Page 430 - The Ashley Book of Knots

TRICKS AND PUZZLES

some point reverses and "backtracks." At some central point the

performer's hand or thumb holds the cord until the performer wishes

to spill it. In a number of the knots a s ectator's finger or a chair

knob is substituted, which allows the per ormer's hands to be free.

2603. Have a spectator hold his forefinger upright. (See left

drawing.) Over this you pass one of the two looped ends of a con-

tinu0us string. The other looped end is held in your right hand.

Twist the right hand to give the cord a right half twist and insert

the left forefinger downward to the left of the crossing and grasp

the crossing with the thumb and finger. Turn the left finger and

thumb upward. The cord is now arranged as in the second drawing,

the spectator's hand being the one farthest to the left. Announce

that you are going to remove the cord without passing any part of

it over the spectator's finger. In the meanwhile the cord in the right

hand should be shifted to the thumb as shown by the arrow in the

second drawing. Holding the center of the cord taut with the left

hand, the right end is passed toward the spectator's hand and the tip

of the right thumb is placed on the ti of the spectator's finger.

The performer's left hand now casts 0 either of the two loops it

holds and smartly pulls on the one that remains. Nothing has passed

over the tip of the spectator's finger, yet the cord is free!

For this reason, perhaps, the trick is more mystifying than others

in which extra loops are added around the spectator's finger.

2604. "Cutting off the Chair Knob." A spectator's finger will make

quite as satisfactory an anchor as a chair knob.

A right round turn is placed over the knob. The cord is held

taut with the performer's right hand while he places his left fore-

finger across the two parallel parts at about mid-length and drops

the looped end over the two taut parts of his cord. The right hand

is then brought up underneath, two fingers are splayed, right and

left, and stuck up through the two loosely hanging loops; after

which remove the sin~le twist from the outer loop around the left

forefinger tip so that It appears as in the second drawing. This can

be done with the thumb and forefinger without the assistance of

the right hand. Next, with the left forefinger crooked toward you,

transfer both loops to the knob. Hold all taut and cast off the loop

from the right forefinger and at once pull out the loop that remains

on the second finger. All complications will at once vanish.

2605. To remove a string from the Intttonhole without letting go

th·:: string. Use either your own or a spectator's buttonhole. If •

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desired, a ring, key or the thumb hole of a pair of scissors may be

substituted. Reeve the string through the buttonhole and be certain

that the string is not crossed between the thumbs. Hold the string

taut, reach out the little finger of the right hand and hook the near-

est bight from the left hand, then hook the other bight with the other

little finger. Then cast off the loops from the left little finger and the

right thumb simultaneously and pull the hands apart. The string will

apparently snap directly through the material of the coat.

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