The requirements for this trick are as follows:
(1) Two wands, exactly alike in appearance. One of them to be that just
used in some previous trick or tricks (which we will call No. 2), and the
other, prepared as to be presently explained, to be secretly substituted
for it immediately before the presentation of the present trick. This can
be easily done by the aid of a couple of pairs of cup-hooks fixed behind
the table or a chair after the manner described in “Later Magic,” p. 126;
or the wands may be exchanged during journey to the table at an early
stage of the trick; by means of a pocket of suitable shape within the
left breast of the coat. This is a matter as to which the performer will
please himself, but the exhibition in the first instance of an obviously
unprepared wand is essential to the artistic finish of the trick.[14]
(2) Two pieces of ribbon, three-quarters to one inch wide, alike in
colour. Of these, one piece is to be wound round the end of wand No. 2
at about three inches from the end, and secured by a rubber ring, of the
solid kind used for holding together the ribs of an umbrella. This wand,
after being “switched” for the unprepared one, must be so placed upon the
table that the end on which the ribbon is wound shall be masked from view
by the second piece of ribbon, lying in a loose heap in front of it.
(3) A stoppered bottle of clear glass, preferably of some ornamental
or quaint design. This bears a label, of discoloured and time-worn
appearance, with the letter _H R_ written on it in crabbed but distinct
characters, and is about half-filled with _Eau de Cologne_ or lavender
water, to which a few grains of cochineal have been added, giving it a
rich ruby colour. So far as the working of the trick is concerned plain
water might be used, but a coloured and scented liquid is preferable for
the sake of effect.
(4) A spare rubber ring, of the kind above described, placed in left-hand
vest-pocket.
The trick may be introduced as follows:
“For the next surprise I have to show you we are indebted to the ancient
alchemists. People regard them as back numbers nowadays, because they
didn’t know anything about aeroplanes, or appendicitis, or income tax and
such-like up-to-date luxuries; but they had a good many useful little
secrets of their own. One of them was the recipe for what was called the
Alkahest, a liquid which immediately dissolved anything it touched; from
a gold watch to a set of fire-irons. The secret of making it has long
been lost, and all that still exists of the liquid itself I have here in
this bottle.”
The bottle is here brought forward and offered for inspection.
“Pretty colour, isn’t it? And it has a very delightful perfume.” (Takes
out stopper.) “You are welcome to smell it but I don’t advise you to
taste it. If you did you would probably never taste anything again. I
want you to notice, by the way, those two letters _H R_ on the label.
There is a dead secret attached to those letters. They mean something, of
course; but nobody knows what it is.”
The bottle is replaced on the table.
“This bottle came into my hands by inheritance. An ancestor of mine, in
the reign of James the First, was an alchemist in a small way. He is
reputed to have made a handsome income by selling ladies something to
put in their husbands’ tea. History doesn’t say what. Let us hope it was
only sugar. Well, this old gentleman managed to get hold of the recipe
for making the Alkahest. Whether he found it out himself, or whether he
cribbed it from the cookery-book of some other alchemist, I can’t say.
Anyhow, he got it; and he made up some of the stuff and put it in that
bottle.
“When he was just going to be burnt as a wizard, which was the regular
thing with scientific men in those days, he handed the bottle to his
eldest son, my great-great-grandfather seventeen times removed, saying,
‘Take it, my son, and may it do you more good than it has done me.’
“My great-great-grandfather took the bottle; but he had no idea what it
contained. He was just going to ask his father what the letters on it
meant, but just at that moment the old gentleman flared up, and it was
too late. For the rest of his life my great-great-grandfather puzzled his
head as to what those two letters _H R_ stood for, but all he could think
of was ‘horse-radish,’ and he knew it couldn’t be that.
“Since that the bottle has been handed down in our family for sixteen
generations, till at last it came to the hands of my Uncle James, and
he puzzled over those letters like the rest. Uncle James was a bit of a
‘nut,’ and prided himself on his fine head of hair, but in course of time
he found he was getting a bit thin on the top, and it worried him. One
day, thinking over the mysterious letters, an idea struck him. ‘H R!’ he
exclaimed, ‘H R! why “Hair Restorer” of course, not a doubt of it! I’ll
try it this very night.’ He did. He rubbed it in, and went to sleep quite
happy, but when he tried to brush his hair in the morning there wasn’t
any left to brush. The Alkahest had taken it all off, and left him as
bald as a baby.
“He went to bed again, and ordered a wig, but before it could
be sent home he caught such a cold in his head that he died.
Just-sneezed-himself-away.”
(The last words to be spoken slowly and sadly.)
“I notice that some of you ladies are weeping. It _is_ an affecting
story, no doubt, and I used to shed a tear over it myself. But after all,
you didn’t know my Uncle James. Neither did I, for the matter of that,
and if we had known him we might not have liked him. So we won’t stop to
grieve about him.[15]
“One of the most striking experiments with the Alkahest is the dissolving
of a paving stone, particularly if you lay a bunch of violets on it and
dissolve them both together, when you get a scuttleful of best Violet
Powder. Unfortunately I haven’t a paving stone handy, and I don’t suppose
any gentleman present is likely to have one about him. No? I feared not!
Another pretty experiment is the dissolving of a diamond ring, but I have
no diamond rings myself, and I find that if I borrow other people’s and
don’t return them I get myself disliked. So I must try to show the power
of the Alkahest in a less expensive way.”
Returning to his table, the performer with his right hand picks up the
prepared wand (holding it so as to conceal the ribbon coiled upon it),
and with the left hand the mass of loose ribbon.
“I have here a piece of ribbon: just ordinary ribbon. Will some lady
oblige me by tying a knot in it, about three inches from the end. Thank
you! Now will some other lady tie another knot about three inches from
the first one.”
This is repeated till five or six knots have been tied, taking up about
half the ribbon.
“I am not sure how many knots have been tied. Please count them for me as
I roll the ribbon round my wand.”
So saying, he winds the ribbon, beginning with the knotted end, on to
the free portion of the wand, counting the knots as he does so, and
continuing the winding till the whole has been taken up. In so doing
he takes care to cover up the knots, and to make the appearance of the
rolled ribbon correspond as nearly as possible with the hidden coil upon
the other end, finally securing it with the rubber ring from his pocket.
We will suppose that five knots are found to have been tied. The
performer returns to the table to fetch the bottle; and during the
transit passes the wand to the opposite hand, in so doing drawing off
the knotted ribbon (to be dropped a moment later into the profonde), and
exposes the opposite end. He removes stopper from bottle, leaving it on
the table.
“Now comes the most critical part of the operation. I am going by means
of the Alkahest to dissolve these knots. How many did we say there were?
Five? Then I must use five drops and no more. If I were to overdo it in
the smallest degree the consequences would be serious. I should destroy
the ribbon altogether, and in these hard times ribbon is ribbon, even if
it is only six-three a yard.”
He brings forward the bottle, and with great pretence of accuracy lets
fall on the ribbon the suggested number of drops. Then slipping off the
rubber ring he offers the end of the ribbon to some member of the company
to unwind, when the knots are naturally found to have disappeared.
“The Alkahest retains its virtue, you see, even after so many years.
Every knot is completely dissolved. I will conclude by asking you an
impromptu riddle. Just one of those bright thoughts that strike me
sometimes when I least expect it--
“When is a knot not a knot?”
“When it’s _not_ there.”
[14] I am indebted to a clever amateur, Mr. Gordon Powell, for the
knowledge of a very simple but effective method of “changing” a wand. The
prepared article lies just within the forward rim of an oblong Japanese
tray, and at a convenient moment the unprepared wand just used is laid
behind and parallel with it. A little later this is professedly picked
up again, but as a matter of fact is pushed forward by the tips of the
fingers, and takes the place of the prepared wand, which is picked up in
its stead.
A pack of cards may be “changed” for another after a similar fashion, the
first finger and thumb picking up the faked pack, while the unprepared
pack is pushed forward by the second and third fingers into the place it
occupied.
[15] If it is desired to shorten the patter the “Uncle James” episode may
be omitted without serious detriment to the trick.