r-mother also is not a Temple
woman. The law of adoption relating to Temple women does not apply to
them. The foster-mother, therefore, can have no legal claim to the
child. But the mother has absolute control over the bringing-up of the
child, and it would not be possible in the present state of the law to
do anything for the child now."

S. This is the little one who whispered her texts to me in the
moonlight, and whose foster-mother told her to tell me she was being
trained for the Service of the gods. She is evidently destined to be a
Temple woman. "The first question for consideration is how the old woman
is related to her. If she is the adopted mother, or if she could
successfully plead adoption of the child, the Civil Courts will be
powerless to help. If we can get some reliable evidence that the child
has not been adopted" (this is impossible) "we may be able to induce the
British Courts to interfere on her behalf and say she shall not be
devoted to Temple service until she attains her majority; but it would
not be possible to induce the Courts to hand the child over to the
Mission."

K., the little girl whose own mother is a Temple woman. She has been
taught dancing, which to our mind was conclusive proof of her mother's
intentions. To make sure we asked the question, to which the following
is the reply: "No children of [good] Hindu parents are taught dancing.
Even the lowest caste woman thinks it beneath her dignity to dance,
excepting professional devil-dancers, who are generally old women,
mostly widows, of an hysterical temperament. When young children of
women of doubtful character are taught dancing, it means they are going
to be married to the idol. When children of Temple women are taught
dancing the presumption is all the greater. But the difficulty in the
case of K. is to get one who has higher claims to guardianship than the
mother. In the case of a Temple woman's child there is no one.

"It is this which makes it impossible for the well-wishers of the
children to interfere. . . . The law punishes only the offence committed
and not the intent to commit, or even the preparation, unless it amounts
to an attempt under the Penal Code."

* * * * *

Bluebeards are not an institution in England; but if they were, and if
one of the order were known to possess a cupboardful of pendent heads,
would Englishmen sit quiet while he whetted his butcher's knife quite
calmly on hi