Читать книгу Treatise on Modern Magic - Professor Hoffmann - Страница 10

Table of Contents

There is a large class of tricks which may be described as consisting of two elements—the discovery of a chosen card by the performer, and the revelation of his knowledge in a more or less striking manner. We propose to give, in the first place, three or four methods of discovering a given card, and then a similar variety of methods of concluding the trick. It must be remembered that for our present purpose we exclude all tricks for which any special dexterity is requisite. There will be little that is absolutely novel in this chapter, but it will be for the student to supply the want of freshness in his materials by the ingenuity of his combinations.

Fig. 28.

Simple Modes of Discovering a given Card. First Method.—Hold the pack face downwards in the left hand, having previously noticed the bottom card. Secretly draw down this card about three-quarters of an inch, and hold the part so drawn down between the thumb and fourth finger of the right hand, the palm of the right hand being above the cards. (See Fig. 28.) Now, with the tip of the first or second finger of the right hand, draw down the cards one by one about half an inch (beginning with the top card, and so on), inviting your audience to stop you at any card they may choose. When they do so, draw down all the cards, as far as you have gone, completely away from the remaining cards; but with them draw down at the same time the bottom card. This card, coalescing with the upper portion, will be, to the eyes of the spectators, that at which you were directed to stop. Holding the cards with their backs towards you, request them to observe what the card is. The pack may now be shuffled to any extent, but, being acquainted with the card, you can find or name it at pleasure.

The above may be employed as a means of “forcing,” where it is essential to force a given card, and you are not sufficiently proficient to feel certain of effecting that object by the regular method. Thus, suppose that the card which you desire to force is the seven of diamonds, you place that card at the bottom of the pack, and proceed as above directed. When the audience desire you to stop, you draw off the upper packet, and with it the seven of diamonds, which will thereby become the bottom card of that packet. You request them to note the card, and at once hand the pack to be shuffled. This is a very simple and easy mode of forcing, but it is very generally known, and it would not, therefore, be safe to use it before a large or very acute audience.

Second Method.—Deal the cards into three packs, face upwards, and request a spectator to note a card, and remember in which heap it is. When you have dealt twenty-one cards, throw the rest aside, these not being employed in the trick. Ask in which heap the chosen card is, and place that heap between the other two, and deal again as before. Again ask the question, place the heap indicated in the middle, and deal again a third time. Note particularly the fourth or middle card of each heap, as one or other of those three cards will be the card thought of. Ask, for the last time, in which heap the chosen card now is, when you may be certain that it was the card which you noted as being the middle card of that heap.

This same effect will be produced with any number of cards, so long as such number is odd, and a multiple of three. The process and result will be the same, save that if fifteen cards are used each heap will consist of five cards, and the third card of each will be the middle one; if twenty-seven cards, each heap will consist of nine cards, and the fifth will be the selected one, and so on.

Third Method.—Take any number of the cards, and deal them face upwards upon the table, noting in your own mind the first card dealt. Ask any number of persons each to note a card, and to remember at what number it falls. When you have dealt all the cards you first took in your hand, take them up again, without disturbing their order, and turn them face downwards. In order to show that the trick is not performed by any arithmetical calculation (you should lay great stress upon this, the fact being precisely the reverse), invite the company to take any number they choose of the remaining cards (such number being unknown to you), and place them either above or below the cards you have dealt. Allow the cards to be cut (not shuffled) as many times as the audience please. You now, for the first time, ask each person what was the number of his card, and, on being informed, again deal the cards, turning them face upwards. When the original first card appears, count on (silently) from this as number one to the number mentioned, at which number the noted card will again appear. Should the whole of the cards be dealt out without reaching the required number, turn the cards over again, and continue from the top of the pack until that number is reached.

Having indicated how a card may be discovered, we proceed to describe various modes of disclosing the card thus ascertained.

First Method.—Get the card to the top of the pack. Give the pack to some person to hold. The cards should be face upwards, so that the chosen card will be undermost, with the thumb of the holder above and the fingers below the pack. The fingers should extend under the pack for about an inch, but the thumb above not more than half an inch. Request the person to nip the cards tightly, and as he does so give them a smart downward rap with your forefinger, which will knock all the cards out of his hand with the exception of the lowest card, which will be retained by the greater friction of the fingers, and will remain staring him in the face. This is a very old and simple finish, but it appears marvellous to those who witness it for the first time.

You may, if you prefer it, hold the cards yourself as above directed, and allow another person to strike them downwards. It is well to moisten the fingers (not the thumb) slightly, as you thereby increase the hold on the chosen card.

Fig. 29.

Second Method.—Get the card to the top of the pack, and hold the pack lightly between the thumb and fingers of the right hand, the thumb being on the face, and the fingers (which should be previously slightly moistened) on the back of the cards. (See Fig. 29.) Give a sharp downward jerk of the hand and arm, when, as in the last case, all the cards will fall save the top card, which is retained by the greater friction of the moistened fingers.

Third Method.—Get the chosen card to the top, and hold the pack in the right hand, lengthways and face downwards, about two feet above the floor or table. Push the top card a little off the pack sideways, so as to make it project throughout its whole length about an inch beyond the rest of the cards. Now let fall the pack, when the resistance of the air will cause the top card to turn over in its fall, and to appear face upwards, all the other cards remaining face downwards.

Fourth Method.—Place the card in question and seven other indifferent cards in two rows, face downwards, on the table. Keep in your own mind which is the chosen card, but do not let the audience see the face of either of the cards. Ask the drawer if he is sure that he will know his card again. He will, of course, answer “yes.” Now ask either the same or another person to touch four of the eight cards upon the table. Necessarily, the four which he touches will either include or not include the chosen card. In either case you take up (whether he touches them or not) the four which do not include the chosen card, remarking, “I will return these to the pack.” Invite the same person to touch two out of the four which remain. Again take up the two (whether touched or not touched) which do not include the chosen card, saying, “I return these also to the pack.” You have now only two cards left on the table, one of which is the chosen card. Invite one of the spectators to touch one of these cards. As before, whichever he touches, you pick up and return to the pack the non-chosen card, remarking, “We have now only one card left. You have all seen that I dealt out eight cards on the table, and that I have withdrawn seven, you yourselves choosing which I should withdraw. Now, sir, be kind enough to name the card you drew.” The card having been named, you turn over the card left on the table, and show that it is the right one.

This trick is based upon a kind of double entendre, which, though apparently obvious, is rarely seen through by the audience if performed in a quick and lively manner. The secret lies in the performer interpreting the touching of the cards in two different senses, as may best suit his purpose. If the chosen card is not among the cards touched, he interprets the touching as meaning that the cards touched are rejected, and to be returned to the pack. If the card is among those touched, he interprets the touching in the opposite sense—namely, that the cards touched are to be retained, and the others rejected. If he is lucky in the cards touched, it may happen that he is able to interpret the touching in the same sense throughout the trick, in which case there will be no clue whatever to the secret; but even in the opposite case, where he is compelled to put aside first the cards touched and then the cards not touched, the difference generally passes unnoticed by the spectators, or, if noticed, is put down as a slip on the part of the performer, rather than as being, as it really is, the key to the trick.

Where the performer is proficient in sleight-of-hand, the above may be worked up into a really brilliant trick. Any indifferent card being drawn and returned, is brought to the top by the pass, palmed, and the pack shuffled. Eight cards are laid out, and the drawn card revealed as above.

Having described these few commencements and terminations, we will next proceed to the discussion of some complete tricks.

Fig. 30.

To make a Card vanish from the Pack, and be found in a Person’s Pocket.—Slightly moisten the back of your left hand. Offer the pack to be shuffled. Place it face downwards on the table, and request one of the company to look at the top card. Request him to place the back of his left hand upon the cards, and press heavily upon it with his right. In order that he may the better comprehend your meaning, place your own hands as described (see Fig. 30), and request him to imitate you. When you remove your left hand, the back being moistened, the card will stick to it. Put your hands carelessly behind you, and with the right hand remove the card. All will crowd round to see the trick. Pretend to be very particular that the person who places his hand on the card shall do so in precisely the right position. This will not only give you time, but draw all eyes to his hands. Meanwhile, watch your opportunity and slip the card into the tail pocket of one or other of the spectators. Now announce that you are about to order the top card, which all have seen, and which Mr. A. is holding down so exceedingly tight, to fly away from the pack and into the pocket of Mr. B., making the choice apparently hap-hazard. On examination your commands will be found to have been fulfilled. It has a good effect, when practicable, to slip the card into the pocket of the same person who is pressing upon the pack.

To place the Four Kings in different parts of the Pack, and to bring them together by a Simple Cut.—Take the four kings (or any other four cards at pleasure), and exhibit them fanwise (see Fig. 31), but secretly place behind the second one (the king of diamonds in the figure) two other court cards of any description, which, being thus hidden behind the king, will not be visible. The audience being satisfied that the four cards are really the four kings, and none other, fold them together, and place them at the top of the pack. Draw attention to the fact that you are about to distribute these four kings in different parts of the pack. Take up the top card, which, being really a king, you may exhibit without apparent intention, and place it at the bottom. Take the next card, which the spectators suppose to be also a king, and place it about half way down the pack, and the next, in like manner, a little higher. Take the fourth card, which, being actually a king, you may show carelessly, and replace it on the top of the pack. You have now really three kings at the top and one at the bottom, though the audience imagine that they have seen them distributed in different parts of the pack, and are proportionately surprised, when the cards are cut, to find that all the kings are again together.

Fig. 31.

It is best to use knaves or queens for the two extra cards, as being less distinguishable from the kings, should a spectator catch a chance glimpse of their faces.

There are other and better modes of bringing together four apparently separated cards by the aid of sleight-of-hand, which will be explained in due course; but we have thought it well to give also this simpler method, as it is always an advantage to possess two different modes of performing the same feat.

The Four Kings being placed under the Hand of one Person, and the Four Sevens under the Hand of Another, to make them Change Places at Command.—Exhibit, fanwise, in one hand the four kings, and in the other the four eights. Behind the hindmost of the kings, and so as not to be noticeable by the audience, secretly place beforehand the four sevens. Hold the four eights in the other hand in such manner that the lower of the two centre pips of the foremost is concealed by the first and second fingers. The same pip on each of the other cards will be concealed by the card immediately before it, so that the four cards will to the spectators appear equally like the sevens. Place the pack face downwards on the table. Draw attention to the fact that you hold in one hand the four kings, and in the other the four sevens (really the disguised eights). Fold up the supposed sevens, and place them on the pack. Fold up the kings, and place them on the top of the supposed sevens. As the real sevens were behind the last of the kings, they are now on the top, with the kings next, though the audience are persuaded that the kings are uppermost, and the sevens next following. Deal off, slowly and carefully, the four top cards, saying, “I take off these four kings,” and lay them on the table, requesting one of the spectators to place his hand firmly upon them. Do the same with the next four cards (which are really the kings). Ask if the persons in charge of the cards are quite sure that they are still under their hands, and, upon receiving their assurance to that effect, command the cards they hold to change places, which they will be found to have done.

Four Packets of Cards having been Formed face downwards on the Table, to discover the Total Value of the Undermost Cards.—This trick must be performed with the piquet pack of thirty-two cards. Invite one of the spectators to privately select any four cards, and to place them, separately and face downwards, on the table; then, counting an ace as eleven, a court card as ten, and any other card according to the number of its pips, to place upon each of these four so many cards as, added to its value thus estimated, shall make fifteen. (It must be remembered that value is only to be taken into consideration as to the original four cards, those placed on them counting as one each, whatever they may happen to be.) You meanwhile retire. When the four heaps are complete, advance to the table, and observe how many cards are left over and above the four heaps. To this number mentally add thirty-two. The total will give you the aggregate value of the four lowest cards, calculated as above mentioned.

You should not let your audience perceive that you count the remaining cards, or they will readily conjecture that the trick depends on some arithmetical principle. You may say, “You will observe that I do not look even at one single card:” and, so saying, throw down the surplus cards with apparent carelessness upon the table, when they are sure to fall sufficiently scattered to enable you to count them without attracting observation.

To Name all the Cards in the Pack in Succession.—This is an old trick, but a very good one. To perform it, you must arrange the cards of a whist pack beforehand, according to a given formula, which forms a sort of memoria technica. There are several used, but all are similar in effect. The following is one of the simplest:—

“Eight kings threatened to save

Ninety-five ladies for one sick knave.”

These words suggest, as you will readily see, eight, king, three, ten, two, seven, nine, five, queen, four, ace, six, knave. You must also have a determinate order for the suits, which should be red and black alternately, say, diamonds, clubs, hearts, spades. Sort the pack for convenience into the four suits, and then arrange the cards as follows: Take in your left hand, face upwards, the eight of diamonds, on this place the king of clubs, on this the three of hearts, then the ten of spades, then the two of diamonds, and so on, till the whole of the cards are exhausted. This arrangement must be made privately beforehand, and you must either make this the first of your series of tricks, or (which is better, as it negatives the idea of arrangement) have two packs of the same pattern, and secretly exchange the prepared pack, at a suitable opportunity, for that with which you have already been performing. Spread the cards (which may previously be cut any number of times), and offer them to a person to draw one. While he is looking at the card, glance quickly at the card next above that which he has drawn, which we will suppose is the five of diamonds. You will remember that in your memoria technica “five” is followed by “ladies” (queen). You know then that the next card, the one drawn, was a queen. You know also that clubs follow diamonds: ergo, the card drawn is the queen of clubs. Name it, and request the drawer to replace it. Ask some one again to cut the cards, and repeat the trick in the same form with another person, but this time pass all the cards which were above the card drawn, below the remainder of the pack. This is equivalent to cutting the pack at that particular card. After naming the card drawn, ask if the company would like to know any more. Name the cards next following the card already drawn, taking them one by one from the pack and laying them face upwards on the table, to show that you have named them correctly. After a little practice, it will cost you but a very slight effort of memory to name in succession all the cards in the pack.

The Cards being Cut, to tell whether the Number Cut is Odd or Even.—This is another trick performed by the aid of the prepared pack last described, and has the advantage of being little known, even to those who are acquainted with other uses of the arranged pack. Notice whether the bottom card for the time being is red or black. Place the pack on the table, and invite any person to cut, announcing that you will tell by the weight of the cards cut whether the number is odd or even. Take the cut cards (i.e., the cards which before the cut were at the top of the pack), and poising them carefully in your hand, as though testing their weight, glance slily at the bottom card. If it is of the same colour as the bottom card of the other or lowest portion, the cards cut are an even number; if of a different colour, they are odd.

The Whist Trick.—To deal yourself all the Trumps.—The cards being arranged as above mentioned, you may challenge any of the company to play a hand at whist with you. The cards are cut in the ordinary way (not shuffled). You yourself deal, when, of course, the turn-up card falls to you. On taking up the cards, it will be found that each person has all the cards of one suit, but your own suit being that of the turn-up card, is, of course, trumps; and having the whole thirteen, you must necessarily win every trick.

The weak point of the feat is, that the cards being regularly sorted into the four suits, the audience can hardly help suspecting that the pack was pre-arranged beforehand. There is another and better mode of performing the trick, by which you still hold all the trumps, but the three remaining players have the ordinary mixed hands. This method, however, involves sleight-of-hand, and would therefore be out of place in the present chapter.

To allow a Person to think of a Card, and to make that Card appear at such Number in the Pack as Another Person shall Name.—Allow the pack to be shuffled and cut as freely as the company please. When they are fully satisfied that the cards are well mixed, offer the pack to any of the spectators, and request him to look over the cards, and think of any one, and to remember the number at which it stands in the pack, reckoning from the bottom card upwards. You then remark, “Ladies and gentlemen, you will take particular notice that I have not asked a single question, and yet I already know the card; and if anyone will kindly indicate the place in the pack at which you desire it to appear, I will at once cause it to take that position. I must only ask that, by arrangement between yourselves, you will make the number at which the card is to appear higher than that which it originally held.” We will suppose that the audience decide that the card shall appear at number 22. Carelessly remark, “It is not even necessary for me to see the cards.” So saying, hold the pack under the table, and rapidly count off twenty-two cards from the bottom of the pack, and place them on the top.C You then continue, “Having already placed the card thought of in the desired position, I may now, without suspicion, ask for the original number of the card, as I shall commence my counting with that number.” We will suppose you are told the card was originally number 10. You begin to count from the top of the pack, calling the first card 10, the next 11, and so on. When you come to 22, the number appointed, you say, “If I have kept my promise, this should be the card you thought of. To avoid the suspicion of confederacy, will you please say, before I turn it over, what your card was.” The card being named, you turn it up, and show that it is the right one.

In all tricks which depend on the naming of a card drawn or thought of, it adds greatly to the effect to have the card named before you turn it up.

This trick, unlike most, will bear repetition; but it is well on a second performance to vary it a little. Thus you may on the second occasion say, when the card has been thought of, “I will choose for myself this time; your card will appear at number 30.” It is desirable to name a number very near the total number of the pack (which we are now supposing to be a piquet pack), as the difference between that and the total number being very small, it is easy to see at a glance the number of cards representing such difference, and pass them to the bottom of the pack. You take in this instance two cards only, that being the difference between 30 and 32, and pass them to the bottom, when the card will, as you have announced, be the thirtieth.

If you are able to make the pass, you will, of course, avail yourself of it to transfer the requisite number of cards to the top or bottom of the pack.

The Cards Revealed by the Looking-Glass.—This is rather a joke than a feat of magic, but it will create some fun, and may often be kept up for some time without being discovered. Take up your position on one side of the room, facing a good-sized mirror or chimney-glass. Make your audience stand or sit facing you, when they will, of course, have their backs to the glass. Offer the cards to be shuffled and cut. Take the top card and hold it high up, with its back to you and its face to the audience. As it will be reflected in the mirror opposite you, you will have no difficulty in naming it, or any other card in like manner, till your audience either find you out, or have had enough of the trick.

To Guess Four Cards thought of by Different Persons.—Offer the pack to be shuffled. Place it on the table, and taking off the four top cards with the right hand, offer them to any person, and ask him to notice one of them, shuffle them, and return them to you. When they are returned, place them, face downwards, in your left hand. Take the next four cards, and offer them to another person in like manner. Proceed in like manner with a third and fourth group of four. When all the sixteen cards are returned, deal them out in four heaps, face upwards. Ask each person in which heap his card now is. That of the first person will be the uppermost of his heap, that of the second person second in his heap, and so on. It will sometimes occur that two of the cards chosen are in the same heap, but the rule will still apply. Should there be three persons only to choose, you should give them three cards each; and deal in three heaps.

The Pairs Re-paired.—After performing the last trick, you may continue, “As you have not yet found me out, I will repeat the experiment, but in a slightly altered form. This time I will invite you to think of two cards each, and all present may join if they please.” After giving the pack to be shuffled, you deal out twenty cards, face upwards, but placing them in couples. Invite as many of the company as please to note any particular couple they think fit, and to remember those two cards. When they have done so, gather up the cards, picking them up here and there in any order you please, taking care, however, that none of the pairs are separated. You now deal them out again, face upwards, in rows of five, according to the following formula: Mutus dedit nomen Cocis, which, being interpreted, signifies, “Mutus gave a name to the Coci,” a people as yet undiscovered. On examining the sentence closely, you will observe that it consists of ten letters only, m, u, t, s, d, e, i, n, o, c, each twice repeated. This gives you the clue to the arrangement of the cards, which will be as follows:

M	U	T	U	S
1	2	3	2	4
D	E	D	I	T
5	6	5	7	3
N	O	M	E	N
8	9	1	6	8
C	O	C	I	S
10	9	10	7	4

You must imagine the four words printed as above upon your table. You must deal your first card upon the imaginary M in MUTUS, and the second on the imaginary M in NOMEN, the two next cards on the two imaginary U’s, the two next on the two T’s, and so on. You have now only to ask each person in which row his two cards now appear, and you will at once know which they are. Thus, if a person says his two cards are now in the second and fourth rows, you will know that they must be the two cards representing the two I’s, that being the only letter common to those two rows. If a person indicates the first and fourth rows, you will know that his cards are those representing the two S’s, and so on.

The Magic Triplets.—This trick is precisely similar in principle to the last, but twenty-four (instead of twenty) cards are used, and they are dealt in triplets, instead of pairs. After the spectators have made their selection, you take up the cards as directed for the last trick, taking care to keep the respective triplets together. You then deal them in rows of six, the formula in this case being:

L	I	V	I	N	I
L	A	N	A	T	A
L	E	V	E	T	E
N	O	V	O	T	O

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.

Fig. 32.

To Place the Aces and Court Cards in Four Rows, in such a manner that neither Horizontally nor Perpendicularly shall there be in either Row two Cards alike either in Suit or Value.—This also is a puzzle, and a very good one. The key to it is to begin by placing four cards of like value (say four kings) in a diagonal line from corner to corner of the intended square, then four other cards of like value (say the four aces) to form the opposite diagonal. It must be borne in mind, that of whatever suit the two centre kings are, the two aces must be of the opposite suits. Thus, if the two centre kings are those of diamonds and hearts, the two centre aces must be those of clubs and spades; and in adding the two end aces, you must be careful not to place at either end of the line an ace of the same suit as the king at the corresponding end of the opposite diagonal. Having got so far, you will find it a very easy matter to fill in the remaining cards in accordance with the conditions of the puzzle. The sixteen cards when complete will be as in Fig. 32, subject, of course, to variation according to the particular cards with which you commence your task.

The Congress of Court Cards.—Take the kings, queens, and knaves from the pack, and place them face upwards on the table in three rows of four each, avoiding as much as possible the appearance of arrangement, but really taking care to place them in the following order: In the first row you have only to remember not to have two of the same suit. Begin the second row with a card of the same suit with which you ended the first, let the second card be of the same suit as the first of the first row, the third of the same suit as the second of the first row, and so on. The third row will begin with the suit with which the second left off, the second card will be of the same suit as the first of the second row, and so on. Now pick up the cards in vertical rows, beginning with the last card of the bottom row. The cards may now be cut (not shuffled) any number of times, but, if dealt in four heaps, the king, queen, and knave of each suit will come together.

C When the number named is more than half the total number of the pack, i.e., more than 16 in a piquet pack, or more than 26 in a whist pack, it is quicker, and has precisely the same effect, to count off the difference between that and the total number from the top, and place them at the bottom. Thus, in a piquet pack, if the number called be 12, you would count off 12 from the bottom, and place them on the top; but if the number called were 24 you would achieve the same object by counting 8 from the top, and passing them to the bottom.