"How can you be absolutely sure all this is a fact?" asked Pearl. "Jimmy told me," grinned Joe. "Jimmy?" "Yes. Remember when I whispered to him? Well, I asked him if the man still had horns, and he did. Then I told him that it was a very important secret, and that he was never to discuss it with anyone, except me. You see, I didn't want anybody to blurt out the word Devil while the young man was here. Such a thing might be just the key to bring back his memory." "But won't he remember, anyway, just as soon as he gets to putting things together, when he gets back to where the young man has his home and friends?" asked Dad. "Why should he? The stimulus of his name, his family, his home should only serve to add to his subconscious memories as the young man. He now has the brain and body of a man who has lost his memory. The Devil can't remember anything but what's already in the young man's mind. If his _own_ memory is never stirred, the chances are he will never realize his true identity. He will gradually take on the only one handy, that of the young man, and he might well turn out to be a model citizen!" "So that's what you mean by him being an amnesiac for a thousand years?" asked Dad. "Yes. The Bible says the Devil will be bound for a thousand years, cast into a pit. Must we take that literally? Can't the binding be a mental one, and can't the pit be amnesia?" "It could be," said Mother suddenly. "Even hell, I believe, is a state of mind." * * * * * Pearl started. "Does that mean that now we'll have no more crime on earth, no more evil?" "I'm afraid not," said Dad. "I know one thing for sure, the Devil is not the author of _all_ evil. Mankind is cussed enough in his own right, and even with the Devil suffering from amnesia, I feel sure there'll be plenty of trouble going on." "But not _quite_ as much," said Joe, looking at Dad. "With one less evil companion, things should be a mite better, don't you think?" "Your logic," said Dad, "is unassailable." Pearl looked thoughtful. "What if the young man meets a girl, falls in love, and she him, and marries her? She'd be married to the Devil, in actuality." Dad grinned at her. "It wouldn't be the first young man to be reformed. In that case, I'd say, the Devil would be better off with amnesia!" THE END