_Preparation._—Have a small white, long-eared rabbit hidden in a secret
pocket inside the right breast of your coat.
_Performance._—On requiring a rabbit for a trick, you select a
simple-looking member of the company. On his rising, you stand behind
him so as to cover your body with his. Take his right wrist in your
right hand as if to keep him steady, by which act you open your coat out
naturally to the right. Now flourish your left hand with the arm
extended, and bring it round to the level of the back of the party’s
neck. Then, at the same time that you forcibly thrust your three last
fingers well down within the simple gentleman’s coat collar, you seize
the rabbit’s ear or ears between your forefinger and thumb. Now lift up
the rabbit, and the simple gentleman will be too much confused by the
shock to perceive how the deception was managed. The audience will be
equally astonished.
[Illustration]