A GOOD AFTER-DINNER TRICK
Procure an egg, an apple, an orange, and two dozen nuts. Place the latter on a plate, and request three persons during your absence from the room to each pocket one of the three former, asserting that you will eventually state in whose pockets the different articles are to be found. On returning to the room present to one of the persons you have asked to assist you one nut, to a second person two nuts, and to the third three nuts, which will of course leave eighteen nuts on the plate. You must mentally name the person to whom you gave one nut “number one,” to the person holding two nuts “number two,” and the one who has three nuts “number three.”
Announce your intention of again leaving the room, and request your three assistants to help themselves during your absence to nuts as follows—the one holding the apple to take the same number of nuts you presented him with, the one who has the egg to twice as many as you gave him, and the holder of the orange to four times as many as he originally received.
Impress on them that the number of nuts they take must be in addition to those they already hold.
On returning to the room you glance at the nuts remaining in the plate and at once call for the egg, apple, and orange from their respective holders.
Explanation.
You must memorise the following Latin words: Attento, Beato, Cantores, Erocat, Fortasse, Glossema, numbering them 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7. The initials of these words, it will be observed, are the first six letters of the alphabet, omitting D, which is not required; A, of course, standing for Apple, E for Egg, and O for Orange.
On returning to the room after your second absence count the number of nuts remaining on plate, refer to the Latin words, and you have the key. Supposing there are only two nuts left, take the second word, Beato, and reject the consonants, when the vowels will remain in proper order, E, A, O. The E being first shows the egg is in the pocket of the person whom you have designated as “number one.” The A being second indicates “number two” has the apple, and the O, the third letter, means “number three” holds the orange.
Supposing there are seven nuts left, take the seventh word, Glossema, reject the consonants as before, and pick out the vowels, O, E, A, which proves “number one” person holds the orange, “number two” the egg, and “number three” the apple, and so on with the other Latin words, the remaining number of nuts always indicating the word from which you are to select the vowels. This trick may be repeated ad lib. without fear of detection.