This may be otherwise described for programme purposes as “A Royal Row,”
or “A Row in a Royal Family.”
_Preparation._ Card mat loaded with two kings of hearts: one of them
taken from the pack to be used: the other a spare card. The king of clubs
and queen of hearts to be laid on top of pack. The two flower-pots on
table.
_Presentation._ Advancing to the company, palm off the two top cards,
and hand the pack to be shuffled. This done, force the palmed cards
on two different persons. Then say, “I want you to take notice that I
do not handle or tamper in any way with either of the cards you have
chosen. Please lay them yourselves face down on this mat. Thank you. Now
still without touching them I will put them temporarily in this elegant
flower-pot, which you observe is quite empty. You see that it has neither
top nor bottom, and nothing between. You couldn’t have anything much
emptier than that, could you?”
Having duly exhibited the flower-pot (this by the way must be the one
_without_ pocket) you let the two drawn cards slide off the mat into it,
the two concealed kings going with them. Then, assuming a perplexed air,
you say, “I don’t know why it is, but I have that peculiar sensation in
my left thumb that always means that something has gone wrong. What it is
in this case I can’t imagine, but I must find out before we go further.
As the two chosen cards have passed out of my hands, I may now ask the
ladies who drew them to name them.
“The queen of hearts and the king of clubs, you say? Ah! that accounts
for it. When those two cards come together there is sure to be trouble.
The queen of hearts is a bit of a flirt, and the king of hearts is very
jealous, particularly of the king of clubs, who is rather a gay dog,
though he is old enough to know better. I fancy I hear some sort of
commotion going on in the flower-pot.” (You look into it.) “Yes, it is
just as I feared. The king of hearts has found out that his queen has
gone off with the king of clubs, and has followed the queen post-haste.
Here he is, you see.” (You plunge hand into flower-pot, and take out
and exhibit the two drawn cards, and with them one of the two kings of
hearts.) “It’s too bad, for as a matter of fact the queen of hearts
doesn’t really care two-pence about the king of clubs. In fact she has
even been known to call him a giddy old kipper.
“But I can’t have my arrangements upset by these little family jars. To
teach the king of hearts better manners I shall put him in solitary
confinement. We will drop him into the other flower-pot, which, as you
see, is also empty.” (The card is in this case not dropped through the
pot, but into the pocket.)
“Now we shall be able to get on. No! my left thumb tells me that there
is still something not quite right.” (Glance into second flower-pot.)
“Upon my word, this is too bad. The king of hearts has already got away
and followed the queen again.” (Lift flower-pot, and show that the king
has disappeared.) “I thought I had him safe, but his prison, as you see,
is empty, and here he is again in the first flower-pot.” (Show the three
cards accordingly.) “He is too many for me; I can’t show you what I had
intended. I must give it up and try something else.”
_Variation._ Load mat with a single king of hearts and the queen of
clubs, the latter taken from the pack. Proceed as before up to the
putting of the king in prison, and then exhibit the queen of clubs,
as having come in pursuit of her spouse, the patter being modified
accordingly. The imprisoned king of hearts will still be found to have
escaped, but in this case to have returned to the pack.
For lack of the two flower-pots, the drawn cards may be dropped with the
concealed pair into a borrowed hat, and the jealous king made to escape
from a card-box, or some similar appliance.
_Apropos_ of the card-box, by the way, I have always had a sort of
affection for this in its oldest and simplest form, viz., the reversible
flat box with loose flap falling from the one into the other half at
pleasure. I should not recommend the use of it at a school treat, as
there would be much risk of some demon small boy proclaiming to all whom
it might concern that he “knows how that’s done,” but before an average
mixed audience its use is safe enough. Should one of the spectators
happen to be acquainted with the box he will probably smile in a superior
way, pluming himself on having a little inside information, though he
may be no nearer the complete solution of the trick than the rest of the
company.
The expert will easily guard himself against even this small risk. For
example, he may use a duplicate box, innocent of guile, ostensibly merely
to contain the cards he is about to use, and after turning the pack out
of it upon the table, switch this (obviously empty) box for the faked box
to be used later, or after using the latter he may extract the fake and
the superseded card during the journey back to his table, where the box
will of course be inspection-proof.
Better still, he may make matters absolutely safe by using an improved
box, which has been christened the “Fast and Loose” card-box. This is
a recent invention of an Italian wizard named Veroni, of Glasgow (an
old soldier of Garibaldi). It is an idealised version of the old flat
box, being of the same shape, but a trifle larger. The loose slab is
retained, but it is only loose when the performer desires it to be so.
The box may be handled beforehand with the utmost freedom, and after a
card has been placed in it it may be closed and re-opened any number of
times, nothing happening till, “Presto,” a mere touch in the right place,
and the flap is free. When the box is now closed, this falls into the
opposite portion, concealing the card, or producing another; and again
locking itself, automatically, in its new position. The box in this
condition will again stand the closest scrutiny.
Whether this box is yet placed upon the market I cannot say (having
myself been favoured with a sight of an “advance” model), but it will
certainly commend itself to all who appreciate a good thing in the way of
ingenuity of contrivance and mechanical finish.