ese things, which may take some time, you put the
two tablecloths aside and separate the other articles into two heaps, the
rabbit, the top-hat, the hard-boiled egg, and the handful of nuts being
in one heap, and the ribbon, the sponge, the gentleman's watch and the
two florins in the other. This being done, you cover each heap with a
tablecloth, so that none of the objects beneath is in any way visible.
Then you invite any gentleman in the audience to think of a number. Let
us suppose he thinks of 38. In that case you ask any lady in the audience
to think of an odd number, and she suggests (shall we say?) 29. Then,
asking the company to watch you carefully, you--you--

To tell the truth, I have forgotten just what it is you _do_ do, but I
know that it is a very good trick, and never fails to create laughter and
bewilderment. It is distinctly an illusion worth trying, and, if you
begin it in the manner I have described, quite possibly some way of
finishing it up will occur to you on the spur of the moment. By
multiplying the two numbers together and passing the hard-boiled egg
through the sponge and then taking the ... or is it the--Anyway,
I'm certain you have to have a piece of elastic up the sleeve ... and I
know one of the florins has to--No, it's no good, I can't remember it.

But mention of the two numbers reminds me of a trick which I haven't
forgotten. It is a thought-reading illusion, and always creates the
_maximum_ of wonderment amongst the audience. It is called

THE THREE QUESTIONS

As before, you ask a gentleman in the company to write down a number on a
piece of paper, and a lady to write down another number. These numbers
they show to the other guests. You then inform the company that you will
ask any one of them three questions, and by the way they are answered you
will guess what the product of the two numbers is. (For instance, if the
numbers were 13 and 17, then 13 multiplied by 17 is--let's see, thirteen
sevens are--thirteen sevens--seven threes are twenty-one, seven times one
is--well, look here, let's suppose the numbers are 10 and 17. Then the
product is 170, and 170 is the number you have got to guess.)

Well, the company selects a lady to answer your questions, and the first
thing you ask her is: "When was Magna Charta signed?" Probably she says
that she doesn't know. Then you say, "What is the capital of Persia?" She
answers Timbuctoo, or Omar Khayyam, according to how well informed she