AS The Devil and Tom Walker . wmaOur story today is , " The Devil and Tom Walker . " It was written by Washington Irving . Here is Shep O ' Neal with our story . ( MUSIC ) Storyteller : Before we begin our story , let us go back three hundred years to the late sixteen hundreds . In those years , one of the most famous men in the world was Captain William Kidd . Captain Kidd was a pirate . He sailed the seas , capturing any ships he found . He and his men took money from these ships . Captain Kidd hid this money in different places . Captain Kidd was captured by the English in Boston , Massachusetts and executed in the year seventeen - oh - one . From that time on , people all over the world searched in many places for Captain Kidd ' s stolen money . The people who lived in Massachusetts in the seventeen hundreds believed Captain Kidd buried some of his treasure near Boston . Not far from Boston was a small river which ran into the Atlantic Ocean . An old story said that Captain Kidd had come up this river from the ocean . Then he buried his gold and silver and jewels under a big tree . The story said that this treasure was protected by the devil himself , who was a good friend of Captain Kidd . In the year seventeen twenty - seven , a man named Tom Walker lived near this place . Tom Walker was not a pleasant man . He loved only one thing -- money . There was only one person worse than Tom . That was his wife . She also loved money . These two were so hungry for money that they even stole things from each other . One day , Tom Walker was returning home through a dark forest . He walked slowly and carefully , so that he would not fall into a pool of mud . At last , he reached a piece of dry ground . Tom sat down on a tree that had fallen . As he rested , he dug into the earth with a stick . He knew the story that Indians had killed prisoners here as sacrifices to the Devil . But this did not trouble him . The only devil Tom was afraid of was his wife . Tom ' s stick hit something hard . He dug it out of the earth . It was a human skull . In the skull was an Indian ax . Suddenly , Tom Walker heard an angry voice : " Don ' t touch that skull ! " Tom looked up . He saw a giant sitting on a broken tree . Tom had never seen such a man . He wore the clothes of an Indian . His skin was almost black and covered with ashes . His eyes were big and red . His black hair stood up from his head . He carried a large ax . The giant asked , " What are you doing on my land ? " But Tom Walker was not afraid . He answered , " What do you mean ? This land belongs to Mister Peabody . " The strange man laughed and pointed to the tall trees . Tom saw that one of the trees had been cut by an ax . He looked more closely and saw that the name Peabody had been cut into the tree . Mr . Peabody was a man who got rich by stealing from Indians . Tom looked at the other trees . Every one had the name of some rich , important man from Massachusetts . Tom looked at the tree on which he was sitting . It also had a name cut into it -- the name of Absalom Crowninshield . Tom remembered that Mister Crowninshield was a very rich man . People said he got his money as Captain Kidd did -- by stealing ships . Suddenly , the giant shouted : " Crowninshield is ready to be burned ! I ' m going to burn many trees this winter ! " Tom told the man that he had no right to cut Mister Peabody ' s trees . The stranger laughed and said , " I have every right to cut these trees . This land belonged to me a long time before Englishmen came to Massachusetts . The Indians were here . Then you Englishmen killed the Indians . Now I show Englishmen how to buy and sell slaves . And I teach their women how to be witches . " Tom Walker now knew that the giant was the Devil himself . But Tom Walker was still not afraid . The giant said Captain Kidd had buried great treasures under the trees , but nobody could have them unless the giant permitted it . He said Tom could have these treasures . But Tom had to agree to give the giant what he demanded . Tom Walker loved money as much as he loved life . But he asked for time to think . Tom went home . He told his wife what had happened . She wanted Captain Kidd ' s treasure . She urged him to give the Devil what he wanted . Tom said no . At last , Misses Walker decided to do what Tom refused to do . She put all her silver in a large piece of cloth and went to see the dark giant . Two days passed . She did not return home . She was never seen again . People said later that Tom went to the place where he had met the giant . He saw his wife ' s cloth hanging in a tree . He was happy , because he wanted to get her silver . But when he opened the cloth , there was no silver in it -- only a human heart . Tom was sorry he lost the silver , but not sorry he lost his wife . He wanted to thank the giant for this . And so , every day he looked for the giant . Tom finally decided that he would give the giant what he wanted in exchange for Captain Kidd ' s treasure . One night , Tom Walker met the giant and offered his soul in exchange for Captain Kidd ' s treasure . The Devil now wanted more than that . He said that Tom would have to use the treasure to do the Devil ' s work . He wanted Tom to buy a ship and bring slaves to America . As we have said , Tom Walker was a hard man who loved nothing but money . But even he could not agree to buy and sell human beings as slaves . He refused to do this . The Devil then said that his second most important work was lending money . The men who did this work for the Devil forced poor people who borrowed money to pay back much more than they had received . Tom said he would like this kind of work . So the Devil gave him Captain Kidd ' s treasure . A few days later , Tom Walker was a lender of money in Boston . Everyone who needed help -- and there were many who did -- came to him . Tom Walker became the richest man in Boston . When people were not able to pay him , he took away their farms , their horses , and their houses . As he got older and richer , Tom began to worry . What would happen when he died ? He had promised his soul to the Devil . Maybe . . . maybe . . . he could break that promise . Tom then became very religious . He went to church every week . He thought that if he prayed enough , he could escape from the Devil . One day , Tom took the land of a man who had borrowed money . The poor man asked for more time to pay . " Please do not destroy me ! " he said . " You have already taken all my money ! " Tom got angry and started to shout , " Let the Devil take me if I have taken any money from you ! " That was the end of Tom Walker . For just then , he heard a noise . He opened the door . There was the black giant , holding a black horse . The giant said , " Tom , I have come for you . " He picked up Tom and put him on the horse . Then he hit the horse , which ran off , carrying Tom . Nobody ever saw Tom Walker again . A farmer said that he saw the black horse , with a man on it , running wildly into the forest . After Tom Walker disappeared , the government decided to take Tom ' s property . But there was nothing to take . All the papers which showed that Tom owned land and houses were burned to ashes . His boxes of gold and silver had nothing in them but small pieces of wood . The wood came from newly cut trees . Tom ' s horses died , and his house suddenly burned to ashes . ( MUSIC ) Announcer : You have heard the story , " The Devil and Tom Walker . " It was written by Washington Irving . Our storyteller was Shep O ' Neal . Listen again next week at this same time for another AMERICAN STORY told in Special English on the Voice of America . This is Shirley Griffith .