To J. C. W.

To you, my little kinsman, I dedicate these pages,
Tho' not so wise, perhaps, as some you've read by graver sages;
They're not without a purpose, and I trust a kind and true one,
Older than eighteen hundred years, still good as any new one.
If they could cheer some winter nights, and make some days seem brighter,
I'd feel I'd paid a groat or so,
Of that great debt of love I owe,
To one at rest who, long ago, dealt kindly by the writer.
F. B.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.—Something censorious.—Declaration of Independence.—Card puzzle.—The magic coin.—A hoax.—The telescopic visitor.—Boy's head knocked off.[7]
CHAPTER II.—Colored mesmerism.[17]
CHAPTER III.—Lemon pig and root dragon.—Portrait of the gorilla.—Creature comforts.—High shoulders.—Theatre and theatrical performances.—Nose turned up and teeth knocked out without pain.—The Long-nosed Night-howler, or Vulgaris Pueris cum Papyrus Capitus.—Imitation banjo on piano.—Some conjuring tricks.—The reduced gentleman, or dwarf perforce.[20]
CHAPTER IV.—The voice of the Night-howler.—The play of Punch and Judy, with full directions for producing the same.—Charade on rattan.[38]
CHAPTER V.—Parlor arts and ornaments, comprising apple-seed mice, turnip roses, beet dahlias, and carrot marigolds.—Counting a billion.—The algebraic paradox.—Answer to charade on rattan.—Riddles, etc.[56]
CHAPTER VI.—A patent play.[72]
CHAPTER VII.—Pragmatic and didactic discourse.—Aunty Delluvian, her party.—The duck and double-barrelled speech.—The dwarf.—Trick with four grains of rice.—Riddles, etc.[81]
CHAPTER VIII.—The dancing Highlander and Matadore.[99]
CHAPTER IX.—Answer to trick with four grains of rice.—How to make an old apple-woman out of your fist.[105]
CHAPTER X.—About giants, and how to make them.[110]
CHAPTER XI.—A merry Christmas.—The boomerang.—Optical illusion.—How to turn a young man's head.—The tiger-dog, how to make him.—The elephant, how to make him.—Two queer characters.—Captain Dawk and Colonel Gurramuchy.[113]
CHAPTER XII.—Hanky-panky, instruction in the art.[134]
CHAPTER XIII.—A tranquil mood.—Transparencies of paper.—The dancing pea.—Artificial teeth.[138]
CHAPTER XIV.—Artemus Ward, parlor edition.[157]
CHAPTER XV.—Bullywingle the Beloved. A drama for private performance.[164]
CHAPTER XVI.—A quiet evening.—Fruit animals.—Window staining.—Oddities with pen and ink.[189]
CHAPTER XVII.—A country Christmas.—The trick trumpet.—Eatable candle.—How to cut off a head.—Ventriloquism.—The jumping rabbit.—Santa Claus arrives.[199]
CHAPTER XVIII.—The bird-whistle, how to make it.[219]
CHAPTER XIX.—A quiet party.—Electric nose.—Miniature camera.—The hat trick.—The magician of Morocco.[222]
CHAPTER XX.—Theatrical red and green fire, how to make them.—How to get up a theatrical storm.[232]
CHAPTER XXI.—Card-board puzzles, the cross, the horseshoe, the arch.[238]
CHAPTER XXII.—The muffin man.—Earth, air, fire, and water.—The broken mirror.[243]
CHAPTER XXIII.—At a watering-place.—A ladies' fair.—Three sticks a penny.—Smoking a cigar under water.—Firing at a target behind you.—Firing firewater.—A practical joke.—Explosive spiders.[254]
CHAPTER XXIV.—Arithmetical puzzles.—The wolf, the goat, and the cabbage.—Alderman Gobble's six geese, etc., etc.[264]
CHAPTER XXV.—Charades.[271]
CHAPTER XXVI.—The art of transmuting everything into coral.[274]
CHAPTER XXVII.—Acting charades.[279]
CHAPTER XXVIII.—The worship of Bud.[299]
“All work and no play,
Makes Jack a dull boy.”