“Your carts run vera nice; you have goot carts; here is a
shentleman’s as ish vera goot to you, he is great friends mit
you: here is a letter vot you shall be come to you right avays
vera soon—it ish goot news to you; you must do joost vot das
letter says. Here ish a brown girls vot lofs (loves) you vera
mooch, but you do not lofs dat girls, so much as das girls lofs
you—you will not be der vife of das girl, for there is anunther
girls vot you lofs bretty bad und you will marry her; she is
bretty goot girls und you will be happy, you will hof lots of
kindes mit das girls. Das girls haf a man now vos lof her vera
mooch—he is was you call das soldier; he lofs her mooch but he
shall not hof her, you shall hof das girls. Here is great man was
will be good friend to you; he ish vera great man, a big king;
not vas you call der könig, but your big mans, your, vos is das,
your bresident—de bresident bees goot friends mit you—here is
dark mans, he ish no goot friend mit you, und you must keep away
from das dark mans.”
This was all the information she appeared to derive from this
pack, which were ordinary playing cards, so she laid them aside
and took up the regular fortune-telling cards, which are covered
with various mysterious devices. These did not seem to communicate
anything of very special importance in addition to what she had
already said, for she examined them closely and then merely
summed up as follows:
“Goot fortoon, goot blanet, goot vifes, blenty monish, mooch
kindes, not more troubles in der footoor years, big friends,
bresident mooch friends mit you, lif long, ninety-nine years
before you die, leave fortoon to vife und two kindes.”
The Individual was curious to inquire wherein the fifty-cent dose
he had received, differed from the fortunes for which she charged
“ein tollar,” and he received the following information:
“For ein tollar I gifs you a charm as you vears on your necks,
und it gifs you goot luck for ever, und you never gets drownded,
und you lifs long viles, und you bees rich und vera mooch happy.”
The Madame was also good-natured enough to exhibit one of these
powerful charms to her customer. It was a piece of parchment,
originally about four inches square, but which had been scalloped
on the edges, and otherwise cut and carved; on it were inscribed
in German, several cabalistic words; this potent document was to
be always worn next the heart.
Madame de Bellini has been in New York but a year or two; she
speaks French and German, and is taking lessons in English from
an American lady. She has many customers, mostly German, and, as
in the case of all the other witches, the greatest majority of
her visitors are women.
MADAME LEBOND, No. 175 HUDSON STREET.
The house in which this woman was sojourning at the time of the
visit hereinafter described, is a boarding-house, and the room of
the Madame is the back parlor on the second floor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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