Would Mr. Kelson kindly
speak to whoever was responsible for such cruelty and negligence?"
A bear and a crocodile having been tamed in the same manner, and their
remarks interpreted to the audience, the entertainment concluded.
The next day the papers were full of it.
The _Planet_, under the startling announcements--
"RECOVERY OF THE LOST SENSES.
MORE EXTRAORDINARY FEATS IN COCKSPUR STREET.
LEON HAMAR BECOMES INVISIBLE AT WILL,"
--narrated all that had occurred.
The _Monitor_--if anything more sensational--declared--
"THE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS DISCOVERED AT LAST!
THE PROBLEM OF BREATHING UNDER WATER--SOLVED!
DEMATERIALIZATION AT WILL ESTABLISHED!"
And even the _Courier_--the steady, ever cautious old _Courier_,
England's premier paper, created a precedent by the use of a quite
conspicuously large type; vide the following--
"THE AGE OF MIRACLES REVIVED!
ACTUAL CASE OF SUBDUING AND CONVERSING WITH WILD ANIMALS.
RECOVERY OF THE PROPERTIES OF INVISIBILITY; OF WALKING ON WATER,
AND OF BREATHING UNDER WATER."
As before, there were innumerable cases of imitation, many of them,
unhappily, resulting in the death of the imitator. At Dover, for
instance, a Congregationalist Minister convinced that he had the
requisite amount of faith, announced from the pulpit, that he intended
walking on the water, in the Harbour, after service. Thousands flocked
to see him, but despite the fact that he said "I will! I will!" with
the greatest emphasis, the unkind waves would not support him.
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