"I really don"t remember."
"Do you have beddy dreabs?"
"I do not dream much."
"Thed you dod"t have bad dreabs?"
"No."
"Thed you was bord id the bording," by which mysterious word she probably meant, "morning." She then continued:-
"You are a pretty keed sbart chap-sharp id busidess, but dot good id speculatiods, ad you should codfide your attedtiods to busidess. If you keep od as you are goidg dow, ad works hard, ad dod"t bix id bad cobpady, ad is hodest, ad dod"t spend your buddy, you will be rich. You will travel buch-you _have_ travelled buch, but your travels is hardly begud; there is a lodg jourdey at sea dow before you, ad you will start od this jourdey bost udexpectedly; you will always be lucky, ad will be very rich. I dod"t say dothin" to flatter do wud; lots of fellers ad gals cub here ad I tell theb all jest what I see; if I see bad luck I tell theb so; but yours is all good luck, ad I see lots of it for you. You have had bad luck lately, but you will get over your bad luck for you are a pretty sbardt chap, ad have got a good deal of abbitiod, ad you go ahead pretty well. You will barry a gal-a gal as you have seed but dod"t know. Very well, she is a youdg gal, ad a rich gal, ad a good-lookidg gal; you will dot barry her for sobe tibe, but you will barry her at last. She has a beau ad you will likely have sobe trouble with hib, but you will get the gal at last. The gal has light hair ad blue eyes, ad I cad show her to you if you would like to see her."
Of course the visitor liked to see her; so he was directed to clasp the bra.s.s tube in his right hand, and place his hand over the top. Then she stepped behind his chair and began to go through with some extraordinary manual exercises on his head. She felt of the b.u.mps, she squeezed his head, punched it, jerked it from side to side, and twisted it about in every possible direction. What was the object and intention of this performance she did not disclose, but when she had kneaded his unfortunate skull to her satisfaction, she bade him step to the window and look into the tube.
This he did, and he saw a very dingy-looking daguerreotype of a fair-haired damsel with blue eyes, who bore, of course, not the most distant resemblance to any lady of his acquaintance.
Then the fat Madame had a charm to sell, to be worn about the neck, and never taken off, in which case it would secure for the wearer "good luck" for ever.
The Individual declined to purchase and departed, meeting at the door the curly _Doctor_, who once again offered his medical services in case the stranger ever got into "trouble," and who once again a.s.sured that person with an air of mystery that "me and my wife is all right-yes, you may depend, we is all right, we is."
MADAME MAR, AND MADAME DE GORE, No. 176 VARICK STREET.
These two eminent sorceresses are in partnership, and drive a tolerably fair trade. They advertise in the papers, one week the heading being "Madame Mar, a.s.sisted by Madame de Gore," and the next week, it will be "Madame de Gore, a.s.sisted by Madame Mar,"
and the profits of the business are shared in the same impartial manner.
The house, No. 176, is in the worst part of Varick Street, and the room occupied by the pair of witches is over a boot and shoe store, and a p.a.w.nbroker"s shop is directly opposite.
The room is a small parlor, neatly though plainly furnished, and with no professional implements visible. When the inquirer made his call, Madame de Gore was engaged in the kitchen, in her various household duties, and Madame Mar attended to his call.
She is a tall and rather pleasing woman, neatly dressed and of quiet manners.
She secured a dollar in advance, and then led her customer into a little closet-like room, furnished only with a small table and two chairs. She then announced that she is a "phrenologist," and exhibited a plaster bust with the "b.u.mps" scientifically marked out, and also some phrenological charts and other publications.
She proceeded to give the character of her visitor in the usual mode of phrenological examinations, after which she prophesied as follows:
"You were born between Jupiter and Mars, with such stars you can never be unlucky, for although you have seen trouble, it is past.
Your luck runs in threes and fives-that is, you are unlucky three years in succession, and lucky the five years following. You are never _very_ unlucky, but you do not do so well in your third house as in your fifth house. You could not be unlucky in your fifth house if you tried. You have now two months to run in your third house, then comes on your fifth house. Just now your life seems to be under a cloud, but after two months you will come out bright and will enjoy five years of clear sunshine, and you will then be very wealthy. You will have more money then than you ever will again, though you will always have plenty. Your wealth runs 14 at the end of five years; after that runs 13, which is very wealthy. You will marry a young girl, wealthy and beautiful. You will raise two daughters, but you will never have a large family.
You will be the father of many children, but your family will never be more than two children. You will go in business with a very wealthy Southern man, his wealth runs 14-he has two sons and a daughter. You will marry the daughter, though you will be opposed by the father and one son, but the other son will stick by you. You will live with that wife twenty-five years, then she will die and you will travel with your two daughters. You will go to Europe. In England you will marry a French widow. Your two daughters will marry well, and at 72 or 73 years old you will die, leaving a widow, two daughters, and a large fortune."
Madame de Gore did not make her appearance at all, and after Madame Mar had failed to induce her visitor to pay her an extra dollar for a phrenological chart, she politely showed him out.
MADAME LANE, No. 159 MULBERRY STREET.
This distinguished lady lives in a dirty, dilapidated mansion, at the corner of Grand and Mulberry Streets. The Cash Customer was admitted by the Madame herself, who desired him to be seated for a few minutes, until she had concluded her business with a boy of about 17 years old, who had called to find out what would be the winning numbers in the next Georgia lottery. Two dirty-faced children were playing about the room, making a great noise.
One corner of the room was fenced off with rough boards, forming a narrow closet, in which two people could, with some difficulty, sit down. This was the astrological chamber; the mystic room into which visitors were conducted to have their fortunes told.
Madame Lane is of the Irish breed; is red-haired, freckled, and dirty to a degree. Her dress was ragged, showing a soiled, dingy petticoat through the rents.
She seated her customer in the little room, produced a pack of cards, and proceeded to tell his future, at times shouting out threats and words of warning to the noisy brats outside. Then she said:
"You are a man as has seen a great deal of trouble in the past."
It will be noticed that this is almost a universal remark with the witches, probably because it is a perfectly safe thing to a.s.sert of any person in the world.
"Yes, you have seen trouble in the past, not _real_ trouble, such as sickness, or losses in business, but still, trouble, and your mind has been going this way and that way and t"other way, but now all your trouble and disappointment is past, and your mind won"t go this way and that way any more. Stop that noise you brats or I"ll beat you." (This to the children.)
"Your cards run lucky, "cause you were born under Jupiter, and folks as is borned under Jupiter will always be lucky in business, in love, and in everything they undertake. If your business sometimes goes this way, and that way, and t"other way, it will all come out right, for when a man is borned under Jupiter he must be all right in his business, and in his love, and in his marriage, and in his children. Young ones stop that noise or I"ll beat you black and blue. You have had sickness lately and your mind has been going this way, and that way, and t"other way, but you need not worry for it will be all right soon. Children stop that row or clear right out to the kitchen.
Now mind. I tell you. I see a girl here that loves you very much, but you don"t love her and won"t marry her, but you will marry another girl with black whiskers; no, I mean the feller that is coortin" her has got black whiskers, and I fear you will have trouble with black whiskers if you are not careful-the girl has got black hair and is miserable because you don"t write to her.
I"m coming after you, young ones there, with a raw hide and I"ll cut the skin off your backs. You will marry this gal and you will be very happy, and will have three children, which will be joys to you. Children, I"ll come and kill you in two minutes. And you will always be prosperous in your business, and you will be very rich, and you will live to be eighty-five years old. Now you can cut the cards and make a wish and I will tell you if it will come true. Yes, your wish will come true, because you have cut the knave, and queen, and king-if you"d like a speedy marriage with the gal I told you of, I"ll fix it for you for fifty cents extra; children if you don"t shut up I"ll come and beat you blind."
The Individual invested a half-dollar as requested, and received in return a white powder with these instructions;-
"You will burn that powder just before you get into bed, and if you see the gal to-night you won"t see no change in her, but she will be changed to-morrow. She is kinder down on you now, but she loves you though her mind is kinder this way and that way, but she will be changed toward you to-night by what I will do after you are gone."
The customer departed, leaving this fond mother engaged in an active skirmish with the two children, both of whom finally escaped into the street with great howlings.
Madame Lane does a good business. She says that in pleasant weather she has from twenty-five to fifty calls a-day, mostly women; but in bad weather not more than fifteen or twenty, and these of the other s.e.x. Many of these come only to learn lucky numbers for lottery gambling, and policy playing.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Conclusion.
CHAPTER XVIII.
CONCLUSION.
It has been already mentioned that there are a number of persons in the city who do more or less in the fortune-telling way, who never advertise for customers. These we must leave to their own seclusion; as our business has been with those who make a business of this species of swindling, and who use all manner of arts to entice the curious, or the credulous, into their dens, there not only robbing them of their money, but often putting them in the way to be injured much more deeply. This, of course, is especially the case with young girls.
In order to give the readers of this book an idea of the part taken by these fortune-telling women in many of the terrible dramas of crime constantly enacting in city life, an extract showing the _modus operandi_ is here inserted. It is from one of a series of very useful little books published in this city, and ent.i.tled, "Tricks and Traps of New York."
Speaking of New York fortune-tellers, the author says, having previously indulged in some severe remarks about "yellow-covered"
novels:
"To see how the fortune-teller performs her part, let us suppose a case:
"A young, credulous girl, whose mind has been poisoned by the cla.s.s of fictions above referred to, is induced to visit a modern witch, for the purpose of having her "fortune told." The woman is very shrewd, and perceives, in a moment, the kind of customer she has to deal with. Understanding her business well, she is perfectly aware that love and marriage-courtship, lovers, and wedded bliss-are the subjects which are most agreeable.
"She begins by complimenting her customer: "such beautiful eyes, such elegant hair, such a charming form, and graceful manners, are altogether too fine for a servant or working girl." She must surely be intended for a higher station in life, and she will certainly attain it. She will rise in the world, by marriage, and will one day be one of the finest ladies in the land. Her husband will be the handsomest man she has ever seen, and her children will be the most beautiful in the world. Fortune-tellers always foretell many children to their female customers; for the instinct of maternity, the yearning desire for offspring, is one of the strongest feelings of human nature.