Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1898-12-30
Eli s IRsE.

.sassA merchant of Cor stu ffnOnlf, went M
the baths, as IS the custom IN Turkey. be-
ramorninR PRAYERS. After parfnrminnS
Ills solutions, on His way to the mosque
he lost In the street HIS purse. Il Deyoutly
he said his prayers, ana It was not until
be was leaving the mosque that he became
aware OF his loss. ~ AZ once he sent for the
town Grief ,s 81. IN. "a
have lost my purse, = said he. sit
contains 200 goldpieces Proclaim my loss
throughout the city, and whoever brings
it back to me shall he rewarded with
one2half Of its contents = l.. rs. ID !. s
The crier did al he was bid A sailor
had found the purse, and when he heard
to whom Il belonged immediately he took
It to the merchant, gleefully anticipating
the rich rev ard that he thought was to be
his. He gained adlnittanoe to the mer-
chants house. Immediately he saw him
he produced the purse, saying, Here is
your purse with 200 goldPieces inside. !"
An, let me see y ejaculated the. mer-
chant He counted the money and found
there was exactly the sum the man stated,
the amount he had. lost. You are q
thief said the merchant. :. ..5
'What! You dare to call me thief
when you have just counted, your gold In
front of me and found there precisely the
200 pieces, just as the crier proclaimede'
~ YES 1 snail say that you are a thief!
calculated tho merchant. In. my purse
there were two emerald earrings, and they
are not there now. Restore them to me
1T once or will have you imprisoned,
1T is false; there were no earrings in
your purse!' shouted the sailor angrily.
And what the sailor said was'trne, but
the MERCHANT thought by accusing him
Of the theft to brighten him so that he
would 90 away and hide, and by this base
device ne hoped to sav We his 100 goldpieces
'You have stolen my emerald earrings
Give them up to me at once or will take
you before the cadi,' repeated the mer-
chant, who, having once told the lie
thought he must stick to it,. 4. 10
Again the sailor stoutly denied this
wicked accusation, and demanded the
promised reward The merchant, seeing
that this was not man to be frightened
into silence, and feeling every moment
that he delayed less and less inclined to
part with His money, said: Come, you
are thief, ard you shall 60 with me be-
fore the cadi, and he will justly punish
you for stealing my valuable emeralds, and
if you don't come will have you dragged
along
II am innocent, and quite willing to
appear before the cadi. so that he may
Judge between us, replied the sailor.
/ So together they went to the cadi's
court. The merchant there stated his
case, now ne mad lost his purse how the
sailor had found 1t and returned 1t with
all the money IN; but two emerald ear
rings, worth, he declared, double the
amount VI the SOO goidpleces, had been
stolen from his purse, and evidently ny
the sailor, seeing he was the man who
acknowle lodged having picked 1t up.
Again the sailor denied having stolen
emeralds or any other precious stones. 1t
is true that picked up the purse, he
said, but there were only the 200 gold
pieces IN 1t, just as the orler proclaimed.
the cadl was, greatly puzzled and mys-
titled, not knowing whom to believe and
whom TO d1sbeileve. The merchant was p
r1ch man ana hel9 an A9n0rabie position
In the city, while the sailor looked so fear
lessly and frank In his face that he could
not belieye he was thief. So In his per-
plexity he pronounced this sentences:
That the sailor be acquitted of the charge
Of theft. but because Of his oarelessness in
losing such valuable articles he forfeited
the promised reward" -. Z
Great was the sailors anger at being
thus cheated out of his 100 goldpieces
. At this time there lived in CONSTANT
nople the celebrated Chorluli Ali Pasha
The sailor decided to present bis case in
a petition to him. Ali ePasEa, always will.
ing to give justice to the poor, summoned
the merchant, the. crier and the sailor to
appear before him., r.
''What was it that the merchant told
you he had lost and bid you cry through
out the town. he asked the crier.
"A purse containing 200 goldpieces,"
was the prompt reply.
Eyes, interrupted the merchant, that
is true; purposely did not tell him about
the emeralds, fearing that if the purse
fell into the hands of an ignorant man,
who knew not the value of gems, he
might, perchaDce, under such a great
temptation, when he discovered their val
ue'Ahere he suffered and stammered-
she might. be. tempted to keep purse and
jewels and say nothing about what. he
found' j..
Ali Pasha shook his head as the man
inn, hlod ont fhoso ridicu1or,e ,oosoua
"What 40 you say you fou4d?' he ask
ed the sailor.