I Provided Myself With A Capital
Spanish Master, And Made The Most Of Him.
This, as it turned
out, proved very useful to me in the course of my future
travels.
About the middle of March we left for Charlestown
in the steamer ISABEL, and thence on to New York. On the
passage to Charlestown, we were amused one evening by the
tricks of a conjuror. I had seen the man and his wife
perform at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly. She was called the
'Mysterious Lady.' The papers were full of speculations as
to the nature of the mystery. It was the town talk and
excitement of the season.
This was the trick. The lady sat in the corner of a large
room, facing the wall, with her eyes bandaged. The company
were seated as far as possible from her. Anyone was invited
to write a few words on a slip of paper, and hand it to the
man, who walked amongst the spectators. He would simply say
to the woman 'What has the gentleman (or lady) written upon
this paper?' Without hesitation she would reply correctly.
The man was always the medium. One person requested her,
through the man, to read the number on his watch, the figures
being, as they always are, very minute. The man repeated the
question: 'What is the number on this watch?' The woman,
without hesitation, gave it correctly. A friend at my side,
a young Guardsman, took a cameo ring from his finger, and
asked for a description of the figures in relief. There was
a pause. The woman was evidently perplexed. She confessed
at last that she was unable to answer. The spectators
murmured. My friend began to laugh. The conjuror's bread
was at stake, but he was equal to the occasion. He at once
explained to the company that the cameo represented 'Leeder
and the Swan in a hambigious position, which the lady didn't
profess to know nothing about.' This apology, needless to
say, completely re-established the lady's character.
Well, recognising my friend of the Egyptian Hall, I reminded
him of the incident. He remembered it perfectly; and we fell
to chatting about the wonderful success of the 'mystery,' and
about his and the lady's professional career. He had begun
life when a boy as a street acrobat, had become a street
conjuror, had married the 'mysterious lady' out of the 'saw-
dust,' as he expressed it - meaning out of a travelling
circus. After that, 'things had gone 'ard' with them. They
had exhausted their resources in every sense. One night,
lying awake, and straining their brains to devise some means
of subsistence, his wife suddenly exclaimed, 'How would it be
if we were to try so and so?' explaining the trick just
described. His answer was: 'Oh! that's too silly. They'd
see through it directly.' This was all I could get out of
him: this, and the fact that the trick, first and last, had
made them fairly comfortable for the rest of their days.
Now mark what follows, for it is the gist and moral of my
little story about this conjuror, and about two other miracle
workers whom I have to speak of presently.
Once upon a time, I was discussing with an acquaintance the
not unfamiliar question of Immortality. I professed
Agnosticism - strongly impregnated with incredulity. My
friend had no misgivings, no doubts on the subject whatever.
Absolute certainty is the prerogative of the orthodox. He
had taken University honours, and was a man of high position
at the Bar. I was curious to learn upon what grounds such an
one based his belief. His answer was: 'Upon the phenomena
of electro-biology, and the psychic phenomena of mesmerism.'
His 'first convictions were established by the manifestations
of the soul as displayed through a woman called "The
Mysterious Lady," who, &c., &c.'
When we have done with our thaumaturgist on board the ISABEL,
I will give another instance, precisely similar to this, of
the simple origin of religious beliefs.
The steamer was pretty full; and the conjuror begged me to
obtain the patronage of my noble friend and the rest of our
party for an entertainment he proposed to give that evening.
This was easily secured, and a goodly sum was raised by
dollar tickets. The sleight-of-hand was excellent. But the
special performance of the evening deserves description in
full. It was that of a whist-playing dog. Three passengers
- one of us taking a hand - played as in dummy whist, dummy's
hand being spread in a long row upon the deck of the saloon
cabin. The conjuror, as did the other passengers, walked
about behind the players, and saw all the players' hands, but
not a word was spoken. The dog played dummy's hand. When it
came to his turn he trotted backwards and forwards, smelling
each card that had been dealt to him. He sometimes
hesitated, then comically shaking his head, would leave it to
smell another. The conjuror stood behind the dog's partner,
and never went near the animal. There was no table - the
cards were thrown on the deck. They were dealt by the
players; the conjuror never touched them. When the dog's
mind was made up, he took his card in his mouth and laid it
on the others. His play was infallible. He and his partner
won the rubber with ease.
Now, to those ignorant of the solution, this must, I think,
seem inexplicable. How was collusion managed between the
animal and its master? One of the conditions insisted upon
by the master himself was silence. He certainly never broke
it. I bought the trick - must I confess it? for twenty
dollars. How transparent most things are when - seen
through! When the dog smelt at the right card, the conjuror,
who saw all four hands, and had his own in his pocket,
clicked his thumb-nail against a finger-nail.
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