. Our young folks [serial]. whow sensibly he was affected by my reproof, he immediately explained thewhole mystery to me, which I will confess I did not see through ; and, as it istoo good to keep, I will now give it to my readers, with the explicit under-standing, however, that they will not divulge it nor act upon it. As it is easier to explain this with two strawsthan more, and as the principle is the same, — thatis, if a person who cheats his neighbor can lay claimto any principle, — I will take that number to illus-trate the trick. Take two pieces of straw, one an inch and a halfand the o
. Our young folks [serial]. whow sensibly he was affected by my reproof, he immediately explained thewhole mystery to me, which I will confess I did not see through ; and, as it istoo good to keep, I will now give it to my readers, with the explicit under-standing, however, that they will not divulge it nor act upon it. As it is easier to explain this with two strawsthan more, and as the principle is the same, — thatis, if a person who cheats his neighbor can lay claimto any principle, — I will take that number to illus-trate the trick. Take two pieces of straw, one an inch and a halfand the other two inches long; cut the longer pieceinto two equal parts, and you have everything readyfor your trick. As I wish to make this perfectlyclear, I will call the inch-and-a-half piece A, and theother two pieces B and C. Take B and C, and, placing them end to end, holdthem between the thumb and forefinger of the righthand, to give the effect of one straight piece; nextlay A alongside them, and close the hand partly, so. 1868.] Tiny Davy. 425 that the person who is to draw may not be able to see which is the longerpiece, as in the figure. Offer the straws to some one to draw. If A happens tobe drawn, you exclaim, Ah, my dear fellow, you ve lost this time ; you vedrawn the short piece, and show him B and C ; and, as the ends wherethey are held together are concealed by your fingers, it really appears as ifyou held the long cut in your hand. If, however, B should be drawn, youstill claim to have won, and, pulling out A with the fingers of your left hand,you hand it to the one who drew, under pretence of letting him compare thelength of the pieces, whilst you let C, which is still between the fingers ofyour right hand, drop on the floor. Drawing cuts in this way is veri-similar to the equally fair game of Heads, I win ; tails, you lose, — the onlycaution necessary being that you do not use the same straws twice, as yourtrick would then be easily and deservedly detected. P. H
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, bookpublisherbosto, bookyear1865
