Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-11-20

4
| in the second
| Total, thirteen again. cried the English
man.
At this moment the musician left OF playing
| ana the curtain rose revealing a stage almost
pare There was an ordinary drawing-rootn
table in the center, and at the sides there were
| Two smaller tables with glass tops; at the back
there was a tall cone, like an extinguisher. en-
cept that ii was quite seven feet high. Three or
| removed and an Inclined plane led from the
stage about halfway down the center of the
haii. III was next TO this run down., as 1t is
technically called. that Cameron and Wyom-
| ing had taken their seats.
A few seconds after the curtain rose, Monsieur
BbtzlnI appeared at the right OF the stage and
advancing To the center he bowed to the audi
ence. He was man OF less than forty. He
was tall and slight. with a little stOop of the
head. lie had dark hair, already srizzled. He
/ had youngish face, but it vas heavily
| wrinkled. Thick eyebrows arched over eyes
| which were his chief personal popularity; they
! were gray with streak of red in the iris. His
| hands were fine and delicate, but there was u
! feline suggestion IN their movements. The ease
| OF his manner was not artificial, but 1t mig hit
fairly be called excessive.
Ladies' and gentlemen he said. as he sur
| veyet the audience calmly, 81 hope to have
| the pleasure this evening of entertaining you
| with the sight of strange wonders. What 1
snail perform before Won is unlike the ord-
| nary performance of the ordinary conjurer that
without seeming bOastful il would be impOs-
sib.e FOR me To expatatc on the extraordinary
novelty OF my program, were it not that
cannot Claim for myself any credit for the
InaTvels which viii, be accomplished this eve
| nin@. All tnat L nave done Is to- discover the
spirits OF the silent sphere and 10 induce them
! to lend us their aid Tor the working of many
wonders. IT, therefore. what you may see here
tonight pieaseS you, II Is these spirits whom
You must thank, not me. am only an humble
instrument i'll their hands, and they are the
real authors at al! the sfartin" novelties which
hope To be able To- exhibit before YOU this eve
ming have 10 beg that you will rear this in
mind. use neither apparatus nor sleight of
terIiy or ingenuity. All that / can do is TO
serve as the medium whereby these spirits work
wonders. closely akin to those which the Egyp-
ttan magicanS wrought before PharaOh-per-
maps by the same means
As Monsieur Bitzini finished this very irregu-
lar speech, almost exactly the opposite OF that
ordinarily spoken by the professional conjurer,
Cameron and Wyoming looked at each other in
blank surprise.
This is pretty steep, isn't it," asked the
American.
1T is that the Englishman answered land
think is about the cheek !est thing ever heard.
Just look over the program and You can rec
French names''
lie Bouquet d'Iris,' said Wyoming "thats
the growth OF flowers. suppose, and La Pluie
de Dante is the shower of money. OF course.
But what Il lie Tireur deS CarteS"
Its bad French for the rising cards. I'll be
ooIhu, cameron answered. And the others
are all as familiar as these
You think then. that he is hiding the old
fashioned tricks under newiaBgied names and
that he Is merely an ordinary coniurer, who has
chosen TO give variety 10 his show by alleging
that he has familiar spirits come from the vastly
deep To do his biddiDg:'
precisely so''
Its dodge worthy of Barnum at his best.
or Sarah Bernhardt, said the American enthu-
siIstiCally.
While the two friends were exchanging i'm
preSslons Monsieur Blitzini had retired up the
stage. as though 10 see that every thing was in
ordef. From The center table he had taken up
his wand. With this in his right hand he adj
vanced again 10 the fCotlightS.
"l beg You Will pardon this delay of q moment
only, hut you must observe that have dis
pehseo with an assistant, and that shall not
fhea
shall remain before you the whole evening. ex-
cept during the brief intermission between the
twopartsO OF the entertainment and shall have
DO assistance Wiiaiever-save the unseen hands
of the silent spirits.
., As be paused for a moment, Cameron said to
wyoming:
"He has a curious accent, hasn't he: 1t might
be forcign-Dutch or Russian-and it might be-
English
Hes not an American" replied Wyoming:
al feel sure of that
o,, IL shall have the pleasure of beginning my
entertainments, Monsieur ''litZiui continued,
viii the strange marvel which have called
Les Fleurs d1ris. ] have here Il tiowerpot filled
with garden mould, and take six seeds from
this package and" Here he interrupted HIM
self ana glanced with apparent surprise at the
TlSh' lapPei OF his coat. Il beg your pardon,
but see have presented myself before Won
without the flower which ought TO adorn my
bnttonhoie. Now, agree with n friend of mine
who said he would Father wear flower With
ous Il dfeos-coat than a dress-cOaa without q
Hover. Fortunately the omission is easily ROC
timed. take one of these seeds and place il i'm
my 6"ttonhole beg that the attendant spirits
snail cause y 10 grow at once into Il flower:
raise my wand Ia the air; apply it to the but
tOnhoie: you see
Monsieur Blftzini suited the action to the
wore ana the spectators did sec. The seed in
the buttonhole grew at once to q large suu-
Hover, Which spread over the lapel of his coat
ihen suddenly It's outer circle began to revo!ye
ana 10 crackle. while from the center there shot
out, with "A sharp report, a long let of flame
Inc SunhoWer mad changed To small Catbe-
Iihe "heei, winch spun round banging and
DiaZing, ana whz2lns and cracking until it
had spent Its short-lived fury. Monsieur Bit
zini stood motioniess in the center OF the stage
not I!ung u finger To save mis- beard which
was getting singed as the king of Spain's was
by Drake \ look vi surprise came into his
the more material fireworks. Al last the snin
ming wheel OF fire gave u ,inal blaze and "A sud
dci! Dang, and dled ont ami Disappeared
Il say sald Cameron. "thiS is sometime
like u rick.
LAS youjustly observe Wyoming returned
III grows interesting. VINO would have tnourh.
it, ''-e> i"' 81 hiucc iaihe In
= man mnst know his Shakespear, to talk
Win YOU, Cameron answered.
y Oh SEE I'm AN American Wyoming re-
pied. "dnd II is meat and drink to us to quote
hhiahespetre. even when We see con urer
bound upon wheel OF fire, like Kin. Lear.
DId you notice that Bii!zini seems quite as
much surprised as We are:'
Tile bears the ordeal by fire very bravelv
cameron aSseuted, but l confess that don't
exactly understand this" 'A
Meanwhile the spectators had been tumul.
Trick. Monsieur BiitZini stood silent in the
center OF the stage, bowling his ACKNOWLEDGE
Iehts, without ~ trace OF the flower or of the
fire which had followed it in the l.nneI ot his
coat. ills black dOeskin coat was i'm nacuIate
lnere was Il iiIckerlng smile on his IipS aud IN
seemed as though IT was only by Il strong eff
Tort tfat he was able To keep the wand in his
hahu from trembling. As the applause died
away ne reused himself and, taking up the
nowerpot, he descended the rundown and
stoOd among the audience. Here he finished
the lrlck III more conventional fashion. He
borrowed a hat and held it over the Howernot
and asked Il lady to place her hands on the hat
ana then removed the hat To reveal n beautifni
bouquet OF hothou>e flowers standing uprivht
IN the earth OF the pot. He presented the hHr
quet 10 the lady gracefully, and then returned
10 the stage TO bow again. ~
III was with lighter heart, evidently that no
began the second trick on the program
where II figured AS La Montre IndesirnctihIa'
form the familiar feat with q borrowed watch
which Is first proved To- be a repeater with the
eccentric faculty OF striking any hour that the
owner may chose, and is then smashed IN frag
fnontS In a mighty mortar. In the beginning ~
THIS trlck, while the performer was among the
audience all went We'll. but 1T the end when he
returned 10 the stage and wrapped the SHAT
tered fragments In a sheet of paper this sheet OF
paper suddenly disappeared ana The wheels aud
springs fell TO the stage and scattered Wvon,
ing noticed a curious and enigmatic expression
IN the con urer face he STOPPED tn her mn
the broken bits. Monsieur BiitZlni tOOE .nni her
sheet OF paper ana again il vanished frum his
fingers ana the fragments Of the watch TELL tr
the stage. collecting them once more and tak.
ing q tlird sheet OF paper, Monsieur BIifzin;
stepped ont upon the rundown and this time he
IA m m