CHAPTER XII.

TRICKS WITH CARDS.

HOW TO VANISH AND RECOVER A PACK--THE EGYPTIAN POCKET; HOW TO MANUFACTURE CARDS--THE MISSING LINK--ASCENDING CARDS; VARIOUS METHODS--THE CARD-HOLDER--WHAT APPARATUS NOT TO USE--THE SALAMANDER CARD--A LEGITIMATE USE FOR "FORCING" PACKS--HERRMANN'S BOUQUET--A HUMAN HEN--THE HATCHED CARD--THE WAND, AND HOW TO MAKE IT--MORE ABOUT APPARATUS.

Nearly every modern conjuror of any pretensions to skill commences with a card trick. There is something about a good card trick well executed that always takes with an intelligent audience. When a performer does not commence with the cards, it is generally because he does not possess skill enough to do anything effective with them, although he will generally make a virtue of necessity (at which conjurors are particularly apt), and give some totally different reason.

_Vanishing a Pack._--When the time is limited, none should be wasted in preliminaries; but, when possible, the performer should always vanish the pack, by palming it, and find it either at the elbow or sole of the boot, or else in possession of one of the audience; or he can pretend to give it into the hands of a spectator, and then discover it some distance off, with someone else. To execute this properly, the cards should be palmed in the right hand, which affects to put them into the left hand. The right hand should take the wand or lappel of the coat, and the left be disposed, palm downwards, as though it held the pack. Such a little exhibition of skill makes a good impression at once, and puts the spectators on the alert from the very commencement.

_The Egyptian Pocket._--One of the very best sleight-of-hand card tricks is that introduced by Herrmann, who, a few years ago, was such a favourite throughout Great Britain. He called it the Egyptian Pocket, though, for all the name implied, it might as well have been called the Nubian, Chinese, Japanese, or Brazilian Pocket. One of the audience took a pack round, and allowed four cards to be drawn from it. These cards were afterwards gathered in by the same person, who, after mounting the stage, placed them in the pack, which was then well shuffled. The pack he placed in his breast pocket, and then drew out, one by one, three cards of those selected in the audience as they were called for. The fourth card, however, he failed to find, and was told to search the pack for it. The search proving fruitless, he was told to manufacture the card, and, on expressing his ignorance of the proper method to pursue, was directed to blow into his pocket, where the missing card was then discovered. He was found, however, to have blown too hard, for his vest contained a perfect avalanche of cards; whilst his nose, on being squeezed, gave forth a stream of them, amidst roars of laughter. The method for performing this trick is as follows: Place upon your centre table two bulky packs of cards, and step forward with a third pack in your hands. Ask someone to assist you, and give him the pack in the shape of a fan, directing him to ask certain ladies, four in number, whom you will indicate with your wand, to select one card each. On this being done, take the pack from his hand, and direct him to receive the four cards, faces downwards, on the flat of one hand. Whilst this is being done, step on the stage, but never take your eye off the operations that are going on, for you must notice whose card is placed undermost, whose next, and so on. Request your volunteer assistant to kindly step on the stage, and, opening the pack in the middle, ask him to place the four cards inside. Close the pack, keeping the finger inserted where the cards were placed, ready for the pass, and inquire if the person on the stage with you possesses an inside breast pocket to his coat. If it is outside, it does not much matter, but the inside one is better for the trick. On receiving an answer in the affirmative, ask to have the pocket emptied. Whilst this is being done, sometimes amidst much amusement, by reason of the miscellaneous character of the contents of the pocket, make the pass, bringing the four cards to the top, and, opening the pack slightly, carelessly run the eye over them. It is always as well to know them, in case of an accident occurring. Palm them, and give the rest of the pack to your assistant to shuffle. Taking the pack back, replace the palmed cards upon it, re-palming the top card only, and bid your assistant place the pack in his pocket. Feel the outside of his pocket, under the pretence of seeing that everything is all right, but in reality to give the cards a bend, crosswise. This bend will cause the back of the uppermost card to be the first met with by a hand entering the pocket. Now inquire of the chooser of this said top card--which, as you have palmed the original top one, will be the third one gathered in--what the name of her card is. You will affect to do this haphazard, and not as though you selected that particular person to inquire of. On receiving a reply, desire your assistant to put his hand quickly--"very quickly indeed, sir"--into his pocket, and draw out a card. If you have arranged everything properly, this will be the desired card. Now ask the chooser of the second card what the name of hers is, and repeat the operation. Do the same with the first card, and then with the fourth. By thus apparently dodging from one lady on one side of the room to one on the other side, it will still more appear that you are indifferent whose is asked for. This last card will not, of course, be forthcoming, and after a few fruitless attempts to produce it, plunge the hand, in which the card is palmed, into the pocket, and draw out the pack, leaving behind the palmed card. The assistant looks through the pack, but does not find the card, and you say, "Well, sir, you must make one, I suppose." On hearing that he does not know how, say, "Oh! it is as simple as possible. Take this wand in your right hand, and open your coat with the left. Good. Now blow into your pocket." The card will be found there, and your assistant, thinking it is all over, will be about to retire, when you, having just palmed one of the packs from the table, detain him with the remark that, "Although you did the trick very well, sir, for the first time, yet, owing to your inexperience, you unfortunately blew a little too hard. See here, sir, what you have inside your vest!" You then plunge the hand containing the cards rapidly inside his vest and draw out one card only, then another, another, and so on, and finally say that, as you do not know how many more there are, he had better take them out himself. Whilst he is doing this, palm the other pack, and say, "Have you any more cards, sir? No! Excuse me, but will you allow me to finish my experiment?" You then place your hand to his nose, and, compressing the hand, cause the cards to shoot forth in a stream on to the floor. Immediately it is over, shake hands with your assistant, and say you are extremely obliged. This will ease his mind of the idea that you meant to make a fool of him.

Sometimes, in drawing the cards from the pocket, the assistant will accidentally take them from the bottom, instead of from the top. In this case, they will be wrong cards, and you must say, "Ah! you don't do it quickly enough; this is the way," and, plunging your hand in the pocket, draw out the desired card, giving the pack, at the same time, a good bend, when you can allow the assistant to try again. About thirty cards will make the best pack for this trick, and great care must be taken that it does not contain two cards of a kind, for if one of these duplicates is chosen, and it is the fourth card, _i.e._, the one which is missing at the last, it (its duplicate) will be found in the pack when it is gone over, and all your blowing in the pocket performance, which is the great feature in the trick, will be knocked on the head. I have actually seen this occur. All the performer could do was to palm the card and pretend to pass it into the pocket, where, of course, the duplicate was found; but it was a very weak finish.

_The Missing Link._--This is another very telling card trick, and one that has made the fame of more than one amateur conjuror. A card is chosen from the pack and torn into shreds. The pieces, with the exception of a single one, which is given into the custody of a spectator, are then put into a little box, piece of paper, &c., and made to disappear. The card is then found restored in some part of the audience, but it is noticed that a small portion of it is missing. The single piece, which was given to a spectator to hold, will be found to be of the very size and shape required, thus proving that the performer restored the actual card that was destroyed.

For this trick, some slight prearrangement will be necessary. In the first place, a card (say, the six of hearts) must have a small piece torn out from one of its sides. This mutilated card must then be secreted in some out-of-the-way place in the auditorium, or, what is still better, in the pocket of one of the audience, of course some time before the performance begins. I once had it sewn up in the lining of a coat, and on another occasion inserted in the sole of a boot: but, in such instances as these, care must be taken that the article containing the card is to be worn on the evening of the performance, or a fiasco will result. It is, however, always worth while to run a little risk for the sake of increased effect. The small piece torn from the card is carefully kept, and, whilst the trick is being performed, should be on the table, concealed by any trifling object that may be upon it at the same time.

"Force" (see instructions for "forcing") a card, exactly similar in every way to the one you have previously mutilated and concealed, and then ask the chooser to tear it up. Whilst this is being done, go to your table for your box or piece of paper, according to which you may elect to use, and bring with it, concealed in the fingers, the little piece of card. Then have the pieces, which should be reduced as nearly as possible to the size of your secreted piece, placed in the box or paper and, putting your fingers among them, affect to take out one piece, but, in reality, show the one you already had in your hand, and give it to a spectator to hold very tightly, or if he likes, to put it into his purse. If you have plenty of time on your hands, and wish to make extra fuss, you can have it put into an envelope and sealed by the audience, which certainly improves the effect. A very pardonable joke here comes in well. On giving the portion of the card to be held, say to the gentleman, "Will you kindly keep the piece, sir?" and then, affecting to notice reluctance in his looks, "No! then I must apply to a magistrate, who will, I have no doubt, bind you over to keep the _peace_ for six months or so, whilst I shall only trouble you for a bare six minutes." If you have had the pieces put in paper, you can roll it up into a ball and vanish by palming in the right hand, whilst affecting to place it in the left, after the manner previously described for vanishing objects. A box can be treated in the same manner, or you can give the trick extra finish by having two boxes exactly similar, one being filled with chocolate creams or other comfits, and exchanged for the one containing the torn-up card. The box should be a small round one, and can then be treated exactly as if it were a coin, and palmed.

The pieces are then commanded to pass to wherever you have originally concealed the torn card, which will be found in due course. You exhibit it triumphantly, not affecting to notice the absence of a portion of it at first and, when you do make the discovery, you must appear overcome with bewilderment. Then suddenly remember the piece you have given to be held, and have it fitted to the card, which it will naturally make quite complete. Then, if you have used boxes, have the box supposed to contain the pieces opened by the lady who chose and tore up the card, and present her with it and its contents. Most conjurors leave the trick here, but, if the performer pleases, he can go still further, and render the card quite complete again. This is easily managed with the use of a card box (see p. 127), which can have a perfect card concealed in it. The incomplete card and piece are put in, and the box turned over. This latter phase is not absolutely necessary for the success of the trick. When, as is sometimes the case, it is found to be impossible to conceal the mutilated card satisfactorily in the audience, the card box will have to be used in the first instance.

This trick is best introduced in the middle of a performance, when the production of the card from the person of one of the audience will look more genuine than it would if it took place at the commencement.

_The Ascending Cards._--For this trick some little preparation is also necessary, and a certain amount of apparatus will be required. Three, four, or more cards are chosen, and then shuffled up in the pack, which is put into a metal or cardboard receptacle of the size of a pack of cards. At a word of command, the cards ascend, one by one, from the pack, without any apparent agency.

The apparatus required for this trick consists of the case, which can either be made to conceal the cards entirely, or may have the front cut out so as to show the face of the foremost card, a small border being left for the purpose of preventing the cards from falling out. This case is divided into two divisions, the rearmost one being much smaller than the other, and just large enough to hold about ten cards. To the top of the dividing partition affix a piece of fine black silk, which allow to hang over the smaller division. Into this smaller division now introduce a card, which, as it is put in, must have the silk under it. Now introduce a second card, but pass the silk over this one instead of under it. Put in a third card with the silk under it, and a fourth with the silk over, continuing the operation according to the number of cards you intend performing with. When the silk is pulled, it will cause those cards which have it passed beneath them to ascend. The same effect would be caused without the intervention of intermediate cards, but then they would all rise at once, whereas the trick is to make them do so singly. The performer must have all this arranged before commencing, and also have the silk passed out either at the back (which is to be preferred, where possible) or the side of the stage, where an assistant is stationed, holding the end of it. If at the side, then a small staple or pulley must be fixed in the back of the table and the silk passed through it, otherwise a direct pull will not be obtained. The case holding the cards can either be made to fit in the neck of a decanter by means of a cork on the under side, or can be permanently fixed to a tall stand. I prefer the decanter myself, as an opaque stand always causes suspicions of mechanical assistance to arise in the minds of the audience. The decanter should be given for examination.

The performer must force duplicate cards of those arranged in the small division of the card-case, of course taking no notice of those over which the silk passes, as they will never be exposed, and, asking the audience to remember the names of them, have them put in the pack and shuffled. The rest of the trick follows as a matter of course. The pack is placed in the larger front division of the case, and, as the chosen cards are called for, the assistant, who must have a view of the cards from his place of concealment, pulls the thread. A very commonly practised piece of humour is to include a knave in the forced cards, and to place two in the small rear division of the card-case. The one that is to appear first is put in upside down, court cards with one head only being used. It is upbraided for thus making its appearance, and it is replaced in the pack--still upside down--but in the front division. The second time, the other knave appears, right side up. The marvel of the audience is how the card managed to reverse itself in the pack. These card-cases can be procured from any of the vendors of conjuring apparatus.

A better arrangement is the following, which enables the performer to have his case examined by the audience--always a great advantage. It will require a little construction on the part of the performer himself, unless he is more fortunate than I ever was, and can find someone to carry out his ideas for him.

Instead of having the tin case made with partitions, let him have it quite plain, and just large enough to take from thirty-five to forty cards. This will bear any amount of examination, and a pack of cards should always be put in it before the audience, to show that it is entirely filled therewith, and so cannot possibly be made to contain any mechanical contrivance. The performer's little arrangement lies in a few cards, which, with others, are lying carelessly upon his table. These cards are prearranged with the silk exactly as just described for the small partition of the case, the end of the silk being affixed to the top of the undermost card. When the performer returns to his table with the pack, he should place it, whilst arranging his case in the decanter, with the loose prepared cards, which should then be picked up with it, the pack being undermost. The trick can then proceed as usual, and the case be handed round for examination afterwards. Great care must be taken not to disarrange the silk whilst picking up the cards, as any fault in this respect cannot possibly be remedied. The more simple and free from apparatus the method of performing this trick, the better it will be appreciated.

A third method, quite original, which I have adopted with unvarying success, the performer, will, I expect, prefer to any of the foregoing. It is the only method which does not call for the forcing of the cards; and its general surroundings are so simple that I find conjurors themselves sometimes puzzled to explain how the result is brought about. The performer has the usual bottle, which it is, perhaps, as well to open before the company. It should be of perfectly clear glass, and some fluid should be left in to give it steadiness during the performance of the trick. The card-holder should have the front side open, a quarter-inch flange being left on each side, to prevent the cards from falling out, and the inside coloured black. The silk, by means of which the chosen cards are to be made to rise out of the pack, has a small round cloth-covered button attached to the free end, and this button must be lying upon the table, in a convenient position. The performer first comes forward, and gives the bottle and card-holder into the hands of the company for examination. The examination concluded, he takes the articles to the table, and, as soon as possible, drops the button into the bottle. He next fits the holder into the neck, taking care, as he does so, to cause the thread to pass over the top of it. He now brings forward his pack, which he gives up entirely into the hands of the company, who select three cards. As many people nowadays have some idea of the "force," this at once disarms suspicion in a remarkable manner, and puts off many knowing ones, who are sure to have seen the trick before, otherwise performed, it being a very favourite one with conjurors. The performer now takes the pack back to the table, getting a picture card to the front, as he does so. If he chooses, he may ask the selectors of the cards to mark them with pencil, and whilst this is being done, he goes with the pack to the table, where he places it carelessly into the holder, taking care that the thread passes over the top of the cards. It also passes over the front of them, but, as a picture card is in front, it is not seen, as it would be if a card with much white showing were there. For this same reason, the inside of the holder is coloured black. The three cards are now fetched from the audience, faces downwards, so that the performer, as he will explain, cannot see them. It will not assist him in the least if he does; but audiences invariably think an immense deal attaches to the fact of the performer seeing a card, and it is as well for all conjurors to conspire to keep up the delusion. Laying the cards first upon the table, he takes up one, and places it amongst those in the holder, some three or four from the front. As the card is pressed down, it takes the silk with it, care being taken to keep the latter as near the middle of the card as possible. The second card is now placed a few cards farther in the rear, and the third still farther back. It will be necessary to keep a finger of the disengaged hand upon the top of the card or cards in front of the one being placed into position, or the downward pressure will cause a corresponding, but premature, upward motion to be imparted to those already in position, which would spoil the trick at once. Whilst the cards are being thus placed in the pack, the performer must be careful to keep the company engaged in conversation. The trick then proceeds as usual; but, at the conclusion, the performer, seizing the bottle in one hand and the holder in the other, separates them, and comes rapidly forward to give them and the cards for examination. The assistant keeping firm hold of the thread, the button is drawn out of the bottle, and no trace remains of the medium by which the ascension was accomplished. I take some pride in this little arrangement, which, I need scarcely say, is not elsewhere made public.

To force three or more cards, pass them all from the bottom to the centre together, and not one at a time. Always be very particular about showing round the decanter or bottle, the most innocent portion of the whole apparatus. Where convenient, it causes a good effect to have a bottle of champagne opened on purpose. Give some of the wine away, and use the bottle half emptied, saying that you must keep some of the spirits in it for your trick.

_The Salamander Card._--A card is chosen and torn in halves. One half is given into the custody of the audience, and the other placed in a cleft stick or crayon-holder, and burnt over a candle. The ashes are put into a piece of paper, which is rolled up and made to vanish by sleight of hand, the method used being one which ought, by this time, to be familiar to the performer. A letter here arrives addressed to the performer, brought in by an attendant at the door by which the audience has entered. The performer asks one of the audience to open it for him, as he cannot stop in the middle of a trick. Inside the envelope, which is sealed, is found another, and, inside that, another; and so on until a fifth or sixth is reached. Inside the innermost of all that half of the card which was only an instant before burnt before the eyes of the audience is found, as is proved by fitting it to the portion in the custody of a spectator.

This trick is thus managed: The cleft stick, which is an ordinary piece of firewood rounded and smoothed a little, has a cleft at each end. A metal crayon-holder, with double ends, also serves the purpose admirably. In one end, the performer has fixed the half of a card, which must be one of the pack from which the card is to be chosen, doubled up tolerably small. This end he conceals in his hand, and then has the half of the card which is to burnt doubled up and placed in the cleft in the other, retaining the stick in his hand all the time. On turning round to his attendant (who must know his part, and have rehearsed it once or twice) for a candle, he reverses the ends of the stick, and, removing the piece of card just placed in it, gives it to his attendant whilst in the act of taking the candle. If the attendant is not very proficient, the performer may go to the side and stretch the hand containing the abstracted piece of card behind the screen or curtain, and so effect the transfer. The attendant should stand with one hand open and the candlestick in the other (of course, out of sight). The performer will call out for the candle, but, receiving no answer, will go quickly to the side, where he will obtain it. The stick, with fictitious card in it, he must have in the other hand, which must be outstretched all the time, and never for an instant removed from the view of the audience. If this is not done, no suspicion will be attached to the fact of his going to the side. The instant the attendant receives the piece of card, he must slip it inside the small envelope, which will be arranged, in order with the others, beforehand (the outside one being already addressed, as a matter of course), and either take it round to the front himself or deliver it to the servant who is to take it into the room. Too much rapidity cannot be exercised in executing this portion of the trick. When once the letter is delivered, the performer has nothing more to do in the way of exerting his skill, but has merely to do a little talking, and eventually have the letter opened. Indeed, in this trick there is but little sleight of hand to be exhibited; but a bungler would nevertheless make an egregious muddle of it. It requires great neatness of execution. For instance, in turning round for the purpose of reversing the position of the stick in the hands, great care must be taken that no movement of the elbows is visible. The movement made must be confined to the arm below the elbow, or even to the wrists only. This movement of the wrists must be practised, as it is a highly essential one and has to be brought into use frequently. If any of the audience see the arms moving, they know, or surmise, that something is going on, even though they cannot divine what it is.

Although not absolutely necessary, it is as well always to force a card for this trick. The card can then be doubled up with the pips outwards if the prepared end of the cleft stick contains a portion of a similar card. For frequent performances of this trick and _The Missing Link_, it will be advisable to have what I have previously described as (but condemned the open use of) "forcing packs," viz., packs the cards of which are all of one denomination and suite, as it will not do to tear up cards from ordinary packs. They are easily obtainable at conjuring repositories or card manufacturers.

This trick is also exceedingly effective when a borrowed letter or other document is used instead of a card. In large public audiences, a bank note or other paper of value may be borrowed. It is easy to have a piece of a note of the "Bank of Elegance" in the concealed cleft, in imitation of a bank note. On important occasions the performer should always have three or four sticks prepared with various coloured papers, so as to be ready for any emergency. The preparation is trifling, and the sticks not used will do for another time.

It is quite immaterial which way it is done, but sometimes I tell the person to whom I give the stick and candle not to burn the paper, but to "put it in the candle." When I notice that it is in a fair way to be burned I look in another direction, as if not noticing what is going on, and am horrified on turning round to find the paper destroyed. This answers best when the material burnt is a borrowed paper.

Most conjurors perform this trick with the aid of a square wooden ladle, which possesses a movable flap similar to that of the "card box," and worked by twisting the handle round. This flap releases a fictitious paper, whilst it covers up the borrowed one. The excuse given for using this ladle is that the performer does not want the audience to suppose, as they would do if he handled it, that he changes the paper. This excuse is poor and weak, as it puts the idea of fictitious substitutions (the heart and soul of stage conjuring) into the heads of people who would otherwise never have dreamed of such a thing.

The arrangement of the premises very often makes the employment of the envelopes one within the other impracticable. As a substitute method, I here give one of my own, which, whilst it is not as amusing as the first one, is far more wonderful and inexplicable to the company.

Subsequently to borrowing a piece of paper or bank note from one of the company, the performer shows round a piece of glass tube, say four inches in length, having both ends hermetically sealed by being melted up. This piece of tube is folded in a piece of paper, and given into the custody of one of the company. The trick is gone through, as above described, except that the burnt paper is found restored inside the tube, which, of course, has to be broken before the contents can be recovered by their owner. This, on the face of it, is, of course, an utter impossibility; but it is thus accomplished. Glass-blowers, and those who have studied practical chemistry, know that to construct such a glass receptacle as that above described, all that is necessary is a piece of tube and a spirit lamp. The tube is held in the flame by the hands, and, as the glass melts it is drawn asunder, the result being that the two new ends thus formed collapse, and, cooling, take the form of points. Behind the scenes the assistant is provided with a piece of tube, eight or ten inches in length, one end of which has already been melted up. So soon as he receives the piece of paper from the performer he folds it up small, and pushes it down the tube as far as it will go. Then he melts this tube some three inches up, which will be far enough removed from the paper to keep it from being burned, and by this means the paper has become hermetically sealed inside a glass receptacle. If the assistant has had the necessary practice, the operation should not take long. When it is concluded, the assistant brings the glass on, and, under pretence of fetching away the candle, which the performer has placed upon the table, leaves it upon the shelf. The empty tube is upon the table, and the performer, in fetching it, takes with him, secretly, the one with the paper inside. This is very easily concealed in the hand if one end be pressed against the root of the thumb, the other end being pressed by the middle finger. The empty tube is shown, as also a piece of paper, in which it is ostensibly wrapped, the one with the paper inside being substituted. This substitution is effected by having the one tube concealed in the left hand, the empty tube being apparently transferred to it, but really palmed, as above directed. The right hand at once seizes the paper, and covers the tube in the left hand with it, and the wrapping-up is immediately proceeded with, as no further exposure may be permitted. If the performer prefers it, the assistant may wrap the prepared tube in paper, similar to that used by the performer, who then conceals the parcel under his vest. In this case, the empty tube is wrapped up by one of the company, the performer giving the parcel the necessary resemblance to the other (each should have twisted ends), and the exchange may be made subsequently. After the parcel has been opened, for the purpose of showing the tube with the paper inside, the performer must not approach it until the owner of the paper has broken it open with a hammer (the use of the wand for this purpose has less appearance of premeditation about it), and identified his property. I do not recommend the use of a card for this trick, as therein the spectators might find some explanation of its wonderful character. By employing a piece of a letter belonging to one of them, complete mystification is secured.

The restored card may be reproduced from a candle, by way of variety. The performer has on his table two or more candles; on no account brought on purposely for the trick. It will not matter in the least how long they have been burning, so that a good portion of them be remaining. As though struck with a sudden inspiration, the performer suggests, in his happiest manner, that the destroyed article be found inside one of the candles. The company not objecting (spectators, anticipating amusement from them, never object to the conjuror's suggestions in these cases), the owner of the paper or chooser of the card is requested to say which candle shall be employed. One being pointed out, and extinguished, it is taken out of the candlestick and put upon the table, where the performer proceeds to cut it in two with a knife, affecting great pains in making the portions exactly equal. He now asks which half he shall take, and, when the person asked says, "the right" (or left) half, he must inquire, "Which right [or left]; mine or yours?" The chosen half is again cut in two, and one of the portions chosen, that portion being again divided. The pieces remaining will be an inch or so long, and one is selected of these. This the performer gives to the person most interested amongst the spectators, on a plate, along with a knife, and, when it is cut open, the paper or card is found inside.

The way this is done is simplicity itself. The candles are all ordinary ones, so it really does not matter to the performer which is chosen, although he will do well to exhibit anxiety on the point, by way of effect. Neither does it matter to him which portion of the cut-up candle is eventually chosen, he having previously given off the piece of paper or card to the assistant, who has placed it in a small piece of candle, which the performer has safely secured under his vest whilst he is cutting up the chosen candle. When the last stage of the cutting is finished, the prepared piece is got down and exchanged in the usual manner for the innocent piece. It is then brought forward on the plate, and the remainder follows, as a matter of course.

_The Obliging Bouquet._--This trick resembles to a great extent _The Ascending Cards_, and was one of Hermann's many masterpieces. As performed by him, it outshone, in exquisite neatness and effect, all other card tricks; but the amount of skill and daring necessary to carry it properly through is considerable, and persons of nervous or uncertain dispositions had better consider well before they attempt it. At the same time, those with the requisite skill and nerve may earn incalculable glory by including this trick occasionally in their programmes. The description of it (never before made public) is as follows: A bouquet of real flowers is handed to a lady in the audience, and three or four cards are then chosen from the pack. These cards are made to disappear. One by one they are then seen to rise from the bouquet, which is still held by the lady.

As in _The Ascending Cards_, a case for holding cards is required, but in this instance it is made of zinc, and just large enough to take about eight cards. The outside is painted dark green. This case must be prepared beforehand, with cards, as described in _The Ascending Cards_, with the exception that human hair is substituted for silk. It is also as well either to have the intermediate cards, _i.e._, those over which the hair passes, fixed permanently, or else to have partitions of the same material as the case. The loose end of the hair should have a tiny bead of wax on it, and the case must be placed in the centre of the bouquet, in such a position that, although it is not visible from the outside, yet the cards will have a tolerably free passage for their ascent. If possible, bring the mouth of it just beneath two buds of roses, which will give to the slightest pressure, and allow the card to come up between them. The hair should hang down between the buds, passing between the stalks. The greatest care must necessarily be taken in arranging all this, and the trick rehearsed within an hour of its performance, to make sure of everything being safe.

Bring the bouquet on, and, selecting the lady least likely to interfere with your arrangements (this selection should be made whilst you are on the stage performing other tricks), ask her to kindly hold the bouquet for you, calling attention to the fact that the flowers are real ones. If possible, always have the bouquet held in the front row of the audience, and take care that the hair is towards you all the time. Now "force" duplicate cards of those in the bouquet, and then cause them to vanish as you please. As looking the most skilful, I prefer palming to any other method, on all occasions. If, from knowing the cards as you "forced" them, you are aware who took particular cards, you can ask the person who chose the duplicate card of the first in the case, the name of it, and then desire that one to rise from the bouquet. On hearing the name of the card, or just before, advance to the bouquet, and ask the holder of it if she saw the fairies bring the cards to the flowers, or any other fanciful question you please, and then, under the pretence of having it held a little higher or lower, or a little more to the right or to the left, advance the hand to the bouquet, and so obtain possession of the end of the hair. A good deal of deceptive action must now be introduced, the wand being put into the hand holding the hair, which must then be pulled very slightly indeed, and if the card rises the strain can be continued. Just before the card shows itself, say, "No! I am afraid the fairies have been disobedient to-day." This will momentarily remove the interest of the audience from the bouquet, and attention will be directed to you, as if inquiring what will be done next. This is the opportunity you must seize for causing the card to rise, and then exclaim, "Ah! there is one, after all." Run the card up quickly, and take it out of the bouquet, or, if it appears to be very loose, allow the holder of the bouquet to remove it. If, at this juncture, you fancy your temporary assistant is at all suspicious, at once take the bouquet to someone else; but on no account take this step if all is going on well. Ask the name of the next card, which cause to rise in the same manner, and repeat the operation with the remaining card or cards. As the hair becomes gradually longer, you will be enabled to stand a little further off on each occasion. You must contrive to alter your attitude as often as possible, and also endeavour to look quite unconcerned. The best way to assume this by no means easy appearance, is to affect to be rather more amused at the ascension of the cards from the bouquet than the audience itself. One ticklish point is in ascertaining whether everything is in order. This never reveals itself until the first pull is made, when, if there is anything wrong, a jerk will be felt by the holder of the bouquet, and, in all likelihood, a clue to your secret will be given. If you only so much as fancy that anything is wrong, take hold of the bouquet with your disengaged hand, without taking it away from the holder of it, and have it held a trifle higher or lower. This will enable you to give a precautionary pull without allowing any strain to be felt. Such a thing as a hitch ought not to take place, for the previous arrangements should be so perfect as to do away with all possibility of such an occurrence. The cards all out of the case, inquire, for the sake of effect, if there are any more chosen ones that have not appeared, and then take the bouquet round, allowing people to smell at it, &c. This is really to enable you to remove the case from the bouquet, but ostensibly to show that the flowers are real. The best way of removing the case is through the stems of the flowers, and for this purpose it is made of zinc, it being a weighty metal. As it is a small affair, it can easily be palmed. The bouquet should be then presented to the lady who held it during the performance of the trick, with the request that the flowers should be examined to see if there be any preparation about them.

Taking into consideration the difficulty in performing the trick, the desirability of having as small a case as possible, and the usual shortness of hair, it is advisable to force only three cards, although three or four hairs may be employed. When I first saw Herrmann perform this trick, I was simply appalled at the audacity required to perform it successfully; but experience has taught me that, with practice, it is as easy as many other tricks which are not one quarter so effective. The difficulties to be overcome are causing the first card to rise without being discovered, and removing the case. It will be found that if the bouquet is held a little lower (only a few inches) than the hand holding the hair, there will be less likelihood of any strain taking place. If the performer pleases, the chosen cards can be torn up or burnt in the first instance, but the destruction is a needless one.

_The Hatched Card._--A chosen card is destroyed or made to disappear, and on an ordinary egg (selected from a number) being broken, it is found inside.

Before describing the trick itself, I will give a unique method (Herrmann again) for obtaining the eggs. A rehearsed assistant will be required, and he must have in his mouth an egg, and, besides, either a portion (either end) of the shell of, or a wooden or porcelain imitation of, one. Under the vest band, and sustained by the elastic thereof, you have four more eggs concealed. You come on with your assistant, whose mouth is then empty, and, telling the audience that you will require an egg, ask him if he has taken the egg powder you gave him, and whether he thinks he can give you any eggs. On receiving his reply in the affirmative, tell him to fetch a plate. This he does, and, at the same time, pops the egg and real or imitation portion of shell into his mouth, all done in an instant, so as to avoid suspicion. He now takes up his position in the centre of the stage, a little "up," with the plate held before him and elbows close to his sides. You stand beside him, and place your rear hand upon his head. He then slowly exhibits the egg, which, with the forward hand, you then extract with seemingly immense difficulty. Whilst the forward hand is thus engaged, the rear one takes an egg from the vest, and you cross over behind the assistant, and are just about to take the plate from him when he exhibits the shell, which, to the audience, appears to be another egg. You exclaim, "What, another! you must have taken too much powder," and then advancing the forward (late the rear) hand, you slip the egg palmed in it half into your assistant's mouth, and then proceed to drag it forth with the same difficulty which attended the abstraction of the first one. The rear hand has by this time another egg in it, and you go round behind the assistant, only to find him exhibiting another egg, which you extract, as before. The process is repeated until all the eggs are gone. It is not advisable to use more than five eggs, for precautionary reasons, and that number is quite sufficient to excite wonder. The assistant must be careful not to allow the shell inside his mouth to be seen whilst you are removing an egg just "laid." If you can find anyone with a mouth capacious enough to contain two eggs (small ones will do), secure him as an inestimable treasure. No trick being more conducive to laughter than this one, extra care must be taken with it. The performer should move about in an easy and unostentatious manner, and endeavour, by word and mien, to keep up the impression that the whole of the trick lies in the assistant's mouth. The use of the extra egg end is not absolutely necessary, for the palming can begin with the first egg, the one originally in the mouth being kept there till the last, when it may be allowed to fall out into the performer's outstretched palms. Either method is effective. Show the eggs round on a plate, and have one selected with which to perform the succeeding trick. For that, the following apparatus will be necessary.

Make, either of wood or metal (tin, brass, zinc, &c.), a hollow wand (open at one end, and closed at the other), painted or varnished on the outside, so as to resemble in every little particular the wand you ordinarily use. If the latter has ivory or brass tips, then your imitation wand must have the same. There is not the least necessity for running into any expense, for, by going to a working tinman or walking-stick maker, the thing can be obtained for a shilling. I much prefer wood to metal, and would recommend its use. This imitation need not be made of real ebony, although it should be of tolerably hard wood. Fitting inside there must be another piece of wood, an inch shorter than the interior of the wand itself, which should move up and down pretty easily, but not loosely. Commencing exactly 2in. from one end, cut a slit 1in. long, and, making a little peg of wood, or providing yourself with a small brass round-headed nail, which must be afterwards coloured to match the wand, drive it into the sliding piece of wood, which must be pushed up against the closed end of the wand at the time. By holding the wand at the closed end, and placing the thumb on the little peg, the sliding piece of wood can be made to move up and down as easily as can the pen or pencil inside an ivory holder. By making the slit the same length as the space left at the open end of the wand, the sliding piece will not protrude when the peg is pushed down by means of the thumb. The sliding piece should also be blackened all over, as, if left white, it might show through the slit or at the exposed end, which, however, should never be turned full towards the audience at any time.

It is now open to you either to force a card or to have one selected haphazard. If the card is to be forced, then you can have the wand loaded beforehand. This is done by doubling up the card until it is only 1in. wide, rolling it up, and putting it into the wand, which you can then leave on the table handy. If the card is not to be forced, the wand must be behind, and the card chosen before the egg-laying performance (supposing you find your eggs in that way) takes place. Have only about twenty cards to select from, and let your assistant know what they are. They can be arranged in sequences or suits, for greater convenience. When your assistant retires, after producing the eggs, he takes the pack of cards with him; and whilst you are showing the eggs round he looks through the nineteen cards and finds out which one is missing. He then takes a duplicate of this, and puts it into the wand. For the sake of expedition, you should have a duplicate of each of the twenty cards in readiness. I remember once finding myself without a duplicate of a selected card, and I had actually to go forward and, under the plea of placing it in an exposed position, "where everyone could see it," effect a change. I left a dummy card on the chair (the "exposed position,") face downwards, and carried off the chosen one in triumph, feeling very much relieved. This method of having a card or cards chosen from a pack, the cards of which are known, does not belong particularly to this trick, but can be used in many others. It is only worth while to take the trouble when your audience is a particularly sharp one, and not likely to be imposed upon by a "force." The egg and card both chosen, you may do what you please with the latter, so long as you get rid of it, and, taking the egg, which you have previously had minutely examined and held up to the light, to show that it is empty, upon a plate, give the plate to be held by a spectator, and then break the shell by means of the open end of your prepared wand. Immediately you are well through the shell, push the peg along by means of the thumb, and the rolled up card will be forced into the egg, whence have it extracted by a spectator. If you please, one of the audience may hold the egg whilst you break the shell. I need hardly mention that, before you bring your wand into play, you should make a fuss about passing the card into the egg. The reader, by this time, will take that as a matter of course. Always have a cloth or handkerchief handy in this trick for wiping egg and fingers.

The preceding six card tricks, used judiciously, that is to say, not too frequently, should, with those described in "Drawing-room Magic" (_La Carte Générale_, for instance), last a conjuror a lifetime. They are the very best I have seen performed, for they combine sleight of hand with a minimum amount of apparatus; indeed, the articles I have directed to be used are hardly worthy of the name, the nearest approach to it being the card-cases and the hollow wand. There are a number of tricks sold in which cards rise from demons' heads, imitation plants, and pedestals; but these are all exceedingly expensive, and are nearly all worked by electricity. Besides this, there always seems to be an artificial effect about such things. For all the audience know, there may be a small boy concealed in the demon's head, or in the huge flower-pot in which the "Magic Rose Tree" is generally stood. At any rate, the idea of "sleight of hand" is not conveyed, and, if for that reason only, I will have none of them.