THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
155 
lady's ' toy store, purchase the presents, 
then into the pudding they've got to go." 
Returning in a short time, I demanded of 
Bridget full charge of the pudding until I 
got all the presents into it. I then sent her 
on an errand some six blocks away, so that 
she might not witness this wonderful per- 
formance. When she returned the pudding 
was in the pot boiling away like mad. 
** Now, Bridget," I said, "not a word 
till the pudding is on the table, and then 
out will come the presents." 
When dinner was over, Bridget brought 
on the pudding, holding it at arm's 
length, as though it held some evil spirit 
concealed within. The children looked 
slightly disappointed, and had evidently 
given up all hopes of any presents turn- 
ing up at this meal. By this I inferred 
that they had not the least suspicion of 
what the pudding contained. Ned, being 
the eldest, was helped first. Scarcely had 
he attacked it, however, when he suddenly 
dropped his spoon and shot into the 
kitchen; in an instant I saw him dash past 
the windows and down the street. I next 
served Mary, who also quickly left the 
table, and seemed to take the same course 
as Ned. Presently back they both came; 
Ned with a velocipede and a pair of skates, 
his sister bowed down under a knock-me- 
down-knick-knackery stand. 
All the children got their presents out of 
the Christmas pudding, and this is the way 
it was done: Cutting up a sheet of writing 
paper into four pieces, on each piece I 
wrote an order reading thus: "Mrs. Gray, 
please deliver to bearer articles marked 
No. 1." Each of the children was repre- 
sented in the pudding by one of these 
orders. Before I placed the orders in the 
pudding, I folded each one into a small 
compass, and securely covered it with tin- 
foil, after which it was fastened to a piece 
of flat cork to keep it in its position on the 
top of the pudding. The corks were of 
different sizes, the largest one for the old- 
est child, and so on to the smallest cork, 
which represented the youngest. In this 
way I was sure of giving the right order to 
the right child. As I dealt out each piece 
of pudding, it was turned upside down, 
bringing the order underneath; over it all 
I poured the sauce, which gave the plate of 
pudding a very innocent look. The guess- 
ing as to what kind of a present the num- 
bers on the orders represented, the jour- 
neys after the presents and having to help 
each other home with them, and the lots of 
thanks I got, will cause this wonderful 
Christmas table never to be forgotten. 
In using these different disguises for the 
presents, I tried to retain the relative 
weight of each article used, so as not to 
excite suspicion by unusual lightness. 
Each article was firmly packed with cut 
paper to stop all loose feeling or looseness. 
Every article was plainly labeled with the 
name of the person for whom it was in- 
tended. A. W. Egberts. 
Lessons in Magic — II. 
O KILL in the art of palming, as explained 
^ in our last number, can only be ac- 
quired by persistent practice. The learner 
should therefore practice until he is master 
jf every movement. In my next I shall 
explain, among others, the always popular 
"Obedient Cards," in which the cards rise 
at command from the pack, and in the 
meantime give one more trick depending 
upon the instructions given in the first 
lesson. 
Passing a Marked Coin into a Lemon. — 
The performer borrows from one of the au- 
dience a coin, which he allows to be marked 
in such a way that it may be readily iden- 
tified; and then gives it to a person to hold. 
He next produces two lemons, and allows 
the audience to choose one with which he 
shall do the trick. The chosen one he im- 
pales on the point of a knife, and approach- 
ing the person who holds the coin, requests 
him to take the knife by the handle, and 
hold it up high, so that the lemon may be 
in sight by the whole company. Taking 
the coin, which the gentleman has till that 
moment held, he closes his hand upon it, 
bids it " pass," and opening his hand, shows 
