Under his vest band the performer has a small apple, a walnut, or little ball. This he gets down as he retires to the table, and slips it in the lower cavity of the bottle, holding it there suspended by means of the little finger. He then places the bottle upon the left-hand front corner of the table, and on the corresponding corner he places a duplicate of the article which he has secretly introduced under the bottle. This duplicate will have been lying on the table all the time, and can, of course, be examined. The performer now takes two cardboard or paper covers, each just large enough to cover a ginger-beer bottle easily, and shows them round. These covers can be made with very little trouble, and the plainer they are the better, in my opinion. Spectators think no more of a trick because of a cover of many colours covered with gold or silver stars. A fancy paper on the outside is all that is required, for it will not do to look "beggarly." These two covers are now taken back, and the performer goes behind his table. With the left hand he places one cover very slowly and deliberately over the bottle, and calls very particular attention to what he is doing. The cover in the right hand is meanwhile being placed over the bottle on the shelf. The conjuror's whole attention, eyes and everything, must be engrossed on what he is doing with the bottle which is visible. Any glance which he may want to take for ascertaining the exact position of the bottle on the shelf must take place as he goes behind the table; any downward look after this would be fatal. Directly it is felt that the hidden bottle is safe in the cover, the latter must be brought into view again; and care must be taken that it is held a little obliquely, the mouth being towards the performer. As an additional security, it is always as well to have the inside of the covers blackened, or lined with black paper, and the inside and base of the second bottle treated likewise. Any accidental exposure will then not be so likely to be attended by serious results.
When the first cover is fairly over the bottle, the second one, containing the other bottle, is placed over the little ball, or whatever it is. The performer next takes up his wand and says, "Now, what I am about to do is to cause the ginger-beer bottle and the little ball to change places. This, I am aware, anyone can do by simply lifting off the covers and altering the positions of the articles with the hand; but I shall do nothing so transparent. I will show you that the articles are still where I placed them, and that I have not already moved them from their positions." (The covers are alternately lifted, care being taken not to prematurely expose the wrong article.) "My method of procedure is as follows: First, I take out the little ball" (on the shelf there is a third article, similar to the other two, and this the performer palms in the left hand) "in this manner. You see, I simply run my wand up the side of the cover, and here I have the little ball in my hand." (Strike left hand with wand, and open it and put the ball on table.) "This cover is now empty. By means of my wand, I remove the ginger-beer bottle, large and cumbrous as it is, from the cover—here it is, see, on my wand!—and pass it gently, for fear of breakages, into the empty cover. This little ball I take thus, and pass into this cover, where the bottle was, not five seconds since." (Perform any pass with the ball, and put it back upon the shelf.) "On raising the covers, it will be seen that the change has actually taken place." Raise the left-hand cover first, grasping it firmly so as to ensure the bottle from slipping, and then show the second bottle on the right, bringing the left hand, at the same time, over the shelf, upon which the first bottle is permitted to drop, very gently, from the cover. Both covers should be afterwards shown round, although the trick can be repeated, i.e., done backwards, if the performer desires. If he does so, he should say, "Ah, I daresay everybody did not see how that was done, and, as I always like the method of my tricks to be understood by everybody, I will do it over again. There is no fun in a trick if one does not see how it is done." On removing the bottles at the close of the trick, care must be taken that the hidden ball, &c., is not knocked down on the floor, as is sometimes done by accident. This is a genuinely good trick, the opening of the ginger-beer bottle before the audience serving to throw that body off its guard.
The Flying Plume and Seed.—This is another trick in which duplicated representations play an important part, but the articles and methods employed are so totally distinct from those used in the preceding trick that one might follow the other in a performance, and yet both appear to be totally distinct in every way. There is a little simple apparatus in connection with the trick. First of all, a tin tube, 18in. long, and at least 1-1/2in. in diameter. It is provided with a cap at each end, fitting inside, and not over, as is usual. The tube also possesses the peculiarity of being divided longitudinally, by a tin partition, into two portions. This partition does not run down the centre of the tube, but takes a transverse direction from one side of one end to the opposite side of the other end. By this means, both ends are open to their full extent, and the tube can be shown briskly round, with the cap off, without anyone being able to detect anything wrong. Of course, only one end will be given for inspection, the audience not suspecting the existence of more than one opening.
Then there is a vase, also of tin, but painted on the outside or japanned. This vase has a foot about 3in. high, which is hollow, and is connected with the body of the vase by means of a very large hole. This hole is hidden by a large domed cap on the end of a pin, which runs through the foot, and is furnished with a button underneath. A spiral spring inside keeps the cap down on the hole, but pressure on the button under the foot causes it to rise, and any seed that may be in the body of the vase will instantly run down into the foot. Two plumes of exactly the same colour and length will also be required. These plumes can be obtained at a cheap rate at any plumassier's. One of the compartments of the tube is secretly filled with seed, and the end opening that division is closed with the cap. This cap should bear a distinct mark to distinguish it from the other. In the vase there should be an egg, orange, lemon, or apple, &c., which must not be seen by the audience, and on the table there should be another similar article. Up the performer's sleeve, or in his side pocket, one of the plumes is secreted. The other plume is handed round and then thrust down the tube, which, to all appearances, it entirely fills. Place the tube on a chair or on the floor, and then take the vase, and into it pour a quantity of seed, going forward so soon as the article at the bottom is covered. Show the vase round full of seed, and then place it on another chair, the button being pressed and all the seed allowed to run away in transit.
Now borrow either a hat or a handkerchief. If the plume is up the sleeve, then a handkerchief is required. Spread the handkerchief over the hand, as if showing there is nothing in it, and seize the end of the plume through it with the other hand. Draw the handkerchief smartly away with the plume inside it, and throw both on the floor. If the plume is in the pocket, then borrow a hat and slip the plume into it. The plume will curl round inside the hat, and remain firmly fixed, so the hat can be turned brim downwards without fear of the plume falling out.
These preliminaries concluded, proceed as follows: Touch the tube with the wand and say you have taken out the plume, which you then "pass" into the hat or handkerchief, as the case may be. Now touch the vase with the wand, and say that you have removed all the seed, which you then command to go into the tube. Vanish the egg, or whatever it may be that you use, down a trap, and "pass" it into the vase. Nothing then remains but to open the tube, and to show the vase and handkerchief or hat. Millet is by far the best seed to use. It is light, and its spherical shape causes it to run smoothly. A conjuror, who was experienced enough to know better, persistently used rice for this trick. The result was extra delay, for the rice generally managed to clog somewhere, and always made a tell-tale rattling as it trickled into the foot. It made one tremble to look and listen. The trick is very easily managed, and creates a remarkably pretty effect. The conjuring shops supply the apparatus.
How to Make and Cook a Pudding in a Hat.—Procure a large size gallipot with nice thin sides. Have a tin lining made to fit the inside of this, and divide the lining into two portions by means of a horizontal division across the middle. The inside of a gallipot being somewhat narrower at the bottom than it is at the top, the lining will be taper, and consequently one partition will be larger than the other. Into the larger partition put a plum pudding, or cake, hot, and stand it on the shelf, without the gallipot. Borrow a hat, and, whilst busy about putting some paper at the bottom of it, and explaining that it is to prevent its being spoilt, take an opportunity of slipping the tin containing the pudding into it. Now take some flour, eggs, plums, sugar, and water, and mix them all up in the gallipot, to the accompaniment of some facetious remarks about your being a first-rate cook. Next pour the paste from the gallipot into the empty division of the tin, and, putting the pot momentarily into the hat, press it down well over the tin, which it will bring away, leaving the pudding alone behind. Now hold the hat over a spirit lamp (a candle would spoil the hat), and profess to be cooking the contents, which presently take out close to the audience and distribute. Some conjurors make omelettes and pancakes, which certainly make a good show, and are suggestive of being cooked on the crown of a hat. Some address is required in executing this trick, especially in getting the tin into and out of the hat. The knack of putting things into hats from the shelf neatly is one of the most difficult things to acquire, and the performer must never be nervous at the moment, or he will be certain to allow himself to be discovered. Sometimes the egg is first broken into the hat (i.e., the tin), and the flour and water afterwards mixed up in the gallipot. The effect of the contents of an egg dropping into a hat is certainly good.
An amusing interlude, when borrowing a hat, is to apparently push the forefinger through the crown and then restore the hole supposed to be made by the act. This deception is managed by having a cast of a human forefinger made in either wax, gutta-percha, or plaster, and provided with a pointed wire at the thick end. This finger is concealed in the right hand, and the left hand put inside the hat. The right hand is then brought on the outside of the crown, and with the remark, "I fancy you have a hole in your hat, sir," an apparent effort is made, and a finger shown protruding through the crown. All that is done is to pass through the wire, which is held on the inside by the left hand. After making a few sharp movements simulating a finger in the act of being shaken, bring the right hand on to the crown again, and make as though considerable exertion were required in order to get the finger back again. The dummy is, of course, merely secured in the right hand, and the hat immediately shown ostentatiously round, so as to keep attention away from the right hand. The imitation finger must naturally be coloured to resemble the performer's flesh. The trick must not last long—a quarter of a minute is ample. If the finger remains through the hat for any length of time the audience will soon realise what the nature of the deception is. It should appear as if the finger had been just pushed through, shaken derisively, and then withdrawn.
The Flags of Old England.—Without any visible preparation, and from no conceivable source, the performer produces hundreds of flags with the hands. The flags, which can, of course, be of any colour, but, for obvious reasons, should be red, white, and blue, for preference, are thus made quickly: Procure some sheets of tissue paper, and cut them into slips of equal dimensions. A good size to commence with is 3in. by 1-1/2in., three of which will make a flag of 4in. by 3in., a very nice size. For rapid pasting, place, say, the red slips one over the other, each one permitting just a quarter of an inch of the one beneath it to be seen. With one sweep of the brush a large number can be thus pasted. Perform the same operation with the blue papers, and the white ones will not require any paste at all. Join the three together, and, when dry, paste them on either very thin sticks or wire, or else on bass. The latter is far preferable to any other substance, and can be easily procured. Now make some flags about 6in. by 4in. in the same manner, and, if you choose, a few even larger still. Roll them all up very tightly in two or three bundles, and secrete them about you. I always place a bundle of small flags up each sleeve, the larger ones being either in the vest or in the large breast pocket of the coat. Take a little flag in each hand, and advance with them. Wave them about, and, lowering one hand, allow the bundle to slide into it from the sleeve, care being taken that the back of the hand is towards the audience. Bring the hands together immediately, and continue to wave them about for a few seconds, when commence to unroll the flags, and cause a few to appear first at the top, and then to fall on to the floor. Continue this, all the time moving about, until you find the supply getting low, when, with a downward sweep of the hands, extract the bundle from the other sleeve. This movement will be perfectly concealed by the numerous flags flying about. It will also be perfectly easy to obtain possession of the other bundles from the vest or pocket, if care be taken to raise the flags that are being exhibited, so as to conceal the motion of the hand. When the larger flags are being unravelled, the waving should increase. The effect of a quantity of flags coming from apparently nowhere is always very bewildering to an audience, and this is heightened when the larger ones appear. I remember producing one quite 8ft. in length, with a complimentary motto, allusive to the season of the year, elaborated upon it. There is, however, no necessity to go to such a length as this. Buatier, instead of two flags to commence with, takes a bundle of coloured paper, which he rolls up, and then pretends to transform into flags. This is not at all a bad method, and, if the performer prefers it to my own, there is no harm in adopting it. Buatier decidedly makes a mistake, though, in producing the original paper after he has manufactured several hundreds of flags from it. This is not consistent.
The Chinese Rings.—Whether originally Chinese or not, is of little moment: the trick has received the name, and is known by it only, so I adhere to it. The trick consists in apparently accomplishing the evident impossibility of linking strong metal rings, that have no break or opening in them, one within the other. The secret of the trick lies in the fact that one of a number of rings is provided with a slit or opening, which is kept carefully concealed by the performer's fingers. As, however, one ring with an opening would not alone suffice to link several others together in a continuous chain, the rings are made in sets of three and two welded together, besides three or four single ones. The set of two I always dispense with as useless. There is not the slightest necessity for going to a conjuring repository to obtain the rings, for an ordinary smith can produce a much more serviceable article. My idea of a good ring is one made of iron wire fully 3/8in. in thickness and 9in. in diameter. Let the metal be well burnished, and see that the welding is properly done. The opening in the one ring should be 7/16in. wide so as to admit the other rings freely. Some rings have a slit merely, whilst others have the ends springing one into the other. These precautions are quite unnecessary, for the secret ring is never given round for examination. When the performer comes on, he has the open ring concealed either under his armpit, in his breast pocket, or in the vest; or he may have it hanging behind a chair, if he has one with an opaque back on the stage. The other rings he has in the hand, and gives them round for examination. Unless this examination takes place, there is nothing in the trick, for the audience would justly argue that all the rings have secret spring-bolt openings which are invisible at a short distance. To abstract the concealed ring without detection requires, at times, considerable address. A good way is to allow some of the others to fall, and whilst stooping quickly for them, get out the concealed one. Turning the back upon the audience, and deliberately taking the ring out from its place of concealment whilst walking towards the stage, is the method I usually adopt. When it is hung at the back of a chair, the bulk of the rings should be placed upon the seat, and two or three taken up in one hand; say, the right. In stooping to pick up some more rings with the left hand, the right, naturally enough, finds its way to the top of the back of the chair, and, as the ring will be suspended half an inch down, the end of one finger will be sufficient to obtain it.