Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 September 1883 — Satan Tempted Her. [ARTICLE]

Satan Tempted Her.

Little Mabel and her mother were boarding during the summer on a farm. About the house were several currant bushes loaded with fruit, of which Mabel was excessively fond, and, despite her mother’s repeated injunctions, she would eat the currants until they made her sick. One day her mother caught her in flagrante delictu, and proceeded to try the effects of moral suasion. “Why do you persist, my child,” she asked, “in doing what I have so often forbidden?” “Satan tempts me* mamma,” replied her precocious offspring, “and I can’t help it.” “Well,” said the mother, “when he tempts you again you must say to him, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan,’ and he will leave you alone.” The next day Mabel’s mother again discovered the little girl in the bushes, and, hastening to her, began to rebuke her for her repeated disobedience. “Mabel.” said she to the startled child, “didn’t I tell you yesterday to say to Satan, ‘Get thee behind me?’” ’“Yes, mamma,”

responded Mabel, “and I did, and as soon as I said it Satan got behind me and pushed me right in!”