Page 21 - Unlikely Stories 1

Madagascar Madness

the attendant press coverage of sensational court proceedings. When
the corpse of a hobo sufficiently resembling me turned up in the
morgue of the Grace Hospital in Detroit, it was a simple matter for
me to fake an abdominal injury and put myself in a yogic state of
suspended animation long enough to get a doctor to certify my death.
Then I made the switch in the middle of the night, changed some
documents in the hospital office to show that the indigent’s body had
been claimed by relatives, and left before daybreak.”
Seidell shook his head slowly.
“That is difficult to believe. And if it were true, why of all places
would you choose to go to Madagascar?”
Weiss took another small sip from his cup and put it down, his
hand slightly shaking. “To answer that we must go back in time to
1918. Did you know I had starred in several films?”
“You mean, do I know that Houdini was an actor in the movies?
No, my memories of him are from newsreels and magazines. You
must know that you do not resemble those images at all, sir.”
The invalid grimaced.
“There is something to be said for dying young and leaving no
photograph of oneself as an old man. Yet I was already fifty-two
years old when a camera last captured my face: my physical training
kept me fit and youthful well into middle age. It had to, after all,
given the stunts I performed. And I had hopes…but I get ahead of
myself. Do you remember any of the films of your childhood, before
sound was added?”
“No. I think they were gone before I ever got to a theatre. They’re
obsolete. Most of them were probably melted down for the war
effort.”
“That’s too bad,” said Weiss. “Then you never had a chance to see
The Master Mystery, the serial I made during the Great War.”
Seidell shook his head, smiling. “I’ve seen the Lone Ranger and
Flash Gordon serials. Was it like those, but no talking?”
“I can’t say,” replied the old man. “But it probably doesn’t matter.
The point is that one of the plot elements involved Madagascar.”
The G.I.’s eyes widened.

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