OCR Text |
Show UETFfTINO V THIEF. HOW AN ARAB CI1IHP I'JCTCrP HIM OUT OF TWESTY-L UR.V. 'ot long ago I had occasion to pt ntlralu will Into the nortlieru nrt of Mesopotamia, tutya a letter from Turkey in Uiu Itoafoo GUJjC. Oou mnrnlns when I aroe I fcund th,t a leathrr purse oonUlulng&oiueJtSl hail lpen ten from my sadJIe laz during the night. I at ouce iioc to the IchiIit of the larje caravan with which I ai - travilin;. He wai au old Aral chief who had feen far heller days, butoariu tonar -tnd famine had : been driven Into the caravan bu. nesa. which, by the way, I often profitable. lie ir.i not at all excitetl by my tale, and when I baJ done ijuIcUj 1 said. Tho eUVndi ehtlltoon liate ' his money again." My reply was- "And then Jou shall have your iin-tut." "Inhallah"lCioJ be j nised),a lib reply and we eeiaratrd. Iu abaut half in hour he called all the men of our train together and made them tit dou n on Hi j groiiii 1 before him iu a run. Ileblmxlf waf perched ujoa a bale of Kood, u itli till feat tucked under hlni, and real li loo'.cd ttalrlarchal with hU long white flawing beard. lie explained to the men the nature na-ture of Uio theft, and then aided. "I htvo 113 Idea what ha taru the cht-Mii'ai money; only the thief anJ Allah know that; but as the Amtr IcanefTendi Is under my care ujiou this journey I am bound to protect blm. It ia a alianiK to me nbd agaiiiat my honor that hehluuld met with this loss from y our hind The thief luut-t lie dUeoveml tnd severely puuUhsd. Xow I proj 6je ha leave the question to the thief au J Allah U) kettle. My white don key (In. r. Jo a Urge white donkey , which is greatly prized in tlil.-couutry) tlil.-couutry) isuow tied alone In my tent yonder. That donkey Is a direct di-rect desceodsnt from the oi.e on which Mahomtt rode when hu Ileal from Mecca to Medina In the year of the Ilexira. lie has wonderful wis m Allah is with him. He hater) tin and sinners Tile holy rophit often speaks to him. ' Xow, I roramauJ each one of yoj, one at a time and lutlrrli a'one, to go to ray tent where the donkey U lied, chwe the door so no one rail ee In, and then iil the donkey 'a tail. When a man uho is not guilty does this, all will be sili lit an 1 well; when the thlel tourhi- him he will kick and br. Tl e effendl will make ready to mete out the proper unishnient. riial is all. It Is spoken. Lota man cearrtt the tent go flrtt, and Die othcro follow in the same order, .one by one. Silijici'" Tiie first man went. The deep stillness wai broken only by the heavy breathing of the twenty -six men uho sat in thatfoletui row. No. 1 returned tohissat,audXo. at followed: then another, and another, and anolhc, and yit not a sound from the tent or tlio donkey. I h?nii to ftl anvlrktl. T ri!iil some money up ou that game. I watcheJ.the o d Judje. Ilescemrd as calm aud undUtutbcd as the donkey in the tent seemed to lie. There was not a trace of anxiety uiion his face. There were only two men left Then one, I held my breath, for I knew thai cqv MP must hear a rarupu. Hut, no; he oame out and took IiU teat aaln, and all eyes were turned upon the old man. I had expected that In some way the old fellow would find my ni3ney;,buthehadnot ouly failed, but had put himself and mo in a mrut ridiculous position befoie the caravan, tjur iulluence would certaiuly to Injured by this .ct. I was chagrined, and angered, and rose up lo go. Tlio old man as calm as a hojali, motioned me to ! toiled. I suddenly sud-denly obeyed. He then In a film voice told tlio men tc stand, each one holding his lianJsojien befoie him together with the taints ujv. They mechanically did os he ordered, or-dered, In mute as'o-its'jnicnt. aud I imut conftss that I could not make out nt all what he was up to. He arce aud, beginning at the left on J of the row, held his ace for a couple of frecond In tho up turned palms of the flrt man. The operation he calmly repeated with theaccond aud third. When he cam? to the slxU-enlh man he suddenly lifted hU face from his hanJr, clutcV-J the fellow by the shoulders, and puahed him out of Uiu line. "Thief! dog'" said he in a voice full of thunler. "Where have you put the foreign oOenli's money? tiring it at onco, or I will break yojr vile Head aud water the sanis with jour blocd." He gave the trcmbliitg man his liberty, and in less than one tubule I had my puree that wai ot. I was confouuded. AUlKu;h I had clo-ely watched every move I wasyctuualle to understand how tlio o'd shuk ItaJ dicavem the thief. The next day, as we- rode along, I asked iilm to explain to me the process of the reVcUtiuu He aid. "I prepare! tho donkey for the trial by shaking his tall for a few moments iu the tea of an herb that grows iiiabunisneealiout here. It hs.s a tenacious though not strong oJor." I saw through It all. C'oourrf the thief did not pull the tail and all the rest did, aud by smelling of the hands he "tnew who was afraU of the donkey s kirk aud bray. I leave It to my readers to ludge whether the old man did not have a pretty good woikiog knowledge of human nature. |