You must have a strong wooden doll, about eight or ten inches high; the head must fix on or off by a peg at the bottom of the throat, being placed in a hole made at the top of the bust. Besides a close-fitting dress to its body, a large, loose, fantastic cloak must be placed round the whole figure, but must be so arranged as to allow the head to be pushed down through the part of the cloak that covers the bust, and an elastic pocket must be neatly made inside the cloak to receive and retain the head.
Having the above apparatus ready, you may commence by saying:
“Allow me, ladies and gentlemen, to introduce my learned friend and assistant—indefatigable in traveling to the most distant parts on any message I may wish to send him. He used to be recognized by early conjurors as their Bonus Genius—their good familiar spirit. But, whatever his special title, he is gifted with the art of rendering himself visible or invisible, as he feels disposed, while he travels to distant countries.
“Allow me to call your attention to the solid frame and unflinching nerves, at any rate to the well-seasoned constitution of my friend. [Rap him loudly, rap, rap, rap, on the table.] The raps he received during his education doubtless accustomed him to bear much without flinching. Though his travels have ranged from China to Peru, from the Equator to the Poles, you perceive he still sounds like a hardy Pole himself. (Rap, rap, rap.)
“I perceive, however, by the glaring of his eye, that, after my too rough handling, he is desirous of starting on his travels. I suppose we must provide him with the needful for his expenses. Large sums are given now-a-days to special correspondents in foreign countries; who will kindly give him sufficient? He will want a golden or silver key to open some curiosities he may wish to inspect in foreign cities. (Pause.) Oh, well, as there is a delay about it, I must myself supply him. I think I have a few disposable coins in my pocket: he shall have them.”
Suiting the action to the word, while your left hand holds the upper part of the cloak near the neck, so as to cover what you are doing, you withdraw the wooden body with your right hand, while you move your right hand down to your pocket for the coins. You then leave the body of the doll in your pocket, and taking out the coins, present them to the head and cloak of the figure, which is held in your left hand, saying: “There, my good friend, you can now, if you wish, proceed on your tour to Algiers, or Dahomey, or Timbuctoo, or wherever the universal Yankee travelers fancy at the present to resort.
“Ah, I see he is pleased and in good spirits again. He wishes apparently to bid you good-bye. You will excuse his looking also round about him, to judge whether the weather is fair to set out; after which I will lay my hand on his head to express my good wishes for his journey. I dare say he will not stay much longer after that than a schoolboy does after his master has bid him good-bye.”
Place with formal ceremony your hand on his head, press it down through the opening below it, receive it in your left hand underneath the cloak, and bestow it safely in the pocket.
Affect astonishment at finding the gown alone left in your hands, and fold it up with a lamentation at his departure. You may say: “It is clear that he has chosen to go to a hot climate, as he has left his cloak behind him.”
Discourse for a few minutes about sending a telegram to overtake him at London or San Francisco—talk about the sea-passage, railways, tunnels, and what not.