Page:Karl Gjellerup - The Pilgrim Kamanita - 1911.djvu/68

 assert that I, like himself, had been born under a robber star, and that I would one day join myself to the servants of Kali, for which reason it would be of value to listen to his addresses, as they would unquestionably waken to active life the instincts slumbering within me. I have on such occasions heard very remarkable lectures from him on the different "Sects of Kali"—usually called thieves and robbers—and on the usages which severally distinguish them. No less instructive than entertaining were his excursive remarks on themes like "The value of courtesans in hoodwinking the police," or "Characteristics of officials of the upper and lower ranks, open to bribery, with reliable notes as to each man's price." To his particularly keen observation of mankind, as well as to his severe logicality in drawing conclusions, irreproachable testimony was borne by his treatment of the question, "How and why do rascals recognise one another at the first glance, while honest men do not; and what advantages accrue to the former from this circumstance?" not to speak of his brilliant remarks on "The stupidity of night-watchmen in general, a stimulating reflection for beginners," when the sleeping forest rang again to such a chorus of laughter that the robbers flocked together from all sides of the camp, in order to hear what was going on.

But dry technical questions also, the master understood how to handle in an interesting fashion, and I recollect really fascinating dissertations on "How to make a breach in a wall without noise," or, "How to excavate a subterranean passage with technical accuracy." The proper construction of different kinds of crowbars, particularly of the so-called "snake-jaw," and of the "cancriform" hook, was most graphically described; the use of soft-stringed instruments to discover whether people are awake,