“There, as I told you, like Fidgety Phil, they couldn’t keep still. The white brick has climbed to the top, the red one has gone down to the bottom, and the blue one is now in the middle.
“We will try again. I will put the bricks in in just the same order, to make it easier for you to remember them.”
Performer has meanwhile allowed the red block, left in the upper part of the tube, to sink to the bottom, checked by the third finger, and replaces tube upright on table.
“As before, I drop in first the blue, then the white, then the red.” (This last being the trick block, care must be taken to keep its red sides well to the front.)
“Again I lift off the chimney pot, and again you see, the bricks have changed places. White has come to the top, and red has gone to the bottom again.”
The trick block, which this time remained at the top, is now allowed to slide down to the bottom. The tube is again placed on the table, but so turned that the blue sides of the block within it are brought to the front.
“I can’t tell you why the bricks behave in this way, but you can see for yourselves that I have nothing to do with it. We will try it once more, and for a change I will put the red block in first, then the white and then the blue. That order will be easy to remember. Red, white and blue reckoning from the bottom upwards. Again I remove the cover. The same thing has happened again, but with a little difference. White has come to the top again, but blue has this time gone to the bottom.”
While attention is drawn to the new order of the blocks, the performer allows the ordinary blue one, now left in the tube, to slide out into his hand, and in picking up the others secretly substitutes this for the trick block, which is now at the bottom of the tube.
“Once more, ladies and gentlemen, here is the chimney pot, and here are the three bricks, for inspection by any one who cares to look at them. Perhaps some of you may be able to account for their remarkable behaviour. It’s a puzzle to me; but I never was good at guessing. My own idea is that they are haunted by the ghost of Fidgety Phil. If not, I give it up.”