None of the following tricks are wholly managed by the apparatus, as such performances are unworthy of notice. Therefore, every trick mentioned in the following pages must be carefully practised in private before it is produced in public. The apparatus, of course, cannot be inspected by the audience, and for that reason it is better to mix them with those tricks which have been already mentioned, in order that suspicious persons may be quieted by an occasional permission to inspect the objects used in the performances.
The young conjuror should always vary the mode of performance in the non-essentials, and should study combinations of one trick with another, by which means he will produce more astonishing results than if he restricted himself to the methods mentioned in this work. He should also invariably make a little speech, acknowledging that he is only deceiving the eye and not the mind, and should therefore request the company not to ask any questions, or to demand inspection of any of his apparatus.
19. THE DIE TRICK.
Get a wooden die about two inches and a half square (1), and a hollow tin die exactly the size of the wooden one, but without one of the sides (2). Then paint them both exactly alike, as in the [engraving]. It will be better to let an accidental flaw appear on the same side of each. Then get a tin cover (4) that exactly fits the dies. Now for the trick itself.
Borrow two hats, and while you turn your back upon the audience as you go to your table, slip into one of them the false die. Place both hats on the table, and send round the real die and cover for inspection. When they are returned, say, “Now, ladies and gentlemen, it is my intention to place these hats one above another, thus.” You then place the two hats as in No. 3, the hollow die being in the bottom hat. “I shall then cover the die thus,” which you do, “and after I have knocked on the cover, I shall take it off, and you will find that the die is not under the cover, as it is now,” taking it off, “but inside the hat, like this.” You then put the real die into the hat. “You do not believe me, ladies and gentlemen, but I will soon convince you.” You then take out the false die, and replacing the upper hat, put the die on the upper hat (of course, with the open side downward) and place the cover over it. Pick up your conjuring wand, give it a few flourishes, and bring it down on the cover. Grasp the cover tightly near the bottom, when both cover and false die will come up together; put the end of your wand into them, and give them a good rattle. Then knock off the upper hat with a blow of the wand, and push the lower one off the table, so that the die tumbles out of it. Always use plenty of gesture about your tricks.
20. THE PENETRATIVE PENCE.
Get a brazier to cut out all the interior of five pence, only leaving the rims. He must then bore out nearly all the interior of a sixth penny, merely leaving a shell of copper at the top. A long rivet must then be let into the rim as shown in [Fig. 1], No. 2, and a hole must be drilled in each of the five rings, as in No. 3. The rivet is to be passed through the holes in the rings, and fastened below, so that all the rings can play easily upon it. [Fig. 1], No. 1, is a section of the entire apparatus, the dotted lines representing the rivet. They can then be placed as shown in [Fig. 2], No. 1, and no one will imagine that they are only shams, as you can rattle them or move them about upon each other. A leathern cover, [Fig. 2], No. 2, is then made, which passes easily over the heap of pence, but being pliable, is capable of picking up the hollow pence with it, when it is held firmly. To the under surface of the table you fasten a little shelf, [Fig. 2], No. 3, which moves on a hinge, and is let fall by placing the foot on the pedal, [Fig. 2], No. 4, which draws the catch.