Tracks Of A Rolling Stone - Henry J. Coke (novels in english .TXT) 📗

The Consciences Of These Servants Of The Law, 

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 100

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.'

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 102

Street,  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