Not only was the ex-swell amongst the audience at the beginning of that evening’s entertainment, in which Mr. and Mrs. Dibble figured so prominently, but he remained afterwards, and took a lively interest in “the mysterious lady” whom he applauded loudly. She was a lively pleasant looking girl, this showman’s daughter, active of limb and nimble of tongue. There was something in her appearance far beyond the ordinary show girl. Then she was young and full of life and buoyancy. She evidently enjoyed the part she played. The wonder and amazement of the younger portion of her audience, and the undisguised admiration with which some of the elder ones contemplated her round little figure, her painted cheeks, and her well-formed arms, gave her a real pleasure. She was slightly coarse in her manners, as the reader has already seen: added to this she was vain, so the applause of the miscellaneous low-bred audiences before whom she performed was agreeable to her; and on the evening in question she was particularly delighted at the marked way in which the nearest approach to a gentleman she had even seen in the Temple, expressed his approval of her tricks and of her personal appearance. When Christabel brought out those two packs of cards, and shuffled them, and handed them round, and tossed them about, Gibbs’s weak eyes began to sparkle with unwonted fire. It was quite delightful to see how clever Christabel was with those bits of pasteboard. The audience might cut them as they pleased, and think of what card they liked, she could always present them with the counterfeit of their thoughts. Shuffle them as they might, in two or three cuts she would bring all the suits together: blindfold her, and she could pick out any card that was mentioned. She did twenty clever things with the cards; not the ordinary showman’s tricks--not simply the innocent jokes which mark the sport in drawing-rooms at Christmas time; but genuine clever unaccountable tricks which elicited from Mr. Jefferson Crawley, otherwise Shuffleton Gibbs, frequent exclamations of “bravo, bravo.” It was not the mere tricks that enraptured Mr. Crawley either; but the dexterous way in which Christabel manipulated the cards and moved any number of them to that part of the pack where it was necessary to her success they should be. Dealing with ordinary players, and with experienced players too, she could evidently turn up almost any card she pleased. This was the leading thought that cropped up in the mind of Mr. Crawley. He envied the girl her dexterity, her lithe quick fingers, and then he thought what a fortune she might be to any one who could give her an education worthy of her powers. When the performance was at an end, he waited until the magician emerged from behind the curtain, whereupon he complimented him upon his powers, and desired to be introduced to his wonderful daughter.