The 48 Laws Of Power

Themaslerseizedhis

formerpupil,lifted
him

high

abovehis

head,

Imdflung

him

crashing

mthe

ground.

The

sultanandtheInsem-

bly

letoutaloudcheer.

Whentherultunasked

themasierhowhr:was

able

toovercomerack

11

strongopponent,

fhe

rnmter

corifcxsed

that

he
hadreserved
asecret

techniqueforhimseif

for

jllsl

such 11 crmlirtr

gem-y.

Thenhe

related

theIamemulion

of

a

marlcr

ofarchery,

who

laugh:everything

he

knew."Noonehas

Ierzrnm!

archeryfrom

me,

"

the

poorfellow

cornphiined,

“whohas

rintmen‘tousemeas:2

buffintheend.

"

A

srour

orS/mm.

AS

TOLD1N

ms

CRAI-“IorPOW!-;R.

R.G.

H.511:,

1979

248

.

LAW 30

went

by;

themore

time

passed,

themorecertainit

seemed

thattheseman»

acleswouldbe

the

firsttodefeathim.Atone

point

he

emerged

fromthe

cabinet,

andaskedthatthecuffsbe

temporarily

removedsothathecould

takeoffhiscoat—itwashotinside.The

challengers

refused,

suspecting

his

request

wasatricktofindouthowthelocksworked.

Undeterred,

andwith

out

using

his

hands,

Houdini

managed

toliftthecoatoverhis

shoulders,

turn

it

inside

out,

remove

a

penknife

from

his

vest

pocket

with

his

teeth,

and,

bymoving

his

head,

outthecoatoffhisarms.Freedfromthe

coat,

he

stepped

backintothe

cabinet,

theaudience

roaring

with

approval

athis

grace

and

dexterity.

Finally, having kept

the

audience

wailing long enough,

Houdini

emerged

fromthecabinet

a

second

time,

now

withhishands

free,

the

man-

aclesraised

high

in

triumph.

Tothis

day

nooneknowshowhe

managed

the

escape.

Although

hehadtakenclosetoanhourtofree

himself,

hehad

neverlooked

concerned,

hadshownno

sign

ofdoubt.Indeeditseemed

by

theendthathehaddrawnoutthe

escape

asa

way

to

heighten

the

drama,

tomake

theaudience

worry-—-for

therewasnoother

sign

that

the

perfon

mance hadbeen

anything

but

easy.

The

complaint

about

theheatwas

equallypart

oftheact.The

spectators

ofthisandotherHoudini

perfon

mancesmusthavefelthewas

toying

withthem:Thesemanaclesarenoth~

ing,

heseemedto

say,

Icouldhavefreed

myself

alot

sooner,

andfroma

lot

worse.

Overthe

years,

Houdini

escaped

fromthechainedcarcassofanem

balmed “seamonster”

(3.

half

octopus,

halfwhalelike beast thathad

beachednear

Boston);

hehadhimselfsealedinsideanenormous

envelope

fromwhichhe

emerged

without

breaking

the

paper;

he

passedthrough

brick

walls;

he

wriggled

freefrom

straitjackets

while

danglinghigh

inthe

air;

he

leaped

from

bridges

into

icy

waters,

hishandsmanacled

andhis

legs

in

chains;

hehadhimself

submerged

in

glass

casesfullof

water,

hands

pad-

locked,

whiletheaudiencewatchedinamazementasheworkedhimself

free,

struggling

forclosetoanhour

apparently

without

breathing.

Each

timehe seemedtocourtcertain death

yet

survivedwith

superhuman

aplomb.

Meanwhile,

hesaid

nothing

abouthis

methods,

gave

nocluesas

tohowbe

accomplishedany

ofhistricks——~he

left

hisaudiencesandcritics

speculating,

his

power

and

reputation

enhanced

by

their

struggles

withthe

inexplicable.Perhaps

themost

baffling

trickofallwas

making

aten—thou-

sa.ud—poundelephantdisappear

beforeanaudience’s

eyes,

afeathere

peated

on

stage

forover

nineteenweeks.

Noone

hasever

reallyexplained

howhedid

this,

forintheauditoriumwherehe

performed

the

trick,

there

was

simply

nowhereforan

elephant

tohide.

TheeffortlessnessofHoudin1"s

escapes

ledsometothinkheusedoc-

cult

forces,

his

superiorpsychic

abilities

giving

him

special

controloverhis

body.

ButaGerman

escape

artistnamed

Kleppini

claimedtoknowHon»

dini’ssecret:He

simply

used

elaborate

gadgets.Kleppini

alsoclaimedto

havedefeatedHoudiniinahandcuff

challenge

inHolland.

Houdinididnotmindallkindsof

speculation

floating

aroundabout