Page:The American Boy's Handy Book edition 1.djvu/383

tion or curtain that separates the young magician's apartment from a room or closet occupied by an accomplice. Cover the box with a cloth which has a square hole in it, and fits snugly around the bottom of the L, covering and concealing the suspicious-looking, large box beneath. If the work has been neatly done, the machine will look like an ordinary table or stand with an innocent-looking peep-box on top of it.

Secure some friend for an accomplice, whom you know to possess a ready wit and a knack for "making himself up," with the aid of burnt cork and a few old clothes, so as to take any comic character that the occasion may require, with only a few moments' notice.

Supply him with what wardrobe he may require, burnt corks, flour, etc., and then fix up the programme between you, so that the boy behind the screen will know just what to do, from listening to what is going on in front, at the fortune-teller's box.

When all is arranged, the fortune-teller may announce to what friends or visitors he may have, that, owing to the conjunction of certain planets, he is enabled to entertain them by showing to all who have any desire or curiosity to see such wonders, glimpses of the past and future, and to prove it, if any of the company would like to behold a life-like, moving image of a future wife or husband, he (the fortune-teller) can bring up the image in a magic telescope, which was obtained from a direct descendant of Aladdin. The young magician must, by preconcerted arrangement, bring a man or boy out for a first peep. At a private signal of a word or exclamation, the accomplice steps in front of the open end of the wooden box behind the partition, dressed as an old colored lady. The image is at once reflected upon the mirror at A, and from that to B, thence to the observer's eye. After the latter has had a good look, the rest of the company may be asked to take a peep and see their