It was the year 1853, the place a small diary farm in Germantown, Wisconsin.

It is no 6:15p.m. William Ackerman is out in the barn finishing the milking of his cows, when it started to rain. He smells something like wet hay. In fact, it was wet hay because there was a small hole in the roof of the barn about the size of a half dollar. The rain was pouring through it, and all of the hay was getting soaked. There wasn’t too much Mr. Ackerman could do.

The next day he went on top of the roof to patch the hole. When he was done, the patching job was perfect as patchwork goes. But again the next night it rained, so Bill went out to see if his patch was holding up. When he got there, the patch was gone; and a hole the size of a softball was there. Once again he repaired the hole, and once again it became bigger. He finally gave up when the size of the hole became as large as a small automobile tire.

He was getting worried now because all the hay for his cattle was getting ruined, and that big hole caused a terrible draft. His best cows were getting sick.

One night Bill was getting ready for bed and was discussing the problem with his wife, Sarah. Bill said, “I would give anything even my soul to get that hole patched!” Just then the old grand father clock in the hall struck twelve midnight, and there was a knocking from the door! Bill got out of bed to find out who could be at the door at this time of night.

When Bill opened the door, standing there was a man dressed in black pants and shoes, a black overcoat, and a black hat covering his face. He was holding a black carpet bag. Bill was very angry at the stranger for coming at this time of night, and he exclaimed: “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT!” With a low but quiet voice the stranger said, “I hear you are looking for a repairman who can fix the roof on your barn.”

“Yes I am,” said Bill

“I also heard you would pay anything,”

“Yes!!”

“I will repair your roof and if I finish it before sunrise, I will tell you my price. If I don’t finish by sunrise, you pay nothing. Is it a deal?”

“Yes it’s a deal!”

The stranger then left for the barn. All though the night the sound of wood being cut and nails being pounded could be heard. The noise could have woken the devil himself. In the moonlit night Sarah and Bill could see the stranger working.

Suddenly Sarah remembered what Bill had said. (“I WOULD GIVE ANYTHING EVEN MY SOUL TO GET HAT HOLE PATCHED!”) She told Bill this, and he replied, “So what?”

Sarah answered, “What if the devil is taking you up on that deal?”

Bill just realized that the devil would take his soul. He had to think fast! An idea popped into his head. He grabbed a lantern and some matches and ran out to the chicken coop. He lit the lantern and held it in front of a rooster. The rooster thought it was sunrise and started to crow.

When Bill went outside to see if the man was still working, the stranger was gone. Ever since that day all the generations of Ackerman’s farm have never tried to repair the hole which is now the size of a half dollar.