"Something he said to me down in the basement."
"What was that?"
"When he told me to go upstairs and go to bed—he mentioned something about not being able to do anything but good while he was down there."
"Who, the Devil?"
"No, me. He said I'd not be able to do much else, when I said maybe this thing could be turned to good, somehow. He seemed pretty certain that I didn't have much choice in the matter."
"Well, then, what are you worried about?"
"I'm worried because it has occurred to me that the Old Boy has always been an egotist. Maybe he's not the big-shot he thinks he is, controlling all the evil in the world. Maybe he hasn't got a monopoly, and never had."
"I don't believe it," said Pearl. "The Bible says Satan is the author of all evil."
"Maybe you're right," said Joe. "And if you are, and he should get loose with the world in the potentially dangerous position it now occupies, all hell could break loose."
"By the way," said Pearl. "The meter man is coming again tomorrow."