The Devil and Daniel Webster

"The Devil and Daniel Webster" is a short story by Steven Vincent Benét.

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The story is about a New Hampshire farmer in the early 1800's with unending bad luck. Jabez Stone swears that "it's enough to make a man want to sell his soul to the devil!" When Mr. Scratch (the Devil) arives the next day, the farmer reluctantly makes a bargin for better luck. Mr. Stone enjoys seven years of prosperity, and later bargains for three more years, but as the "mortgage falls due," he convinces famous lawyer and orator Daniel Webster to argue his case with the Devil.

Related Topics:
Devil - Daniel Webster

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The story portrays the devil as polite and refined. When the devil arrives he is described as "a soft-spoken, dark-dressed stranger," who "drove up in a handsome buggy." Benét named the devil Mr. Scratch but often refered to him as the stranger, writting passages such as "The stranger looked a little embarrassed." The Devil never threatens, and always acts politely, even shaking hands with Daniel Webster in the end.

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