214 
PROFESSOR OWEN 
CH. VII. 
charmer at the entry to the alleged infested apart- 
ment. 
‘ I noted that he never “ charmed ” save when 
he came upon a room to which there was no other 
entry than a doorway from the apartment we 
happened to be in. 
‘ To my strongly-urged desire to first enter 
such cul-de-sac, in order to see the issue of the 
mesmerised serpent from its lurking-place, I was 
told that the charmer objected, on account of the 
evil influence of the presence of an “ uncom- 
plimentarily-specified individual ” upon the opera- 
tion of the magic process. 
‘ It reminded me of the objections of our own 
spiritualists to the presence of a sceptic, and to 
too much light in the room. 
‘ I thereupon watched the sheik the more 
closely, and distinctly detected a slight but rapid 
and energetic quivering movement of the left arm 
and sleeve, immediately preceding his announce- 
ment of the success of his incantation. The poor 
snake, which had been jerked out, lay, like the 
first, in a half-coiled, sluggish state on the floor. 
‘ I charged the impostor with the fact, and 
was happily unacquainted with the meaning of 
the loud and voluble remonstrances of the dervish 
and his gathering of dusky believers, to which my 
friendly conductor put a stop by threatening to 
thrash the saint. 
‘ I returned to the hotel with the conviction 
