Page:Tales of the Dead.djvu/118

 and above all, he had been singularly astonished by his powers of ventriloquism.

“It is precisely in that particular point,” replied Calzolaro, that I think myself equal to any one, be they whom they may.”

“I am very glad of it,” answered the colonel. “But what would produce the most astonishing effect on those who have never heard a ventriloquist, would be a dialogue between the actor and a death’s head:—the man of whom I made mention gave us one.”

“If you command it, I can undertake it.”

“Delightful!” exclaimed the colonel. And Calzolaro having given some unequivocal proofs of his powers as a ventriloquist, the colonel added: “The horror of the scene must be augmented by every possible means: for instance, we must hang the room with black; the lights must be extinguished; we must fix on midnight. It will be a species of phantasmagoria dessert after supper; an unexpected spectacle. We must contrive to throw the audience into a cold perspiration, in order that when the explanation takes place they may have ample reason to laugh at their fears. For if all succeeds, no one will be exempt from a certain degree of terror.”

Calzolaro entered into the project, and promised that nothing should be neglected to make it