hould like to deal with such
an audacious man as you, and make bold to bet with you that I will, in
a shorter space of time, finish the digging of a canal from Treves to
Cologne, fill it with water, and have merry ducks swimming on it, than
you will take to complete your church."

"So be it!" said Master Gerhard very much startled, taking the
outstretched hand of the strange man. At the touch of his cold
fingers, a sensation of horror crept into the heart of Master Gerhard.
But the red-cloaked man burst into a yelling laugh and cried out in a
formidable voice, "Remember we betted for your soul." Utmost terror
seized the trembling architect, cold perspiration stood on his brow,
and he tried in vain to utter a word.

Suddenly a storm rose, the stranger unfolded his red cloak, and was
lifted from the ground in a cloud of dust and vanished.

From that day the mind of Master Gerhard grew more and more gloomy. He
kept on wandering restlessly on the scaffoldings of the building. The
more he considered the huge dimensions of the cathedral, the more
doubtful he felt as to whether he would be able to finish it or not.

By daybreak he could be seen among his workmen, and till late in the
evening he wandered about on the building-ground, praising the
industrious and blaming the idle. He looked out anxiously sometimes in
the direction of Treves to see if he could discern anything uncommon
there. But he never saw the slightest change, nor any sign that the
stranger with whom he had betted, had really begun his canal in
earnest, and he looked more hopefully into the future.

One day he was standing as usual on the top of one of the completed
towers, when he felt a hand laid on his shoulder. Turning round, he
beheld with disagreeable surprise the ghostly stranger. Was he a
master of the black art or was he the devil himself? "Well, Master
Gerhard," began the unwelcome visitor, "how are you getting on with
your work? I see it is making good progress. Happily I shall soon
have finished my canal, else I should run the risk of losing my bet."

"I can scarcely believe your boasting speech," answered the builder
scornfully, "because I do not perceive the slightest trace of your
having begun the canal." "Know, my dear man, that I am worth more than
a hundred workmen together and, as I told you, my work is nearly
ready," said the man in red.

"Really," said Master Gerhard a little startled, "I should like to
know what magic power could