Tracks Of A Rolling Stone by Henry J. Coke (free e reader txt) 📖
- Author: Henry J. Coke
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Not Unfrequently Turns A Real Criminal Loose Upon Society;
Whereas, Had Any Other Penalty Than Death Been Feasible, The
Same Person Would Have Been Found Guilty.
Much Might Be Said On Either Side, But On The Whole It Would
Seem Wisest To Leave Things - In This Country - As They Are;
And, For One, I Am Inclined To The Belief That,
Mercy Murders, Pardoning Those That Kill.
Chapter 19 Pg 99
We Were Nearly Six Weeks In The Havana, Being Detained By
Lord Durham's Illness. 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
Chapter 19 Pg 100Were 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.'
Chapter 19 Pg 101
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. The Dog Alone
Could Hear It, And Played The Card Accordingly.
The Other Story: A Few Years After My Return To England, A
Great Friend Called Upon Me, And, In An Excited State,
Described A Seance He Had Had With A Woman Who Possessed The
Power Of 'Invoking' Spirits. These Spirits Had Correctly
Replied To Questions, The Answers To Which Were Only Known To
Himself. The Woman Was An American. I Am Sorry To Say I
Have Forgotten Her Name, But I Think She Was The First Of Her
Tribe To Visit This Country. As In The Case Spoken Of, My
Friend Was Much Affected By The Results Of The Seance. He
Was A Well-Educated And Intelligent Man. Born To Wealth, He
Had Led A Somewhat Wildish Life In His Youth. Henceforth He
Became More Serious, And Eventually Turned Roman Catholic.
He Entreated Me To See The Woman, Which I Did.
I Wrote To Ask For An Appointment. She Lived In Charlotte
Chapter 19 Pg 102Street, Fitzroy Square; But On The Day After The Morrow She
Was To Change Her Lodgings To Queen Anne Street, Where She
Would Receive Me At 11 A.M. I Was Punctual To A Minute, And
Was Shown Into An Ordinary Furnished Room. The Maid Informed
Me That Mrs. - Had Not Yet Arrived From Charlotte Street, But
She Was Sure To Come Before Long, As She Had An Engagement
(So She Said) With A Gentleman.
Nothing Could Have Suited Me Better. I Immediately Set To
Work To Examine The Room And The Furniture With The Greatest
Care. I Looked Under And Moved The Sofa, Tables, And
Armchairs. I Looked Behind The Curtains, Under The Rug, And
Up The Chimney. I Could Discover Nothing. There Was Not The
Vestige Of A Spirit Anywhere. At Last The Medium Entered - A
Plain, Middle-Aged Matron With Nothing The Least Spiritual
About Her. She Seated Herself Opposite To Me At The Round
Table In The Centre Of The Room, And Demurely Asked What I
Wanted. 'To Communicate With The Spirits,' I Replied. She
Did Not Know Whether That Was Possible. It Depended Upon The
Person Who Sought Them. She Would Ask The Spirits Whether
They Would Confer With Me. Whereupon She Put The Question:
'Will The Spirits Converse With This Gentleman?' At All
Events, Thought I, The Term 'Gentleman' Applies To The Next
World, Which Is A Comfort. She Listened For The Answer.
Presently Three Distinct Raps On The Table Signified Assent.
She Then Took From Her Reticule A Card Whereon Were Printed
The Alphabet, And Numerals Up To 10. The Letters Were
Separated By Transverse Lines. She Gave Me A Pencil With
These Instructions: I Was To Think, Not Utter, My Question,
And Then Put The Pencil On Each Of The Letters In Succession.
When The Letters Were Touched Which Spelt The Answer, The
Spirits Would Rap, And The Words Could Be Written Down.
My Friend Had Told Me This Much, So I Came Prepared. I Began
By Politely Begging The Lady To Move Away From The Table At
Which We Were Seated, And Take A Chair In The Furthest Corner
Of The Room. She Indignantly Complied, Asking If I Suspected
Her. I Replied That 'All Ladies Were Dangerous, When They
Were Charming,' Which Put Us On The Best Of Terms. I Placed
My Hat So As To Intercept Her View Of My Operations, And Thus
Pursued
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