Without waiting for the bailiff’s wife, Peter turned away. Tired and discouraged he took a path into the woods and sat down.
“There doesn’t seem to be any place for me in all the world,” he thought to himself. “They all tell me to go to the Devil—my stepmother, the farmer, and now the bailiff. If I knew the way to hell I think I’d take their advice. I’m sure the Devil would treat me better than they do!”
Just then a handsome gentleman, dressed in green, walked by. Peter touched his hat politely and said:
“Let every one praise Lord Jesus.”
The man passed him without responding. Then he looked back and asked Peter why he looked so discouraged.
“I have reason to look discouraged,” Peter said. “Everywhere I ask for work they tell me to go to the Devil. If I knew the way to hell I think I’d take their advice and go.”
The stranger smiled.
“But if you saw the Devil, don’t you think you’d be afraid of him?”
Peter shook his head.
“He can’t be any worse than my stepmother, or the farmer, or the bailiff.”
