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The Ruin of Sodas
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doubts and suspicions arose in his mind. At any rate, after having discussed the problem with the King, the Chief Minister returned home. He arranged a meeting of the ministers. The ministers unanimously decided that immediate steps should be taken to trace the culprits who were abducting the children. The Chief Minister sent for the head of the spies and ordered him to take the necessary steps to find out the abductors.
Accordingly, the department of spies made arrangements to search for the culprits. One spy approached the teacher in the school. Even the teacher was agitated over the strange phenomenon. The spy obtained from the teacher some useful information and then began to hunt for the culprits in the vicinity. He also made enquiries with the boys of the school and collected some information. A new fact came to light. The spy found out from the boys that every day a stranger came and stood in a corner of a lane and kept distributing sweets to the children throughout the day. The officer decided to gather full details about that stranger.
The next day, the officer put on plain clothes and kept sauntering about near the corner of the lane. At the appointed time, that stranger who had put on a disguise came to that place and began giving sweets to children. The officer at once recognized him. He was none other than the cook in the palace. He had put on the guise of a peasant; and was distributing sweets to children. The spy. at once, had a premonition. Suddenly, doubts and suspicions arose in his mind. So, from a distance, he
eful watch on his activities and movements. Many boys came there; received sweets; and went away. Some boys were accompanied by their parents or guardians. Thus, some hours passed. The midday sun was blazing hot. Step by step, the number of people passing that way dwindled. Just then, a boy was seen in the lane. He approached the cook. He stretched his hands to receive sweets. The cook looked around to see if anyone was watching him. He could see no one. There was dead-silence everywhere. The cook thought of utilizing this opportunity; and made the boy smell a medicinal herb. As soon as he fell unconscious, the cook put him into his empty basket.
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