The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1899-02-02
The LOST PURSE.

to the mosque he IOst in the street his
purse. DevOutly he said his prayers,
and it was not until be was leaving
the mcsqne that he became aware of
| his loss. At once he sent For the town
crier.
Il have lost my purse" said he 1T
contains 200 gold pieces. Proclaim
my loss throughout the city. and who
ever brings it back TO me shall be re-
warded with one-half is contents
The crier did As be was bid. A
sailor had found the purse. and when
! he heard TO whom # belonged imme-
| diately he took it to the merchant.
gleefully anticipating the rich reward
| that he thought was TO he bis. He
/ gained admittaLca 20 the merchants
| house. Immediately he saw him lie
produced the purse, saying. Here Is
your pur-e with 300 gold pieces inside"
"Ah, let me see,7 ejacnlated the meT-
| chaBI. He counted the money and
| found there was exactly the sun the
| man stated, the amount he had lost.
You are thief said the merchant.
What You dare call me u thief
when you have just counted your gold
/ in front Of me and found there pre-
cisel; the 200 pieces, Just as the crier
pIoclaimed2" ?"
Yes, ] shall say that yon are d
thief ejaculatel the merchant. In
my purse there were two emerald
earrings. and they are not there now.
| Restore them to me at once or | viii
have you Imprisoned
1T is false: there were 10 earrings in
your purse!' shouted the sailor augrily.
And what the sailor said was true.
but the merchant thought by accusing
him of the theft to fnghten MIN so
that he would go away and hide. and
by this base device he hoped to save
his 100 gold pieces.
You have stolen my emerald ear
rings Give them up TO me at once
or | will take you before the cadi :"
repeated the merchant, who, having
once told the lie, thought he must
stick to it,
Again the sailor stOutly denied this
wicked accusation, and demanded the
promised reward. the merchant,
seeing that this was not a man to be
frightened into silence, and feeling
every moment that be delayed less
and less inclined to part with his
money said: Come you are a thief
and you shall 90 with rue before the
cadi, and he will jnstly punish you
for stealing my valuable emeralds,
and if you don't come [ will have
you dragged along"
Il am innocent, and quite willing t.
appear before the cadi, 50 that be maN
judge between us" replied the sailor
So together they went to the cadi's
conrt. The merchant there stated his
case, how he bad lost his purse, how
the sailor had found 1t and returned
it with all the money in; bu+ two EN-
er4ld earrings, worth, he declared
double the amount of the 2G0 gold
pieces. bad been stolen FROM Di, purse
and evidently by the sailor. seeing he
was the man who acknowledged hav
ing picked it mp.
| Again the sailor denied having stOl
en- emeralds or any other precious
stones. ut is true shat | picked Up
the purse" he said, but there We're
only the 300 gold pieces in ii, Just as
the crier proclaimed
The cadi was greatly puzzled and
mystitied, not knowing whom to be
lieve and whom to disbelieva. The
merchant was a rich man and held an
honorable position in the cty, while
the sailor looked SO fearlessiy ana
frankly in his face that be could not
believe he was a thief. SO in his per
plexity he pronounced this sentence:
That the sailor be acquitted of the
charge of theft. bnt because of his
carelessness in losing such valuable
articles he forfeited the promised
reward
Great was the sailors anger at be
ing thus cheated ont of his 100 gold
pieces.
At this time there lived in Con
stantinople the celebrated Chorlui
Ali Pasha. The sailor decided to
present his case IN petition to him
Ali Pasha always willing to give JUS
tice to the poor, summoned the mar
chant, the crier and the sailor to ap
pear before him.
What WAS 1t that the merchant told
vou he had lost and bid You cry
throughout the town. he asked the
, crier
a purse containing 300 g)ld
pieces" was the prompt reply.
Yes" interrupted the merchant
that is true; purposely | did not tel
him about the emeralds, fearing thai
bny fnl1 ,,t e
ignorant man, who knew not the val
, he of gems. he might, perchauce, IN
!, der such a great temptation. when ht
discovered their value"-here he stut
tered and stsmmereu-''h might Ge
|. tempted to keep purse and jewels au6
saying nothing about what he found.
Ali Pasha shook his head as the
man jumbled out these ridiculous rea
sous.
What do you say you found?' he
asked the sailor.
"A purse with 200 gold pieces.
was the unvarying reply.
Then" said Ali Pasha, lit Is very
evident ;hat since the purse the mer-
chant lost contained two emerald ear
rings, as well as 200 pieces of money
the purse found was not lost 10y the
merchant. but by someone else. Sc
let the merchant have his purse cried
again aud again until some God fear
ing person, having found it. restores
it to him. aud let the sailor keep tht
purse be found for forty days. and j
it is not claimed within that period
then let him keep it for his own."
Nay, nay. ChorluG Ali Pasha,
said the merchant, bowing low: NOV
[ come to think Of il. the emeral,
rings were not in that purse, Unit
this moment | had forgotten. but nov
remember that for better security
hid them away in place known onl
to myself
'4ou speak too late" said the pashS
.ipj by fins laSC,p lo.,,,, 4I.t - a