Chapter XV: Part I: The Cabinet.--We are in one of the smaller rooms belonging

to the _Salle Herz_, in the _Rue de la Victoire_, a room which may accommodate some sixty persons. The apartment is divided by a railing of a little more than a yard high into two equal portions. On the one side of this division are the seats allotted to the spectators, and on the other the cabinet which is intended to be used for the performance. This piece of furniture, which is of the slightest possible construction, rests on trestles, and is of such a size as just to contain three persons, seated or standing. To the sides of the cabinet, on the inside, are hung divers musical instruments, such as violin, guitar, trumpet, tambourine, and bell. Three doors, to be closed as occasion may require, serve to screen the mediums from the public view.

Before the commencement of the performance, several of the spectators are invited to come within the railed-off portion of the room, and to place themselves in a circle round the cabinet, so as to bar all communication from without.

The first point is the binding of the two Americans. All present agree in selecting, for the performance of this delicate task, a veteran naval officer, who is expert in knots of every description, and in whose skill every one appears to have the utmost possible confidence.

The ropes which are intended to be used are first tendered for examination. We search the two young men as if we were representatives of the police force; and having taken every possible precaution against any trick or artifice, we turn our attention to the actual tying.

The Americans step into the cabinet, and place themselves on the seats to which they are to be tied. Our naval representative takes a cord, marks it to make sure that there is no substitution; he takes note of its precise length; and then, by means of regular “sailor’s knots,” hitherto reputed invincible, he ties up, first one brother, then the other. He pinions their arms to their sides, ties their legs firmly together; in fact, he so ties and lashes them to their seats and to the cross rails, that every one regards the defeat of the Americans as a foregone conclusion; they must, beyond a doubt, be driven to cry for quarter.

We have stated that the cabinet has three doors. In the middle is cut, at about the height of a man’s head, a lozenge-shaped aperture. The side-doors are first closed, simultaneously, and lastly the centre door, but, _mirabile dictu_, scarcely has this last been closed, than we see appear, at the opening above mentioned, the arms of the right-hand prisoner, still rosy with the friction of the famous “sailor’s knot.” The surprise, the astonishment, nay, the stupefaction of the spectators are beyond description: they hesitate to believe the testimony of their own eyes; they furtively glance around, each seeking to confirm his own impressions by those of his neighbour, but all are in the same condition of bewilderment, and equally unable to afford the slightest guidance. Finally, they give up the riddle as hopeless, and render to the performers a well-earned tribute of applause.

A little later, and the three doors are opened. We see the two brothers, with smiling countenances, step down from the cabinet freed from their bonds, which they now carry in their hands. More than ten minutes had been occupied in tying them up; a single minute had sufficed for their release.

This first feat concluded, the young men again step into the cabinet, and take their seats. The cords are laid in a heap at their feet, and the doors are closed. Two minutes later, the doors are opened, and we find the mediums again in bondage. They have tied themselves up in the darkness, and their hands are found firmly secured behind their backs. The tying is examined, and is declared to be as secure as on the first occasion. It should here be repeated that, during the whole of the _séance_, sundry spectators keep constant watch on all sides of the cabinet; that this latter is raised on trestles; and that the hall is kept sufficiently light to enable any one to see without difficulty.

Now, however, still more astonishing phenomena are about to take place. The doors are put to with the utmost possible quickness, but scarcely is the last one closed than a _concerto_ of the most eccentric character becomes audible; the violin strikes up under the touch of a vigorously handled bow, the guitar is thrummed, the tambourine marks time, the bell rings, the horn is vigorously blown, the whole forming a discord of the most awful description. Occasionally a variety of other noises, knocks, and heavy blows is added to the infernal concert. Suddenly, there is a dead silence, and an arm, bare to the shoulder, is seen to pass through the hole in the door, ringing the bell with frantic energy.

At the very moment when the noise is most deafening, if the doors of the cabinet are suddenly opened, the musical instruments are seen in the place they originally occupied, and the two Brothers are motionless on their seats, and tied up as before. As soon as the doors are closed, the hullabaloo begins again; but each time that the doors are opened, the mediums are found, calm, motionless, and still firmly tied. I have forgotten to mention that at each of the “spiritualistic manifestations” the horn and the bell are flung through the opening in the door, and fall at the feet of the spectators.

By way of check upon these tricksy sprites, it is requested that some one of the company, to be selected by the audience, will take a seat in the cabinet between the two Brothers. A representative is selected accordingly; he places himself on the seat in the centre, and in order to ensure his giving no assistance to the mediums, one of his hands is tied to the shoulder of one of the Brothers, and his other hand upon the knee of the other brother. This arrangement further ensures that there can be no movement on the part of the mediums without the knowledge of the person thus chosen. As soon as the doors are closed, however, the witches’ sabbath is again heard in the cabinet, the various musical instruments appearing to vie with each other, which shall make the most noise. An instant, and the hubbub ceases; the doors are opened, and the unlucky visitor is seen with his head wrapped in his own pocket-handkerchief, with the tambourine by way of head-dress, while his cravat is neatly tied round the neck of his right-hand neighbour, and his spectacles are on the nose of his left-hand neighbour, and his watch, even, is found to have travelled from one pocket to another. The representative of the public is freed from his encumbrances, and is instantly surrounded and cross-questioned. He declares that all he felt was a slight tickling of the nose, when, at the self-same moment, he was covered with his pocket-handkerchief and robbed of his spectacles, and can give no other explanation. Meanwhile, the wrists of the mediums are still found firmly tied behind their backs. Flour is produced, and a little is put, with a spoon, into each hand of the mediums. No sooner is the door closed than the coat of one of the prisoners is passed through the aperture. The doors are instantly opened, the knots are examined, the doors again closed, and scarcely two minutes elapse before the two Brothers step out of the cabinet entirely freed from their bonds; they come forward to the spectators, and show that their hands are still full of the flour which had been placed therein. It should be stated that the young men are dressed in black, and that not the slightest trace of flour is to be seen on their garments.

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