Frederick citizen., 1895-01-18

hand cleaning tulwar, or curved
sword. and addressing the servants, he
informed them that the weapon was q
magical one. and would cut down the
tnlef as soon as he laid hands upon II.
This sword" he continued, will be
suspended In a dark room, through
which each Of you will pass singly, and
whilst doing so you will place your
hands upon the sword, and when the
thief does SO. the weapon, which is the
servant OF my incantatiops, will deal
MIN blow which will send him sense
less and bleeding to the EARTH"
The holy man and Major Manvers
then retired to prepare the room for
the trial, whilst James remained to see
that none Of the servants stirred from
Where they were standing. In a few
minutes all was complete. The major
and the holy man took up Their posi-
tons at the door of which led into the
garden. whilst James Rickson took up
his position at the door Of the room to
see that the ceremony was properly
carried out. The little window of the
room had been darkened so that the
chamber was in perfect obscurity
One by one the superstitious natives,
on their faces entered the room, and
upon their emerging from it were en-
countered by the holy man, who,
grasping their hands, gazed for a mo-
ment fixedly into their eyes. and then
dropping their fingers, exclaimed:
Go, my son, you are not the thief"
Akram by some pretext or other had
contrived to remain until all the
n Al
then objected to go in, under the plea
that the trial was not meant for him.
James however, was firm, and with
an affected air of nonchalarce the man
entered the chamber. In a second or
two he emerged with staggering steps
and a strange glare about his eyes.
The holy man seized his hands, and in
a moment exclaimed:
20 man of sin, you have done this
deed; confess and make what atone
ment you can for the suspicion you
nave cast upon your brethren. Con-
fess and say what you have done with
your masters jewels, for you alone
have not dared to touch the divining
sword"
The unhappy man glanced wildly
about him, and then muttering, "In
the thatch of my house." fell to the
ground in an epileptic fit.
You have done WELL" said James
Rickson, as he came up and put a bag
Of rupees into the holy mans hands,
who went off with merry twinkle
in his eye, and after going into the
house and securing the sword of de-
struction, took his departure
The ring was found in the spot in
dicated by Akram, who was at once
handed over to the police, and in due
course tried and sentenced to a long
term of Imprisonment. Major Manvers
was fully convinced of hs wife's inno-
cence. and Grantley Chester took his
departure, delighted at having got out
of what promised to be an ugly scrapa.
AS for Bella, the lesson she had re-
enived had a good effect on her, and
she almost entirely gave up Irritation
fJr the future.
"It wasn't half bad dodge" said
j. mes Rickson, as he told the story
of the ordeal at the mess. You see
the cunning old chap had smeared the
sword all over with a thick coating of
wet red paint, when he was getting
the room ready. OF course, all those
who touched the sword carried away
some traces on their fingers, which
the sharp eyes of the holy man at
once detected. When it came to Ak
rams turn, the credulous idiot was
afraid to touch the sword for fear IL
should cut him down, and so, of
course, the cunning old fellow had no
hesitation in accusing him of the theft.
and the rascal's guilty conscience did
the rest. Very neat, was it not?"
The story was we'll received, and
much laughed over, for no one suspect
ed that Akram had double motive in
his act-first, that of securing the dia-
monds, and secondly, the hope of get
ting rid of mistress who was not so
easily beguiled as his too indulgent
master.-Sir Gilbert Campbell.