336

A TUMULTUOUS RUSH.

appears, more drunk than ever, the music strikes up afresh, and a frightful din ensues, in the midst of which you hear a voice rising above the turmoil, shouting, 'Two sous! two sous!' Then the manager opens the gate, and a rush commences up the steps. Two sous! Up they go! nurses with children in their arms, men with little boys, soldiers, and families of six! Two sous! The manager stands near the gate, helping the old women up the stairs and piling them in at the door, all the time yelling, 'Two sous!' and holding up his two fingers. Such is the noise and confusion, that people lose their senses, and do very strange things. Sober citizens, who only came out to breathe the air, are seized with a sudden panic, and go rushing up the steps in a most incongruous manner. An orange seller is separated from his basket, and, being caught by the tide, is whirled into the tent and disappears. We go in with the rest, and get a seat upon a bare board which, in the florid speech of the director-two sous!was covered with damask; but what can one expect for two sous? When the rush ceases, we look around us and find about fifty persons in the tent, which is little more than half full. A silence ensues, and the manager looks in at the door, and then goes away again. This is disheartening, and everybody turns wistful glances at the curtain. Suddenly the bugle commences again on the outside, and the scaffolding begins to shake as if somebody were dancing upon it. The sun, which shines full upon the cotton front of the tent, daguerreotypes upon it the shadow of a very large head, which seems to be carrying on in a very singular way. A fellow on stilts is evidently counterfeiting intoxication for the amusement of the bystanders. In short, the sickening conviction comes over everybody that they are doing it all over again. The explanation, the trumpet, the fingers, the two sous, the rush, all follow in the same order as before, and with

AN UNHAPPY ARMADILLO.

337

pretty nearly the same numerical results, for the second fills the benches. This method of catching audiences is practised by all these exhibitions, and the description of one will suffice for the whole. The performances commence speedily, for it is now the object of the manager to get rid of this audience as soon as possible, and to set about inveigling another. The exhibition sometimes is very poor and uninteresting, and sometimes more extraordinary and inexplicable than anything to be seen in the more pretentious fifty-cent museums. I remember that once having got into a place where a very fat woman was to appear in conjunction with an African nondescript, it was announced that the lady was sick, but that the nondescript would be exhibited. This was nothing more than a sickly armadillo, about a foot long, who was obliged to do duty for himself and his colleague. The exhibitress played all sorts of pranks with him, poking him with her finger in tender places to make him squirm, and tossing him up in the air and catching him again like a pancake. No doubt he wished that the big lady would soon get well again. As we went down the steps, the manager was again holding forth upon the numerous attractions of his exhibition, giving a slight biographical sketch of the fat woman, and an anecdotical history of the armadillo. The next show was a very different affair. The tricks of necromancy were like all other tricks of the sort, but what followed was worth walking a mile to see. A girl, perhaps the juggler's sister, seated herself in a chair in front of the spectators, though at some distance from them. She was then blindfolded. The juggler came among the audience and asked the people to lend him any small articles they might have, and the girl would tell what they were. He soon had his hands full of purses, rings, pencils, snuffboxes, handkerchiefs, etc. Then, taking one from the rest, and holding it in such a way as that it would be im

possible for the girl to see, even if she were not blindfolded, he went on somewhat in this way. What do I hold in my hand?' She answered, without a moment's hesitation, 'A pocket-book.' 'What's it made of?' 'Morocco, with a steel clasp.' 'What is there in it?' 'Money.' 'How many pieces?' 'Three.' 'What are they?' 'A five franc piece, a one franc piece and a sou.' 'What's the date on the sou?' '1828.' 'On the one franc piece?' '1847.' 'What do I hold in my hand, now?' 'A ring.' 'What is it made of?' 'Gold, with six turquoises in it.' 'Is there any lettering on it?' 'Yes.' 'Read it.' 'Charles to Marie.' A very pretty young lady is seen to blush violently in the corner, and when the ring is handed back to her, everybody tries to get a sight of her face through her closely-drawn veil. 'I wouldn't mind being Charles, myself,' remarks a laughing gentleman at the left. I hope Charles is well,' says the juggler, and then proceeds. I handed him my watch, which had a cover over its face. Without opening it, he asked the girl what time it was by the watch he held in his hand. Ten minutes to nine,' she replied. As it was about two in the afternoon, this seemed guessing pretty wide of the mark, and the people began to titter. But the necromancer quietly displayed the dial of the watch, and there it was, sure enough, ten minutes to nine! You put it back on purpose to catch us, didn't you?' said the magus, with a triumphant air. 'Yes,' said I; feeling very much as if I had been caught robbing a henroost. Well, I've a great mind to keep your watch, as a lesson to you; but you may go this time.' So saying, he magnanimously handed it back. In this way he went on for nearly half an hour, never making a mistake, and puzzling all the wise-heads who undertook to discover his secret. For one, I could make nothing of it, and was content to consider it very miraculous, without attempting a solution. On the piazza of the next tent in order, was a

THE JOLLY FIDDLER.

339

man playing on the violin in a very droll way. First he played as everybody does, then he took a bow in his left hand, and scraped away just as easily as before. Then he put the fiddle over his head, and behind his back, without incommoding himself in the least. The tune kept on as merrily as ever. Then he put the violin under his left leg, and over his right leg, playing away all the while. One would have thought that there would have been a break in the sound at the moment when the bow and fiddle separated, but if there was an interval, it was quite imperceptible. All this he did with perfect ease, interlarding his music with humorous observations. When he had thus collected a good-sized crowd, he left the stage to another man, and retired to a distance to eat some bread and cheese. The other man then began a speech, the sum and substance of which was as follows:-Within the tent, he said, was perhaps one of the greatest novelties to be seen in or out of France. This was no less than one of the former wives of Abd-el-Kader, the great Algerian trooper. The way this distinguished foreigner came to be exhibiting herself at two sous a head, was briefly this:A French officer, being on service in Africa, was one day in danger of being surprised by a troop of Arab horsemen, who were lying in ambush for some third party unknown. From this awkward position he was in some way or other released by the fair Algerian. The officer, finding no better way of repaying the debt of gratitude he owed her, bought her of Abd-el-Kader, and sent her to France, where she of course became free, and her own missis. 'She speaks Arabic, French, and English,' continued the showman, 'and all will be permitted to address her in any of these languages. Her education,' he went on, growing warm and eloquent, 'has been in all respects such as befits the bride of a chieftain of the desert.' A crowd of us went in, and after a breathless suspense of some moments, the

AN ARABIAN PRINCESS FROM OLD VIRGINNY.

340 lady made her appearance. She was quite dark, with wooly hair and a flat nose; very wide nostrils, a large mouth and thick lips. Her teeth shone as the teeth of people of her complexion always do. She had on a white muslin gown, very low in the neck, and reaching but little below the knees. Her arms, which were bare, were fat and chubby, and the palms of her hands were almost white, as if they had been used to washing dishes and scrubbing floors. Around her neck was a string of imitated pearls, and in her hair was a festoon of artificial flowers. She came forth and stood still till every one had gazed his full. The audience, who were mostly French, almost quailed before the eagle-glances of the free roamer of the desert, and their thoughts wandered to her far-off home among the oasis of Sahara. As for myself, a dim recollection of things I had left behind, was beginning to come over me like a southern sea-breeze. The showman now begged the audience to address to her some question in French or English. A military man, with a moustache, bowed politely to the lady, and made some trivial inquiry in French, which she answered after various breakings down. It was now my turn, being the only representative of the English language present. The choice of an appropriate question was rather difficult, and I thought of several without deciding on anything satisfactory. At last, . for want of something better, I said, 'How is your mother?' 'I hab not heerd ob her health since de last time dat I hab dat honor.' Visions of banjos and melodies on the banks of the Roanoke, coupled with memoirs of home, rose before me. I said, nothing, but waited for further developments. Now,' said the showman, 'she'll sing you a song in her native Arabic. Pay attention to this, I beg you, as it may be the last time you'll ever hear that beautiful language. The words depict the scouring of a troop of horsemen across the desert.' The fair Algerian took an attitude