"Oh, I must show you that."
Joe showed me the Monkey's Claw afterwards, and it is a beautiful thing, but it was not a bit like Simpson's. Simpson must have started badly, and I think he used too much rope. After about twenty minutes there was hardly any of him visible at all.
"Take your time, Houdini," said Archie, "take your time. Just let us know when you're ready to be put into the safe, that's all."
"You would hardly think, to look at him now," I said a minute later, "that one day he'll be a dear little butterfly."
"Where's the sealing-wax, Maria? You know, I'm certain he'll never go for threepence."
"What I say is, it's simply hypnotic suggestion. There's no rope there at all, really."
An anxious silence followed.
"No," said Simpson suddenly, "I'm doing it wrong."
"From to-night," said Archie, after tea, "you will be put on rations. One cobnut and a thimbleful of sherry wine per diem. I hope somebody's brought a thimble."
"There really isn't so very much left," said Dahlia.