it as nearly as possible in the form in which it was presented by him.
The performer brings forward a pack of cards, still in the official envelope. These he hands to a spectator, with a request that he will open and count them. He does so, and finds that they have the full complement (of thirty-two or fifty-two, as the case may be). He is next requested to cut the pack into two portions, pretty nearly equal, and to choose one of the packets. Having made his selection, he is further asked to count the cards in the packet chosen. The general attention being, meanwhile, drawn away from the performer, he has ample opportunity to get ready in his right hand, duly palmed, three cards of another pack, but of similar pattern to those of the pack in use. (These may previously be placed either on the servante or in the performer’s right-hand pochette; or he may, if he prefers it, have them ready palmed in his right hand when he comes upon the stage to commence the trick.) The spectator, having duly counted the chosen pack, declares it to consist, say, of seventeen cards. “A capital number for the trick,” remarks the performer. “Now, sir, will you be kind enough to take these seventeen cards in your own hands” (here he pushes them carelessly towards him, and joins the three palmed cards to them), “and hold them well up above your head, that every one may see them. Thank you. Now, as your packet contains seventeen cards, this other” (we are supposing a piquet pack to be used) “should contain fifteen. Let us see whether you have counted right.” The performer himself audibly counts the remaining packet, card by card, on the table: immediately afterwards taking the heap in his left hand, and squaring the cards together, thus obtaining the opportunity to separate and palm in his right hand the three top cards. He continues, “Fifteen cards here—and—how many did you say, sir?—yes, seventeen, which the gentleman holds, make thirty-two. Quite right. Now will some one else oblige me by taking charge of these fifteen cards.” He hands the cards with the left hand, and at the same moment drops the three palmed cards into the profonde on the right side, immediately bringing up the hand, that it may be seen empty. “Now, ladies and gentlemen, I will show you a very curious phenomenon, all the more astonishing because you will bear me witness that, from the time the cards were counted, they have not been even one moment in my possession, but have remained in independent custody. Will you, sir” (addressing the person who holds the second packet), “hold up the cards in such a manner that I can touch them with my wand. I have but to strike the cards with my wand once, twice, thrice, and at each touch a card will fly from the packet which you are now holding, and go to join the seventeen cards in the other packet. As this trick is performed by sheer force of will, without the aid of apparatus or dexterity, I shall be glad if you will all assist me by adding the force of your will to mine, which will greatly lighten my labour. At each touch of the wand, then, please, all present, mentally to command a card to pass in the manner I have mentioned. Are you all ready! Then we will make the experiment. One, two, THREE! Did you see the cards pass? I saw them distinctly, but possibly my eyes are quicker than yours. Will each of the gentlemen who hold the cards be good enough to count his packet?” This is done, and it is found that the one holds twenty cards, and the other twelve only.
It is obvious that the two packets now collectively contain duplicates of three cards, while three others are missing; but it is extremely unlikely that any one will suspect this, or seek to verify the constitution of the pack.
To allow several Persons each to draw a Card, and the Pack having been Shuffled, to make another Card drawn haphazard Change successively into each of those first chosen.—Invite a person to draw a card. This first card need not be forced, as it is not essential for you to know what card it is, so long as you afterward keep it in sight. When the card is returned to the pack, insert the little finger under it, and make the pass in order to bring it to the bottom. Make the first of the false shuffles (see page 23), and leave it at the bottom. Again make the pass to bring it to the middle of the pack, and force the same card on a second and again on a third person, each time making a false shuffle, and leaving the chosen card, which we will call a, ultimately in the hands of the last person who drew.E When you have concluded the last shuffle, which (the card not now being in the pack) may be a genuine one, you offer the pack to some person who has not yet drawn, and allow him to draw any card he pleases, which second card we will call b. You open the pack, and ask the persons holding the two cards to replace them one on the other; that first chosen, a, being placed last—i.e., uppermost. You make the pass to bring them to the top, and palm them, and then immediately hand the pack to be shuffled by one of the company. This being done, you replace them on the top of the pack, and, spreading the cards, and appearing to reflect a moment, pick out by the backs as many cards as there have been persons who drew (i.e., four) including among them the two cards a and b. Exhibiting the four cards, you ask each drawer to say, without naming his card, whether his card is among them. The reply is, of course, in the affirmative. Each person who drew, seeing his own card among those shown, naturally assumes that the remaining cards are those of the other drawers; and the remainder of the audience, finding the drawers satisfied, are fully convinced that the cards shown are the four which were drawn. You now replace the cards in different parts of the pack, placing the two actually drawn in the middle, and secretly make the pass to bring them to the top. Then, spreading the cards, you invite another person to draw, which you allow him to do wherever he chooses. When he has done so, you request him to name aloud his card, which we will call c. Holding the card aloft, you ask each of the former drawers in succession, “Is this your card?” To which each answers, “No.” After having received this answer for the last time, you “change” the card by the first method (see page 28) for the top card. You now have the card a (the one drawn several times) in your hand, while b has become the top card, and c, which you have just exhibited, is at the bottom. You continue, before showing a, “You are all agreed that this is not your card; you had better not be too sure. I will ask you one by one. You, sir,” addressing the first drawer, “are you quite sure this is not your card?” He is obliged to own that it now is his card. “Pardon me,” you say, breathing gently on the back of the card, “it may have been so a moment ago, but now it is this lady’s,” exhibiting it to the second drawer, who also acknowledges it as her card. To the third person you say, “I think you drew a card, did you not? May I ask you to blow upon the back of this card! It has changed again, you see, for now it is your card.” The card having been again recognized, you continue, “There was no one else, I think,” at the same moment again making the change by the first method, so that a is now at bottom and b in your hand. The person who drew b will, no doubt, remind you that you have not yet shown him his card. You profess to have quite forgotten him, and, feigning to be a little embarrassed, ask what his card was. He names it accordingly, upon which you ask him to blow upon the card you hold, and, turning it over, show that it has now turned into that card. Then again making the change, you remark, “Everybody has certainly had his card now.” Then, yourself blowing upon the card you hold, which is now an indifferent one, you show it, and remark, “You observe that now it is nobody’s card.”
In this trick, as in every other which mainly depends upon forcing a given card, there is always the possibility that some person may, either by accident or from a malicious desire to embarrass you, insist upon drawing some other card. This, however, must not discourage you. In the first place, when you have once thoroughly acquired the knack of forcing, the victim will, nine times out of ten, draw the card you desire, even though doing his utmost to exercise, as he supposes, an absolutely free choice; and the risk may be still further diminished by offering the cards to persons whose physiognomy designates them as likely to be good-naturedly easy in their selection. But if such a contretemps should occur in the trick we have just described, it is very easily met. You will remember that the first card drawn is not forced, but freely chosen. It is well to make the most of this fact, and for that purpose, before beginning the trick, to offer the cards to be shuffled by several persons in succession, and specially to draw the attention of the audience to the fact that you cannot possibly have any card in view. When the card is chosen, offer to allow the drawer, if he has the slightest
