The Mysterious Lemon Trick
By Alexander, "The Man Who Knows"

HAVE a metal card box in your left vest pocket with one cigarette in the top partition so as to give it the appearance of a cigarette case. Have a deck of forcing cards in your right coat pocket Tear a corner, about three- fourths of an inch square. from one of the force cards. Put this in your right trouser pocket. Fold the rest of the card crosswise until it is about the size of a lead pencil. Push a knife into the end of a lemon until it almost goes out the other end. Force the folded card into this slit and. once the card is inside. squeeze the slit together. If you do this carefully the cut will not be visible at a two- foot distance. You will also need an unprepared lemon. You we now ready to perform.

"Friends, I will present to you a seeming miracle in modern magic. Your attention is called to two lemons, which I would like you to examine. (Toss out the unprepared lemon; hold the other in your left hand. Ask for the examined lemon to be returned, catch it in your right hand. Pretend to exchange it for the lemon in your left hand and again toss out the unprepared lemon. When it is returned, continue with your patter.)

"I have here two unprepared lemons; they have been thoroughly examined. Will someone kindly suggest which one I shall use in this experiment? (If the prepared one is selected, explain that you have no use for the other one, but will use the one of their choice. It the unprepared one is selected, toss it out, remarking that it now belongs to the person who selected it and that you will use the remaining lemon for the feat.)

Borrow a handkerchief and fasten the corners together. Give the lemon to a small boy, have him put it into the handkerchief bag and hold it high at all times. Spread your forcing deck ribbonwise face down on a tray and allow a lady to freely choose one card. Drop the pack back in your pocket, taking care that the audience cannot see the faces of the cards.

Request the lady to tear the card in two lengthwise, then squarely in two crosswise. Meanwhile, you secretly palm the corner that fits the card in the lemon in your right fingers. Reach for her torn card. Tear the pieces again. Ask her to retain a piece. Pass her the corner which you had finger-palmed.

Get another small boy to assist. Give him the torn pieces. Take out your "cigarette case," remove the single cigarette. which has held the case properly open all the while in your pocket. Tell the boy to drop his pieces into the case. Snap it shut and pass it to him to hold over his head.

"Boys, the secret of this entire experiment lies in two magic words. When I snap my fingers, I want the boy who is holding the case to say 'Opus.' As he does, I desire the other boy, who is holding the lemon in the handkerchief to speak the word 'Pejensus.' If these words are spoken in a low tone of voice, they will cause the pieces of the card to be restored to their natural order, to dematerialize and fade away from the box and become implanted on the inside of this lemon."

Snap your fingers. Take the card case and show it empty. Now remove the lemon from the handkerchief. Slice off the end opposite to that in which the card was inserted. Take out the card, allow the boy to dry it with the handkerchief. Pass it to the lady so that she may fit the corner which she holds.

This I have found to be, beyond a doubt, the most effective lemon trick I know. There are too many angles for them to watch, and you are the master of the situation at all times. A great deal of comedy can be worked up with the boys in saying the magic words.