e-twined linen are the
common wear.

It is said that certain counsel eminent in the learned profession
of the law, and that certain even of the judges of the bench,
have been known to consult the female practicers of the Black
Art, but the author has never been personally cognizant of a case
of this kind, and has no means of knowing whether the consultation
was intended to benefit the lawyer or the witch; whether the
former desired enlightenment as to the management of some knotty
professional point, or whether the latter wanted legal advice as
to some of the side branches of her business.

_Mrs. Fleury_, whose domicile and mode of procedure are described
in this present chapter, has a large run of this sort of what may
be termed _respectable_ custom, and she does not fail to profit
by it to the utmost. She came to New York, from France, about six
or seven years ago, and at once established herself in the witch
business, which she could advertise extensively in the papers,
although the other branches of her profession, by which she
probably makes more money than by telling fortunes, would by no
means bear newspaper publicity. What these other branches are,
is more explicitly stated in other chapters of this book, and, in
fact, needs to be but hinted at, to be at once understood by
nearly all who read.

Madame Fleury advertised the world of her arrival in America, and
of her supernatural powers, and in a short time customers began
to flock in. It is now her boast that she has as "respectable a
connexion" as any one in the trade, and that she has as great a
number of "regular, reliable customers," as any conjuress in
America. She says that most of her "regular customers" visit her
once in six weeks, six being with her a favorite number, and she
not undertaking to guarantee her _business_ predictions for a
greater length of time.

Whether she makes any discount from her ordinary prices to these
regular traders, she did not state, but probably witchcraft is
governed by the same rule as other commodities, and comes cheaper
to wholesale dealers.

Duly armed and equipped with staff and scrip, and duly fortified
within by such stimulants as the exigencies of the case seemed
to demand, the Cash Customer set out for 263 Broome Street, and
after strict trial and due examination of the premises and the
people, he made the following report.

It was a favorite remark of a learned though mistaken philosopher
of the olden ti