The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-12-16
TRIAL BY ORDEAL.
A Remarkable Story from India About
Catching a Thief.
From the Times of India.

The narrator of this story some years
! ago had charge of postal division on the
western coast, parts of which had seldom,
| if ever, been visited by an European of
ficer. The people were for the most part
simple folk and very superstitious. One
morning the narrator received informa-
ton that a considerable sum of money,
| forming part of the contents of the mail
from a head to a sub-office, had been stolen
on the road. The whole affair was wrapped
in mystery, The only clue the police mad
been able to obtain was that one runner
whom we shall call Rama, had since the
theft paid off certain debts in the village
which had long pressed upon him; but
there were no other suspicious circum-
strnces, and the man had done ten years
good service.
AS a last resource It was determined to
| resort to trial by ordeal, and for this pur-
| pose an aged Brahmin who was supposed
| to possess occult powers and to be in daily
communion with the gods, was consulted,
and readily undertook to discover the
| thief All the runners, a gOodly array of
sturdy Mahratta peasants, were sum
moned to the office, and under the guild
ance of a cheyla or disciple of the old
Brahmin, we all proceeded TO the small
deserted temple of Mahadeo, situated at
some distance from the village 1t was a
desOlate spot, and bore an evil reputation.
The temple, owing to some act of desc
Grafton IN the past, had been abandoned,
and was almost buried among weeds and
| tangled brushwood
The hour selected was about p. m,
and the long twilight shadows gave the
place a weird, uncanny look. The old
Brahmin was awaiting US, and, as we APP
preached, appeared to be busy muttering
nCantations. The runners all seemed
| more or less under the spell of the hour,
but the look of real fright on Rama S face
was quite distinct. The Brahmin, having
finished his incantatiOns, arose, and adj
dressing the men, said you are about
to face the gods TO the innocent the trial
will mean nothing, but to the guilty much.
In the temple magic wand has been
placed on the altar. Each of you must
go in by turns, take up the wand and
turn around three times, repeating the
name of Mahadeo the wand will stick to
the hand of the guilty one. "
BY this time it was nearly dark.
glanced in through the door of the
temple A solitary oil buttee threw
ftful light on the altar, on which an Ordi-
nary bamboo stick about two feet long
reposed among grains of uncooked rice and
cut lines, the whole sprinkled with red
powder a curtain was drawn across
the door, and the men entered one at a
time. As each one appeared the
Brahmin seized his hands and raised
them to his forehead, and then allowed
him TO pass on and join his fellows. Com
ing to Rama he went through the same
pantomime but, instead of allowing him
to pass on. babe HIM stand aside When
the last man had gone through the ordeal
the Brahmin turned to Rama and said
quietly Tell the sahib how you stole
the money
To my utter amazement Rama fell on
his knees, confessed thathe was the thief,
and offered to show where he had hid the
balance of the money. He had succeeded
in opening the mail bag without seriously
disturbing the seals; the postmaster had
not really examined them, and so their
! having been manipulated had escaped
notice Needless TO say, the Brahmin
was rewarded, and poor Rama was sent
to repent at leisure in the district Jail
Now, the natural question is, How was
it done!' Very simply The temple, the
lonely glen, the uncanny hour, the mean
tations, all were mere accessories to APP
peal TO the superstitions of the ignorant
peasants. The magic wand" was thickly
smeared with strongly scented sandal
wood oil. Ramas guilty conscience pre-