“He Can Do Little.”
This is another “sell” of almost childish simplicity, but we have seen people desperately puzzled over it, and even “give it up” in despair.
The leader takes a stick (or poker) in his left hand, thence transfers it to his right, and thumps three times on the floor, saying, “He can do little who can’t do this.” He then hands the stick to another person, who, as he supposes, goes through exactly the same performance, but if he does not know the game, is generally told, to his disgust, that he has incurred a forfeit, his imitation not having been exact.
The secret lies in the fact that the stick, when passed on, is first received in the left hand, and thence transferred to the right before going through.