Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

At this point we hasten to anticipate an objection which will probably occur to the reader. We have said that the audience, when called upon to choose one of the three cones, almost always select the middle one, and we have proceeded on the assumption that they do so. “But suppose,” says the acute reader, “that they don’t choose the middle one, but select one of the end ones; the trick is spoilt, as neither of the others will produce the rice.” By no means, O acute reader! If we had requested the audience to choose which of the cones should be placed upon the hat, there might have been a little difficulty, no doubt; but we did nothing of the kind. We merely asked them to choose one of the cones. If their first choice falls on one of the end ones, we hand it round for examination, and finally place it over the orange. Then, standing behind the table, we ask the audience to make their choice between the two remaining cones, right or left. Whichever is chosen, we are safe; for as we have already had occasion to explain in connection with the trick of the half-crown in the orange (see page 171), the right of the audience is our left, and vice versâ, so that by taking their reply in the sense which suits our purpose we are certain to be right. We therefore, in any case, take the cone containing the rice as being the one designated, and place this on the hat, sending round the other for inspection. As the audience have, to all appearance, been allowed perfect freedom of choice, and have actually examined two out of the three cones, they are very unlikely to suspect any preparation about the remaining one.