"'I am reading.'
"'Canst thou read already?'
"'That is a foolish question, for I am a human being,' said the child, and began to read with ease, proper emphasis, and due distinction.
"Stalher was amazed, and said:
"'The devil fetch me, I have never seen the like in all my life.'
"Then little Mark jumped up and looked timidly and carefully round the room. When he saw that the devil did not come, he went down on his knees in the middle of the floor and said:
"'O God! how gracious art thou.'
"Then, standing up boldly before old Stalher, he said:
"'Man, hast thou ever seen Satan?'
"'No.'