Page:The Message and Ministrations of Dewan Bahadur R. Venkata Ratnam, volume 2.djvu/251

 confidence and trust; and she did not mind the other consequences. The troops came, ran into the holy place, and saw the woman holding fast tenaciously to the idol. They wanted to separate her from the object of her attachment and then pull down what to them was an abomination. But the woman would not let go her hold. She must live or perish with it. In helplessness and disgust, the men thought the only way to accomplish the purpose of demolishing the idol was to put an end to the woman. Under the commander's order, a soldier drew out his sword and cut off the head of the woman. It is said that, as the blood gushed out, every drop of it wore the form of the god, of the idol, she worshipped. Every drop of the blood in her body was thus shaped into the image of the object of her worship. Her assassins felt astonished at this wonderful transformation in the very physical system of the woman. The wisest of the band rightly reflected: "Leave alone her errors; hers is the faith that transforms the devotee