Morris tribune., 1915-07-09
A Struggle. For
a Fortune
..
A Story OF Eastern Su.
perstition
By.F. A. Mitchell

There Is no end to the superstition
of the eastern hemisphere. In India
there is firm belief In the; ransmigra-
ton Of souls-that is. when human
being dies the soul passes into the
body of an inferior animal
There was a woman, Nirmal. who
lived near Calcutta " ho was possessed
of larger share of this worlds goods
than is usual to any one In that coun-
try except the rulers. She was old and
fnfrm. and the only person she had to
comfort her was son, who was in
poor health
Nirmal nursed her boy, he growing
weaker every day, till at last he died
in her arms. Leaving the body. she
went out into the yard. and. the first
thing she saw was a newborn calf
trying to balance itself on its legs and
looking at her with its liquid eyes. She
did not doubt that her sons spirit had
passed into the calf and, going to it,
threw her arms about it's neck and
crooned over it.
If ever dumb animal was born into
the world with silver spoon in Its
mouth it was this calf. A room on
the ground floor was prepared for it,
with a door that would enable it to go
out and in at will At one end Of the
room a trough was built for its food.
and since it did not eat dainty food it
was given plentiful supply OF such
as a calf requires, 5.s...
When Nirmal died she left her for
tune to the calf. appointing an ad.
ministrator and guardian, At the ant
mails death the fortune was to pass to
the testator's little niece. Agya, then
seven years old. Nirmal was aware
that it might be to the interest of some
one to kill the calf in order to get pos.
session of the property through Agya,
who was but a child and untitled to
defeat such a purpose. Nirmal there.
fore appointed Kadur. priest, whose
sacred calling she believed would make
him honest, to take care of the calf.
This man had charge Of a temple
wherein was an oracle who told peor
pie what would happen to them and
how to avoid adverse DEGREES Of fate
The oracle was the priest himself. WHO
was concealed at the other end Of the
speaking tube. whence came the voice
Those who received information drop
ped coins into receptacle set up for
the purpose, and the money was appro.
prfated by the priest. <5r&; So .
Business at the temple being duh
when Kafur was left the care of the
calf. he relegated the temple to an.
other and accepted the new position.
not that the salary he received as ad
ministrator was more than his profits
as oracle, but the income Of the estate
would enable him to feed the calf and
still have far more than he could make
at the supernatural end Of the speak.
ing tube. .:~-.-.-. =. z.
For few years he enjoyed the per,
quisites of his administrat torship; then
the calf, which had meanwhile become
COW. died Kadur. having no idea
of giving up a good thing, substituted
another cow and kept on heaping up
the funds. 3
By this time Agya had come to a
marrfageable age. She had often visit.
ed the COW In its manger and knew
not only its color. but every spot on
its body. Kadur had matched as wei
as he could the COW of which he was
guardian. but it was impossible that
be should do so exactly. Every patch
of color was duplicated. but there was
in the original black spot in white
behind the right ear that was not pres
ent in the substitute
After the ward COW died Kadur dis.
couraged Agya from visiting the sue
cessor, fearing that she would discover
the fraud He told her that he had
had dream that her cousin" would
kick her to death. Agya grew suspi.
cious and found way to visit the
manger when it's guardian was absent
and discovered the substitution =
Agya when she made this discovery
had passed the age when Indian girls
are married, for they wed in child
hood. and. since unmarried girls iI
that country are considered ,undesira
BILE, was fearful that she would be pu1
out of the way She had been thus
far saved by the fact Of her prospec
tive Inheritance: but, now. that one
COW. after another would nominalls
hold her fortune and Kadur would alb
sorb the income. she feared that if tht
matter became known SHE would b.
strangled The original COW woulf
now be ten years old. and Agya's ia
ther was thinking that 1t was time sh.
should die Agya. poor girl. was il
an agony of fear lest he should 'sus
pect fraud: make an Investigation ant
discover that new heir had receives
her property, for she knew that no on
would have power to defeat the ras
cality Of priest in the courts, ami
her fortune would be considered lost
Agya about this time met q youn,
man. Rustum. with whom she fell ii
love, and he loved her. She confidet
to him the situation, and the two pu
their heads together to form a plan O
killing the cow and getting the prop
erty. This would be difficult feat t