During my visit to the McCord Museum, I was fortunate enough to have read a compilation (April 24, 1920 v1 n1 to June 5^th 1920 v1 n7) of “The Amazing Exploits of Houdini” found in The Kinema Comic.

1. The Bride & The Orangutan.
2. The Jewel Thieves.
3. “Stop Thief!
4. The Gold Melters.
5. Adventure of the Midland Express.
6. In The Dead of Night.
7. Out of The Sky.

Each issue contains a several page serialized fictional story (by-lined by Houdini). This week I share my paraphrased version of “The Bride & The Orangutan” found in the April 24 1920 v1 n1 issue:

A car on the wrong-side of the road with blinding headlights is bearing down on Houdini, as he jumps up in the air and lands on the hood of the vehicle. The driver who appeared to be up to no good, yells that he can’t stop and that Houdini will have to jump for it. Houdini climbs over the short door of the driver’s compartment and grips the man around the throat, but is confronted by another man with a gun. Houdini gets the driver’s body between him and the gun and discovers the man holding it was not the only occupant in the cab. With him was another man and girl. After a struggle, Houdini receives a blow to the head and then is drugged with chloroform.

When Houdini gains consciousness, he is lying on the floor of a room, bound hand and foot. He hears the sound of rushing water, accompanied by the grind of some machinery. He also smells a distasteful odour, that reminds him of his old circus days. But then he hears someone breathing heavily in the opposite corner of the room. He his pleasantly surprised it’s the girl from the car.

She tells Houdini he should not have exposed himself to danger and that now they are both trapped and helpless now.

Houdini rolls over on his side and within thirty seconds he his free. She remarks that not even Houdini could have gotten out of those ropes any quicker that you did.

Houdini lets her know that he is Houdini. She tells him that she is Mary, the third daughter of the Countess of Millingham and this morning is her wedding and she doesn’t see much chance of getting away in time for the ceremony. She has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom by the men that kidnapped her. Three weeks ago, the men wrote to her father, threatening this action on her wedding, unless he paid them a sum of five thousand pounds. Leaving the theatre last night, she got abducted in the car, and then Houdini came to her rescue.

Houdini asks where they are; and Mary replies somewhere in Surry, perhaps thirty miles out of London. WRT building, Mary imagines that it is some vacant mill and ask if Houdini can hear the water-wheel.

After freeing Mary, Houdini starts to walk toward the window as possible means of escape, when suddenly the boards beneath him give way and Houdini feels himself fall. Houdini manages to grasp the side of the floor. Searching for a foothold on the walls of the well, Houdini gradually muscles himself up to the surface of the floor.

The window was no longer an option, which only left one other exit and that was the door. Near the top of the door was a square hole about six inches across, and heavily barred. Houdini hoisted himself up until he could look through and discovered the cause of the peculiar odour. Crouched up against the wall furthest from the door was a huge orangutan that watched Houdini’s every movement.

Taking the ropes that they had been bound in, Houdini used one to tie his keys to the end, lower it through the grill, and by so doing managed to pull it underneath the bottom of the door. A loop was thus formed, which he maneuvered until he had it fastened on the bolt. The door was then easily opened.

The beast sprang forward and into the room toward Houdini’s neck. Houdini jumped to one side and the beast went toppling down to its death as it hit the water wheel.

Houdini took Mary’s hand and together they rushed out the door down the stairs to the car which had very nearly run over Houdini the previous night.

It was 4:30 in the morning and the wedding didn’t start until 11:30. Houdini started the car and off they went to the police station. A squad car went off right away and captured the whole lot in beds.

Mary looked well as a bride.