Connecticut western news., 1894-06-14
TRIAL BY ORDEAL
Remarkable Story From India About
 Catching a Postal Thief.

Remarkable Story From India About
 Catching Postal Thief
 The narrator of the following story some years ago had charge of postal division on the western coast, parts of which had seldom been visited by European officer. The people were for the most part simple country folk and very superstitious. One morning the narrator received information that & considerable sum of money, forming part of the contents of the mail from a head to a suboffice, had been stolen on the road. The whole affair was wrapped in mystery.
 The only clew the police had been able to obtain was that one runner, whom we shall call Rama, had since the theft paid of certain debts in the village which had long pressed upon him, but there were no other suspicious circumstances, and the man had 10 years good service. AS last resource 1t was determined to re- sort to trial by ordeal and for this pur- pose an aged Brahman, who was sup posed to possess occult powers and to be in daily communion with the gods, was consulted and readily undertook to dis cover the thief. All the runners-agood- ly array of sturdy Mahratta peasants were summoned to the office, and under the guidance of cheyla, or disciple, of the old Brahman we all proceeded to a small deserted temple of Mahadeo, situ- ated at some distance from the village.
 It was a desolate spot and bore an evil reputation. The temple, owing to some act of desecration in the past, had been abandoned and was almost buried among weeds and tangled brushwood.
 The hour selected was about p. m., and the long twilight shadows gave the place a weird, uncanny look. The old Brahman was awaiting us, and as we ap- preached appeared to be busy mutter- ing incantations. The runners all seemed to be more or less under the spell of the hour, but the look of real fright in Rama's face was quite distinct. The Brahman, having finished his incanta. tions, rose and addressing the men said "You are about to face the gods. To the innocent the trial will be nothing, but to the guilty much. In the temple a magic wand has been placed on the altar. Each of you must go in by turns, take up the wand and turn round three times, repeating the name of Mahadeo, | The wand will stick to the hand of the guilty one" By this time it was nearly dark. I glanced in through the door of the temple. A solitary oil buttee threw fitful light on the altar, on which an ordinary bamboo stick about two feet long reposed among grains of uncooked rice and nut times, the whole sprinkled with red powder.
 A curtain was drawn across the door and the men entered one at time. As each one appeared the Brahman seized his hands and raised them to his fore head, and then allowed them to pass on and join his fellows. Coming to Rama, he went through the same pantomime but instead of allowing him to pass on bade him stand aside. When the last man had gone through the ordeal the Brahman turned to Rama and said qui etly:
 "Tell the sahib how you stole the money"
 | "To my utter amazement," continues the writer, Rama fell on his knees confessed that he was the thief, and of fered to show where he had hidden tho balance of the money. He had succeed ed in opening the mail bag without seriously disturbing the seals. The post master had not really examined then and so their having been manipulated had escaped notice. Needless to say the Brahman was rewarded and pool Rama was sent to repent at leisure il the district jail"
 Now the natural question is: "How was it done" Very simply. The tenn ple, the lonely glen, the uncanny hour the incantations, all were merely acces sories to appeal to the superstitions o the ignorant peasants. The "magit wand" was thickly smeared with strong ly scented sandalwood oil. Rama guilty conscience prevented him iron touhcing it, as he firmly believed tn, wand would stick to his hands, and hi of course was the only hand that diG not smell of oil.-Times of India.