2. DROPPING AN OBJECT
In working the Miser’s Dream (see page 51) with a soft hat it is necessary to have a saucer inside it to cause the sound of the fall of each coin to be heard distinctly by all. You can, of course, put the saucer in the hat openly, but it is much more magical to find it in the hat. The method is an easy one and useful for any hat load. You have the saucer in a loading pocket (a large pocket under the coat with a vertical opening) or simply under the coat on the left side, supported by pressure of the upper arm, and under the vest a silk handkerchief rolled into a ball.
Borrow a hat, take it with the right hand, and at the same time steal the silk with the left hand; step back a pace or two (do not turn your back), make some remark about the hat to the owner—you may ask if its crown is strong—and pass the hat to your left hand, holding it so that the crown is toward the audience. The introduction of the silk into the hat is thus quite covered and you let it drop inside. Look in the hat, shake it to make the silk expand, and tell the owner he has left something in it; grasp the brim on each side and turn the hat over toward yourself, letting the silk fall to the floor. At the same moment turn the mouth of the hat to your chest, seize the saucer, pull it into the hat, bend forward, and look at the silk over the hat. Lean down and pick up the silk with the right hand. A moment or two later discover the saucer in the hat, which in the meantime you have held in the left hand well away from the body.
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