FIFTY YEARS OF A SHOWMAN'S LIFE 



them in a line, and several feet apart, underneath 

 the Turkey carpet. I may say that the door of 

 the room was closed, and that no one could 

 observe our proceedings through the keyhole, 

 as it did not command the end of the room we 

 were in. We then called Mullins in, and asked 

 him to use his rod along the left-hand side of the 

 room. He took a forked twig from his pocket 

 and proceeded up the room with it, holding it 

 in front of him. It showed no agitation at first, 

 but soon did so, and we marked the spot with a 

 piece of paper. Twice afterwards this occurred, 

 and Mullins said that probably he had come across 

 some water conveyed under the flooring, for the 

 supply of a cistern. We then turned up the 

 carpet and found the sovereigns on the spots 

 indicated by the rod. 



It was this circumstance which first aroused 

 my interest in the subject, and I thought it 

 sufficiently remarkable to be recorded here, but, 

 at the same time, my observations have not led 

 me to believe that diviners are so invariably 

 affected by the presence of metals as of water. 

 1 have read of instances where diviners, other 

 than Mullins, have failed to discover metal under 

 similar conditions to those just narrated. Mullins, 

 however, told me that, although he could detect 

 the presence of gold, he did not feel equally sure 

 about other metals, and, in fact, that he did not 

 bind himself to find anything but water. 



As the subject often came under discussion 

 and invariably led to considerable difference of 

 opinion the practical man usually being a believer 

 and the scientist invariably a non-believer in the 



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