42 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
" Don't understand me ? My question 
is plain enough. To what regiment were 
you attached ? You style yourself 
'Colonel,' and surely you must have 
had a regiment." 
"O, I see now. Bless my soul, a very 
curious mistake that, very curious. The 
fact is, however, I have never been in the 
army. ' Colonel ' is simply my Christian 
name, as your's may be Thomas or 
Eichard." 
The inquirer, who was a genuine 
"colonel," apologized, laughed at the 
mistake, and told it at his Club as a good 
joke, never suspecting that the " Christian 
name " was a device for drawing houses, 
and as much Stodare's name as mine is 
Hannibal. 
With Stodare as a "colonel" we have 
nothing to ; it is with his tricks only that 
we have to deal, and they are very clever. 
His was, essentially, an "Eastern pro- 
gramme," and introduced the " ' Famous 
Indian Basket Trick,' and 'Miraculous 
Growth of Flowers,' as performed only 
by the Indian jugglers and Colonel Sto- 
dare." 
The "Basket Trick" was really start- 
ling as the " Colonel " presented it, but is 
suited only for the stage. But as the late 
Kobert Heller also exhibited it, and many 
of our "Young Scientists " may have seen 
it and feel curious to know how it is done, 
I shall explain it for their benefit. 
A wicker basket, sufficiently large to 
hold a grown person, is brought on the 
stage, turned over and opened so that the 
audience may see that it is not only 
empty, but has a solid bottom, without 
traps or opening of any kind. 
A young lady is then introduced, and 
after being blindfolded, the performer 
proceeds to explain what he is about 
to do. 
"I propose, ladies and gentlemen," he 
says, "to place this young lady in that 
basket, which, as you see, stands on an 
open platform. After she is inside I will i 
take a sword, which, I assure you, is with- 
out preparation of any kind, and pass it 
through the basket in such a way that it 
must inflict some wounds on the girl. 
She can not escape as I will fasten down 
the cover, and if she succeeds in getting 
out at the bottom you will see her, and I 
feel sure will let me know, otherwise it 
would be the means of spoiling the trick." 
Whilst this explanation is being made, 
the young girl quietly walks off the stage, 
and it is not until the performer turns to 
assist her in getting into the basket that 
he discovers she is gone. 
He immediately rushes off the stage, 
but returns in a moment leading in the 
girl again, and with a drawn sword in his 
hand. He bids her stand where she is 
whilst he goes down to the audience to 
show the sword. As he returns to the 
stage he remarks, "I hope you feel satis- 
fled, ladies and gentlemen, that this is a 
genuine sword, but if any of you doubt it 
I think you will cease to do so when I 
begin the slaughter of this fair maiden." 
At these words the girl screams and runs 
off the stage for a second time ; the per- 
former places the sword on a chair, goes 
after her again, and immediately returns, 
dragging her with him. Despite her 
struggles he forces her into the basket, 
and seizing the sword thrusts it into it. 
Screams of agony are heard, and blood is 
seen issuing from between the willow 
strands. After a while these screams be- 
come fainter and fainter, and then cease 
altogether. 
The performer and his assistant turn 
over the basket and open it, so that the 
audience can see inside, and to the amaze- 
ment of everyone it is empty. At the 
same moment the young lady walks up 
the aisle of the hall, mounts the stage, 
smiles, and courtesies to the bewildered 
audience. 
Although the trick in this shape is com- 
paratively new, the basket for it is made 
after a very old pattern, having been used 
in pantomines for many years under the 
technical name of a "harlequin-box." I 
do not know who was the inventor of this 
ingenious box, but am inclined to give the 
credit of it to the Chinese, as I have often 
i seen the jugglers in their country use it. 
The basket is made with four sides and 
a lid, but no bottom. The depth and 
width are of the same measurement. The 
bottom is made of wood, or rather the 
bottoms are, for there are two, equal in 
size, and joined together at one edge so as 
