The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1893-11-04
TRIAL BY ORDEAL.
A Remarkable Story From India
About Catching a Thief.

The Times of India publishes good
story OF trial by ordeal The narrator of
it some years ago had charge of a postal
division on the western coast, parts OF
which had seldom, il ever been visited
by a European officer. The people were
for the most part simple folk and very
superstitious. One morning the narrator
received information that q considerable
sum OF money, forming part of the con
tents 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 clew the police had been able
to obtain was that one rnnner, whom we
shall call Rama, had since the theft paid
of certain debts in the village which
had long pressed upon him; but there
were no other suspicious circumstances,
and the man had ten years good service
AS last resource il was determined TO
resort TO trial by ordeal, and for this
purpose an aged Brahmin. who was sup.
posed TO possess occult powers and TO be
in daily communion with the gods, was
consulted, and readily undertook TO dis
cover the thief. All the runners, a
goodly array of sturdy Mahratta peas
ants, were summoned 10 the office, and
under the guidance of a cheyla or dis
ciple of the old Brahmin, we all pro-
ceeded to 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 dcsecration 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 weird, uncanny look. The old
Brahmin was awaiting us, and, as we
approached, appeared To be busy NUT
tering incantatlons. The runners all
seemed TO be 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 incanta-
tions, arose, and, addressing the men,
said: "You are about to face the gods !;
TO the innocent the trial will he nothing,
but to the guilty much In the temple
a magic wand has been placed on the
altar. Each of you must go in 10y turns,
take up the wand and turn round three
times, repeating the name of Mahadeo;
the wand will stick TO the hand of the
guilty one" by this time il was nearly
dark. l glanced in through the door Of
the temple. A solitary oil buttee threw
a fitful light on the altar, on which an
ordinary bamboo stick about two feet
long ieposed 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 time. As each one appeared the
Brahim seized his hands and raised them
to- his forehead, and then allowed him to
pass on and join his fellows. Coming to-
Rama he went through the same panto-
mine, but, instead Of allowing him to-
pass on, badc 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 Continues
the writer Rama fell on his knees. con-
fessed that he was tho thief, and offered
to show where he had hidden the bal
ance of the money. lie had succeeded
in opening the mail bag without seri-
ously disturbing the seals; the Post
master 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 un-
canny hour, the incantations, all were
merely accessories to appeal to the
superstitions Of the ignorant peasants
The "magic &and" was thickly smeared
with strongly scented sandalwood oil
Rama's guilty conscience prevented him
from touching it, as he firmly believed
the wand would stick to his hands, and
his, of course, was the only hand that
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