Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1859-07-29

current was therefore Immediately inte.runt.
ed. The strong man, released from his Ter
rible bondage. raised his hands abo,e hi.
head, exclalming in terror "Alahi AL
lah :" Then hastily wrapping himelf in
the folds of his bOurnous, as if to conceal his
shame, he rushed through the rows o. spec-
tators, and darted ont of the house The
audience, grave and serious, whispered the
words: "Shitan Dienoun' (Satan, Cenie)
and seemed to wonder that Hoadin cid not
at once appear with cloven foot, ami long
tail.
The marabouts were not disposed 10 Weld
the new comer's powers without strurglt.
and pressed him as hard as they could NJ
Houdin was successful but his victory was
not altogether easy, as he tells in the follow
ing narrative.
The marabout said To me. II believe now
in your supernatural power. You are really
4 sorcerer. | hope, therefore, YOU will not
refuse to repeat here an exhibition of YOUR
powers made on !vour stage He gave me
! two pistols, which he had concealed under
bis bournous, and said Choose one Of those
/ pistols; we are going TO load it, and I shall
/ fire 1t at you. You have nothing to fear.
since you know how 10 parry snv bullet g
| confess | was for moment dumb with en-
! barrassment. ! tried my best to think Of
some suhterfuge, but I could think Of moth
/ ing. Every eve was fixed on me, in ex-
peotation Of my reply. The marabout was
triumphant
Bou Allen, who knew that my tricks
were due solely to my adroitnsss, became
angry that his guest should be- ANNOYED in
this barhirous wav, and he scolded the mara
bout. | stopped him. An idea had struck
] I'll.
the moment from my embarrassment. So |
SAID to the marabout, speaking with all the
assurance | could summon: You know that
| am not invulnerable. unless have tails
man on me. Unfortunately have left it at
AlLiers.' The marabout began To laugh in
credulously. Nevertheless" | went on t.
say, ''if / remain IN prayer for six hours.
shall be able to make myself invulnerable To
your pistol, even though have no talisman.
Tomorrow morning at eight clock, shall
let you fire at re before all these Arabs, who
are witnesses of your challenge" Bou Allen.
astonished to hear me make such a promise.
came up and asked me in "A low tone if was
speaking seriously and if he should invite
the Arabs to come the next day. | told him
was. | need not say did not spend the
night in prayers. but worked for two hours
to make myself invulnerable, and then, salts
fed with my success, | went to sleep with a |
great deal OF pleasure. for | was horribly |
tired. We breakiasted before eight o'clock the /
next morning our horses were saddled, and |
our escort was waiting the signal of depar-
ture, which was to take place Immediately |
after the ia nous experiment. The sIme
persons who were present at the challenge
the day before, were at the ren lezvous, and
a great many other Arabs who had heard Of |
what was to take place, had come to witness
it,
The pistols were brought. l made them
observe the touchole was clear The mara
bout put good load of powder in the pistol
and rammed it down well. | chose a ball
from among the balls brought. | ostensibly
put it in the pistol and rammed it down well
The marabout kept good eye on me: his
honor was at stake. The second pistol was
loaded as the first had been, and now came
the trying moment. Trying indeed it was
Tor everybody! For the Arabs around, un-
certain how the the experiment would end:
Tor my wife, who had IN vain begged me not
10 make the experiment which che Wac
afraid of; and confess it, trying for me,
NV new trick was based on none of the ex-
pedients had hitherto used, and | was
afraid of some mistake, some treachery. some
PAGES in front of the marabout. without e1
libiting the least emotion. The marahout
instantly took up one of the pistols, and at
he given signal be aimed deliberately at me.
He fired | caught the ball in my teeth.
More irritated than ever, the marabout ran |
o snatch up the other pistol; was quickest !
md | seized it. ''You failed to draw blood !
rom me, said 10 him, ''now look. | am
,Oing to draw blood from that wall yonder. [,
fired at a wall which had Just been white
washed; instantly large clot of blood was
cen on IT. The marabOut went up to 1t,
,ut finger on it, tasted it. and satisfied
himself it was really blood, His arms fell
own to his side, he hung his head, be was
II was evident he doubted now
f everything, even of the Prophet. the
arabs raised their hands to Heaven, mutter
ra yers and looked at me with dread.
This trick, however curious 1t may seem,
5 managed easily enough. | shall describe
t. As soon as | was alone in my chamber,
took out of my pistol-case (which ! carry ,
With me wherever | go) a ball-mould. ] f
ook a card, turned up its corners and made I
sort Of recipient of it in which | placed a c
lmp Of stearine, taken from one of the can
les in the room As soon as the stearine t
'as melted. mixed a little lamp-black with t
!, which | obtained by holding knife over r
lighted candle, and then | poured this G
into my ball-mould. If | had
flowed the liquid stearine to become entire L
2 cold, the ball would have been solid; but 4
fter ten or twelve seconds ] reversed the 4
lould and the portion of the stearine which t
ras not vet solid flowed out and left a hol- t
lw ball in the mould. | wanted a second T
all. | made it a little thicker than the /
rst. | filled it with blood and closed the
perture with drop of stearine. An Irish O
ian had showed me years before, how TO ey- t
ract blood from the thumb without pain | v
dopted his trick to fill my ball with blood. 7
t is hard to believe how nearly these pro- S
,ctiles of stearine, colored with lamp-black, t
1ok like lead they will deceive anybody, t
ven when examined quite closely. The S
eader now clearly sees through the trick. 0
While exhibiting the lead bullet to the spec Y
ators, changed it for my hollow ball, and i
his last l ostensibly placed in tn pistol b
ahmed it down to break the stearine into C
mall pieces which could not reach me at if j
zen PAGES. As soon as the pistol was dis o
harged, opened my mouth and exhibited v
ne lead ball between my teeth. The second I
istol contained the ball filled with blood. t
-hich was broken to pieces on the wall, |;
here it left the spot of blood, while the
ieces of stearine could no where be found
his is the whole mystery. 0
The ScoLD.-There were not long since, $
To youths, male and female, who were 80 =