting that soon all the
vill