Each of the two smaller tubes (c and d in diagram) to be loaded with one of the larger white balls, suspended from the upper edge of the tube by a wire hook, shaped as a in Fig. 16, connected with the ball by a loop of fine silk or cotton thread. The red ball is vested, and the two little balls may rest in a shallow tray or other appropriate receptacle on the table, deep enough as to conceal them from the view of the spectators.
Fig. 16
Introductory Patter. “You have no idea, ladies and gentlemen, what a lot of hints I get from different people for the improvement of my entertainment. If I were to adopt them all, I have no doubt it would be very fine indeed. The worst of it is that it would take a year or two to try them, so for the present I am obliged to leave things as they are.
“You will observe that I have here three tubes” (showing No. 1 and passing wand through it to prove it is empty), “quite ordinary tubes, with a hole at each end, and nothing at all between. I don’t suppose you would notice anything to object to about them, but some people are so very particular. A gentleman who said he had an artistic eye (I don’t know which eye it was) said to me, ‘Look here, Professor, that trick of yours would be ever so much better if you had all those tubes the same size. That lot looks as if you had picked them up at a jumble sale.’[8] I explained to him, kindly but firmly, that there was a special reason for having the three tubes of different sizes; namely, that by so doing it was made possible” (suiting the action to the word) “to pass this one (No. 1) over this other (No. 2); and this again over the smallest one, thereby saving much space in packing. He said, ‘Never mind, you take my tip and make ’em all the same size.’ I dare say he was right, but I haven’t had time to do it yet.”
During this little harangue, which appears to be mere “spoof,” you have practically worked the trick. Suiting the action to the word, you have passed the largest tube No. 1 over No. 2 and lifted it off again. In its downward movement the tube passes over the little hook on No. 2; but in lifting it off again its upper edge comes within the outer arm of the hook, and carries this off with the ball attached to it, leaving tube No. 2 empty. The latter, shown empty accordingly, is passed over No. 3 and carries off its load in the same way.
You have thus proved (!) in the most convincing way that all three tubes are empty, though as a matter of fact No. 3 is the only one in that condition, Nos. 1 and 2 each containing a suspended ball.
The patter from this point may vary according to the fancy of the performer. If he has the knack of producing the appropriate combination of fact and fiction, it is preferable that he should do so for himself. As I have elsewhere remarked, borrowed patter rarely comes so “trippingly on the tongue” as that of which the performer can say with, let us hope, undue depreciation of his merits, “a poor thing, but mine own.”
The fable with which I should myself introduce the trick would run somewhat as follows:
“You have all heard, ladies and gentlemen, of intensive culture, gooseberries grown while you wait, and that sort of thing. It is done by enclosing the seed, or the young plant, in a confined space and keeping it warm and comfy. It has always seemed to me that there is a good deal of magic about the process, and I thought I would like to try it myself, but it would be no good my trying to grow vegetables. I shouldn’t have room to grow more than one radish, or one spring onion at a time, which would hardly be worth while. I finally decided to grow a few billiard balls, for use in my entertainment, and I’ll show you how it’s done.