Isidore Welby sells the soul to the devil, and when the devil appears to collect, Welby is given a test to pass. If he passes, he’ll become a demon and have a comparatively comfortable life in hell; if he fails, he’ll just be damned. Against all odds, he succeeds with unexpected consequences.

For a sell-the-soul-to-the-devil story this is quite nice if not spectacular. It has an interesting concept about demonic deals to the effect that one can gain nothing thereby which one would not have been able to get anyway, and Welby’s way of getting out of the whole thing is interesting and unexpected, but perfectly reasonable. Not a terrific story, but still a very nice one.

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