Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1873-11-06

brother in Konieh made il for me-
This fellow saw it, and wished 10 bit
it, and when refused TO sell ii, vi
tried to take il from me by force.
ovcrcamc him, aud he was angry. an,
sworc vengeance; and he has resortct
TO this trial in hopes TO obtain II.
! La this case, as in the other, thcr,
were no witnesses. Both mon seemed
very earnest, aud both maintained Al
1 honest exterior.
The old Mollah took the saddle ant
| examined it,
at is valuable saddle he said, a.
he passed his hands over the plan
surface. y am Mt a loss which Of yol
TO believe"
"AIe. me-" cried About ~Tt Il
mine.'
"Justice," exclaimed Saladcen, Il
only ask justice"
| "Ah!" uttered the Mollah, pressing
his finger upon the embossed leather
near the bow Of the saddle. "Wha
have we here? Give me n knife"
An attendant ishawoeska handed
up knife, and the Judge proceeded tc
rip open q seam in the saddle bow and
| with an exclamation Of surprise hC
took therefrom four pieces Of gold.
"Aha! And so you make this youl
treasury, my good About Muzzaiar?' 2
eyes, most excellent judge" replied
Aboul, with q low bow. ~ hid il
there SO that might not be robbed OF
| it,"
"Salaleen, said the MolIah, Stunning
to the elder claimant, "what say Won Ia
this Did Your saddle have money
concealed in it 2"
"No. sir,-not that know Of tho
man replied, with crcstfallen expires.
sion. "The Jew OF whom | bought il
might have left money in II, but did
not know il.
Very well pronounced Ben-Ah-
med. rising TO his feet. E.Saladeen, the
saddle is yours. As for You, About
Muzzafar, you shall pay 10 Saladeen
ten piastres for The trouble to which
you have put him, and this evening
you shall receive one hundred lashes
of the bastinado.--I caused the gold to
be sewed up in the saddle while ID was
in my possession this morning.
Abcul was led away by two officers.
while Saladeen took his ten piastres
and his saddle, and went on his way
rejoicing.
Two cases ofsimple award were next
disposed of, and following these came
the case Of man who had purchased
for jewels what had proved to be only
bits of glass, The man who had pur-
chased was preseut, and the merchant
who had sold was also present. The
first claimed that he bought the
baubles for rubies and emeralds, and
paid a good price. The merchant
could not deny that he sold them, but
he declared that he had only sold them
as he bought them. He bought them
for pure stones, and had so supposed
them.
The Mollah took the jewels in his
hand, and then took something from a
pocket of his vest which he compared
with them.
"Why," said he, smiling, ''this is
only glass, as any one might tell
Here--this simple peasant girl would
know better than to purchase this for
true stone What say yousn
AS he spoke he handed the glittering
trinket to the Ciacassian girl who had
been claimed by the two men. lie
smiled encouragingly, and she took
the jewel. She weighed it upon the
end of her finger, aud then touched it
to her tongue.
els is not elass Z" the Mo:lah asked.
"No, sir, th6 girl conffientiy re-
piled. II should say il was pure
ruby, and of great price,
"Ah! say You so2 And ;hese-are
these also stones ~
And he handed her the jewels in
dispute. She took them, touched them
each to her tongue in turn, and then
said:
'The first, sir, was a true stone but
these are all glass
s'It is as ! thought" resumed the
Mollah. "The first was ruby Of my
own. These others are but worthless
limitations
And he decrced that the merchant
should pay back the full price he had
received, and that the banbles should
be destroyed. And as, in pleading,the
culprit persisted in declaring that he
had sold the stones in good faith, the
judge further decreed that the officers
should affiy over the door of his shop,
there to remain for two full moons, a
board with this inscription upon ii -
The merchant apithiR IS liable TO sell
glass for pure stones. Trade ariih him
dccordingly"
The dishonest diamond merchant
refunded the money he had received
for his false stones, and went away
with the assurance that il he removed
the placard which should be placed
above his door his ears should be
split.
Then the old Mollah turned to The
Circassian girl.
Girl he said, sternly, "you belong
to the jewel-merchant Mustapha. Go
with him, and be it his to punish you
for your falsehood."
Galbec started forward with a cry
of wrath and dismay, still claiming
the girl as his.
"Stop," interrupted Ben-Ahmed.-
"Thc wife Of a simple peasant, reared
as yon claim your wife hath been
reared, could not judge of precious
stones so quickly and so nnerringly.-
She belongs to the jewel-merchant,
who had educated her after his calling.
But thou shalt not 60 of bootless, G al
bee. Thou shalt pay to Mustapha
twenty piastres for the service of his
slave, ana tor thy false swearing theu
shalt be taken out will About Muzza-
far and receive fifty lashes of the bas-
tinado."
witnessed others of the old Mol
lah's judgments, and Ilelt him with a
feeling OF respect and veneration.
"Think Of it," cried my friend, the
sheriff, when told him the story
"just imagine that Molah to have been
in the place Of one of our judges, with
two smart lawyers and an average
jury between him and the Judgment" "
"Think OF another thing, Look into
one OF our civil or criminal courts
The Judge is supposed to be the most
candid, impartial, and enlightened
member of the Court. lie knows the
law, and he alone sits without preiu-
dice or favor. And yet his hands
alone are tied. He is tied by the let
ter of the Law. The lawyers may
flout and bewilder and badger as they
please; and in the end tie jury may
4 n y Il