Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-01-02

case, crushing 1t into shapeless mass.
| This act still further excited the ire OF
the cardinal; but the pope, who took a
more senaible view of the matter, turn
| ed to him and said
"Come, cardinal, have you no conf
/ dence in our sorcerer? For my part, |
laugh like child at it, being convinced
| there has been some clever substitu-
/ tion.
Torrini, who was delighted with the
success of his trick, assured his holiness
that there had been no substitution, and
appealed to the cardinal for indemnifica-
| ton of his watch. The latter, after eX-
aiming the shapeless fragments, and
finding his arms engraved inside the
case, acknowledged that it was indeed
his beloved chronometer, and added in a
stern voice:
81 do not see how you can escape,
sir; you should have tried your danger
Gus experiment on some object that
could be replaced, instead of unique
watch like mine.
The magician, after declaring that
this circumstance gave BIN additional
satisfaction, as it enhanced the credit OF
his performance, asked the cardinals
permission to proceed But the latter
said that, as he had not been consulted
in the destruction of the watch, he did
not care what became of its fragments.
Having established the identity of the
cardinals chronometer, Torrini's next
object was to pass into the pOpe's peck
ct the one he had bought the previous
evening. AS this could not easily be
done while his holiness remained seated,
the magician hit upon pretext to make
him rise. Placing brass mortar, with
an enormous pestle, upon the table, he
threw in the fragments of the watch
aud began pounding furiOusly. Sudden
ly slight defamation was heard; lu-
rid flame shot up from the vessel, into
which Torrini gazed with an expression
of profound establishment. Respect for
the pope prevented the audience from
rising but his holiness, curious to see
the cause of the conjurer's interest, ap-
preached the table, and looked into the
mortar
Il do not know" he said, "whether
| it is because the light dazzles my eyes,
but | can distinguish nothing"
Torrini then begged him to come round
the table and choose a more favorable
point of observation, and, as he moved,
dexterously slipped the reserve watch
into his pocket. The cardinals chrome
meter had now been reduced to a small
ingot. Holding it up before the specta-
tors, the magician said
Il will now restore this crude mass to
it's original shape, and the transformation
shall take place during its passage to the
pocket of a person who cannot be sus-
pected of completely"
ga !" said the none with an ey19rps-
sion of jocular incredulity; " that is
promising a good deal What should
you do if l asked you to select my
pocket p
"The orders of your holiness shall be
Obeyed, said Torrini, who, on receiving
an asserting signal from the pope, took
the ingot in his fingers, showed it to the
company, and uttered the word Pass -
when it instantly disappeared. Plus
VII, with an incredulous expression of
countenance, put his hand into his
pocket. He had hardly done so when
he showed signs of confusion and draw
ing his hand out, brought with ii the
watch, which he quickly passed to the
cardinal, as if afraid of burning his
fingers.
There was great establishment among
the dignitaries of the church when his
eminence, on examining the watch, de-
clared it was the very one that had been
made for him by Breguet, and which
they had seen crushed to pieces by the
cOnjurer. The mystery was increased
when Torrini declared that he had full
filed his promise, and had only tested
the superiority of the chrOnOmeter.
The next day the pope sent him a
rich diamond snuff-box, with thanks for
the pleasure his performance had afford
ed. His fame was now at its hight. At
tracted by the news of his wonderful
exhibition, crowds flOcked to see the
magician who had accomplished such
maryels. They did not, however, have
the qualification of witnessing the famous
trick of the 'broken watch; !" for the eX-
pense of undertaking an experiment,
which could never again be repeated IN
der such favorable auspices, would be
warranted only by the circumstances
which originally brought together the
pope and the conjuror.
ALEXANDER YOUNG.