176 CANADIAN TUBF KECOLLECTIONS 



HOW SIX HOOKS REFLECTED SEVEN. 



Yes, there were only six metal hangers attached to a 

 frame hanging across the door which led from my 

 friend's room to my own at the Clarendon Hotel, Sara- 

 toga, but at the angle at which the door was open seven 

 were reflected on the wall. When I first noticed the in- 

 creased number I thought I was mistaken, but a closer 

 inspection proved otherwise. There were Imt six hooks 

 on the frame, but there was an extra one in the reflection. 

 My friend was anxious to know what was so closely 

 attracting my attention, and on my explaining the 

 phenomena he also scrutinized the apparition and was 

 equally surprised. One glass of whiskey and soda could 

 not be chargeable with the illusion, so mentally conclud- 

 ing it was a puzzle which would demand the attention 

 of a scientific mind to solve, we dropped the matter. 



The next night, sitting in the same position, the reflec- 

 tion on the wall showed the same, and my friend sug- 

 gested, merely out of curiosity, that I should look over 

 the racing programme which had been run off that day 

 and note if number seven had cut any figure in the re- 

 sults. Here is exactly what it did : 



In the first race eight starters went to the post and 

 number seven on the ''card" proved the winner. In the 

 second race nine two-year-olds faced the flag, and again 

 number seven landed the coin. In the third event there 

 were but five starters, so that to reach seven it was 

 necessary to count the nominations from number one to 

 five and then recount from number one a second time. 

 This made number two on the ''card" figure out seventh 

 and he also came home first. In the fourth race there 

 was a big field, and again number seven was the first to 

 catch the judge's eye. In the fifth race, which was the 

 last, number seven finished second, but as the odds 



