The Devil at Purgatory Chasm

By David Macpherson

The Devil is a busy fellow. He needs a vacation from time to time. For several years, the Devil summered in Central Massachusetts. There is a place called Purgatory Chasm filled with rocky paths, caves and boulders to climb over. How could the Devil not vacation there, at a place called purgatory?

He had a fine time, resting and relaxing. For the Devil, resting and relaxing meant fooling the tourists and inventing new ways to be his old bad self. These stories tell how he swindled people for their picnic baskets, ruined trail markers, went into the weight loss business, collected swears and oaths, and other enjoyable tales.

These are folksy tales about a folksy fellow. We know that Purgatory Chasm is real, we see it right there on the cover of the book. All the rest of book? Well, we are not completely sure of its truthfulness. Just don't ask the Devil about it. He can get a might tetchy if you question his honesty.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Macpherson
• Release date: Nov 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393556657

Book preview

Purgatory Chasm

In the town of Sutton Massachusetts, smack in the middle of the state, there is an extraordinary rock formation. It is called Purgatory Chasm. It's like a large gash in the ground with rocks and caves and tunnels. For generations, people have come to Purgatory Chasm to picnic and climb upon those rocks and descend into the chasm. It is a challenging climb to scurry up and down those rocks and crags. But not so hard that kids can’t do it. Kids love climbing all over the chasm.

The Chasm has formations there with unique names, like the Devil's Coffin, the Devil’s Corn Crib, Lover's Leap. People wonder how these rocks got those names. Now I don't know the story of all the names, but I do know a few. I don't know how the whole place got the name Purgatory Chasm, but I do know how the Devil's Corn Crib got its name. That's because a while back, the Devil himself got to summering there. He named some of the locations, and he had a wonderful time relaxing and vacationing in central Massachusetts. Here are some of the stories about the time the Devil was taking his ease at Purgatory Chasm.  It’s not all the stories of the Devil when he was there, because the Devil doesn’t like people know everything about him. These are the stories the Devil decided to tell me about. I’m sure he won’t mind me telling you some. Well, I hope he doesn’t mind.

Why the Devil Sleeps in his Coffin

Of course the Devil sleeps. Everybody sleeps. Moving around in this world, creating conflicts, making contracts, setting up unfair deals. causing a ruckus. All of these things can tucker a body out. And these are things the devil does. If he didn't get his sleep, he would be a thoroughly surly Devil. And who wants a surly devil? I can answer that, nobody.

Now the Devil don't sleep like you and I do, in a warm room what a soft mattress, a stuffed quilt blanket, and pleasant dreams running through the head. No the Devil don't do any of that kind of thing. He sleeps maybe once or twice a month.  He doesn’t sleep only at night like we do, but whenever he gets the notion that he is dead exhausted. He thinks to himself, I need to recharge my wicked ways, and goes to his bedroom.

The Devil's bedroom is a small tight enclosure. Strong walls near him, just the way he likes it. When he sleeps, the devil snores thunder and lightning. That’s why, in Sutton Massachusetts, when he's summered at Purgatory Chasm, there was always a few humdinger thunderstorms that lasted 10 to 12 hours. People working in the mills back then knew that that was just the devil taking himself a noisy old nap.

It took him quite some time to find him that perfect room to be his bedroom. Not that he had a bed in the room, mind you. He just slept on the ground. The devil is resourceful like that and never showy. Finally, he found the perfect place to rest his horned head. It wasn't much bigger than him, but it was perfect and the sleep he had there was heavenly. Wait, no not heavenly. The Devil