“This little figure, by bowing to the right or to the left, will now answer questions without assistance from me,” Joe announced. “A bow to the left will mean ‘no,’ and a nod to the right will mean ‘yes.’ Or you may have it the other way if you like. Which shall it be?”
The choice being thus left to the audience it seems impossible that there can be any prearrangement.
“Right bow for ‘no,’” some one called.
“Very well,” agreed Joe, smiling. “It’s all the same to me. A bow to the right will stand for ‘no,’ and the nod to the opposite direction will mean ‘yes.’”
All this while the little figure rested on the glass shelf. Not a bit of mechanism was to be observed, and Joe walked down from the stage and stood in the audience after placing the figure on the glass.
“Now we will ask questions,” announced the young performer. “Is the lady on my right married?”
“No,” nodded the figure.
“Is she willing to be?” he went on, amid laughter, while the young lady blushed.
“Yes,” nodded the figure, amid still heartier laughter.
Joe asked many other questions, easily answered by no or yes. He did not take the trouble to find out if the answers were correct. The questions followed one another quickly, and the audience was interested in noting the movements of the figure, with no one on the stage, with Joe far away from it, and with nothing but a plain glass shelf on which the figure rested.