We all know that a magician does not really depend on "magic" to (1) his tricks, but on his ability, to act at great speed. (2) , this does not prevent us from enjoying watching a magician (3) rabbits from a hat. (4) the greatest magician of all time was Harley Houdini who died in 1926. Houdini mastered the art of escaping. He could free himself from the tightest knots or the most (5) locks in seconds. Although no one really knows how he did this, there is no doubt (6) he had made a close study of every type of lock ever (7) . He liked to carry a small steel needle like tool strapped to his leg and he used this in place of a key. Houdini once asked the Chicago police to lock him in prison. They (8) him in chains and locked him up, but he freed himself (9) an instant. The police (10) him of having used a tool and locked him up again. This time he wore no clothes and there were chains round his neck, waist, wrists, and legs; but he again escaped in a few minutes. Houdini had probably hidden his "needle" in a wax-like (11) and dropped it on the floor in the (12) . He stepped on it so that it (13) to the bottom of his foot (14) he went past. His most famous escape, however, was (15) astonishing. He was heavily chained up and (16) in an empty wooden chest, the lid of (17) was nailed down. The chest was (18) into the sea in New York harbor. In one minute Houdini (19) to the surface. When the chest was (20) , it was opened and the chains were found inside.