eat themselves in a
semi-circle on the prairie, and the hostess supplies each of them with a
bowl of rice which is set before her. A boulder, painted red, is placed
in front of them, about ten feet distant, and a large knife is thrust
into the ground in front of, and close up to, the stone. All the young
men attend as spectators. This ceremony is, on the part of the accused
and any girl who takes a place in the ring, a challenge to the world,
that, if any one has aught to say against her, he has the privilege of
saying it. If nothing is said, and the feast is eaten uninterruptedly,
the maiden who gave the feast is vindicated, and the gossip disbelieved;
but if the challenge is taken up by any young buck, he steps forward and
seizes the girl he accuses by the hand, pulls her out of the ring, and
makes his charges. She has the right of swearing on the stone and knife
to her innocence, which goes a great way in her vindication, but is not
conclusive. If she swears, and he persists, an altercation ensues, and
public sentiment is formed on view of the contestants' actions.

I remember once, at one of these trials, of seeing a young fellow of
about twenty-five, step forward and rudely grasp the hand of a girl of
about sixteen, jerk her to her feet, and make some scandalous charge
against her. The look she gave him was so full of righteous indignation,
scorn and offended virtue that no one could see it without being at once
enlisted in her favor. She glared on him for a moment, with a look that
only outraged innocence can assume, when shouts went up from the crowd,
"Swear! Swear!" She approached the stone with the bearing of a princess,
and placed her hand upon it with an air that could not be mistaken; then
throwing a look of triumph at the spectators, she strode back to face
her accuser with the confidence that bespeaks innocence. The fellow
began to weaken, and in less than a moment was in full flight with a
howling mob after him, hurling sticks and stones at him with no gentle
intent. He disappeared, and the girl took her place in the ring as fully
vindicated as if the lord chief justice of England had decided her case.
I recollect very distinctly that my convictions of her innocence induced
by the general features of the trial and conduct of the litigants were
as strong as any member of the court.

It probably would not do to depend upon such evidence in the more
complicated affairs of civilized life, and with a people ed