ven by himself in neighboring
Glendale, after he had knocked the spots off of several decks of cards;
after he had taken half a dozen watches that belonged to people in the
audience from the janitor's pocket; after he had received communications
from departed spirits; after he had removed the head from a beautiful
woman and had made the removed head talk; after he had paralyzed four
men and a woman on the stage and had allowed the committee to stick pins
in them, and after the curtain had dropped, one of the awe-stricken
auditors, who had been instrumental in introducing Mr. Quinsey in
Glendale, asked the wonderful magician why he did not follow this
business in preference to any other?

The professor smiled blandly and appeared silent, but a voice that
seemed to come from the bakery underneath the hall, was heard to remark
in a deep melodious tone: "He has something better."

Quinsey was superintendent of what was known as the night set in the
registry division of the Cincinnati post-office, and his hours of labor
were from 10:30 P. M. to 7 A. M. In this set were employed six or seven
clerks who worked under the superintendant's direction, and who
performed practically the same kind of work that he did. It was their
duty to properly record all registered matter that arrived in Cincinnati
between 4 P. M. and midnight from the various railroad lines centering
there, rebill it and pouch it in the through registry pouches to be
dispatched in the morning.

There were something like thirty bills to make out, and the same number
of pouches to properly close and send out. When the mails were running
heavy the clerks never had a minute to spare, but when they were light,
as they frequently were one or two nights each week, there was some
opportunity for sociability and innocent amusement.

On these occasions Quinsey would sometimes tell the boys how easy it was
for people to be mistaken; how much quicker was the hand than the eye;
how it was that frequently things were not what they appeared; how easy
it was to deceive the keenest intellect by doing something different
than your actions would indicate, and how figures and objects are
materialized and made to do their master's bidding.

Sometimes he would illuminate his ideas by a few practical
illustrations, and after the young men had seen him shake any number of
big silver dollars, a wheelbarrow full of handkerchiefs, and a lot of
lanterns from a common gesture, and, in