The Devil and Tom Walker recap

Miserly Tom Walker meets the devil in a swamp and is offered Captain Kidd's buried treasure in return for corrupt service and his soul. Tom initially refuses, partly because his wife urges him to accept. She tries to bargain independently and vanishes after signs of a violent struggle. Tom then agrees to the terms and becomes a harsh Boston moneylender, enriching himself by exploiting borrowers. As he ages, fear of damnation makes him ostentatiously religious, but his conduct does not improve. During an argument with a debtor, Tom swears that the devil may take him if he has profited from the man's troubles. Old Scratch appears at once and carries him away on a black horse amid a storm. Tom's wealth then proves illusory or worthless, and his house burns, leaving his bargain with no lasting reward.

Near Boston, the miser Tom Walker and his wife live in a decaying house, each concealing possessions from the other. Crossing a swamp, Tom reaches an abandoned fort and meets a dark woodsman who identifies himself through many names and claims authority over Captain Kidd's buried treasure. The stranger offers Tom access to it in return for conditions involving his soul and a corrupt occupation. Tom hesitates, but his wife wants the wealth and goes to bargain alone. She disappears; evidence in the swamp suggests that her meeting with the devil ended violently. Tom then accepts the offer. He refuses to enter the slave trade but agrees to become a moneylender, charging desperate clients harsh terms and growing rich in Boston. In later life he fears the consequences of his bargain and becomes loudly religious, carrying Bibles while continuing his predatory business. When a land speculator pleads against foreclosure, Tom denies profiting from him and calls on the devil to take him if the accusation is true. Old Scratch appears on a black horse and sweeps Tom away in a storm. Tom's securities turn to rubbish, his stored wealth disappears, and his house burns, erasing the material success for which he traded his soul.

Years after accepting the devil's terms, Tom tries to protect himself through conspicuous religious observance while continuing to profit from desperate borrowers. When a land speculator begs for more time, Tom angrily denies that he has earned anything from the man's hardship and invokes the devil as witness. Old Scratch immediately arrives on a black horse and carries Tom away in a storm. Tom's outward signs of prosperity prove empty: papers in his strongboxes become worthless scraps, his valuables disappear, his horses leave only remains, and his imposing house burns. The people of Boston remember the event as the fulfillment of Tom's bargain, and the place associated with his business remains linked to the tale afterward.