TRICKS WITH CARDS.
This art consists in bringing a certain number of cards from the bottom of the pack to the top. I shall explain the method of doing it, before proceeding further, as many of the following recreations depend on the dexterous performance of this manœuvre. Hold the pack of cards in your right hand, so that the palm of your hand may be under the cards. Place the thumb of that hand on one side of the pack, the first, second, and third fingers on the other side, and your little finger between those cards that are to be brought to the top, and the rest of the pack. Then place your left hand over the cards, in such a manner that the thumb may be at C, and the fingers at B, according to the followingfigures:—
The hands and the two parts of the cards being thus disposed, you draw off the lower cards, confined by the little finger and the other parts of the right hand, and place them, with an imperceptible motion, on the top of the pack. It is necessary, before you attempt any of the recreations that depend on making the pass, that you can perform it so dexterously that the eye cannot distinguish the motion of your hand; otherwise, instead of deceiving others, you will expose yourself. It is also proper that the cards make no noise, as that will occasion suspicion. This dexterity is not to be attained without some practice. It is sometimes usual to prepare a pack of cards, by inserting one or more that are a small matter longer or wider than the rest; and that preparation will be necessary in some of the following recreations.
Have a pack in which there is a longer card than the rest; open the pack at that part where the long card is, and present the pack to a person in such a manner that he will naturally draw that card. He is then to put it into any part of the pack, and shuffle the cards. You take the pack and offer the same card in like manner to a second or third person; observing, however, that they do not stand near enough to observe the card each other draws. You then draw several cards yourself, among which is the long card; and ask each of the parties if his card be among those cards, and he will naturally say yes, as they have all drawn the same card. You then shuffle all the cards together, and, cutting them at the long card, you hold it before the first person, so that the others may not see it, and tell him that is his card. You then put it again in the pack, and, shuffling them a second time, you cut again at the same card, and hold it in like manner to the second person; and so of the rest.
If the first person should not draw the long card, each of the parties must draw different cards; when, cutting the pack at the long card, you put those they have drawn over it, and, seeming to shuffle the cards indiscriminately, you cut them again at the long card, and showone of them his card. You then shuffle and cut again, in the same manner, and show another person his card, and so on; remembering that the card drawn by the last person is the first next the long card; and so of the others.
This recreation may be performed without the long card, in the following manner: let a person draw any card whatever, and replace it in the pack; you then make the pass, and bring that card to the top of the pack, and shuffle them without losing sight of that card. You then offer that card to a second person, that he may draw it, and put it in the middle of the pack. You make the pass, and shuffle the cards a second time, in the same manner, and offer the card to a third person; and so again to a fourth or fifth.
You let a person draw any four cards from the pack, and tell him to think of one of them. When he returns you the four cards, you dexterously place two of them under the pack, and two on the top. Under those at the bottom you place four cards of any sort, and then, taking eight or ten from the bottom cards, you spread them on the table, and ask the person if the card he fixed on be among them. If he say no, you are sure it is one of the two cards on the top. You then pass those two cards to the bottom, and, drawing off the lowest of them, you ask if that is not his card. If he again say no, you take that card up, and bid him draw his card from the bottom of the pack. If the person says his card is among those you first drew from the bottom, you must dexterously take up the four cards that you put under them, and, placing those on the top, let the other two be the bottom cards of the pack, which you are to draw in the manner before described.
You must be prepared with two cards like thefollowing:—
and with a common ace and five of diamonds. The five of diamonds, and the two prepared cards, are to be disposedthus:—
and, holding them in your hand, you say,—“A certain Frenchman left fifteen thousand livres, which are represented by these three cards, to his three sons; the two youngest agreed to leave their 5000, each of them, in the hands of the elder, that he might improve it.” While you are telling this story, you lay the five on the table, and put the ace in its place, and at the same time artfully change the position of the other two cards, that the three cards may appear as in the followingfigure:—
You then resume your discourse. “The eldest brother, instead of improving the money, lost it all by gaming, except three thousand livres, as you here see.” You then lay the ace on the table, and, taking up the five, continue your story. “The eldest, sorry for having lost the money, went to the East Indies with these 3000, and brought back 15,000.” You then show the cards in the same position as at first. To render this deception agreeable, it must be performed with dexterity, and should not be repeated, but the cards immediately put in the pocket; and you should have five common cards in your pocket, ready to show, if any one should desire to see them. Another recreation of this sort may be performed with fives and threes, asfollows:—
Make a ring large enough to go on the second or third finger, in which let there be set a large transparent stone, to the bottom of which must be fixed a small piece of black silk, that may be either drawn aside or expanded by turning the stone round. Under the silk is to be the figure of a small card. Then make a persondraw the same sort of card as that at the bottom of the ring, and tell him to burn it in the candle. Having first shown him the ring, you take part of the burnt card, and, reducing it to powder, you rub the stone with it; and, at the same time, turn it artfully round, so that the small card at bottom may come in view.
Provide a mirror, either round, like the following figure,
or oval; the frame of which must be at least as wide as a card. The glass in the centre must be made to move in the two grooves, C D and E F; and so much of the silvering must be scraped off as is equal to the size of a common card. Observe that the glass be likewise wider than the width of the card. Then paste over the part where the quicksilver is rubbed off a piece of pasteboard, on which affix a card that exactly fits the space, which must at first be placed behind the frame. This mirror must be placed against a partition, through which are to go two strings, by which an assistant in the adjoining room can easily move the glass in the grooves, and consequently make the card appear or disappear at pleasure.
Matters being thus prepared, you contrive to make a person draw the same sort of card with that fixed to the mirror, and place it in the middle of the pack: you then make the pass, and bring it to the bottom: you then direct the person to look for his card in the mirror, when the confederate, behind the partition, is to draw it slowly forward, and it will appear as if placed between the glass and the quicksilver. While the glass is being drawn forward, you slide off the card from the bottom of the pack, and convey it away. The card fixed to the mirror may easily be changed each time the experiment is performed. This recreation may also be made with a print that has a glass before it, and a frame of sufficient width, by making a slit in the frame, through which the card is to pass; but the effect will not be so striking as in the mirror.
Place a vase of wood or pasteboard, like thefollowing:—
A B, on a bracket L, to the partition M.
Let the inside of this vase be divided into five parts,c, d, e, f, g; and let the divisionscanddbe wide enough to admit a pack of cards, and those ofe, f, g, one cardonly. Fix a thread of silk at the point H, the end of which, passing down the divisiond, and over the pulley I, runs along the bracket L, and goes out behind the partition M. Take three cards from a piquet pack, and place one of them in each of the divisions,e, f, g, making the silk thread or line go under each of them. In the divisioncput the pack of cards, from which you have taken the three cards that are in the other divisions. Then take another pack of cards, at the bottom of which are to be three cards of the same sort with those in the three small divisions, and, making the pass, bring them to the middle of the pack, and let them be drawn by three different persons. Then give them all the cards to shuffle, after which place the pack in the divisiond, and tell the parties they shall see the three cards they drew come, at their command, separately out of the vase. An assistant behind the partition then drawing the line with a gentle and equal motion, the three cards will gradually rise out of the vase. Then take the cards out of the divisionc, and show that those three cards are gone from the pack. The vase must be placed so high that the inside cannot be seen by the company. You may perform this recreation also without an assistant, by fixing a weight to the end of the silk line, which is to be placed on a support, and let down at pleasure, by means of a spring in the partition.
Having previously looked at a card, bid the person draw one, taking care to show him that which you know; when he has it, let him put it at the bottom; let him shuffle the cards, then look at them again, and, finding the card, place it at the bottom; then cut them in half; give the party that half which contains his chosen card at the bottom, to hold between his finger and thumb, just at the corner; bid him pinch them as tight as he can; then striking them pretty sharply, they will all fall to the ground, except the bottom one, which is the card he has chosen. This is a very curious trick, and, if cleanly done, is really astonishing. It may be accounted for from the nature of the nerves, which are always more retentive when any thing is attempted to be taken, either by force or surprise.
Take a pack of cards, and look out the four knaves; lay one of them privately on the top of the pack, and the other three down upon the table, saying, “Here, you see, are three knaves got together, about no good you may be sure;” then lay down a king beside them, saying, “But here comes the constable and catches them together: ‘Oh, says he, have I caught you? Well, the next time I catch you together, I’ll punish you severely for all your rogueries.’ ‘Oh,’ but say they, ‘you shan’t catch us again together in haste;’ so they conclude to run three several ways. ‘Well, I’ll go here,’ says one (so take one of the knaves, and put him at the top of the pack). ‘And I’ll go here,’ says another (so put him at the bottom). ‘Then I’ll go here,’ says a third (so put him in the middle). ‘Nay,’ says the constable, ‘if you run, I’ll make sure of one; so I’ll follow the first.’” Then take the king and put him at the top, and let any one cut the cards asunder two or three times; then deal, cut the cards one by one, and you shall find three together, and the constable with them.
Note.—This feat would be best done with a pack of cards that has two knaves of that sort which you put in the middle.
To do this, you must have the picture in your sleeve, and, by a swift sleight, return the card, and fetch out the picture with a back bending. The manner of doing this is better learnt by frequent trials than can be taught by many words. But, if you would do this feat, and yet hold your hand straight and unmoved, then you must peel off the spots or figure of a card, as thin as you can, and just fasten it on the picture with something that will make it stick a little; then, having shown the spots or figure of the card, you may draw it off, and roll it up with your thumb into a very narrow compass, holding it undiscovered, between the inside of the thumb and the ball of your fore-finger; and so produce the picture, to the admiration of the beholders.
Take any number of cards, as ten, twelve, and then, holding them with their backs towards you, open four or five of the uppermost, and, as you hold them out to view, let any one note a card, and tell you whether it be the first, second, or third from the top; but you must privately know the whole number of those cards you took. Now shut up your cards in your hands, and take the rest of the pack, which place upon them; then knock their ends and sides upon the table; so it will seem impossible to find the noted card, yet it may easily be done, thus: subtract the number of cards you held in your hand from fifty-two, the whole number in the pack, and to the remainder add the number of the noted card; so the same shall be the number of the noted card from the top; therefore take off the cards one by one, smelling to them till you come to the noted card.
When you have seen a card privately, or as though you marked it not, lay the same undermost, and shuffle the cards till your card be again at the bottom. Then show the same to the bystanders, bidding them remember it. Now shuffle the cards, or let any other shuffle them, for you know the card already, and therefore may, at any time, tell them what card they saw, which, nevertheless, must be done with caution or show of difficulty.
If you can see no card, or be suspected to have seen that which you mean to show, then let a bystander shuffle, and afterwards take the cards into your own hands, and, having shown them, and not seen the bottom card, shuffle again, and keep the same cards as before you are taught; and either make shift then to see it when their suspicion is past, which may be done by letting some cards fall, or else lay down all the cards in heaps, remembering where you laid the bottom card; then see how many cards lie in some one heap, and lay the flap where your bottom card is upon that heap, and all theother heaps upon the same; and so, if there were five cards in the heap whereon you laid your card, then the same must be the sixth card, which now you must throw out, or look upon with suspicion, and tell them the card they saw.
Lay three cards at a distance, and bid a bystander be true, and not waver, but think on one of the three, and by his eye you shall assuredly perceive which he thinks on; and you shall do the like if you cast down a whole pack of cards with the faces upwards, whereof there will be few, or none plainly perceived, and they also court cards; but as you cast them down suddenly, so must you take them up presently, marking both his eyes and the card whereon he looks.
Take a pack of cards, and let any one draw a card that he likes best, and afterwards take and put it into the pack, but so as you know where to find it at pleasure. Then take a piece of wax, and put it under the thumb-nail of your right hand, and thus fasten a hair to your thumb, and the other end of the hair to the card. Now spread the pack of cards open upon the table, and, making use of any technical words or charms, seem to make it jump on the table.
Take a nut or cherry-stone, and burn a hole through the side of the top of the shell, and also through the kernel, if you will, with a hot bodkin, or bore it with an awl, and with a needle pull out the kernel, so as the same may be as wide as the hole of the shell; then write the name of the card on a piece of fine paper, and roll it up hard. Put it into the nut or cherry-stone, and stop the hole up with a little wax, and rub the same over witha little dust, and it will not be perceived; then let some bystander draw a card, saying, “It is no matter what card you draw,” and, if your hands so serve you to use the cards well, you shall proffer him, and he shall receive, the same card that you have rolled the name of up in the nut. Now take another nut and fill it up with ink, and stop the hole up with wax, and then give that nut which is filled with ink to some boy to crack, and, when he finds the ink come out of his mouth, it will cause great laughter. Many other feats of this kind may be done, so as to keep the company in good humour.
Take a pack of cards and let any gentleman draw one; then let him put it into the pack again, but be sure where to find it again at pleasure; then shuffle the cards again, and let another gentleman draw a card; but be sure that you let him draw no other than the same card as the other drew, and so do for ten or twelve, or as many cards as you think fit; when you have so done, let another gentleman draw another card, but not the same, and put that card into the pack where you have kept the other one, and shuffle them till you have brought both the cards together; then showing the last card to the company, the other will be considered a more wonderful achievement.
A clever juggler will take four kings in his hand, and apparently show them to the bystanders, and then, after some words and charms, he will throw them down upon the table, taking one of the kings away, and adding but one other card; then taking them up again, and blowing upon them, he will show you them transformed into blank cards, white on both sides; then throwing them down as before, with their faces downwards, he will take them up again, and, blowing upon them, will show you four aces.
This trick is not inferior to any that is performed with cards, and yet is very pretty.
To perform it, you must have cards made for the purpose,half cardswe may call them; that is, one half kings and the other half aces; so, laying the aces one over the other, nothing but the king will be seen, and then, turning the kings downwards, the four aces will be seen; but you must have two whole cards, one a king to cover one of the aces, or else it will be perceived, and the other an ace to lay over the kings, when you mean to show the aces; then, when you would make them all blank, lay the cards a little lower, and hide the aces, and they will appear all white. The like you may make of four knaves, putting upon them the four fives; and so of the other cards.
To do this, you must privately drop a little water or beer, about the size of a crown-piece, upon the table before which you sit; then rest your elbows upon the table, so that the cuffs of your sleeves may meet, and your hands stick up to the brims of your hat; in this posture your arms will hide the drop of water from the company; then let any one take the cards and shuffle them, and put them into your hands; also let him set a candle before you, for this trick is best done by candlelight. Then holding the cards in your left hand, above the brim of your hat, close up to your head, so that the light of the candle may shine upon the cards, and holding your head down, so in the drop of water, like a looking-glass, you shall see the shadow of all the cards before you. Now draw the finger of your right hand along upon the card, as if you were feeling it, and then lay it down. Thus you may lay down all the cards in the pack, one by one, naming them before you lay them down, which will seem very strange to the beholders, who will think that you havefelt themout.
Let any one take a card out of the pack, and note it; then take part of the pack in your hand, and lay the rest down upon the table, bidding him lay his noted cardupon them; then, turning your back towards the company, make as though you were looking over the cards in your hand, and put any card at the fore-side; and, whilst your are doing this privately, wait till the cards are laid out in heaps, to find what the bottom cards are. Bid any one take four cards of the same number, viz. four aces, four deuces, four trèys, and any other number not exceeding ten (for he must not take court cards), and lay them out; then take the remaining cards, if any such there be, and divide their number by four, and the quotient shall be the number of spots of the four cards; if twelve cards remain, then on each bottom card are trèys, and, if there be no remaining cards, then the four bottom cards are aces.
Bid any one take the whole pack of cards in his hand, and, having shuffled them, let him take off the upper card, and, having taken notice of it, let him lay it down upon the table, with its face downwards, and upon it let him lay so many cards as will make up the number of spots on the noted card,e. g.twelve. If the card which the person first took notice of was a king, queen, knave, or a single ten, bid him lay down that card with its face downwards, calling it ten; upon that card let him lay another, calling it eleven, and upon that another, calling it twelve; then bid him take off the next uppermost card, saying, “What is it?” Suppose it were a nine, laying it down on another part of the table, and calling it nine, upon it let him lay another, calling it ten; upon it another, calling it eleven; and upon it another, calling it twelve; then let him look on the next uppermost card: and so let him proceed to lay them out in a heap, in all respects as before, till he has laid out the whole pack; but, if there be any cards at the last (I mean if there be not enough to make up the last noted card twelve), bid him give them to you; then, to tell him the number of all the spots contained in all the bottom cards of the heaps, do thus:—from the number of heaps subtract four, and multiply the remainder by fifteen, and to the product add the number of those remaining cards which he gaveyou, if any did remain; but, if there were but four heaps, then those remaining cards alone show the number of spots sought.
Note.—You ought not to see the bottom cards of the heaps, nor should you see them laid out, or know the number of cards in each heap; it suffices if you know the number of heaps and the number of the remaining cards, if any such there be: and therefore you may perform this feat as well standing in another room as if you were present.—You must have a whole pack.
When any one has named what two cards he would have come together, take the cards and say, “Let us see if they are here or not, and, if they are, I’ll put them as far asunder as I can;” then, having found the two cards proposed, dispose them in the pack, and cause them to come together.
This trick would seem much more strange, if, when you have brought the proposed cards together, by laying them in heaps, you lay the heap wherein the proposed cards are at the bottom of the pack, and then shuffle the cards; cut them asunder somewhere in the middle; thus the proposed cards will be found together in the middle of the pack, which will seem very strange.
A card is desired to be drawn, and the person who chooses, is requested to tear off a corner, and to keep it, that he may know the card; the card so torn is then burnt to cinders, and a pistol discharged with gunpowder, with which the ashes of the card are mixed. Instead of a ball, a nail is put into the barrel, which is marked by some of the company; the pack of cards is then thrown up in the air, the pistol is fired, and the card appearsnailedagainst the wall. The bit of the corner which was torn off is then compared with it, and is found exactly to fit; and the nail which fastens it to the wall is recognised by the persons who marked it.
Explanation.—When the performer sees that a corner of the chosen card has been torn off, he retires, and makes a similar tear on a like card. Returning, he asks for the chosen card, and passing it to the bottom of the pack, he substitutes expertly in its place the card which he has prepared, which he burns instead of the first. When the pistol is loaded, he takes it in his hand, under the pretence of showing how to direct it, &c. He avails himself of this opportunity to open a hole in the barrel, near the touchhole, through which the nail falls by its own weight into his hand: having shut this passage, he requests one of the company to put more powder and wadding into the pistol; whilst that is doing, he carries the nail and card to his confederate, who quickly nails the card to a piece of square wood, which stops a space left open in the partition, but which is not perceived, as it is covered with a piece of tapestry, similar to the rest of the room; and by which means, when the nailed card is put on, it is not perceived; the piece of tapestry which covers it is nicely fastened on the one end by two pins, and on the other a thread is fastened, one end of which the confederate holds in his hand. As soon as the report of the pistol is heard, the confederate draws his thread, by which means the piece of tapestry falls behind a glass; the card appears the same that was marked, and with the nail that was put in the pistol. It is not astonishing that the trick, being so difficult by its complexity to be guessed at, should have received such universal applause.
N. B. After the pistol has been charged with powder, a tin tube may be slipped upon the charge, into which the nail being rammed along with the wadding, by inclining it a little, in presenting it to one of the spectators to fire, the tube and contents will fall into the performer’s hand, to convey to his confederate. If any one suspects that the nail has been stolen out of the pistol, you persist in the contrary, and beg the company at the next exhibition to be farther convinced; you then are to show a pistol, which you take to pieces, to show that all is fair, without any preparation; you charge it with a nail, which is marked by some person in confederacy with you, or you show it to many people, on purpose to avoidits being marked. In this case the card is nailed with another nail; but, to persuade the company that it is the same, you boldly assert that the nail was marked by several persons, and you request the spectators to view it, and be convinced.
Take twenty-one cards, and begin to lay them down three in a row, with their faces upwards; then begin again at the left hand, and lay one card upon the first, and so on the right hand, and then begin at the left hand again, and so go on to the right; do this till you have laid out the twenty-one cards in three heaps, but, as you are laying them out, bid any one think of a card, and, when you have laid them all out, ask him which heap his card is in; then lay that heap in the middle, between the other two. Now lay them all out again into three heaps, as before, and, as you lay them out, bid him take notice where his noted card goes, and put that heap in the middle, as before. Then, taking the cards with their backs towards you, take off the uppermost card, and, smelling to it, reckon it one; then take off another, and, smelling to it, reckon it two; this do till you come to the eleventh card, for that will always be the noted card after the third time of laying them out, though you should lay in this manner ever so often. You must never lay out the cards less than three times, but as often above as you please. This trick may be done by any odd number of cards that may be divided by three.
When one has noted a card, take it and put it at the bottom of the pack; then shuffle the cards till it comes again to the bottom; then see what is the noted card, which you may do without being taken notice of; when you have thus shuffled the cards, turn them with their faces towards you, and knock their ends upon the table, as though you would knock them level; and, whilst you are so doing, take notice of the bottom card, which you may do without suspicion, especially having shuffled them before; then, when you know the card, shuffle them again, and give them to any of the company, andlet them shuffle them, for you know the card already, and may easily find it at any time.
To do this wonderful feat you must have two sticks, made both of one size, so that no person can know one from another; one of these sticks must be made so as to conceal a card in the middle, thus: you must have one of your sticks turned hollow quite through, and then an artificial spring to throw the card into the egg at pleasure. The operation is thus:—Take and peel any card in the pack, which you please, and roll it up. Now put it into the false stick, and there let it lie until you have occasion to make use of it. Now take a pack of cards, and let any body draw one; but be sure to let it be the same sort of card which you have in the hollow stick. The person who has chosen it is now to put it into the pack again, and, while you are shuffling them, let it fall into your lap. Then, calling for some eggs, desire the person who drew the card, or any other person in the company, to choose any one of the eggs. When they have done so, ask the person if there be any thing in it? He will answer that there is not. Now take the egg in your left hand, and the hollow stick in your right, and then break the egg with the stick.
Having let the spring go, the card will appear in the egg, to the great amazement of the beholders. Now be sure to conceal the hollow stick, and produce the solid one, which place upon the table for the examination of those who are curious.
This is a little pasteboard figure which holds a bow, with an arrow, which it shoots at the instant required, and hits a paper placed opposite, on the top of a pedestal:
This paper is divided into several squares, which are numbered, and the arrow flies and always hits the number chosen by one of the company. The action of the spring which impels it is restrained by a little pin, which the confederate lets go at pleasure, by moving the levers hid in the table; when you push this pin, the arrow flies with rapidity to the paper, like the operation of a lock of a musket, when you pull the trigger. In placing the automaton on the table, you may place it in such a manner that the arrow be directed towards one of the circles numbered on the paper. To cause that number to be chosen against which the arrow is pointed, you must present to the spectator cards numbered, and dexterously make him choose the number required, which depends on peculiar address, that is scarcely possible to be described by words; it may in general be said to come under the following heads:—First, to put at the bottom one of the cards to be chosen; secondly, to keep it always in the same place, although you mix, or pretend to mix, the cards; thirdly, to pass the card to the middle, when you present the pack; fourthly, to pass many cards before the hands of the spectator, to persuade him that he may choose indifferently; fifthly, to pass these same cards with such rapidity, that he cannot take any but the card intended; sixthly, to slip complaisantly into his hand the card you wish to be taken, at the very moment when, the better to deceive him, you beg of him graciously to take which card he chooses.