O n
the outskirts of town, there was a huge nut tree by the cemetery fence. One day two
boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and
began dividing the nuts. "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for
me," said one boy. The bucket was so full, several rolled out toward the fence.
Cycling down the
road by the cemetery was a third boy. As he passed, he thought he
heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to
investigate. Sure enough, he heard, "One for you, one for me. One
for you, one for me." He knew what it was.
Oh my, he
shuddered, "It's Satan and St. Peter dividing the souls at the
cemetery.
He cycled down
the road fast as he could and found an old man with a cane,
hobbling along.
"Come here
quick," said the boy, "You won't believe what I heard. Satan and
St. Peter are down at the cemetery dividing the souls." The man
said, "Shoo, you brat, can't you see I'm finding it hard to walk
as it is." But after several pleas, the man hobbled to the
cemetery.
Standing by the
fence they heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for
me. . ." . The old man whispered, "Boy, you've been telling the
truth. Let's see if we can see the devil himself."
Shivering with
fear, they peered through the fence, yet they were still unable to
see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of
the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of
Satan.
At last they
heard, "One for you, one for me. And one last one for you. That's
all. Now let's go get those nuts by the fence, and we'll be done."
They say the old
guy made it back to town 5 minutes before the boy.