The Man With a Trick.

Otago Witness, Issue 1994, 12 May 1892, Page 46

The Man With a Trick.

After awhile the young man with the white hat and red necktie observed that a friend of his had posted him on a new trick, and he took from his pocket the she?l of an English walnut which had been cut in two to make two small cups. He also took from his vest pocket a common field pea, and explained :—: — " I don't say that I can do the trick successfully, but after a little more practice I hope to catch on." . , Half a dozen of us exchanged winks and spotted him at once for a sharper, but there was a middle-aged man who appeared innocently interested. He was not a green looking man by any means, but he had a confiding, childish look which would have authorised any stranger to ask him for a match or the time of day. " What is the trick," he asked, as he laid aside his paper. , " Why, it's to manipulate this pea in this way — and so and so— and this way, until you can't tell which cup its under," explained the other. "That's a new idea." " Yes, perfectly new." •' Say ! I'd like to learn that myself," continued the Hoosier. " The boys down our way are full of tricks, and I'd like to get something to astonish 'em. It all depends on the twist of the wrist, doesn't it ? " ' ' Partly that and partly optical illusion. As I told you before, I can't work it yet, because I haven't practised sufficiently, but do you think you could tell which cup the pea is under now?" " I think I could," replied the Hoosier. "And could you now," asked the young man after further manipulations. "I'm sure of it." "How sure?" *' Well, as I want to learn the trick and as I am always willing to back my own eyes I'll bet lOdol I can." We winked and shook our heads at him, but his smile only grew more childlike. "Don't want to make it 20dol, do you?" asked the sharper. " I'd just as soon say 30dol." 4 • Thirty it is. Just hold the cups firmly down on my knees while I get out my sugar." I took his last dollar, and when it was up he asked — " Which cup is it under ? " " This one." The cup was raised, and there, sure enough, was the pea, it having failed to stick to the substance inside and be lifted with the shell. The look which came into the young man's face was somethink queer to see, and he kept swalowing as if he had had tacks in his throat. Be gave up the stakes without a word, but sat for a long time like one in a dream. I thought he needed sympathy, and after a while 1 found opportunity to inquire — " How did it happen that way ? " " That's what I want to find out," he absently replied. "Say, you childlike Hoosier, take these things and let's see what you can do with em." " Certainly, to oblige." He took the cups and the pea, and the manner in which he performed was enough to show everybody in 10 seconds that he was an old professional. " Anybody wish to bet ? " he smilingly asked, as the pea went hopping about. Nobody did—not even the yonng man. He sat and stared and stared, and watched and watched, and when the outfit was returned to him all he could say was— "Well, by gum!" — Detroit Free Press.