"Come, Excellency," said Mephistopheles, "you can hardly suppose that I have any intention of taking you in?"
"What?
"Hang it all! Your soul has been mine for a long time, and I do not require your authorization to take it."
"Nonsense," said the worthy pirate, who was quite rebuffed, "do you think our Lord will not look twice before condemning a man of my sort?"
"Not the least in the world," the demon continued good-humouredly; "so reassure yourself. It is not that I intend to ask of you."
"Speak, then; and, on the word of a gentleman adventurer, I will grant it."
"Done!" said Satan, graciously stretching out his hand.
"Done!" the pirate replied.
"Come, that is settled. Well, you will surrender to me the first living creature you address in the morning when you wake. You see that I am not exigent, for I might have charged you much more dearly."
Don Stephen made a face, for the first person he was in the habit of addressing in the morning was his daughter.