San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-11-10

''yes, was a scotfer once; but have been
bitterly punished-in fact, my incredulity
was the cause of my bereavement" and he
pointed in a solemn manner to the deep black
hat band he wore.
When l looked up at his hat band saw
the mans name printed in little gold letters
upon his travelling bag, which lay on the
rack above his head-"Mr. Augustus Boo
byer"
When had / heard the name beforel OF
course it comes back to me in q flash. Boo
Dyer! that was the man who ran off with little
Hetty Stareley, Of the Frivolity theatre |
am not theatrical man, but / saw Miss
SUareley in the celebrated ballet of THE
Swallows, and very pretty indeed she looked
with her big eyes, her curly black hair and
her dot of mouth. She was pretty plump
little nonentity till she married Boobyer,
when she became q nine days wonder Then
she left the stage. disappeared from the pho
tographers' windows, and nobody ever heard
any more of Miss Hetty Stareley.
sits not so very long ago" he began, that it
was my privilege TO lead TO the altar an ex-
ceedingly lovely girl. l worshiped tie very
ground she trod upon, sir. My wife was so
excessively good looking as to attract con-
siderable attention wherever we went. |
was proud Of it at first, but after while it
began to pail. My wife, sir, was young,
inexperienced girl, and she felt it bitterly.
Mine was a runaway match" he went on,
land it made considerable amount of noise
at the time. live at Wimbledon-close to
the camp, unfortunately for me, and when
we returned from our honeymoon the volun-
teer camp was in full swing. 1t seemed to
me that when they were not actively engaged
in drill or shooting for prizes, the greater
portion of the volunteers occupied their time
in walking up and down in front of my
house in order to get glimp.o Of my beauti-
full wife. I'm not exaggerating not the
least bit. At last, however, it became un-
bearable to both of us. We determined to
seek solitude, aud found it at Herne Bay.
"Herne Bay is the most solitary place
know. 1t is frequented by persons Of limited
means with large families. There is pier a
milo long We passed delightful fortnight
at Herne Bay, but it was dull, terribly dull.
We were both feeling rather bored, when
made an acquaintance while | was fishing
for bass with Il rod from the pier head.
used to fish there the greater part of the
afternoon. had never caught anything,
but at place like Herne Bay one must do
something. He was very decent young
fellow, aud took a great interest in my fish
ing. If | had known at the time who he
was, perhaps shouldn't have been quite SO
ready to foregather with him. The fact is,
he was professional conjurer, but he was
most gentemanly young fellow and decid
eddy good looking. He talked about spirit
ualism; he was an advanced thinker, and l,
from the lofty pinnacle Of my Grass ignor-
ance, looked down upon the whole thing as
'bosh, humbug and balderdash.'
Here, std sitting on his hands, he smiled
impertinently at me.
Monsieur kardec for that was his pro
fessional name) tried to convince me, but in
vain Our stay at Herne bay was drawing
to a close Pm going to give little seance
here tomorrow night said Monsieur Ker
dec i shall be greatly pleased if you would
come and look at the wonders the spirits will
perform Don't humliate me by Offering to
paw at the door. Here are couple OF
tickets
II YVES about to decline, but my wife gave
me one appealing look from those great eyes
of hers, which did not appeal in vain. Wen
come with pleasure said 1, and thought no
more about the matter.
LAS we walked home we stopped to read
one of the posters. 1t was the ordinary pro
gramme-spirit rapping, thought reading
clairvoyance, and then follower a rather ex-
traordinary statement: Monsieur kardee,
after part the first, will give en- illustration
of modern conjuring and prestidigitation,
without apparatus or accomplices. The
whole will conclude with the mysterious dis
appearance of lady selected from among
tie audience We both rather looked for
,,.] e IVA To
dull monovony OF our daily round at Horne
bay.
''Punctual to the time we presented our
selves at the Assembly rooms, and were the
sole occupants OF what were termed the re-
served fauteuils, which were two rows Of or
binary cane bottom chairs. | don't think
there We're fifty people In the room altogether.
The first part of the performance was deeply
interesting. Looking back upon it calmly as
do now, and speaking with the authority OF
one who knows" said the lttls man (and the
fire of enthusiasm flashed in his watary eyes,
II am convinced that Monsieur Kardec was
a powerful medium Then followed part
two, about which there was nothing worry re-
markable; they were ordinary fsats of sleiSht
of hand-good, simple cOnjuring Of tho Old
school And then Monsieur kardec addressed
US in a short lecture. He told US that what
he was about to do before our eyes was no
trick, no juggle-'in fact, said be, 'thare is
no deception whatever. 1t is, he added
soleannly, the work of the spirits. | did not
pay much attention to what | looked upon
then as the idle patter of the professional
conjurer. l have since had reason TO change
my mind" and then he gave a deep sigh.
Monsieur Kardec exhibited to US the ordi
nary big cardboard eNinguisher And