Our story today is, "The Devil and Tom Walker. " It was written by Washington Irving. Here is Shep ONeal with our story.
Storyteller:
Before we begin our story, let us go back three hundred years to the
late sixteen hundreds. In those years, one of the most famous men in the
world was Captain William Kidd. Captain Kidd was a pirate. He sailed
the seas, capturing any ships he found. He and his men took money from
these ships. Captain Kidd hid this money in different places.

Captain Kidd was captured by the English in Boston, Massachusetts and executed in the year seventeen-oh-one.
From that time on, people all over the world searched in many places for Captain Kidds stolen money.
The
people who lived in Massachusetts in the seventeen hundreds believed
Captain Kidd buried some of his treasure near Boston. Not far from
Boston was a small river which ran into the Atlantic Ocean. An old story
said that Captain Kidd had come up this river from the ocean. Then he
buried his gold and silver and jewels under a big tree.
The story said that this treasure was protected by the devil himself, who was a good friend of Captain Kidd.
In
the year seventeen twenty-seven, a man named Tom Walker lived near this
place. Tom Walker was not a pleasant man. He loved only one thing --
money. There was only one person worse than Tom. That was his wife. She
also loved money. These two were so hungry for money that they even
stole things from each other.
One day, Tom Walker was returning
home through a dark forest. He walked slowly and carefully, so that he
would not fall into a pool of mud.
At last, he reached a piece of
dry ground. Tom sat down on a tree that had fallen. As he rested, he dug
into the earth with a stick. He knew the story that Indians had killed
prisoners here as sacrifices to the Devil. But this did not trouble him.
The only devil Tom was afraid of was his wife.
Toms stick hit something hard. He dug it out of the earth. It was a human skull. In the skull was an Indian ax.
Suddenly, Tom Walker heard an angry voice: "Dont touch that skull!"
Tom
looked up. He saw a giant sitting on a broken tree. Tom had never seen
such a man. He wore the clothes of an Indian. His skin was almost black
and covered with ashes. His eyes were big and red. His black hair stood
up from his head. He carried a large ax.
The giant asked, "What
are you doing on my land?" But Tom Walker was not afraid. He answered,
"What do you mean? This land belongs to Mr. Peabody."
The strange
man laughed and pointed to the tall trees. Tom saw that one of the trees
had been cut by an ax. He looked more closely and saw that the name
Peabody had been cut into the tree. Mr. Peabody was a man who got rich
by stealing from Indians.
Tom looked at the other trees. Every one
had the name of some rich, important man from Massachusetts. Tom looked
at the tree on which he was sitting. It also had a name cut into it --
the name of Absalom Crowninshield. Tom remembered that Mr. Crowninshield
was a very rich man. People said he got his money as Captain Kidd did
-- by stealing ships.
Suddenly, the giant shouted: "Crowninshield is ready to be burned! Im going to burn many trees this winter!"
Tom
told the man that he had no right to cut Mr. Peabodys trees. The
stranger laughed and said, "I have every right to cut these trees. This
land belonged to me a long time before Englishmen came to Massachusetts.
The Indians were here. Then you Englishmen killed the Indians. Now I
show Englishmen how to buy and sell slaves. And I teach their women how
to be witches."

Tom Walker now knew that the giant was the Devil himself. But Tom Walker was still not afraid.
The
giant said Captain Kidd had buried great treasures under the trees, but
nobody could have them unless the giant permitted it. He said Tom could
have these treasures. But Tom had to agree to give the giant what he
demanded.
Tom Walker loved money as much as he loved life. But he asked for time to think.
Tom
went home. He told his wife what had happened. She wanted Captain Kidds
treasure. She urged him to give the Devil what he wanted. Tom said no.
At
last, Misses Walker decided to do what Tom refused to do. She put all
her silver in a large piece of cloth and went to see the dark giant. Two
days passed. She did not return home. She was never seen again.
People
said later that Tom went to the place where he had met the giant. He
saw his wifes cloth hanging in a tree. He was happy, because he wanted
to get her silver. But when he opened the cloth, there was no silver in
it -- only a human heart.
Tom was sorry he lost the silver, but
not sorry he lost his wife. He wanted to thank the giant for this. And
so, every day he looked for the giant. Tom finally decided that he would
give the giant what he wanted in exchange for Captain Kidds treasure.
One
night, Tom Walker met the giant and offered his soul in exchange for
Captain Kidds treasure. The Devil now wanted more than that. He said
that Tom would have to use the treasure to do the Devils work. He wanted
Tom to buy a ship and bring slaves to America.
As we have said,
Tom Walker was a hard man who loved nothing but money. But even he could
not agree to buy and sell human beings as slaves. He refused to do
this.
The Devil then said that his second most important work was
lending money. The men who did this work for the Devil forced poor
people who borrowed money to pay back much more than they had received.
Tom said he would like this kind of work. So the Devil gave him Captain Kidds treasure.
A
few days later, Tom Walker was a lender of money in Boston. Everyone
who needed help -- and there were many who did -- came to him. Tom
Walker became the richest man in Boston. When people were not able to
pay him, he took away their farms, their horses, and their houses.
As
he got older and richer, Tom began to worry. What would happen when he
died? He had promised his soul to the Devil. Maybe. . .maybe. . . he
could break that promise.
Tom then became very religious. He went
to church every week. He thought that if he prayed enough, he could
escape from the Devil.
One day, Tom took the land of a man who had
borrowed money. The poor man asked for more time to pay. "Please do not
destroy me!" he said. "You have already taken all my money!"
Tom got angry and started to shout, "Let the Devil take me if I have taken any money from you!"

That
was the end of Tom Walker. For just then, he heard a noise. He opened
the door. There was the black giant, holding a black horse. The giant
said, "Tom, I have come for you." He picked up Tom and put him on the
horse. Then he hit the horse, which ran off, carrying Tom.
Nobody ever saw Tom Walker again. A farmer said that he saw the black horse, with a man on it, running wildly into the forest.

After
Tom Walker disappeared, the government decided to take Toms property.
But there was nothing to take. All the papers which showed that Tom
owned land and houses were burned to ashes. His boxes of gold and silver
had nothing in them but small pieces of wood. The wood came from newly
cut trees. Toms horses died, and his house suddenly burned to ashes.
Announcer:
You have heard the story, "The Devil and Tom Walker." It was written by
Washington Irving. Our storyteller was Shep ONeal. Listen again next
week at this same time for another AMERICAN STORY told in Special
English on the Voice of America. This is Shirley Griffith.