Another Mode of Discovering a Card Thought of.—Have the pack well shuffled. Then deal twenty-five cards, in five rows of five cards each, face upwards. Invite a person to think of a card, and to tell you in which row it is. Note in your own mind the first or left-hand card of that row. Now pick up the cards in vertical rows, i.e., beginning at the last card of the last row, placing that card face upwards on the last of the next row, those two on the last of the next row, and so on. When you have picked up all the cards in this manner, deal them out again in the same way as at first. You will observe that those cards which at first formed the first cards of each row, now themselves form the first row. Ask the person in which row his card now is. When he has told you, look to the top row for the first card of the original row, when the card thought of will be found in a direct line below it. As you have just been told in which lateral row it is, you will not have the least difficulty in discovering it, and by a slight effort of memory you may even allow several persons each to think of a card, and name it. A comparison of the subjoined tables, showing the original and subsequent order of the cards, will explain the principle of the trick.
First Order.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
Second Order.
| 1 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 21 |
| 2 | 7 | 12 | 17 | 22 |
| 3 | 8 | 13 | 18 | 23 |
| 4 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 24 |
| 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
Thus we will suppose you are told that the card thought of is originally in the third line. Remember the first or key-card of that line, designated in the table as 11. If the card is in the fourth line after the second deal, you look to the top line for the key-card, and on finding it you have only to observe which card in the fourth row is immediately beneath it, to be sure that that card (in this instance designated by the number 14) is the card thought of.
You may perform the trick with either sixteen, twenty-five, thirty-six, or forty-nine cards, either of those being a square number, and thus making the number of cards in a row equal to the number of rows, which is essential to the success of the trick.
To Guess, by the aid of a Passage of Poetry or Prose, such one of Sixteen Cards as, in the Performer’s Absence, has been Touched or Selected by the Company.—This feat is performed by confederacy, the assistance of the confederate being open and avowed, but the mode in which the clue is given constituting the mystery. You allow the pack to be shuffled, and then deal sixteen cards, the first that come to hand, either face upwards or face downwards, in four rows on the table. The sole preparation on the part of yourself and your confederate is to commit to memory the following simple formula—animal, vegetable, mineral, verb, signifying respectively one, two, three and four. You retire from the room while the card is chosen, your confederate remaining. Upon your return your confederate selects and hands for your perusal a passage in any book which the audience may select, only taking care that the first word in such passage which comes within either of the four categories above mentioned, shall be such as to represent the number of the row in which the card is, and that the second word which comes within either of those categories shall represent the number at which the card stands in that row. We will suppose, for instance, that the passage handed to the performer is that portion of Hamlet’s soliloquy commencing, “Oh, that this too too solid flesh would melt.” Here the first word which comes within either of the four categories is “flesh,” which, being clearly animal (1), indicates that the chosen card is in the first row. The second word coming within either of the categories is “melt,” which, being a verb (4), indicates that the chosen card is the fourth of its row. Had the passage been “To be, or not to be, that is the question,” the two verbs would have indicated that the card was the fourth of the fourth row. “How doth the little busy bee,” etc., would have indicated the first of the fourth row, and so on. With a little tact and ingenuity on the part of the operators, this may be made an admirable trick, and, unlike most others, will bear being repeated, the mystery becoming deeper as passages of varying character and different length are employed.
To Detect, without Confederacy, which of Four Cards has been Turned Round in your Absence.—It will be found upon examining a pack of cards, that the white margin round the court cards almost invariably differs in width at the opposite ends. The difference is frequently very trifling, but is still sufficiently noticeable when pointed out, and may be made available for a trick which, though absurdly simple, has puzzled many. You place four court cards of the same rank, say four queens, in a row, face upwards, taking care that the wider margins of the cards are all one way. You then leave the room, and invite the company to turn round lengthways during your absence any one or more of the four cards. On your return you can readily distinguish which card has been so turned, as the wider margin of such card will now be where the narrower margin was originally, and vice versâ.
There is so little chance of the trick being discovered, that you may, contrary to the general rule, repeat it if desired. Should you do so, it is better not to replace the cards already turned, as this might give a clue to the secret, but carefully note in your own mind their present position, by remembering which you can discover any card turned just as easily as at first.
To Arrange Twelve Cards in Rows, in such a manner that they will Count Four in every Direction.—This is rather a puzzle than a conjuring trick, but may sometimes serve as an interlude to occupy the minds of your audience while you are preparing for some other feat. The secret is to place nine of the twelve cards in three rows, so as to form a square; then place the remaining three cards as follows: the first on the first card of the first row, the second on the second card of the second row, and the last on the third card of the last row.
