Joel was but a child.

The Devil came to joel.

He came in the form of a little toy soldier.

With a red velvet jacket and a felt cocked hat and his musket on his back.

Joel, joel said the soldier.

Joel, Joel!

I can help you said the soldier.

How can you help me said Joel?

What is it that you desire asked the soldier?

A great toy castle said Joel.

Close your eyes and get in to bed and in the morning it shall be yours said the soldier.

In the morning beside his bed there was the largest finest toy castle you have ever seen.

The walls were pearly white trimmed with deep scarlet.

The drawbridge made of solid oak, that could be let down by a string and make a great crash!

The litte toy archers on the battlements had little toy bows that could fire matchsticks.

Joel could look through the arrowslits and see the little rooms and corridors all decorated with fine rugs and tapesteries of incredible detail and beauty.

All the fireplaces had little quartz fires illuminated by electric light, that could be turned on or off by pressing down the pole on which flew a scarlet banner.

In the court yard there were little wooden horses with tails made of real horse hair, that had wheels instead of hooves and each had a discrete handle that could be wound up to make them go, also some little rails that they could run upon.

There were little men of various rank and position, whos person could be adjusted so they could be sat upon a toy horse.

Among these were a king with a shiny gold band around his head, knights in real silver armour with swords made of real metal that could be sheathed and unsheathed and a wizard who always floated at least half and inch above the ground.

There was a tiny bronze cannon with cork balls and tiny packets of gun powder that it would ignite with a pleasing bang and puff of smoke.

Joel was admiring this castle when in came his mother.

Where ever did that come from? she inquired of Joel.

Joel did not rightly know what to say, so he lied that he did not know.

Then his father came and also asked where it had come from, and Joel again said he did not know.

Then came his aged grandfather who asked where it had came from, and was given the sane answer.

Soon his brother and sister came to see, with their greasy little fingers they poked and pulled and prodded until his brother actually twisted the leg off one of the fine silver-clad knights.

At this Joel flew into a rage and drove them from the room.

At school Joel told his best friend what had happened and invited him to take a look.

The boy sitting beside him heard and asked if he might also come and see it.

Before long Joel was surrounded by a crowd all wanting to know about the castle, and Joel who had never been popular before invited them all to his house to see it.

They were all most impressed, but there were far too many too all play with it.

Somehow the louder more popular children crowded aroud it and the quieter less popular children were pushed to the back and eventually sloped away.

Among them were all of Joels old friends.

The next day at school Joel did not notice his old friends and instead was surrounded by his playmates from before all hoping to see the magnificent castle again.

This time Joel said he would only invite five, because seven was too much of a crowd.

One boy offered him some humbugs in exchange for an invitation, another invited him to take him to the theatre with his father, another his best conker, the best in the school.

Soon with all the invitations birthday parties and other social engagements and fine prestige goods, Joel became the most popular child in the class.

But all too soon then that fine castle began to age, the paintwork became scuffed and dirty, the drawbridge began to jam, the archers stopped being able to fire their matchsticks, the knights armour began to scratch, chip and tarnish, somebody stole several of the horses and the remainder began to go ever slower after being wound up.

Several of the eletric bulbs blew and there was no easy way of fixing them.

Joel began to notice that his popularity began to quickly wain.

One afternoon, all alone he began to survey the damage and weep.

Then the soldier came to him again.

To make this castle again new, he said, all that is needed is to shed over it the lifesblood of a black rat.

This Joel refused to do in disgust.

But as if to tempt him on the way back from school he saw a black rat by some bins.

The next day by the same bins he placed a mousetrap with a bit of chicken by the bins, then late at night he crept out and found the mousetrap with the big black rat stuck in it.

He took it home, trying to hide it's squeaking, then he held it over the castle and sliced open it's chest.