Afterward, however, Fante advises Harry to "drop it," noting that Johann Von Schweger, a German magician, retired at the height of his career after performing a similar feat, fearful of his own talents. Harry accepts the challenge and, through intense concentration, extricates himself from the jacket, greatly impressing Fante. On Halloween, Harry and Bess attend a special magicians' dinner at the Astor Hotel, during which magician Fante offers a prize to anyone who can free himself from a straightjacket. After Bess convinces Harry to take a job in a locksmith factory, Harry works as a lock tester while fantasizing about escaping from one of the factory's large safes. Bess becomes Harry's onstage partner, touring the country with him, but soon grows tired of the low pay and grueling schedule. Bess admits her attraction, and soon after, the two appear at Harry's mother's house, newly married. When Bess shows up to watch Harry perform two more times, however, he corners her.
Harry flirts with the unsuspecting Bess during his act, but she flees from him in a panic. In the 1890s, young Harry Houdini is performing with a Coney Island carnival as Bruto, the Wild Man, when Bess, a naive onlooker, tries to protect him from the blows of Schultz, his "trainer." Harry then appears as magician The Great Houdini and, spotting Bess in the audience, invites her on stage.
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