Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-09-11
CHAPTER I'LL

1t lacked few minutes of II when I en-
tered Houdin's atalier on the following day.
The frs. thing to catch my attention upon
being admitted was the almost sepulchral
gloom in which the apartment was
shrouded. Dark green blinds cov-
cred the upper halves of the windows;
for the purpose, as Houdin casually OBJ
served, of excluding the sun which was par
ticularly troublesome about noon. The con-
jurors glittering apparatus was entirely
covered with black cloth-a wise precaution,
for there were seven or eight utter strang-
ers in the room. No. not all strangers; for
one 1 surely knewl That pale, sad face, so
like shadow of the first Napoleo 's-did
it not belong to Paul Morphy?
He recognized me at once, for we had
met several times at Foure's; and, coming
toward me, grasped my hand cordially, and
wished. me success Houdin then intro
duced me to the rest of the COM
pany. Never had I, nor have
since, except at some of the grand tourna-
ments, seen so many great players together,
players of worldwide reputation. There
was my countryman, Morphy, the greatest
Chess General of all ages; second to him
alone, Andersen, the Prussian Master;
Dufresne, his friend and associate; then
.
gereater perhaps than any of these though
then less famous, the German soldier,
Helmuth Won Moltke. Several lesser
celebrities completed the circle now form
ing around the table which stood in the
center of the room. 1 had already seated
myself at Houdin's beck, and was waiting
for Moltke to do the same. A close scrutiny
of the board convinced me that the secret of
its mechanism was secure from discovery,
thanks to the blinds which plunged the
room into lurid semi-darkness Moltke
seated himself and we began to arrange our
respective hosts in the line of battle.
Hardly had the last piece been
put into position, when, with lightning
like rapidity and absolute noiselessness,
the square which Houdin had indicated,
shifted and was replaced by another.
"Pawn to the Kings fourth" was the mov
which the almost invisible marks pre-
cribed. "Sage COUNSELOR thought 1,
iron what source hast thou derived such
superhuman sagacity?" But this ironical
train of thought was broken by Houdin,
who, to decide the move, had arranged
number of paper slips between the leaves
of book. This he now held out toward
me. 1 drew short slip and the move fell
to MoItke. He promptly placed his Kings
pawn upon the fourth square. My pre-
scribed move remained the same; felt half
tempted to play the Fianchetto, but
warning look from Houdin corrected my
seditious intention. 1 followed the Moni-
tors guidance and advanced my pawn two
squares Then followed half dozen book
moves on each side. But now Moltke leans
forward, hands clenched, brow corrugated,
his eyes fixed intently upon the board.
He moves, and an inyolun tary murmur of
admiration escapes the bystanders. The
move seemed to me without special signif-
canoe; SO, giving the position a careless
glance, made the prescribed reply. The
game went on q while in absolute silence;
then Moltke's combination dawned upon
me, and found, to my astonishment, that
my of-hand moves, prompted by the Moni-
tor, had completely circumvented snare so
intricate, so ingenious, that could scarcely
comprehend it even then, though it lay un-
masked and disarmed before me.
A hundred times during the game I
thanked the Monitor for its faithful guild
ance; lacking which should have been dis
gracefully defeated, for Moltke played like
demon. Such dash and such deliberation,
at once SO subtle and SO gritty:-It was
diabolicali
But nv monitor was equal to any emer-
gency. And, if matchless in defense, how
shall char acterize n in attack? The eagle
that swoops down from its eyrie upon the
unsheltered flock; the lion that leaps from
the junglegrass into herd of antelope; the
hurricanes Of tropical seas were not more
irresistible than my serried onset. At first
felt inclined to distrust my preceptor;
but, before score of moves had been made
on each side, the measure of my faith was
so brlmming that followed all his dirsc-
tions without culver of doubt, no matter
how headlong or seemingly irrelevant the
course they dictated.
Now the Queen would make an onslaught
INTO the heart of the foeman's phalanx-
through an avenue bristling with hostile
spearA Seeming folly, for she ID left en-