and then began washing in a very unartistic, rough way,
evidently tearing them; and one, before wetting it, he held up to the
candle, and carelessly set it on fire. Then he spread a blanket, and
took them out, and began ironing them; but the iron was too hot, and he
was evidently singeing them horribly. "Never mind," he exclaimed, "I
have a magic ironing machine, which will do the work in a moment." He
produced a box, with a handle like a churn, put the wet half-singed
bundle in, and giving one turn of the handle, produced the handkerchiefs
all washed, neatly folded and scented, and sent them round by Placolett
to their owners.

It would be difficult to describe all the clever tricks he performed.
He put a ring into a handkerchief, and it disappeared. He passed an awl
through a piece of wood and Placolett's nose, and then put a piece of
whipcord through the hole, working it backwards and forwards, to the
dwarfs evident agony; and then he produced a funnel, which he held at a
boy's elbow, and by pumping away with the other arm, at last a stream of
wine flowed out. Then he put a large die on the table, and covered it
with a box and then with a hat. He lifted up the hat and then the box,
and the die was gone. He produced it, however, from under the table,
through which it had evidently gone.

I will not speak of many other minor tricks which he performed with
cards and other things, which elicited a fair share of applause. He
next borrowed a sovereign, and produced an apple, which he sent round to
the company. He begged some one to mark the sovereign, which was given
back to him. He put it on the table, and covered it with a red cup.
Then he took a knife, and holding up the apple, cut it in two, when the
sovereign was found to be in the middle of it.

"Ah, I forgot; I have still a trick or two more," he remarked. "Here is
a bottle. Will any lady like port, or sherry, or claret, or whisky, or
brandy, or liqueur?" Some said one thing, some said another, and
Placolett handing a tray of small glasses, he filled one after the other
with whatever was asked for. Once he let the bottle drop, but it was
not broken, as he was able to prove by handing it round to the company.
Then, after considering a moment, he showed a large glass bowl full of
ink. He took some of the ink out with a ladle, and put it into a plate,
which he showed to the company. Then he covered up the bowl with his
silk handkerchief, and on liftin