Sentence:  One of Professor [John] Moon's most astonishing "experiments," consisted of holding a watch suspended from a short chain at arm's length, and allowing anyone in the pit to pull pistol and "blaze away" at the word "fire," whereupon the watch would most unconscionably disappear. An individual who had attended several evenings and witnessed the "experiment," suspected, in the classic language of the times, that there was something of "<WSD>shenanigan</WSD>" in it. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Deceitful tricks; trickery, games. (from mid 19th c.)