The most important of these the second player has at his command to reply to 1. P. to K's 4th, are, 1. P. to Q. B's 4th, and 1. P. to K's 3d. It is true there are other moves, such as 1. P. to Q's 4th; 1. P. to K. Kt.'s 3d.; 1. P. to Q. Kt.'s 3d.; 1. P. to Q's 3d.; but they are of so rare occurrence in actual play, we shall hardly be justified in our narrow limits for entering into an a.n.a.lysis of them.

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THE YOUNG CONJUROR

INCLUDING SLEIGHT OF HAND WITH OBJECTS OR CARDS, WITH AND WITHOUT APPARATUS.

From the very early ages of the world the art of legerdemain, commonly called conjuring, has been known and practised. In some of the old heathen ceremonies the priests made use of skilful deceptions, in order to impose upon the people; and in ancient Egypt, in Greece, and in Rome, the worship of the G.o.ds was frequently a.s.sociated with mere tricks, which were used for the purpose of obtaining an influence by a pretence of extraordinary and supernatural powers. Among the Eastern nations juggling was a profession, and to this day the jugglers of Hindustan and other Oriental nations are so skilful that they are able to deceive even the most acute observers. In our own country, after the Norman Conquest, the juggler (who was called jongleur, or joculator) was a minstrel as well as a conjurer, a reader of the stars or astrologer, and at the same time a jester, a merry-andrew, and a teller of droll stories. These jongleurs travelled from place to place, and exhibited at fairs, feasts, and merrymakings, as well as in the houses of n.o.blemen, where they diverted the company in the great halls. In the fourteenth century they gave more attention to tricks and feats of skill, and became known as tregetours. The performances of some of these gentry were so marvellous, that the common people believed them to be the result of witchcraft, and cla.s.sed the tregetour with the warlock and the sorcerer.

Chaucer, who no doubt had frequently an opportunity of seeing the tricks exhibited by the tregetours of his time, says, "There I sawe playenge jogelours, magyciens, tragetours, phetonysses, charmeresses, old witches, and sorceresses;" and the old poet goes on to say of them, "Sometimes they will bring on the similitude of a grim lion, or make flowers spring up as in a meadow; sometimes they cause a vine to flourish, bearing white and red grapes, or show a castle built with stone, and when they please they cause the whole to disappear:" and in another part of his works he says:--

"There saw I Coll Tregetour Upon a table of sycamour Play an uncouthe thynge to tell; I sawe hym cary a wyndemell Under a walnot shale."--_House of Fame_, book iii.

Our learned monarch James I. was perfectly convinced that these and other inferior feats exhibited by the tregetours of his day could only be performed by diabolical agency. The profession had already fallen very low, and at the close of the reign of Queen Elizabeth the performers were ranked by the moral writers of that time not only with ruffians, blasphemers, thieves, and vagabonds, but also with Jews, Turks, heretics, pagans, and sorcerers; and in more modern times, by way of derision, the juggler was called a mocus-pocus, or hokus-pokus, a term applicable to a pickpocket or a common cheat.

The following pages are not intended to make the young reader either a cheat or a trickster; there is nothing perhaps so utterly contemptible in every-day life as trickery and deceit, and we would caution our young friends not to cultivate a love of deception, which is only allowable in such feats of amus.e.m.e.nt, because it is in fact not deception at all, when everybody expects to be puzzled, and is only left to find out the mystery the best way he can.

With this sage advice we shall present a collection of amusing conjuring tricks, premising that a considerable number of tricks usually embodied in this division will be found in that part of our work relating to Scientific Experiments and Amus.e.m.e.nts, as they more properly belong to "Natural Magic," and are to be referred to the various operations of nature in the several departments of art, science, and philosophy.

SLEIGHT OF HAND.

It is intended in the following pages to lay more stress upon those tricks which require no apparatus than upon those for which special apparatus or the a.s.sistance of a confederate is required. No one is nearly so well pleased by a trick whose essence evidently lies in the machinery, while every one feels pleasure at seeing a sleight of hand trick neatly executed. The audience often despise all the numerous boxes, bottles, variegated covers, and other gimcracks which are generally seen on a conjuror's table; and are seldom so pleased with any performer as with one who does not even require a table, but presses into his service articles borrowed from his audience. The spectators should never be able to say, "Ah! the trick lies in the box: he dares not show it to us!"

The following tricks have almost all been successfully performed, and have caused some reputation in the magic art. Some of them are the invention of one of the most eminent "conjurors" of modern times.

1. THE FLYING SHILLING.

This trick must be frequently practised before it is produced in public.

Borrow two coloured silk handkerchiefs from the company, and have _three_ shillings in your hand, but only show _two_, keeping the other one firmly fixed against the first joint of the second and third fingers. You must also have a fine needle and thread stuck inside the cuff of your coat. Then take one of the handkerchiefs, and put in _both_ shillings, but pretend that only _one_ is in the handkerchief; then put the handkerchief into a hat, leaving one corner hanging out. Now hold up the _third_ shilling (which the spectators imagine is the _second_), and ask one of the company to lay the second handkerchief over it. You then ask him to hold the shilling tight between his finger and thumb, while you twist up the handkerchief. While doing so, with both hands concealed under the handkerchief, you pa.s.s a few st.i.tches under the shilling, and replace the needle. This being done, spread one corner of the handkerchief over the hand of the person who is still holding the shilling, and, taking hold of another corner, tell him to drop the shilling when you have counted three. At the word "three" he lets go the shilling, and you whisk the handkerchief into the air, when the shilling appears to have vanished, but is really held in the handkerchief. You then tell the astonished individual to draw the other handkerchief out of the hat by the corner that is hanging out. The two shillings are heard to fall into the hat, and every one is persuaded that you have conjured one of the shillings out of the person's hand, and sent it into the hat.

2. ANOTHER METHOD.

Perhaps the spectators may ask to see it again, or demand to mark the shilling. In this case, vary it as follows. Ask some one (always choose the most incredulous of the party) to mark a shilling of his own and give it you. Take the same handkerchief and give him the shilling to hold that is already enclosed in it, as in the last trick, dropping the marked shilling into the palm of your hand. Twist it up as before, and then leave it entirely in his hands. Direct him to place it on a table, and cover it with a basin or saucer. Ask him to give you a cup or tumbler, and hold it under the table, beneath the place where the saucer is. Then tell him to knock three times on the saucer, and at the third knock let the marked shilling fall into the tumbler. Hand him the tumbler, and while he is examining the shilling to see if it is the same one that he marked, take up the saucer, and shake out the handkerchief that is lying under it, as in the last trick. You must then return the handkerchief, and while you pretend to be searching for the marks, draw out the thread that held the shilling and drop the coin into the palm of your hand, taking care to rub between your finger and thumb the spot where the threads had been, in order to eradicate the marks. This variation seldom fails to confuse the company.

You must remember to keep talking the whole time, and always try to make a joke, or otherwise to distract the attention of the audience, while you are executing the necessary changes.

3. THE BEADS AND STRINGS.

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Ask some lady to lend you the beads off her bracelet, or have by you five or six beads, which you may hand round for examination. Then get some one to cut two pieces of thin string of equal length, and twist them about your fingers, appearing to lay them side by side, but in reality placing them as in the figure, and then, by twisting them together with apparent carelessness, the manner in which they are arranged will not be seen, particularly if you keep the point of junction hidden either by a finger, or by throwing the shade of your hand upon it.

When the beads are returned, thread them all, taking care to pa.s.s the centre bead over the point of juncture. You then bring the ends of the string 1 and 2 together and tie them so, doing the same with 3 and 4.

Now give the tied ends to two persons, directing them to hold them tight. You need not fear that the beads will come off, even if they pull hard. Then grasp the beads with both hands, directing the holders to slacken the strings. You then, under cover of the left hand, which is placed above the beads, slip the centre bead to one side, and draw out the two loops which have been hidden in it. The beads will then easily come off into your right hand. Tell the holders to pull hard, which they will do, and the same moment remove your hands, showing the empty strings and all the beads in your right hand. Then hand round the beads and strings as before. Remember to rub out the marks in the strings caused by the loops before you remove your hands.

4. TO GET A RING OUT OF A HANDKERCHIEF.

Bend a piece of gold wire into the form of a ring, having previously sharpened both ends. You have a real ring made of the same piece of wire, and concealing the false ring in the palm of your hand, offer the real one to be inspected. When it is returned, borrow a handkerchief, and, while taking it from the lender, slip the real ring into your left hand, and take the false one at its point of junction. Throw the handkerchief over the ring, and give it to some one to hold between his finger and thumb. Let the handkerchief fall over it, and give a piece of string to a second spectator, directing him to tie it round the handkerchief, about two inches below the ring, so as to enclose it in a bag, and tell him to do so as tightly as he can. While he is doing this, take up your conjuring wand, a rod of some hard wood, about eighteen inches long, and when the knot is tied, step forward, pa.s.sing the rod into your left hand, taking care to slip over it the real ring, which has lain concealed there. Slip your left hand to the centre of the rod, and direct each of the two persons to hold one end of it in his right hand. Then tell the one who has the ring and handkerchief, to lay them on your left hand, which you immediately cover with your right. Then tell them to spread another handkerchief over your hands, and to say after you any nonsense that you like to invent.

While they are so doing, unbend the false ring, and draw it through the handkerchief by one of its points, carefully rubbing between the thumb and finger the place where it came through. Hang the empty handkerchief over the ring which is on the rod, and take away your hands, which you exhibit empty, as you have stuck the false ring inside your cuff. Take away the upper handkerchief, and let a third person come to examine, when he will find the ring gone out of the handkerchief, and hung upon the rod.

5. TO TIE A KNOT IN A HANDKERCHIEF WHICH CANNOT BE DRAWN TIGHT.

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Cast an ordinary knot on a handkerchief, and give the end out of your right hand to some spectator, and tell him to pull hard and sharp when you count three. Just as he pulls, slip your left thumb under the handkerchief, as drawn in the cut, and it will be pulled out quite straight without any knot at all. You must let go the end that hangs over the left hand, and grasp the handkerchief between the thumb and forefinger.

6. THE THREE CUPS.

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This is an admirable delusion, but requires very careful management, and should be practised repeatedly before it is exhibited publicly. You get three tin cups, of the shape shown in the cut. They should have two or three ridges running round them at the mouth, in order to give a better hold. Four b.a.l.l.s should now be made of cork, and carefully blackened.

One of the b.a.l.l.s is held concealed between the roots of the third and fourth fingers, while the other three are handed round for examination, together with the cups. When they are returned, the young conjuror begins by placing each ball under a cup, or, if he chooses, asks one of the spectators to do so for him. While this is being done, he slips the fourth ball to the tips of the second and third fingers. He then lifts up cup No. 1, replacing it on the table a few inches from its first position, and at the same time slips the fourth ball under it. He takes up ball No. 1, and pretends to throw it away, but in reality he slips it into the place which the fourth ball had occupied. He does the same with the three cups, and then commences a sham search after the lost b.a.l.l.s, in which he accidentally (!) knocks over one of the cups, and, to his pretended astonishment, finds a ball under it. He then knocks over both the other cups, and finds in them the two missing b.a.l.l.s.

He again places the b.a.l.l.s under the cups, taking care to slip the fourth ball under cup No. 3. He then takes up cup No. 1 and pretends to throw the ball into No. 3, but hides it as before. As there are already two b.a.l.l.s in No. 3, the spectators imagine that he really has thrown the ball into it. He replaces cup No. 3 over both b.a.l.l.s, and slips among them ball No. 1. He then takes up cup No. 2, and goes through the same process, and on knocking over cup No. 3, all three b.a.l.l.s are found together under it, and while the spectators are being astonished, ball No. 2 can be quickly got rid of.

A rather startling termination to this trick can be managed by taking up one of the cups with its mouth upwards, holding the finger and thumb close to its mouth. Then by throwing another cup into it, letting go the first and catching the second, you appear to have thrown the second cup through the first.

7. TO TIE A HANDKERCHIEF ROUND YOUR LEG, AND GET IT OFF WITHOUT UNTYING THE KNOT.

Hold the handkerchief by both ends, lay the centre of the handkerchief on your knee, and pa.s.s the two ends below, appearing to cross them, but in reality hitching them within each other, as represented in the engraving, which shows the manner in which this is managed. Draw this loop tight, and bring back the ends to the same side on which they were originally, and tie them above. If the loop is properly made, it will stand a good pull. Then, after showing the spectators how firmly it is tied, put your hand under the knot, and by giving it a sharp pull, it will come off.

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The engraving represents the manner in which the loop is made, but it must be made considerably smaller than it is shown, or it will be seen.

In fact, it ought not to be a loop at all, as it should be almost concealed under the fold of the handkerchief. Do not show this in public until you can tie it with rapidity and precision.

8. THE MAGIC BOND.

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Take a piece of string, and tie the two ends together with a weaver's knot, as that holds the best, and arrange it over the fingers as represented in the engraving. Having done so, let the long loop hang loose, lift both loops off the thumb, draw them forward until the string is quite tight, and then put them behind the hand, by pa.s.sing them between the second and third fingers. Then pull the part of the string that is across the roots of the fingers, and the whole affair will come off.

9. THE OLD MAN AND HIS CHAIR.