Chapter II: Part 2

Borrow four shillings; place one on the palm of each hand, and, holding the palms upward, close your fingers over them. Then request a member of the company to place the other two coins on the nails of your two middle fingers; and announce your intention of throwing a coin from one hand to the other, explaining it is rather a difficult feat to accomplish with your hands closed. Make one or two movements with your hands, and then, as if accidentally, drop the two shillings resting upon your nails upon the table. Apologising for your clumsiness, request some one to replace the coins on your nails, saying you will have another try. Now give your hands a jerk upward; open them and catch the coins on your nails, one in each hand, and tell the company you have accomplished your purpose and sent one coin flying invisibly through the air from one hand to the other. To verify your assertion open your hands and show three coins in one hand and only one in the other.

EXPLANATION.

When you make the first attempt, and appear to fail, in the upward movement of your hands you open them and allow the shilling resting upon the nail of your left hand to slip into the palm, while you permit the coin in the palm of your right hand to fall, with the one above it on the nail, on the table. If this is done neatly the company will suppose it is the two coins from the nails which have fallen. You now have two shillings in your left hand and none in your right. In the second attempt you have only to catch the shillings resting on your nails in the manner described, and on showing one shilling in your right hand and three in your left, your statement that one has travelled invisibly from one hand to the other will appear to be correct.

PUZZLE OF TEN HALFPENCE

Place ten halfpence in a row upon the table, then taking up any one of the series, place it upon another, with this proviso, that you pass over just two halfpence each time. Repeat this until there is not a single halfpenny left. Let the following figures represent the halfpence:--

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Place No. 4 upon No. 1; No. 7 upon No. 3; No. 5 upon No. 9; No. 2 upon No. 6; and No. 8 upon No. 10. A little practice will enable the reader to do this puzzle without referring to the figures.

HOW TO INCREASE YOUR WEALTH

Obtain three sixpences exactly alike, place one in your pocket and stick the other two with a small piece of wax under the edge of the table about an inch apart. After showing other tricks produce the sixpence from your pocket and show it to the company to prove it is an ordinary coin. Pull up your sleeves, and if the table has a cover turn it back. Place the coin on the table near the edge over the concealed sixpences, and showing your right hand is perfectly empty place your thumb over the coin and rub it vigorously backwards and forwards on the table. At the same time run your first and second fingers under the table, and securing one of the coins sticking there move it and the coin under your thumb simultaneously off the table, and pinching them together between your thumb and finger, say: "I will show you how to double your capital. I am going to rub this sixpence into two sixpences." Then showing your other hand is empty use the left thumb and finger to assist in the rubbing, and gradually separate the two coins and exhibit them. Then putting the sixpence with the wax in your pocket place the other one near the edge of the table and repeat the trick, saying: "See, I have now trebled my capital." Do not allow the company to examine the waxed coins.

A NEAT COIN TRICK

Procure three coins (pennies or half-crowns) exactly alike. Scratch a cross on two, and in the third bore a hole, in which fasten a short piece of black elastic cord. The other end of the elastic tie round your ankle, taking care that the coin does not hang below your trouser leg. Put one of the marked pennies in your left-hand trousers pocket and drop the other one unobserved into the pocket of some one present, or give it to a confederate to hold. Commence by borrowing a similar coin to those you are using and mark it like the others. Hold it between the thumb and finger of the right hand, and, giving it a twist, spin it on the table, then snapping your fingers over it, catch the edge of the coin and it will fly up your sleeve. Close your hand and say, "I will make this coin fly up my sleeve, travel round my back, and pass down my other sleeve." In the meantime you have secured the penny in your pocket and concealed it in your left hand. Open your right hand, showing it is empty, and then show the penny in the other hand. Lower your right hand, the penny in your sleeve will drop into it, and you can pocket it unobserved. Then ask for the loan of a cap and walking-stick. Request some one to hold the stick, while you hold the cap in your left hand. Pick up the penny with your right hand and pretend to place it on the floor. In doing so substitute the coin attached to the elastic, and, stretching the latter, hold the coin on the floor while you cover it with the cap, and ask the person who has the stick to place its end on the coin through the cap and keep it there until you tell him to move it. Then say, "I command this coin to leave the cap and pass into Mr. So-and-So's pocket. Move the stick, please, and then lift up the cap." On the removal of the stick the coin will fly under your trouser leg, and, of course, when the cap is lifted it is no longer on the floor. On the person whose name you mentioned putting his hand in his pocket he will find the coin you placed there, which you return to the person from whom you borrowed the penny.

A SUBTLE IMPROMPTU EFFECT WITH A COIN

EFFECT.--A coin dropped down the sleeve is slowly rubbed out through the cloth at the elbow.

REQUISITES.--Two coins exactly alike.

PRESENTATION.--First secretly place one of the coins between the buttons at the end of your left coat sleeve. Then stand with your right side towards spectators with the left arm extended, but slightly bent at the elbow. After having the coin examined, proceed to drop it down the sleeve of the extended arm, when it will fall to the elbow, and ask a spectator to feel that it is really there. Proceed by placing thumb of right hand on the side of sleeve toward spectators, and the fingers at the back, and rub the hand up and down the sleeve from the elbow to the cuff, and at the same time secretly gain possession of the coin between the buttons and bring it down behind the sleeve towards the elbow. Now with a slow pinching movement bring the coin down between the thumb and fingers and apparently out through the cloth of the sleeve, meanwhile moving the left arm up and down slightly. The coin left in the sleeve can be secretly got away by dropping the arm and allowing it to fall into the hand and then pocketed.

AN ORIGINAL COIN SWINDLE

Palm a halfpenny in your right hand and ask a friend (be sure he _is_ your friend) to lend you a shilling. Pick up a glass, invert it, and place the borrowed shilling on its bottom. Then ask your friend whether the coin is on the top or bottom of the tumbler. He will naturally look surprised at such a question; and you then say,--"Ah, I see you know the trick." Slide the shilling off the glass into your right hand, and as your friend holds out his hand to receive it back, drop the concealed halfpenny into it. The chances are ten to one that he will place the coin in his pocket without glancing at it. Unless you really desire to swindle your friend out of elevenpence halfpenny you will, of course, explain to him how he has been "had."

A CROSS

Place seven coins on the table, five in a row and one above and one underneath the centre coin. Then challenge any one to form a cross with these coins by moving two only, all the arms of the cross to have the same number of coins. After many attempts and failures show how easy it is to accomplish by taking the two coins at the ends of the row and placing them upon the coin in the centre.

SIMPLE TRICKS WITH HANDKERCHIEFS, RINGS, CANDLES, ETC.

A KNOT THAT CANNOT BE DRAWN TIGHT

Tie a single over-hand knot in a handkerchief, and holding it in your left hand, give one end to some one, telling him to pull at a given signal. As he is about to do so, slip your left thumb underneath and, letting go the end hanging over your left hand, allow the handkerchief to run between your thumb and forefinger, when it will come out without any knot (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4.

TO TIE AN INSTANTANEOUS KNOT IN A HANDKERCHIEF

Hold the handkerchief in both hands; give it a twist; blow on it, and a knot instantly appears in its centre.

Hold the handkerchief as shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5.

Then while in the act of blowing on it bring the hands together quickly, throw the end _a_, held in the right hand, between the two middle fingers of the left hand and over _b_; at the same time grasp _b_ between the two middle fingers of the right hand (Fig. 6); pull _a_ under _b_ with the left hand and _b_ under _a_ with your right, and the knot is made. With practice you will be able to do this imperceptibly.

Fig. 6.

HALF A BURNT MESSAGE FOUND RESTORED IN A CANDLE

Procure two candles and from one cut one-third off, in which piece drill a hole lengthwise and remove the wick. Put this piece in your pocket and place the other candle in a candlestick. Give a small piece of paper to a member of the company and request him to write a short sentence on it. Tear the paper in two, and giving him half, retain the other half yourself, which you fold up. Have a similar piece of paper, folded, concealed in your right hand, and as you turn to get the candle (which should be lighted), substitute one for the other. Burn the plain piece of paper in the candle, and obtaining the piece of candle from your pocket put your hands behind your back, and, having rolled up the half message, work it into the hole in the piece of candle. In order to gain the time to do this stoop over the lighted candle and make several unsuccessful attempts to blow it out. When the paper is in the piece of candle give one good hard blow and extinguish the light. With the piece of candle concealed in your left hand, take the candle out of the candlestick, lay it on the table, and with a knife cut off the burnt end, which throw away and divide the remainder into three equal parts. Then ask the person who wrote the message to select one piece. When he does so pick up the selected piece with your right hand and pretend to transfer it to your left, but retain it in the right and show the piece concealed in your left, which you present to the person who wrote the sentence and request him to pull out the piece of paper, which he will find to be the corresponding half of the piece in his possession.

TWO GOOD RING TRICKS

Take a common ring, about the size of a wedding-ring, and suspend it to the centre of your handkerchief by a piece of cotton four inches long. You can hold the handkerchief up by the corners with the ring hanging in front of you, and the latter will not be noticed. Then let the handkerchief fall over your left hand and the ring in your palm. Request the loan of a wedding-ring, and, having obtained one, put it under the handkerchief, drop it in your palm, and pick up the other ring, which push up in the centre of the handkerchief, requesting some one to hold it there. Next take a drinking-glass in your right hand and request the person to drop the ring in it and the handkerchief over it. Shake the glass, and the ring will be heard to rattle inside. Then stand the glass in the palm of your left hand with its bottom over the borrowed ring, which is concealed there. With your right hand pinch the centre of the handkerchief and lift it up quickly, of course, carrying the suspended ring with it, being very careful not to let the ring strike the glass. The glass is seen to be empty; lift it up and show the ring underneath. Say, "You see, the ring has passed through the bottom of the tumbler."

A similar and a better trick can be performed with a short cane--say about eighteen inches long--instead of a glass. Commence as in the previous trick, and after you have asked some one to hold the suspended ring through the handkerchief, show the cane, and, holding your left hand back upward, push it through the latter and the borrowed ring, and grasp the cane with, of course, the ring on it, in the centre. With your right hand take the ring and handkerchief from the person who holds them, and request him to take hold of each end of the cane. Now lower the handkerchief until it hides your left hand, when you must move the latter away, leaving the ring on the cane concealed by the handkerchief. Then let the suspended ring fall out of the handkerchief, and if it strikes the cane so much the better. Whip the handkerchief away, and the ring on the cane will be seen. How that ring could have got on the cane while the ends of the latter were being held will puzzle everybody. Pocket the handkerchief with the suspended ring at once, and don't allow it to be examined.

SIMPLE ARITHMETICAL PROBLEMS

TO ASCERTAIN A NUMBER THOUGHT OF

Every schoolboy knows the old puzzle: Think of a number; double it; add 10, divide by 2, subtract number thought of; and 5 left. Here is a great improvement upon that problem, which I have seen puzzle some excellent accountants.

Think of a number; multiply by 3; if the result is odd, add 1 and divide by 2; multiply by 3; if result be odd, add 1, and again divide by 2. By how many 9's is the result divisible?

On receipt of that information you at once give the number thought of. One of the most puzzling features of the trick is that no 9's are obtainable in the result should either 1, 2, or 3 be thought of, as the following will show:--

Number thought of 1 2 3
multiply by 3 3 3
--- ---
3 9
Add 1 1
--- --- ---
Divide by 2 4 6 10
2 3 5
Multiply by 3 3 3
--- ---
9 15
Add 1 1
--- --- ---
Divide by 2 6 10 16
3 5 8

As will be seen, none of these results is divisible by 9, yet the number thought of is correctly given in each instance.

SOLUTION.--When the number thought of is multiplied by 3, you ask the question, "Is the result odd or even?" If the answer is "odd," make a mental note of _one_; then proceed. "Add one and divide by two. Is the result odd or even?" If the answer is again "odd," make a mental note of _two_; and proceed. "Add one and divide by two. How many nines are obtainable in the result? I do not want to know what the surplus is."

The above figures illustrate that when 1 is the number thought of there is only an addition of 1. When 2 is the figure, no addition is required to the first result; but the second result being 9, 1 is added and _two_ noted, which, of course, is the figure thought of. When 3 is thought of two additions are necessary, one to the 9 and one to the 15, making a total of _three_ to be remembered, which represents the original number. When 4 or any succeeding number is thought of the final result is always divisible by 9, and in your mental calculation each 9 must represent 4, to which you add the figures you have previously noted.

EXAMPLES.

Number thought of 4 x 3 = 12 / 2 = 6 x 3 = 18 / 2 = 9.

Here we have one 9, which represents 4, the number thought of.

Number thought of 7 x 3 = 21 + 1 = 22 / 2 = 11 x 3 = 33 + 1 = 34 / 2 = 17. From which is obtainable only one 9, which represents 4, to which you add 1 for the first addition of 1, and 2 for the second addition, making a total of 7, the number thought of.

Number thought of,

11
x 3
----
33
+ 1 note 1
----
/ 2 34
17
x 3
----
51
+ 1 note 2
/ 2 52
----
26 two 9's = 8 = 11

HOW TO NAME A NUMBER WHICH HAS BEEN ERASED

Request a member of the company to write a row of figures, the number of which is immaterial, add them together and subtract the addition from the row. Then to cross out any figure from the result, add the remaining figures together and give you the total, when you will tell him which figure he has erased. Of course, you do not see his figures and can leave the room while he makes them.

EXAMPLE.

567219 = 30
- 30
--------
567189

We will suppose he crosses out 7, which makes the addition of the row, minus that figure, 29. He gives you that result and you at once name the crossed off figure. There are two ways of arriving at the answer. The simplest and quickest way is to add the units in the result together until only one figure remains and deduct it from 9. For instance, we will take 29. Add the 2 and 9 together, which make 11; add 1 and 1 together and you have 2, which deduct from 9, leaving 7, the figure erased in the above example.

Supposing 1 was the figure erased, the addition of the remaining figures would then be 35; 3 + 5 = 8, 9 - 8 = 1, the figure crossed off.

The second method is to reckon the next multiple of 9 above the figures given you; for instance, supposing they are 29, the next multiple of 9 is 36. Deduct 29 from it and it leaves 7, the erased figure. If either 9 or 0 is erased the result is the same. You can get out of the difficulty, on being told you are wrong, by saying (in case you have given 9), "Yes, I see it is a nought; I thought it had a tail, so mistook it for a nine." If you have named 0 and it turns out to be 9, you can say, "Oh, I didn't notice the tail; of course I should have said nine."

A LESSON IN THE CORRECT FORMATION OF A FIGURE

Request a friend to write the following figures:--

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9

Take the paper from him and, after pretending to scrutinise the row, ask him to point out which figure he considers most imperfectly made. If he should select the 1, say, "You had better practise making that figure. Oblige me by multiplying the row by nine." When he does so the result will be

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Then say, "After this practice you will be able to make better ones in future."

If he selects the 4 request him to multiply by 36 and the result will be

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Whichever figure he selects, mentally multiply it by 9 and request him to multiply the row by the result. If he thinks 9 the most imperfectly made figure, you, of course, tell him to multiply by 81 and the result will be all 9's.

FOUR NINES PROBLEM

How can four 9's be written so that they will make 100?

SOLUTION.

99 9/9

AN ANSWER TO A SUM GIVEN IN ADVANCE

Ask some one to start a sum in addition by writing the top line of four figures. We will suppose he writes 1912. You mentally subtract the 2 and place it before the 1, making 21,910, which figures write on a piece of paper, which you fold up and lay on the table. You then ask a second person to place four figures under the first line. Then add a line yourself, which must be a deduction of the second line from four 9's. Ask a third person to add four figures to those already written. Then add another line yourself, making it a deduction of the third person's figures from four 9's. Request a fourth person to add up the sum and tell him you have already done so, and he will find the answer on the table. The sum will appear something like this:--

1912
7234
2765
4891
5108
--------
21,910

Which answer corresponds with the figures on the paper, which has been on the table the whole time. If you have in the company two friends upon whom you can rely as confederates, previously arrange with them to write the third and fifth lines, explaining to them that they must deduct the line immediately preceding theirs from 9's and make their lines the products. This adds greatly to the mystery of the trick.

AN ARITHMETICAL PUZZLE

Take 9 from 6; from 9 take 10, and from 40 take 50, and you will find 6 remains.

SOLUTION.

FROM SIX | FROM IX | FROM XL
TAKE IX | TAKE X | TAKE L
S | I | X

AN ARITHMETICAL MYSTERY

Thirteen commercial travellers arrived at an inn, and each desired a separate room. The landlady had but 12 vacant rooms, which may be represented thus:--

----------------------------------------------------
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
----------------------------------------------------

But she promised to accommodate all according to their wishes. So she showed two of the travellers into room No. 1, asking them to remain a few minutes together. Traveller No. 3 she showed into room No. 2, traveller No. 4 she showed into room No. 3, traveller No. 5 into room No. 4, traveller No. 6 into room No. 5, and so on until she had put the twelfth traveller into Room No. 11. She then went back to where she had left the two travellers together, and asking the thirteenth traveller to follow her, led him to No. 12, the remaining room. Thus all were accommodated. Ask your friends to explain the mystery.

HOW TO TELL HER AGE

Girls of a marriageable age do not like to tell how old they are, but you can find out by following the subjoined instructions, the young lady doing the figuring: Tell her to put down the number of the month in which she was born, then to multiply it by 2, then to add 5, then to multiply it by 50, then to add her age, then to subtract 365, then to add 115, then tell her to tell you the amount she has left. The two figures to the right will tell you her age and the remainder the month of her birth. For example, the amount is 822, she is twenty-two years old and was born in the eighth month (August).

A RACE IN ADDITION

Tell a friend that you will race him in counting from 1 to 100, and guarantee to win, under the following conditions: You will allow him to start first, at any number from 1 to 10, and you are both to have the privilege of adding any figure up to 10 to the last number called. For instance, we will suppose he starts with 5. You call 15, having mentally added 10 to his number. He then calls 20, having added 5; and so on, until 100 is reached. Until he sees through the trick you will win every time, and even then you will win if you start first and commence at 1. In that case, as he can only add 10, his first call could not exceed 11, to which you immediately add 1 and call 12. If his next call is 22, you say 23. No matter what his additions may be, the numbers you must always reach first are 12, 23, 34, 45, 56, 67, 78, and 89. When you call the latter number, as he can only add 10 to it, your next call will, of course, be 100. By this you will observe that, although you can only add 10 to your opponent's last number, you in reality add 11 to your own. So you are, so to speak, always 1 ahead of him. If, when you suggest the trick, you see your friend is not familiar with it, you can give him the option of starting first, and you need not pick up the thread of your winning numbers until you reach 50, adding low numbers to his additions, which will help to puzzle him; but he will soon see that it is necessary to reach 89; then he will notice you strike 78 and 67. When you see he is getting on the right track, pick up the winning numbers earlier, and at last insist that you must now start first. In starting with a person who does not know the trick it is advisable, and more puzzling, to dodge about at first and not get on the track of the winning numbers until 56 or 67. But if your friend knows the trick and starts at 1 you cannot beat him. I have seen good accountants puzzle for hours over this little trick, which was invented by Mr. William Lawtey, a dear old friend of mine.

TO PREDICT THE HOUR YOUR FRIEND INTENDS TO RISE ON THE FOLLOWING MORNING

Request your friend to make up his mind as to the time he intends to rise on the following morning, and then to mention an entirely different hour to you. To the latter you mentally add twelve, and giving him the number of the total, request him to look at his watch, and starting at the hour preceding the one he has selected for rising, to count backwards until he reaches the number you have given him, beginning with the number which he previously gave you. Ask him to state the hour at which he stops, which he will find is the one he selected for rising. For instance; supposing your friend intends to rise at nine and gives you four. To four you mentally add twelve and request him to start at the hour before his getting-up time (which would be eight) and count sixteen backwards on the face of the watch, starting with the number he gave you--four--and when he reaches sixteen his finger or pencil will rest upon nine, the hour he selected for getting up.

MATCH PUZZLES

EXPERIMENT WITH TEN MATCHES

Lay ten matches side by side (Fig. 7) and request some one to lift each match singly, and passing it over two matches, cross a third match with it until there are five crosses on the table (Fig. 8). Two matches (and only two whether crossed or single) must be passed over at a time.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
Fig. 7.

\ / \ / \ / \ / \ /
\ \ \ \ \
/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \
Fig. 8.

The secret is that No. 1 must be crossed first and No. 9 second, or the trick cannot be accomplished.

The following are the correct moves: 4 over 2 and 3 and crossed on 1; 6 over 7 and 8 and crossed on 9; 8 over 7 and 5, crossed on 3; 2 over the 3 and 5, crossed on 7; the 10 over the 9 and 7, crossed on 5.

THE MAGIC NINE

Make the figure 9 with a long tail with matches (Fig. 9) and tell a member of the company to think of a number, which must exceed the number of matches in the tail; and, commencing at the first match in the latter, count mentally round the figure, stop when he reaches the number thought of, and then, recommencing at the match he stopped at, count the reverse way, this time avoiding the tail, and continuing on the upper part of the 9 until he again reaches the number he selected, when you will point to the match he has stopped at. This you can do very easily, for if there are seven matches in the tail he will, of course, stop at the seventh match on the left from the tail, as will be seen by the numbering on the diagram, which assumes he thought of fifteen. Each time the puzzle is tried vary the length of the tail by taking some matches out of the latter and adding them to the upper part of the figure, or vice versa. If this is not done the stop will always be made at the same match, which will give the trick away.

Fig. 9.

TRIANGLES WITH MATCHES

Make three equilateral triangles with six matches. Of course, two can be made with five matches; but then there is one over, and how to make a third triangle with only one match is a puzzler. It is as easy as possible. Make a triangle with three matches, and stand the other three upon end inside the triangle in the form of a tripod (Fig. 10).

Fig. 10.

Here is another triangular puzzle. With five matches form two equilateral triangles. Tell the company they are to remove three matches; then add two and make two more equilateral triangles. This is only a "sell." You do not say where the two matches are to be added. You add them to the three removed, and form the same figure over again (Fig. 11).

/|\
/ | \
/ | \
\ | /
\ | /
\|/
Fig. 11.

MATCH SQUARES

Make nine squares with twenty-four matches (Fig. 12). Then request some one to remove eight matches, and without touching those left, to leave two perfect squares.

-- -- --
| | | |
-- -- --
| | | |
-- -- --
| | | |
-- -- --
Fig. 12.

Fig. 13 shows the solution.

-- -- --
| |
--
| | | |
--
| |
-- -- --
Fig. 13.

YOUR OPPONENT MUST TAKE THE LAST MATCH

Place twenty-five matches in a row on the table. Request some one to select one end of the row and to take one, two, or three matches from it, you having the same privilege at the other end; and you guarantee he will be compelled to take the last match no matter how he may vary the number he takes.

The secret is to remove four matches each time between you. For instance, if your opponent takes three you take one; if he takes two you take two; if he takes one you take three and so on. It is obvious if four matches are taken six times one match will be left on the table, which your opponent must take.

A SHAKESPEAREAN QUOTATION

Lay five matches on the table and request a member of the company to form a well-known quotation from Shakespeare by the addition of three more matches (Fig. 14). "But," some one will say, "how does KINI represent a Shakespearean quotation?" Your reply is obvious: "Can't you see KINI is 'a little more than kin, but rather less than kind'?"

| / | |\ | |
|/ | | \ | |
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| \ | | \| |
Fig. 14.

NUMERAL

Place five matches on the table and challenge any one to make them into thirteen without breaking any of them, and then, without moving them, to make eight by the use of a card. The solution will be found in Fig. 15.

\ / | | |
\ | | |
/ \ | | |
Fig. 15.

To make eight, hide the lower half of the row from sight, and it of course shows viii.

SIX AND FIVE MAKE NINE

Place six matches on the table and request a person to add five more in such a manner as to make nine. The solution is shown in Fig. 16.

_____
|\ | | |\ | |
| \ | | | \ | |_____
| \ | | | \ | |
| \| | | \| |_____
Fig. 16.

THE ARTFUL SCHOOLBOYS

At a certain school were four long dormitories, built in the form of a square, in which thirty-two boys occupied beds, as shown by matches in Fig. 17.

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Fig. 17.

By this arrangement the master, in going his rounds at night, counted twelve boys in each corridor. One night four boys absented themselves from the school, and the remaining boys rearranged themselves in such a manner that the master was still able to count twelve boys in each corridor, and the absence of their four comrades was not noticed. How they did it is shown in Fig. 18.

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Fig. 18.

The four absentees returned on the following night, accompanied by four friends; but the master was unable to notice the addition, for he again counted twelve boys in each dormitory. The new arrangement was as Fig. 19.

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Fig. 19.

There were now thirty-six boys sleeping in the dormitories, and next night they were joined by four more, which brought the number up to forty, and yet the master only counted twelve in each dormitory on his rounds that night. How the new distribution was made is shown in Fig. 20.

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Fig. 20.

Next night four more chums popped in for a snooze, making a total of forty-four, and again the master was bamboozled by the following readjustment (Fig. 21).

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Fig. 21.

History is silent upon the subject of the arrangement at the breakfast-tables.

The proper way to present this puzzle to your friends is to lay forty-four matches on the table, and after showing the initial arrangement, allow them to work the rest out for themselves.

WHAT ARE MATCHES MADE OF?

Arrange fourteen matches as in Fig. 22, and tell your friends to take away any three matches they may select without disturbing the others, and replace one in any position they may choose in such a way as to show what matches are made of. They will endeavour to form the word "wood"; but Fig. 23 gives the correct solution.

----- ----- -----
| | | | \ / | |
| | | | \ / | |
| | | | \/ | |
----- ----- -----
Fig. 22.

----- -----
| | | \ / |
| | | \ / |-----
| | | \/ |
----- ----- -----
Fig. 23.

A SHEEP PEN

Arrange eight matches as shown in Fig. 24, and state that this enclosure, formed by eight hurdles, is supposed to hold one hundred sheep. Ask your friends how many more hurdles would be required to enable the enclosure to contain two hundred sheep? The reply is generally eight more, and your friends will be surprised to learn that only two more hurdles are required--one at each end across the enclosure. Three hurdles being moved to admit of the introduction of the additional two, the pen will, of course, be doubled in size.

----- ----- -----
| |
| |
| |
----- ----- -----
Fig. 24.

POST AND RAIL PUZZLE

Put the following question to the company: Supposing there was a tunnel through a hill and a post and rail fence was constructed through it, and another fence was made exactly above it, over the hill, how many more posts would be required for the latter route, supposing they were the same distance apart by both routes?

After several calculations have been made you can astonish the company by telling them that exactly the same number of posts would be required for both routes, which you can prove by making a rough sketch of the diagram, Fig. 25, and placing matches on it to represent the posts.

Fig. 25.

SIMPLE MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS

A GOOD AFTER-DINNER TRICK

Procure an egg, an apple, an orange, and two dozen nuts. Place the latter on a plate, and request three persons during your absence from the room to each pocket one of the three former, asserting that you will eventually state in whose pockets the different articles are to be found. On returning to the room present to one of the persons you have asked to assist you one nut, to a second person two nuts, and to the third three nuts, which will of course leave eighteen nuts on the plate. You must mentally name the person to whom you gave one nut "number one," to the person holding two nuts "number two," and the one who has three nuts "number three."

Announce your intention of again leaving the room, and request your three assistants to help themselves during your absence to nuts as follows--the one holding the apple to take the same number of nuts you presented him with, the one who has the egg to twice as many as you gave him, and the holder of the orange to four times as many as he originally received.

Impress on them that the number of nuts they take must be _in addition_ to those they already hold.

On returning to the room you glance at the nuts remaining in the plate and at once call for the egg, apple, and orange from their respective holders.

EXPLANATION.

You must memorise the following Latin words: Attento, Beato, Cantores, Erocat, Fortasse, Glossema, numbering them 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7. The initials of these words, it will be observed, are the first six letters of the alphabet, omitting D, which is not required; A, of course, standing for Apple, E for Egg, and O for Orange.

On returning to the room after your second absence count the number of nuts remaining on plate, refer to the Latin words, and you have the key. Supposing there are only two nuts left, take the second word, Beato, and reject the consonants, when the vowels will remain in proper order, E, A, O. The E being first shows the egg is in the pocket of the person whom you have designated as "number one." The A being second indicates "number two" has the apple, and the O, the third letter, means "number three" holds the orange.

Supposing there are seven nuts left, take the seventh word, Glossema, reject the consonants as before, and pick out the vowels, O, E, A, which proves "number one" person holds the orange, "number two" the egg, and "number three" the apple, and so on with the other Latin words, the remaining number of nuts always indicating the word from which you are to select the vowels. This trick may be repeated _ad lib._ without fear of detection.

TO REMOVE A SERVIETTE RING FROM A TAPE HELD ON THE THUMBS OF ANOTHER PERSON

Obtain a piece of tape, or string, about three feet in length and tie the ends; pass this loop through a serviette ring and the ends of the loop over the thumbs of a friend (Fig. 26).

Fig. 26.

Take hold of the tape with your left forefinger at A and pull it forward and down; with your right forefinger pull the tape at B, from underneath, forward and upward, which will cause the two parts to cross each other. Then with your right forefinger and thumb place the tape B over the thumb D; move the ring toward D and with your right forefinger and thumb take the tape at C from underneath and carry it also over the thumb D. Take hold of the ring and pull it gently, as you slip your left forefinger out of the loop A, when it will at once be released without the tape leaving either thumb.

AN EXPERIMENT IN GRAVITY

Give a person two half-crowns and request him to hold them horizontally between the tips of his thumb and finger of his right hand, the coins touching each other. Then request him to drop the lower coin in his left hand and you will tell him which side will come uppermost. First note which side of the coin is underneath when you place them in position, for that will be the uppermost side when it reaches his left hand. The lower coin will turn completely over in the act of falling: nothing can prevent it. The distance between the hands should be from fourteen to sixteen inches.

A SCISSORS FEAT

Hold a pair of scissors on the first two joints of your little fingers with your palms upward, their blades pointing to the floor (Fig. 27). Then throw the points over toward you, turning your hands at the same time and bringing your knuckles back to back, the scissors standing out straight from you (Fig. 28).

Fig. 27.

Fig. 28.

I have never seen any one accomplish this simple feat until they learned the secret. When you throw the scissors over on the palms of your hands, with their points toward your chest, allow the blades to rest there for an instant with the tips of your little fingers touching your palms through the scissors' bows; then bring the backs of your fingers together with your hands closed and the points of the scissors outward. The uninitiated, instead of allowing the bows to slip to the points of the little fingers, hold them tight on the second joints and, of course, fail.

ANOTHER TRICK WITH A PAIR OF SCISSORS

This trick consists of fastening the scissors securely to the back of a chair with a piece of string and then removing them without cutting or untying the string. First make a loop of a piece of string about two feet in length and pass the double end through one of the bows and the two loose ends through the loop and pull tight. Next pass the two single ends through the other bow of the scissors and tie them to the back of the chair. The puzzle is how to remove them, which is simple enough when you know how. Loosen the loop and draw it upwards and pass it through the other bow, and then over both bows and points, when the scissors will be free.

AN INDESTRUCTIBLE CIGARETTE PAPER

Take three cigarette papers, fold one up into a very small square, and paste it lightly on the top right corner of the second paper. The third paper roll lengthwise, and conceal it in your ear. Show the first paper between both thumbs and fingers, your right thumb on the pasted corner, then proceed to tear it up into squares, placing the pieces in front of each other before tearing again. When it is in pieces about the size of the pasted square, under the shelter of your left hand, with its back to the audience, separate the pieces from the square and hold the latter up between your right thumb and finger. Then, pretending to moisten your left forefinger on your tongue, slip the pieces in your mouth and conceal them there, and carefully unfold the square held in the other hand, when the paper will appear to have been restored. You then roll the paper length wise, and say, "I will swallow it." Put it in your mouth and pretend to do so. Putting your left hand to your ear, say, "I will now reproduce from my ear." Pull out the paper concealed there very carefully, and as you turn to lay it on your table allow the pieces in your mouth to drop into your hand.

TO CUT AN APPLE IN TWO WITH YOUR FINGER

With a needle and strong thread take a stitch of about half an inch in its side, leaving several inches of the thread hanging from where you puncture it. Reinserting the needle in the hole it made coming out, take another stitch of half an inch, and again reinsert the needle where it came out. Take similar stitches all round the apple until the needle comes out of the first hole made, and then cross the two ends of the thread and pull them steadily until all the thread comes out of the hole. The apple is now cut through, although the skin does not show it.

Slip this apple in your pocket, and during dessert select an apple as much like the prepared one as possible. Having previously placed your serviette over your knees, with the prepared apple in it, drop the apple just selected and pick up the former with your right hand while you turn your plate over with your left hand. Putting the apple on its side on the inverted plate, laying your forefinger on the apple you give the former a smart blow with your right fist, when the apple will fall in two pieces.

A TRICK WITH DOMINOES

Take a full set of dominoes--twenty-eight pieces--turn them face downward on the table; shuffle them thoroughly; then tell the company to turn them over and match them in the ordinary way, while you take a seat at the other end of the room with your back to the table. They can blindfold you if they wish. As soon as all the pieces are matched you call out the numbers shown at the two ends of the row. Return to the table, turn the dominoes over again, shuffle them as before with the right hand; again turn your back, and call out the end numbers. You can repeat this any number of times without detection, unless some one should count the pieces and find only twenty-seven. Each time you have shuffled them you have dropped a piece concealed in your right hand, and extracted and palmed another. One piece taken from a set of dominoes invariably indicates by its numbers the numbers at the two ends of a row when the pieces are all properly matched.

AN ESCAPE

Ask some one to tie your wrists together with a handkerchief, and then to pass a cord between your arms behind your tied wrists, and hold the ends securely. Have towel or cloth thrown over your hands, and after a very brief interval tell the person who holds the ends of the cord to pull. When he does so, the latter will pass from your hands and fall on the floor. You remove the cloth, and show that your wrists are still tied together.

EXPLANATION.--When your hands are covered, move your elbows out, which will separate your wrists, push the second finger of your right hand between them, and with it pull the bight of the cord through the bandage round your wrists, slip it over one hand, and when your assistant pulls the cord it will pass off clear of your hands.

CIGARETTE PAPERS AND SERVIETTES

Screw three cigarette papers up into pellets and cover each of them with a folded serviette. Then lift the serviette on your right with your left hand (to show that the pellet is still there) and transfer it to your right, holding it with your thumb on top and fingers underneath, and re-cover the pellet. As you do this nip the pellet between the tips of your first and second fingers in such a way that it does not show in front of them as you withdraw your hand palm upwards. Then raise the centre serviette with your left hand, transfer it to your right, as before, and re-cover the pellet, and as you do so, drop the pellet concealed between your fingers under it. Then raise the third serviette with your left hand, transfer it to your right, re-cover the pellet, and, in doing so, nip the latter between your fingers, as you did the first one. Then say: "There are three pellets on the table covered by serviettes. I command the one here (pointing to the one on your left) to travel invisibly to the centre serviette." Turn the serviette over, and show the pellet has gone. Then lift the centre serviette with your left hand, and show the two pellets under it. Transfer it to your right hand, and, in replacing it, drop the concealed pellet. Then say: "We have now two pellets under the centre serviette, and one under this one" (pointing to the one on your left). "I command this one to join its fellows." Lift the serviette as you speak, and show the pellet has gone; lift up the centre serviette, and the three pellets will be found together.

FOUR CIGARETTE PAPERS

This is a variation of the previous trick. Roll up five cigarette papers into pellets. Conceal one at the root of the left thumb, and form a square with the others on the table. Show your hands empty (the concealed pellet will not be observed if properly held), and cross your hands over the pellets on the table. With the tips of your right fore and second fingers nip one of the pellets on your left, and at the same time drop the pellet concealed in your left hand between the two on your right. Move both hands away quickly, and one of the pellets on your left will appear to have travelled invisibly under your right hand. Again cross your hands, passing your right hand under the left, and as you do so drop the pellet concealed between your fingers, covering it at once with the left hand. Then nip the remaining pellet with your right first and second fingers, as before, and, on lifting your hands, all four pellets will appear on your right. You can get rid of the remaining pellet by dropping it on the floor, or on your lap if you are sitting at the table.

A HINDOO SWINDLE

This effect is practically unknown to the Western Conjurer, but has been one of the stock-in-trade among magicians in India for years. It involves a principle (that of transfer) which is capable of extensive development in the use of modern magic.

REQUISITES.--(1) A piece of brittle unglazed earthenware. (A piece of substance akin to thin flowerpot is used in India.) (2) A stick of specially prepared soft charcoal.

A piece of earthenware is given, upon which a spectator is requested to write his initials with a piece of charcoal supplied. The correct preparation of this charcoal was conveyed to me by a Hindoo, and is as follows: Procure a piece of boxwood or beech, the former for preference, place it in the fire until reduced to a red glowing mass, remove it with tongs and immediately place it into a thick jar and cover up very tightly till cool.

The earthenware is taken by the performer and crushed up under his heel. The spectator is then asked to wave his right hand over the broken pieces, and upon the palm being turned upwards the absolute initials in all detail are found imprinted upon his hand.

PRESENTATION.--Hand the piece of earthenware to the spectator, together with the charcoal; request that his initials shall be written on the earthenware in a space marked the size of the tip of the index finger. After this has been done, you take it back between the thumb and index finger of the right hand, the finger over the initials exerting a firm pressure which has the effect of transferring the writing to the latter. Then place the earthenware under your heel and crush it.