The Steamer Was Pretty Full; And The Conjuror Begged Me To
Obtain The Patronage Of My Noble Friend And The Rest Of Our
Party For An Entertainment He Proposed To Give That Evening.
This was easily secured, and a goodly sum was raised by
dollar tickets.
The sleight-of-hand was excellent. But the
special performance of the evening deserves description in
full. It was that of a whist-playing dog. Three passengers
- one of us taking a hand - played as in dummy whist, dummy's
hand being spread in a long row upon the deck of the saloon
cabin. The conjuror, as did the other passengers, walked
about behind the players, and saw all the players' hands, but
not a word was spoken. The dog played dummy's hand. When it
came to his turn he trotted backwards and forwards, smelling
each card that had been dealt to him. He sometimes
hesitated, then comically shaking his head, would leave it to
smell another. The conjuror stood behind the dog's partner,
and never went near the animal. There was no table - the
cards were thrown on the deck. They were dealt by the
players; the conjuror never touched them. When the dog's
mind was made up, he took his card in his mouth and laid it
on the others. His play was infallible. He and his partner
won the rubber with ease.
Now, to those ignorant of the solution, this must, I think,
seem inexplicable. How was collusion managed between the
animal and its master?
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