An other pretty feat with Balls.
Take foure Balls, one of the which keep betweene your fore-finger and your middle, laying the other three vpon the table, then take vp one and put it into your left hand, and afterward take vp another, and conuaying it and the other betweene your fingers into your left hand, taking vp the third and seeming to cast it from you into the ayre, or into your mouth, or else where you please, vsing some words or charmes as before: the standers by when you aske them how many you haue in your hand, will iudge there are no more then two, which when you open your hand they shall see how they are deluded. But I will leaue to speake of the ball any more, for heerein I might hold you all day, and yet shall I not be able to teach you the vse of it, nor scarcely to vnderstand what I meane or write, concerning it, vnlesse you haue had some sight thereof heeretofore by demonstration: and alwaies remember that the right hand be kept open and straight, only keepe the palme from view: and therefore I will end with this miracle.
A feat, tending chiefly to laughter and mirth.
Lay one ball vpon your shoulder, an other on your arme, and the third on the table: which because it is round and will not easily lye vpon the point of your knife, you must bid a stander by, lay it theron, saying, that you meane to cast all those three Balls into your mouth at once: and holding a knife as a penne in your hand, when he is laying vpon the poynt of your knife, you may easily with the haft rap him on the fingers, for the other matter will be hard to doe.
And thus much of the Balls. To come to the second principall part of Legerdemaine, which is conuayance of mony, wherein by the way obserue that the mony must not be of too small nor too great a circumference, least either, it hinder the conuayance.
Of conueyance of mony.
The conueying of mony is not much inferiour to the Ball, but much easier to doe: The principall place to keepe a peece of mony in, is the palme of your hand: The best peece to keepe, is a testor, but with exercise all will be alike, except the mony be very small, and then it must bee kept betweene the fingers, and almost at the fingers end, where as the ball is to be kept, and below neere to the palme.