Brought Extra Applause.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXVIII, Issue XII, 22 March 1902, Page 575

Brought Extra Applause.

A well-known conjurer, in what he called his gun trick, used to give one of the audience a ritle. some powder, and a marked bullet. The marksman was then requested to load ami to prepare to fire the weapon. Thereupon the conjurer walked to the end of the stage and invited the rifleman to shoot him. After the marksman had tired he used to produce the bullet, insisting that he hail caught it on a plate. On one occasion a gentleman, who was an admirable amateur conjurer, offered himself as an assistant. He took the gun and the ammunition and duly loaded. I' was the custom of the conjurer to give the gun a final tap with his wand to see that everything was in order, and this final tap, it is said, extracted the bullet. This the other knew, and refused to allow the performer to touch the riTe. The conjurer did v t insist, but coolly walked to th* end of the stage anil called out ‘Now. sir. take g »od aim at me and fire!” The amateur hesitated, as he was well aware that the gun he was holding was really loaded. “Fire. sir. fire!” cried the conjurer. But tin- other lowered the weapon, and, saying he could not let it off. returned it to the performer, who immediately, under pretence of s*»eing whether it had been properly loaded, extracted the bullet. Then he gave the gun to someone else. But before the rifle was fired he addressed the audience. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “the person who has just resumed his seat knew my trick and foiled it. If he had fired, this probably would have been my last appearance before you. But he hadn’t sufficient nerve to shoot me!” When it dawned upon the audience that the conjurer had risked his life rather than confess himself beaten the applause was deafening. The amateur conjurer used to say that he felt rather small then, and regretted his liking for practical joking.