The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1914-05-20

throw themselves upon the funera
pyre. The seeming unconcern of the
parents, more especially the fathers
is, no doubt, responsible for much Of
the sadness and sorrow that comes tc
women in this way.
| One morning father was bathing
in the sacred waters of the Godavari
near the village where he, his wife and
two daughters, aged nine and seven
had stopped on a pilgrimage to dc
honor to the gods at various shrineS
AS he tarried fine looking gentle
man came to battle at the same place
The father inquired the caste, clan
and place of residence of the stranger
Finding out that he was high caste
Brahman and widower, the father
offered his daughter of nine years in
marriage to the stranger. The offer
was accepted and the next day she
was taken by her husband and
they started on journey OF nine hun,
| dred miles to their new home. The
father, with the mother and sister
started in the opposite direction with
a light heart, glad that he had made
so favorable a match for his daughter.
! Strangely enough the child wife was
| most kindly cared for by the father
husband and years afterWard became
the mother OF Pandita Ramabai. How
interesting runs her life story. Her
father had selected the place in the
| woods that he might educate his
young wife. The tax upon his hospi-
tally made it necessary for him to
become a pilgrim with the others.
From place to place they went until
finally, exhausted in mind and in body,
without finding the reward that the
priests promised, he died. The wife
soon followed, but not before she had
taught the young Pandita the SAT-
scrit. With a brother, she continued
the search for satisfaction. going from
city to city and from temple to temple
The priests were constantly telling
them of the great virtue that would
come to all for the performance of
penance before the gods. Although
they never received, they still! be-
lieved until one day after years Of
hardship and their money was all gone
they came to the sacred lakes on
which were the Floating Hills. which
they were told were the seven sages.
Because they had no money they were
warned by the priests not to go into
the water because the crocodiles would
get them. 1-.
One day the brother swan out to
the Floating Hills to see the wonder
and found that they were only large
mounds of dirt supported by heavy
timbers. He also saw that they were
moved about by the priests. Even the
doubts that came to them did not him
der their going to other sacred places
where they bathed in tanks to wash
away their sins and wore their wet
garments into the temple and endured
them for hours, believing that sin
could not come to them while in that
condition. Finally the brother who
had tried SO hard to obtain the good
will OF the gods, died. Pandita, left
alone, went to Calcutta, where she
married a Bengali man. He lived but
short time and after his death she
went out as a lecturer. She attracted
so much notice that presently she was
asked to take trip to England. While
there she learned about the christian
religion. When she was about to leave
for home, call came to visit Ameri-
&C. Here she met her kinswoman,
Mrs. Anandibai Joshee. She had just
graduated from woman's medical
school in Pennsylvania and was going
back to India to help the diseased
women of her land. 1t had been a
hard task for Mrs. Joshee to keep
caste in America and the strain with
her school work had been too much for
her and a few months after her arriv-
al in India the brave little doctor
passed away. The death OF DR.. Jo-
shee seemed to place an added re-
sponsibility upon Pandita Ramabai.
She stayed long enough in America
to study the public school system and
then went back to be an educator. She
soon found that to make a success OF
the work toward which her heart turn
ed, she would have to make it chris
tian to overcome the caste difficulty.
Her first work was in the city of
Bombay. but she soon moved to Poona
and from there she purchased the
tract of land at Kedgeon SO us to have
more room to accommodate more wild
ows. She certainly had them. AL
most 1900, and happy lot they
were. Numbers OF the mothers had
brought their children SO that the
child life with it's gladness counted
nearly two hundred. How the chill
dren loved the woman that had made
their lot better While we talked they
came up with that childish curiosity
that is so interesting and so charac-
teristic of little folks, but nothing of
fear possessed them While she whom
they all loved held within her own
the little brown hands too often COW
cred with the dust Of the street.
Her life was in the work. She
thought only of midas great need
You will come back again to be
missionary. | know you WILL There
was such confidence in the statement
and such pathos back OF the smile,
that it was difficult not to think that
perhaps duty led along that way.
Reluctantly, we said good night and
good bye for the morning would find
us on our way to other scenes. In the
restful little guest chamber we sat
down to think. Our musings were in
terrupted by low distant murmur