The Devils in Heaven

It is usually thought that when good children die they go to heaven and become angels. But if anyone imagines that they live there with nothing to do but fly around, and play hide-and-seek in the clouds, he is very much mistaken.
The angel children have to go to school every day like the boys and girls on earth, three hours in the forenoon and two hours in the afternoon. They write with gold pencils on silver slates, and instead of the A B C books, they have story books with all sorts of gay-colored pictures. They do not study geography, for a knowledge of the earth would be of no use in heaven, nor do they learn the long and terrible multiplication table, because they live in Eternity.
The school teacher is Doctor Faust. He was a magistrate on earth, but on account of certain affairs that caused him a good deal of trouble and were very much talked about, he was required to teach school for three thousand years before he could have a vacation. On Wednesday and Saturday afternoon there is no school, and the children are permitted to play by themselves in the Milky Way; but on Sunday, which is the grand holiday, they can go outside of heaven and play in the big meadow. There they enjoy themselves more than all the rest of the week put together.
The meadow is not green but blue, and thousands and tens of thousands of silver and golden flowers are all aglow with light and men call them stars.
In the afternoon of the great holiday, St. Peter takes care of the children, while Dr Faust rests and recuperates from his labours during school hours. St. Peter, who is always on guard at the gate of heaven, sees that there is no boisterous playing, and no running away or flying off too far; if he discovers any straying or wandering, he at once blows on his golden whistle the call to “come back.”

One Wednesday afternoon, it was very warm in heaven, and St. Peter fell asleep, tired out with watching. The children noticed this and took advantage of it to steal from the old man and spread themselves over the entire meadow. The most enterprising ventured out to explore the extent of their playground and discovered that it was abruptly ended by a high board fence. This, they examined carefully for cracks to look through, but finding none, flew to the top of the fence and commenced shouting across the space beyond.
Now hell was on the other side of the fence, and a multitude of little devils had just been driven out of the door. They were coal-black, with horns on their heads and long tails behind. Soon they looked up and saw the angels above them fluttering around the top of the fence, and at once they began to beg that they might be allowed to come up into heaven, promising faithfully to behave, if only the angels could let them in for “just a little while.”
Moved with pity, the innocent angels decided to get the Jacob’s ladder out of the garret and let the little imps come up. Fortunately, St. Peter was still asleep, and they managed to drag the ladder out without disturbing him. After a good many efforts, they succeeded in raising it up against the fence and then lowering it into hell. It scarcely touched the ground before the long-tailed little varlets were swarming up the rounds like monkeys.
When they got near the top the angels took them by the hand and helped them over the fence.
This is how the devils got into heaven.
At first, they behaved very well, tiptoeing here and there, and carrying their tails under their arms like a lady’s train, as they had often seen the big devil grandmothers do. But this didn’t last long, and in a few minutes they began to let themselves out and give full vent to their feelings. They turned hand-springs and somersaults, and growled and yelled like veritable imps. They mocked the good and happy people who were dreamily looking out of the windows of heaven; they stuck out their tongues and made faces at them.
Finally, they began to tear up the flowers and throw them down on the earth.
In the meantime, the little angels had become very much frightened, and bitterly they repented their rashness in letting such unmannerly guests into heaven. In vain they pleaded with the rascals to be quiet and go back to hell, but the devils only laughed at them.
At last, in despair, they awakened St. Peter and tearfully told him what they had done.
He clasped his hands over his head, as he always did when angry, and thundered, “Come in.”
And the little angels went sneaking through the gates, very crestfallen, with wings drooping and trailing on the floor. Then St. Peter called for the sleeping angel policemen, and when all the devils were caught, they were handcuffed and taken back where they belonged.
But this was not the end of the matter. For two consecutive Sundays, the angels were not allowed to leave heaven, and when they were permitted to play, they had to take off their wings and halo; this was the severest of all punishments, for it is considered a great shame for an angel to be seen without his wings or his nimbus.

It is an ill wind that blows no good. The flowers that the devils threw out of heaven, took root in the earth and grew from year to year. To be sure these star-flowers have lost much of their heavenly brightness, but they are still lovely to look at with their great hearts of gold and silver glory.
And because of this heavenly birth they do indeed possess a hidden power of their own.
When a maiden with doubt in her soul plucks off the white petals of the flower one by one, singing at the same time a certain song, she knows by the token of the last little petal the answer to the question of her heart.