"Show me something would surprise me," he was ordering. "Be damned
to this old woman's entertainment!" says he. "As a magician,"
says he, "you're the worst I ever saw. If you're a magician,"
says he, "I'm a rabbit."

And there was a roar at that, because he was known to be a very
brave man.

"Show me a magic trick," says he.

Says the Hindu:

"Maybe you'd wish you hadn't seen it."

"Be damned to that!" says the big fellow.

"Look at this man well," the Hindu told the room. "Look at him well."
He throws a handful of powder in the fire and chants in his foreign
language. A cloud of white smoke arises from the fire. He makes a
pass before it, and, lo and behold ye! it's a screen against the wall.
And there's a great commotion of shadows on the screen, and suddenly
you see what it's all about. It's a platform, and a man kneeling,
with his head on the block. You don't see who it is, but you get
chilled. And suddenly there's a headsman in a red cloak and a red
mask, and the ax swings and falls. The head pops off, and the body
falls limp. And the head rolls down the platform and stops, and
you see it's the head of the fellow who wanted to see something,
and it's in the grisly grin of death. . .