Free The Secret Life of Houdini by William Kalush, Larry Sloman Page A

train pulled in late and the express was ready to roll. To Harry’s horror, there were no porters around to help him move his four heavy trunks from the old train to the new one, and even with the help of a few fellow passengers, they had only gotten two of the trunks transferred when the order to disembark was given. If they missed this train, they would miss their first performance and jeopardize their future. So he hatched his little dramatic plan. That experience “has always seemed to me to be the turning point in my career,” he wrote. But not because he got to the engagement on time. “That was the first time I realised the public wanted drama. Give ’em a hint of danger, perhaps of death—and you’ll have ’em packing in to see you!”
    Houdini immediately adapted to life with a traveling medicine show. Dr. Hill was a young man with long flowing hair, a silky brown beard, and a remarkable ability to produce silver-tongued oratory praising the virtues of his homemade patent medicine, an ability that was definitely enhanced by his generous consumption of store-bought alcohol. His partner, Dr. Pratt, was a benign-looking white-haired old man.
    The troupe would pull into a town in a carriage that was large enough to transport Dr. Pratt’s organ. Stopping at a congested corner, Dr. Pratt would play while Houdini banged a tambourine and Bessie sang. After a crowd gathered, Dr. Hill would give a grandiose pitch for his wonderful medicine that could cure every illness imaginable. Houdini collected the coins from the eager crowd as Bess and the others dispensed the bottles. Then they’d announce their evening show at the local town hall, a show that cost only ten, fifteen, or twenty-five cents.
    Within a short time, Houdini and his wonderful escapes became the focal point of the Dr. Hill show. Maybe all the struggle was finally starting to pay off. For six years now, Houdini had been leading a nomadic existence, soaking up technique and skills like a sponge, enduring hunger (he and Bess once subsisted for a few weeks on two rabbits they bought with a borrowed quarter), pain, and humiliation in his quest to make a name for himself. The responsibility that he had been given by his father was his constant companion—no matter how much he and Bess made, he was sure to send the biggest chunk of it back home to his mother. But that pledge transcended mere financial aid. Houdini was on a quest for respectability, for the legitimacy that had always evaded his noble and worthy father.
    In Lima, Ohio, a young reporter named H. M. Walker saw a performance. He was impressed to see Houdini escape from handcuffs, transform water into ink, and do wonderful card manipulations. After the show, he went backstage to interview Harry. Perhaps because they were both young and both neophytes in their chosen profession, Houdini seemed to relate to Walker, and his stage mask slipped a bit.
    “I haven’t learned to coin my thrill in publicity,” Houdini said frankly. “I think no one can beat me at magic—but I’m still obscure.”
    And then he looked Walker straight in the eye and smiled. “It doesn’t bother me, however. I know I am going to be famous.”

3
The Celebrated Clairvoyants
    W E HAVE JUST RECENTLY BECOME AWARE of a tragic situation in this good town of Garnett, Kansas,” the Great Houdini said.
    The audience, which had filled the old opera house to the rafters that November night in 1897, held its breath. This was what they had been waiting for all night. Houdini, who along with his wife had the power , was going to reveal just who had killed Sadie Timmins. Sadie’s murder had been brutal, they knew that much. Sheriff Keeney had scoured the hills and the hollows of town for the murderer—to no avail. Now this outsider, this charismatic wonder-worker was going to contact the spirit world and get the inside dope. Well, maybe he could, the townsfolk thought. After all, he had already escaped from the old stone jail just