He Silenced the Devil

    If you find yourself getting very miserly, begin to scatter, like a wealthy farmer in New York state I heard of. He was a noted miser, but he was converted. Soon after, a poor man who had been burned out and had no provisions came to him for help. The farmer thought he would be liberal and give the man a ham from his smoke-house. On his way to get it, the tempter whispered to him:

    "Give him the smallest one you have."

    He had a struggle whether he would give a large or a small ham, but finally he took down the largest he could find.

    "You are a fool," the devil said.

    "If you don't keep still," the farmer replied, "I will give him every ham I have in the smoke-house."