“‘Fifteen thousand francs, which I invested in Government stock. The scrip is in my desk.’
“I found the securities correct, and in the presence of another witness, made Bernard sign the following confession:
“‘I, the undersigned, hereby admit having stolen from the Count de l’Escalopier the sum of 15,000 francs, taken by me from his desk by the aid of false keys.
“‘Bernard X——.
“‘Paris, the — day of ——, 18—.
“‘Now go,’ I exclaimed, ‘and never enter this house again. You are safe from prosecution; go, and repent of your crime.’
“And now,” said the Count to Houdin, “I want you to take these 15,000 francs and begin your career as a conjurer; surely you cannot refuse to accept as a loan the money your ingenuity has rescued from a robber. Take it——”
The nobleman produced the securities, and pressed them into Houdin’s hands. The mechanician, overcome by the Count’s generosity, embraced him in true Gallic style, and this embrace, Houdin says, “was the only security De l’Escalopier would accept from me.”
Without further delay the conjurer had a little theatre constructed in the Palais Royal, and began his famous performances, called by him: “Soirées Fantastiques de Robert-Houdin,” which attained the greatest popularity. He was thus enabled within a year to pay back the money borrowed from the Count de l’Escalopier.