Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

But to return to our trick: we left one of the spectators tightly holding the suspended ring, covered by the folds of the handkerchief. Your next step is to request the audience to choose at what particular spot in the table the ring shall pass through it. When they have made the selection, you place the tumbler upon the spot chosen, and request the person having charge of the ring to hold his hand immediately over the glass, around which you drape the folds of the handkerchief. “Now,” you say, “will you be kind enough, sir, to drop the ring in the glass.” He lets go, and the ring falls with an audible “ting” into the glass. “Are you all satisfied,” you ask, “that the ring is now in the glass?” The reply will generally be in the affirmative; but, if any one is sceptical, you invite him to shake the glass, still covered by the handkerchief, when the ring is heard to rattle within it. Your next step is to borrow a hat, which you take in the hand which still retains the genuine ring, holding it in such manner that the tips of the fingers are just inside the hat, the ring being concealed beneath them. In this condition you can freely exhibit the inside of the hat, which is seen to be perfectly empty. You now place the hat under the table, mouth upwards, relaxing as you do so the pressure of the fingers, and allowing the ring to slide gently down into the crown. Leaving the hat under the table, which should be so placed that the spectators cannot, as they stand or sit, see quite into the crown, you take hold of the extreme edge of the handkerchief, and saying, “One, two, three! Pass!” jerk it away, and request some one to pick up the hat, and return the borrowed ring to the owner.