“‘Yes,’ a pocket comb; ‘well,’ a toilet comb; ‘good,’ a curry comb.
“‘Can you see this? Are you going to tell?’
“The answer is ‘brush.’
“‘Yes,’ hair brush; ‘well,’ clothes brush; ‘good,’ paint brush.
“If an article is presented which is not down in the sets, the alphabet will have to be resorted to and the article spelled out.
“This concludes the ‘second-sight’ mystery which so perplexed the world, and which I never would have exposed but for the death of my lamented friend, Robert Heller.”
The perfect memorization of the preceding system will enable two ambitious amateurs or professionals to perform the “second-sight” mystery, but it will not enable them to produce all of the effects exhibited by Heller. Robert Heller had another system of conveying information to his blindfolded assistant on the stage—a system that permitted him to give a minute description of an object without speaking a word. It was this artistic effect that so puzzled every one. It was accomplished by means of electricity. A confederate sat among the spectators, near the center aisle of the theater, and the wires of an electric battery were connected with his chair, the electric push button being under the front part of the seat. Heller gave the cue to the set in which the article was, its number, etc., by some natural movement of his body or arms; and the confederate, rapidly interpreting the secret signals, telegraphed them to the clairvoyante on the stage. Mr. Hermon thus describes the receiving instrument in his clever little book, “Hellerism”:
“It will be remembered by all whoever witnessed Mr. and Miss Heller’s ‘second-sight’ act that when he came on the stage to begin this part of his performance, he rolled forward to the center of the stage a sofa. This sofa had no back to it, thus enabling Miss Heller to sit with her back to the audience. As the sofa was rolled forward it was so placed that one of the hind legs rested on a little brass plate screwed to the floor of the stage. On the foot of the leg there were two more, thus connecting and making a complete electric communication between his secret partner and Miss Heller.
“In the sofa there was a little machine so arranged that when the button was pressed a slight tap was the result. This tap could only be heard by Miss Heller, for it struck against a thin piece of board covered by the haircloth of the sofa, and sitting, as she was, directly on it, it could be easily felt.”
The verbal system and the silent system were used interchangeably during Heller’s performances, to the complete bewilderment of the spectators. Even magicians were mystified. When the former system was employed, Heller was enabled to go to any part of the theater; but in the latter, he was compelled, for obvious reasons, to confine himself to the center aisle, just below where the confederate was seated. The connecting wires were concealed beneath the carpeting.