t warmly attached to him, and the two pursued their
high literary callings together. The literary circle now consisted of
Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, Herder, and the Grand Duke. It was the
golden age of German literature.

THE STRANGE STORY OF FAUST.

No myth of the Middle Ages has had so large a growth and so long a
life as this.

It has been made the subject of books, pamphlets, and articles
almost without number. The Faust literature in Germany would fill a
library.

In painting, especially of the Holland school, the dark subject as
prominently appears. It is also embodied in sculpture.

But it is in poetry and music that it found a place that carried it
over the world. It was made the subject of Marlowe's drama, of
Goethe's greatest poem, and it is sung in three of the greatest
operas of modern times.

But to the legend.

About the year 1490 there was born at Roda, in the Duchy of
Saxe-Weimar, a child whose fame was destined to fill the world of
superstition, fable, and song. He was named John Faustus, or Faust.

He studied medicine, became an alchemist, and was possessed with a
consuming desire to learn the secrets of life and of the spiritual
world.

He studied magic, and his thirst for knowledge of the occult
sciences grew. He wished to know how to prolong life, to change base
metals to gold, to do things at once by the power of the will.

One night, as he was studying, the Evil One appeared before him.

"I will reveal to you all the secrets you are seeking, and will
enable you to do anything you wish by the power of the will alone--"

Dr. Faustus was filled with an almost insane delight.

"--On one condition."

"Name it."

"That I shall have your soul in return."

"When?"

"At the end of twenty-four years--at this time of night--midnight."

"I shall have pleasure?"

[Illustration: FAUST SIGNING.]

"Pleasure."

"Gold?"

"Gold."

"I shall know the secrets of nature?"

"The secrets of nature."

"I may do what I like at will?"

"At will."

"I will sign the compact."

"Sign!"

Faust signed his name to a compact that was to give the Evil One his
soul for twenty-four years of pleasure, gold, and knowledge, that
were to come to an end at midnight.

"I will give you an attendant," said the Evil One, "to help you."

He caused a dark but very elegant gentleman to appear, whom he
pr