I gathered from their talk that they were going to play a trick upon the Deacon, that should cure him of offering rum and Bibles to his workmen; and I soon found out from their conversation and movements what it was. They were going to write certain inscriptions on all his rum casks, that should remain invisible until they were sold by the Deacon, but should flame out in characters of fire as soon as they were broached by his retailers, or exposed to the use of the drunkards.
When they had filled a few casks with liquor, one of them took a great coal of fire, and having quenched it in a mixture of rum and molassses, proceeded to write, apparently by way of experiment, upon the heads of the different vessels. Just as it was dawn, they left off work, and all vanished together.
In the morning the Deacon was puzzled to know how the workmen got out of the, distillery, which he found fast locked as he had left it. He was still more amazed to find that they had done more work in one night, than could havo been accomplished, in the ordinary way, in three weeks. He pondered the things not a little, and almost concluded that it was the work of supernatural agents. At any rate, they had done so much that he thought he could afford to attend meeting that day, as it was the Sabbath. Accordingly he went to church, and heard his minister say that God could pardon sin without an atonement, that the words hell and devil were mere figures of speech, and that all men would certainly be saved. He was much pleased, and inwardly resolved that he would send his minister a half cask of wine; and as it happened to be communion Sabbath, he attended meeting all day.
In the evening the men came again, and again the Deacon locked them in to themselves, and they went to work. They finished all his molasses, and filled all his rum barrels, and kegs, and hogsheads, with liquor, and marked them all, as on the preceding night, with invisible inscriptions. Most of the titles ran thus:
"Consumption sold here. Inquire at Deacon Giles's Distillery."
"Convulsions and epilepsies. Inquire at Amos Giles's Distillery."
"Insanity and murder. Inquire at Deacon Giles's Distillery."
"Dropsy and Rheumatism. Putrid Fever, and Cholera in the collapse. Inquire at Amos Giles's Distillery."
"Delirium Tremens. Inquire at Deacon Giles's Distillery."
Many of the casks had on them inscriptions like the following:
"Distilled Death and liquid Damnation." "The Elixir of Hell for the bodies of those whose souls are coming there."
Some of the demons had even taken sentences from the Scriptures, and marked the hogsheads thus:
"Who hath wo? Inquire at Deacon Giles's Distillery."
"Who hath redness of eyes? Inquire at Deacon Giles's Distillery."
Others had written sentences like the following:
"A potion from the lake of fire and brimstone. Inquire at Deacon Giles's Distillery."
All these inscriptions burned, when visible, a "still and awful red." One of the
