_Hindu Magician_ (_as he squats on the stage and takes out serpents
from flat baskets_). Here is a sna-ake--no bite--Bombay cobra, verri
good cobra. (_Introducing them formally to audience._) Dis beeg
cobra, dis smahl cobra. (_One of them erects its hood and strikes at
his foot,_ _which he withdraws promptly._) No bite, verri moch nice
sna-ake. (_He plays a tune to them; one listens coldly and critically,
the others slither rapidly towards the edge of the platform, to the
discomposure of spectators in the front row; the_ Magician _recaptures
them by the tail at the critical moment, ties them round his neck and
arms, and then puts them away, like toys._) Here I have shtone; verri
good Inglis shtone. I hold so. (_Closing it in his fist._) Go away,
shtone. Go to Chicago, Leeverpool, Hamburg. (_Opening fist._) Shtone
no dere. I shut again. (_Opening fist._) One, two, Inglis shillin's.
(_Singling out a_ Spectator.) You, Sar, come up here queeck. Comonn!
_The Spectator._ Not me! Not among all them snakes you've got
there--don't you think it!
_The Magician and a Tom-tom player_ (_together_). Verri nice
sna-akes--no bite. Comonn, help play.
_Angelina_ (_to_ EDWIN, _as the invitation is coyly but firmly
declined_). EDWIN, do go up and help the man--to please _me_.
And if you find him out in cheating, you can expose him, you know.
[EDWIN _clambers up and stands, smiling feebly, at the_
Magician's _side amidst general applause_.
_The Magician_ (_to_ EDWIN). Sit down, sit down, sit down. Now
you count--how menni sillings? Dere is seeks.
_Edwin_ (_determined not to be taken in_). Four, you mean.
_The Magician._ I tell you seeks. Count after me--One, tree, five,
seeks. Shtill onli four, you say? Shut dem in your hand--so. Now blow.
(EDWIN _puffs at his fist_.) Open your hand, and count. One,
two, tree, four, five, seeks, summon, ight, nine, tin, like, vise! Dis
Inglisman make money verri moch nice; verri goot Inglisman. Put dem in
your hand again, and shut. Hûblo! Now open.
[EDWIN _opens his fist, to discover in it two small and
extremely active serpents, which he rejects in startled dismay_.
_Angelina_ (_to herself_). How _nasty_ of EDWIN! He _must_
have felt them inside.
_The Magician_ (_to_ EDWIN). Verri nice sna-akes; but where
is my monni? (EDWIN _shakes his head helplessly_.) Ah, dis
Inglisman too moch plenti cheat. (_He seizes_ EDWIN'S _nose,
from which he extracts a shower of shillings_.) Aha! Verri goot Inglis
nose--hold plenty monni!
_Angelina_ (_as_ EDWIN _returns to her in triumph_). No;
_please_ turn your head away, EDWIN. I can't _look_ at your
nose without thinking of those horrid shillings; and oh, are you
_quite_ sure you haven't got any of those horrid snakes up your sleeve?
I do _wish_ you hadn't gone!
[_So does_ EDWIN.
_A Serious Old Lady_ (_as the_ Magician _produces from his throat
several yards of coloured yarn, a small china doll, about a gross of
tenpenny nails, and a couple of eggs_). Clever, my dear? I daresay;
but it seems to me a pity that a man who has been given such talents
shouldn't turn them to better account!
* * * * *