Some folks may fear that these practical lessons will produce ventriloquists by the score. To such we reply, Rest easy, good people! Ventriloquism, like every other art, requires patience and perseverance for its attainment. Consequently, many a reader, sufficiently gifted by nature, will fail in its pursuit. It is the enthusiasts who will succeed, and they, after all, are the ones who deserve the reward.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE BOY AS MAGICIAN
Cremated Alive.—The curtain rises and a young and beautiful girl, clothed in white, is introduced to the spectators as the victim who has been doomed to cremation, which will be instantaneously accomplished. The girl mounts upon a table placed at the back of a kind of alcove, consisting of a three-sided screen, and above her is suspended a big fire-proof sack, folded up as shown in Fig. 1.
The table upon which the victim stands ready for sacrifice appears to have four legs, and under this table burn, or appear to burn, four candles, the purpose being to indicate to the public that the space beneath the table is open, perfectly free, and beyond suspicion of any trickery. The sack, which forms a cylindrical screen under which the victim is to be burned, has been previously handed round to the spectators, so that they might assure themselves that it was entire, without any hole or split, lacing, or other artifice allowing of an escape from behind—a precaution invariably taken to allay the too ready suspicions of incredulous spectators. All these verifications being made, and the audience perfectly satisfied as to the bona fides of the case, the sack is lowered upon the victim, a pistol is fired, and the cremation commences.
Flames and smoke (see Fig. 2) soon indicate to the terrified spectators that the fire is pursuing its destructive work. When the flames have ceased, the sack, composed as we have stated, of an incombustible material, is raised, and there is seen upon the table, in the midst of the still smoking débris, only a few bones and a skull (Fig. 3.)
Fig. 1.