WE were nearly six weeks in the Havana, being detained byLord Durham's illness. I provided myself with a capitalSpanish master, and made the most of him. This, as it turnedout, proved very useful to me in the course of my futuretravels. About the middle of March we left for Charlestownin the steamer ISABEL, and thence on to New York. On thepassage to Charlestown, we were amused one evening by thetricks of a conjuror. I had seen the man and his wifeperform at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly. She was called the'Mysterious Lady.' The papers were full of speculations asto the nature of the mystery. It was the town talk andexcitement of the season.

　　This was the trick. The lady sat in the corner of a largeroom, facing the wall, with her eyes bandaged. The companywere seated as far as possible from her. Anyone was invitedto write a few words on a slip of paper, and hand it to theman, who walked amongst the spectators. He would simply sayto the woman 'What has the gentleman (or lady) written uponthis paper?' Without hesitation she would reply correctly.

　　The man was always the medium. One person requested her,through the man, to read the number on his watch, the figuresbeing, as they always are, very minute. The man repeated thequestion: 'What is the number on this watch?' The woman,without hesitation, gave it correctly. A friend at my side,a young Guardsman, took a cameo ring from his finger, andasked for a description of the figures in relief. There wasa pause. The woman was evidently perplexed. She confessedat last that she was unable to answer. The spectatorsmurmured. My friend began to laugh. The conjuror's breadwas at stake, but he was equal to the occasion. He at onceexplained to the company that the cameo represented 'Leederand the Swan in a hambigious position, which the lady didn'tprofess to know nothing about.' This apology, needless tosay, completely re-established the lady's character.

　　Well, recognising my friend of the Egyptian Hall, I remindedhim of the incident. He remembered it perfectly; and we fellto chatting about the wonderful success of the 'mystery,' andabout his and the lady's professional career. He had begunlife when a boy as a street acrobat, had become a streetconjuror, had married the 'mysterious lady' out of the 'saw-dust,' as he expressed it - meaning out of a travellingcircus. After that, 'things had gone 'ard' with them. Theyhad exhausted their resources in every sense. One night,lying awake, and straining their brains to devise some meansof subsistence, his wife suddenly exclaimed, 'How would it beif we were to try so and so?' explaining the trick justdescribed. His answer was: 'Oh! that's too silly. They'dsee through it directly.' This was all I could get out ofhim: this, and the fact that the trick, first and last, hadmade them fairly comfortable for the rest of their days.

　　Now mark what follows, for it is the gist and moral of mylittle story about this conjuror, and about two other miracleworkers whom I have to speak of presently.

　　Once upon a time, I was discussing with an acquaintance thenot unfamiliar question of Immortality. I professedAgnosticism - strongly impregnated with incredulity. Myfriend had no misgivings, no doubts on the subject whatever.

　　Absolute certainty is the prerogative of the orthodox. Hehad taken University honours, and was a man of high positionat the Bar. I was curious to learn upon what grounds such anone based his belief. His answer was: 'Upon the phenomenaof electro-biology, and the psychic phenomena of mesmerism.'

　　His 'first convictions were established by the manifestationsof the soul as displayed through a woman called "TheMysterious Lady," who, &c., &c.'

　　When we have done with our thaumaturgist on board the ISABEL,I will give another instance, precisely similar to this, ofthe simple origin of religious beliefs.

　　The steamer was pretty full; and the conjuror begged me toobtain the patronage of my noble friend and the rest of ourparty for an entertainment he proposed to give that evening.

　　This was easily secured, and a goodly sum was raised bydollar tickets. The sleight-of-hand was excellent. But thespecial performance of the evening deserves description infull. It was that of a whist-playing dog. Three passengers- one of us taking a hand - played as in dummy whist, dummy'shand being spread in a long row upon the deck of the salooncabin. The conjuror, as did the other passengers, walkedabout behind the players, and saw all the players' hands, butnot a word was spoken. The dog played dummy's hand. When itcame to his turn he trotted backwards and forwards, smellingeach card that had been dealt to him. He sometimeshesitated, then comically shaking his head, would leave it tosmell another. The conjuror stood behind the dog's partner,and never went near the animal. There was no table - thecards were thrown on the deck. They were dealt by theplayers; the conjuror never touched them. When the dog'smind was made up, he took his card in his mouth and laid iton the others. His play was infallible. He and his partnerwon the rubber with ease.

　　Now, to those ignorant of the solution, this must, I think,seem inexplicable. How was collusion managed between theanimal and its master? One of the conditions insisted uponby the master himself was silence. He certainly never brokeit. I bought the trick - must I confess it? for twentydollars. How transparent most things are when - seenthrough! When the dog smelt at the right card, the conjuror,who saw all four hands, and had his own in his pocket,clicked his thumb-nail against a finger-nail. The dog alonecould hear it, and played the card accordingly.

　　The other story: A few years after my return to England, agreat friend called upon me, and, in an excited state,described a SEANCE he had had with a woman who possessed thepower of 'invoking' spirits. These spirits had correctlyreplied to questions, the answers to which were only known tohimself. The woman was an American. I am sorry to say Ihave forgotten her name, but I think she was the first of hertribe to visit this country. As in the case spoken of, myfriend was much affected by the results of the SEANCE. Hewas a well-educated and intelligent man. Born to wealth, hehad led a somewhat wildish life in his youth. Henceforth hebecame more serious, and eventually turned Roman Catholic.

　　He entreated me to see the woman, which I did.

　　I wrote to ask for an appointment. She lived in CharlotteStreet, Fitzroy Square; but on the day after the morrow shewas to change her lodgings to Queen Anne Street, where shewould receive me at 11 A.M. I was punctual to a minute, andwas shown into an ordinary furnished room. The maid informedme that Mrs. - had not yet arrived from Charlotte Street, butshe was sure to come before long, as she had an engagement(so she said) with a gentleman.

　　Nothing could have suited me better. I immediately set towork to examine the room and the furniture with the greatestcare. I looked under and moved the sofa, tables, andarmchairs. I looked behind the curtains, under the rug, andup the chimney. I could discover nothing. There was not thevestige of a spirit anywhere. At last the medium entered - aplain, middle-aged matron with nothing the least spiritualabout her. She seated herself opposite to me at the roundtable in the cen............