CHAPTER XVII

THE BOY AS MAGICIAN

$Cremated Alive.$--The curtain rises and a young and beautiful girl, clothed in white, is introduced to the spectators as the victim who has been doomed to cremation, which will be instantaneously accomplished. The girl mounts upon a table placed at the back of a kind of alcove, consisting of a three-sided screen, and above her is suspended a big fire-proof sack, folded up as shown in Fig. 1.

The table upon which the victim stands ready for sacrifice appears to have four legs, and under this table burn, or appear to burn, four candles, the purpose being to indicate to the public that the space beneath the table is open, perfectly free, and beyond suspicion of any trickery. The sack, which forms a cylindrical screen under which the victim is to be burned, has been previously handed round to the spectators, so that they might assure themselves that it was entire, without any hole or split, lacing, or other artifice allowing of an escape from behind--a precaution invariably taken to allay the too ready suspicions of incredulous spectators. All these verifications being made, and the audience perfectly satisfied as to the _bona fides_ of the case, the sack is lowered upon the victim, a pistol is fired, and the cremation commences.

Flames and smoke (see Fig. 2) soon indicate to the terrified spectators that the fire is pursuing its destructive work. When the flames have ceased, the sack, composed as we have stated, of an incombustible material, is raised, and there is seen upon the table, in the midst of the still smoking _débris_, only a few bones and a skull (Fig. 3.)

An examination of the conditions under which the disappearance has taken place does not in the least reveal the methods by which it has been so rapidly accomplished; but as it is clearly inadmissible that the sacrifice of a young and beautiful person should thus take place every evening for the simple gratification of the public, one is, of course, pushed to the conclusion that there must be some trick. And a trick there is of a most ingenious character, as will be seen by the following explanation, the comprehension of which will be aided by Fig. 4.

In this particular case the illusion is a happy combination of suitable appliances underneath the scene and of the well-known properties of plane mirrors placed on the incline. The table upon which our victim mounts for cremation has, as a matter of fact, only two legs, instead of four, and the two others are only seen by the spectators as a reflection of the two real legs in the two glasses inclined at an angle of 90 degrees with each other, and at 45 degrees with the two side panels of the three-fold screen which contains the scene of the disappearance. It is precisely the same with the two candles, which, in consequence of their reflection in the mirrors, appear to be four in number, whilst the central rod hides the edges of the mirrors.

Thanks to the combination of the glasses and panels, and to the adoption of a uniform surface for these panels, the reflection of the two sides in the two lower glasses appears to be but the continuation of the panel at the back. The triangular box, of which the two glasses comprise the two sides, and the floor the bottom, has its surface formed of two parts; the one made up of the top of the table itself, and the other of pieces of mirror which reflect the back panel, and pieces of material of the same colour as the panel itself.

It is easy from this to understand the whole course of the operations, more or less fantastic, which the spectator watches with such breathless interest. As soon as the victim is hidden by the sack which comes down upon her, she at once escapes by a secret trap-door in the top of the table, as is shown in Fig. 4; she then rapidly puts into position the skull and bones, as well as some inflammable material, to which she sets fire when she hears the pistol shot. She then, closing the trap, tranquilly retires, and remains hidden in the triangular space arranged between the back panel and the two glasses until the fall of the curtain.

$Money Dissolved in Water.$--For this trick the young magician needs a glass, which may be either the ordinary tumbler or a wine-glass, as shown in our illustration (Fig. 2). It must be of such a size that if a half-crown be dropped into the glass, it shall, lying flat, nearly or quite fill the bottom space. The conjuror must be provided also with a glass disc, of the thickness of a half-crown, and in diameter exactly corresponding with the bottom space of the glass. This, when about to perform the trick, he holds concealed in his right hand, after the manner of _A_ in Fig. 3. Filling the glass about three-quarters full, as shown in Fig. 2, he hands it to a spectator to hold. He then asks the loan of a half-crown, and a lady's pocket-handkerchief. Taking the coin as _C_ in Fig. 3, he accordingly throws the handkerchief over it, or, rather, makes believe to do so, for in reality, under cover of the handkerchief, he deftly substitutes the glass disc, and holds this between his fingers, while the coin takes its place in his palm.

He now asks the person holding the glass to take charge of the coin also. He is instructed to hold it (the glass disc) just over the glass, the four corners of the handkerchief hanging down around it, and at the word "three," to drop it into the glass. The conjuror counts "one, two, _three_?" At the word three the supposed coin falls, and is heard to tinkle upon the glass.

Touch the glass through the handkerchief with your magic wand, and state that by the time you have counted three the half-crown will have dissolved. Count three very slowly, then the handkerchief is removed, the water is seen, but the supposed coin has vanished, for the disc, being of glass, lies quite invisible at the bottom; and if it fits the water may be poured away without the disc falling out, the thin layer of water remaining underneath it holding it by atmospheric pressure to the bottom of the tumbler. It is not worth while to do this unless some one challenges you to pour off the water, then the challenge should be accepted readily.

The conjurer should now pay back the half-crown, but it will assist the illusion if he pays it back with two shillings and a sixpence, or in some other coins, instead of in the form in which it was borrowed.

$The Vanished Half-Crown.$--The trick of the dissolved half-crown may be varied. In this case the coin should be marked by the owner. Upon finding it is not in the water when the handkerchief has been removed pretend to be anxious about its loss. Say you will pay it back in instalments, and offer a shilling towards it. When the money-lender tries to take the proffered shilling it vanishes too. This is managed by boring a hole in the shilling, tying some elastic through the hole, and stitching the other end of the elastic up your sleeve. Then as soon as you leave hold of the coin it darts back up your sleeve. "Has that gone too!" you exclaim. "Well, we must try to find that half-crown; perhaps it is in this ball of worsted," you say, as you pick one from the table. Hand the ball of worsted to someone to examine and they declare that the coin is not in it. As you walk back to the table secretly exchange this ball for another. Now this other ball of worsted has been prepared in this way. It has been wound round a tin tube about three inches long, a tube through which half-a-crown may be passed. When you have the marked coin at the beginning of the trick you should have the ball of worsted in your pocket, and putting your hand there, should put the coin through the tube into the ball of worsted. Then take the tube away and press the ball into its proper shape. It is this ball that you now place in an empty glass, and giving the end of the worsted to some lady in the audience, ask her to unwind it. As she does so the half-crown will begin to rattle upon the glass.

$Magic Florins.$--Take four half sheets of note-paper from any table, and then borrow four florins; these florins you place upon a table about a foot apart, and gently lay the half sheets over each. You then take up one sheet and discover the florin underneath. Placing the paper on one side you take up the coin, and without touching, in some extraordinary way, make it pass through the next paper. You lift it, and sure enough, there lie _two_ florins.

You then lift the third paper, to find the florin you placed there. Again, in the same mysterious manner you pass the coin through the paper. It makes no hole going through, but when the paper is lifted up there are the three of them.

Now you lift up the last piece of paper, thereby uncovering the last florin. Repeating the same process, you then request one of the audience to lift the paper, so that he or she may see that there is no deception. This being done, there lie the four florins as cosy as little fledglings in a nest.

The extreme simplicity of the trick is the most taking part of it.

And now to explain this seeming mystery.

One great golden rule of conjuring successfully is, as it were, to take your audience into partnership with you. When you borrowed the four florins of course they thought that was all you wanted. But you began the trick with one in your left hand cunningly concealed under the four sheets, all of which you hold in that hand. Then placing the four borrowed coins on the table (which, by the by, must have a thick cloth on it to deaden the sound), twelve inches apart, with the right hand you take the three top sheets. This leaves you with the fourth sheet in the left hand, the coin below being held in position by gentle pressure from fingers below, and thumb above. Then simultaneously with each hand you place a sheet of paper over two of the four coins on the table. Doing it simultaneously distracts the audience's attention from what you are doing with your left hand; for it is at this particular moment that the trick is being performed. As you place the paper down, with a gentle and even motion of the thumb you leave the fifth coin there, too, taking great care that it does not clash with the one there already. Now you have two coins under that sheet, though the audience only know of one. There is one under each of the other three sheets. You take one of these sheets up now and take the coin between the top of the thumb and fingers of the left hand, then with the fingers and thumb of the right hand you pretend to take it, but in reality you let it fall into the palm of the left hand, a feat that must be practised carefully before a mirror. You close the fingers of the right hand over the imaginary coin in them, and act as if it were there. One way of aiding the deception is to follow the right hand with your eyes as it goes away from the left, at the same time dropping the left hand in an easy unconstrained position to the side.

Now choosing the sheet which covers the two coins (though the audience only know of one), you place the right hand a few inches above it, and open the fingers, making some mysterious passes. Of course, nothing passes in reality, but when you proceed to lift up the sheet and display the second coin, the audience will either think that they could not see it, or that you are a very mysterious person, which, indeed, you are. The remainder of the trick is only a repetition of what has been already explained; but it excites more and more astonishment as it proceeds. The bewilderment of the audience culminates in the last act, when, as before, you have pretended to take the coin in the right hand (really having left it in the left), and making the passes, request one of the audience to lift up the last sheet--there lie all the four florins.

Meanwhile, your left has dropped quietly to your side, the coin in it been slipped noiselessly into the pocket, and both hands are free to return to their astonished owners the four borrowed coins.

This trick is a particularly effective one, requiring, as it does, no paraphernalia except what are always to be met with in almost every room.

Only let the beginner recollect this. He must never begin the trick without the fifth coin, or he will come to grief. Nor must he accede to requests to "do it again," or he will be detected.

$Magic Pens.$--Take a small quantity of "Aniline Violet," obtainable at any chemist's, two pennyworth making about two dozen pens, and make it into a thick paste with water, taking care not to leave any lumps; then add a few drops of mucilage or good gum. Do not add too much, or the paste will not set well. Apply a small quantity of the paste thus made to the hollow part of a clean pen, within a quarter of an inch of the point, and leave it for a few hours to dry. When dry, tell your friends that you will write anything they like to tell you with the pen, but instead of using ink, you will use water. Then dip the pen into the water, taking care not to show the side with the paste on, and write whatever they ask you to, the writing appearing the same as if you were using an ordinary pen.

$The Magic Bottle.$--You will need two cardboard cases open at each end, and large enough to slip easily over the bottles; a specially constructed bottle, the upper part of which can contain a liquid, and the lower part containing an open space in which a glass can stand; an imitation bottle made of tin and large enough to just slide over the special bottle; and two glasses. With this apparatus before us we are ready to proceed with the performance. We introduce an empty glass and what appears to be an ordinary wine bottle, but which is really a special bottle, with its tin case over it, and containing a second wine-glass inside. By careful manipulation we pour the contents from the upper part of the bottle into the wine-glass, and then setting the bottle down in its position, pour back half the liquid, which now runs through a hole in the partition into the glass beneath. So that the audience sees one glass half full, two cardboard cases, and what appears to be the bottle (as in figure), but which really is our special bottle covered by its tin case, shaped and coloured like a bottle, and a second glass half full beneath it. Now we show the cardboard cases to prove that they are empty, and then place one case over the glass and another over the bottle. At this stage everything depends on the talk of the performer, who, by his jokes and comicalities, somewhat diverts the attention of his audience. Some excuse is now invented for changing the cases, and in doing this by nipping the one over the bottle the tin case is lifted off with it (as in Fig. 2), and placed over the glass, then on again raising the cases, the glass has disappeared, and there are now two bottles instead. Again, the cases are put over the bottles, and again they are raised, but by nipping both the cases, the bottles are lifted with them, and now only the two glasses appear. Again the cases are put on, and the bottle and glass restored as at first, and so a number of changes can be worked at will, the performer, of course, talking all the while and referring in the language of magicians to his power and skill in causing the bottle and the glasses to obey his will. Fig. 3 shows the construction of the special bottle with its two linings and the space for the glass to stand within it.

$The Magic Wand.$--By means of this wand (a piece of thin glass rod) we may produce fire at will. Take a teaspoonful of castor sugar, and rather less than half a teaspoonful of ground chlorate of potash, thoroughly mix without friction, and place on a saucer standing on an old tray. Secretly dip the point of the glass rod in sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) and then touch the mass on the saucer.

$Another Wand Trick.$--Leave the room under some pretext and bring in with you a wand that has been made hot. Touch the wick of a candle, in which you have concealed previously a piece of phosphorus, and tell it to light and it will obey. It is better to use a candle that has already been lighted, because such a wick lights more readily.

$The Dancing Egg.$--Request someone to play the piano, and, touching an egg with your magic wand, call upon it to dance. It will do so if you observe the following directions. Let the egg be boiled hard and brought into the room piping hot. Make a small hole in the shell and through this push into the egg a quill that contains quicksilver, and has both ends firmly sealed. So long as the egg retains its heat, so long will it dance.

$Mystic Thread.$--Have suspended by a long thread an ordinary ring. Let someone in the audience strike a match and set fire to the thread. It burns, but the ring does not fall because the thread has been thoroughly steeped in common salt and water.

$Eggs without Hens.$--Have a bag made of calico or similar material. Have it made double and just inside the mouth of the part you keep towards you have six little pockets made. Into each of these put an egg that has been blown or sucked until nothing remains in it. You may now shake the bag and turn it inside out to show it is empty, and yet you are able to produce one egg after another. One may be a full one, and if you break this the trick will seem more real.

$Feathers from a Handkerchief.$--Obtain some long feathers--the longer the better. Take off your coat and lay the feathers in the left sleeve with the quills near the wrist. Now put on your coat with the feathers still there. Borrow a large handkerchief, and after flourishing it, to show it conceals nothing, throw it over your left arm. When you take it up again take with it one of the feathers, and when you shake the handkerchief again out drops the feather. If the feather is large and curved it will not appear as though it had been up your sleeve. Repeat the process with suitable talk until all the feathers have been produced.

$Ink Changed to Water.$--Fit a black silk lining into a glass vessel so that it lines the sides but not the bottom. Put water in the glass and gold fish, but let the audience see nothing except the black lining. Behind the glass have a spoon with ink in it. Speak to the audience with an empty spoon in your hand, and then go to the glass, secretly change the spoons and pretend to take a spoonful of ink from the glass. Now show the spoon with the ink in it to the audience, and they will believe the vessel is full of ink. Throw a cloth over the glass and call upon the ink to change to water. Remove the cloth, and with it the black lining, and there you have the water and the gold fish swimming in it.

$The Mysterious Box.$--Secure a little round box, into the bottom of which a half-crown will fit exactly. Line the box with dark paper and cover one side of a half-crown with the same material. Retaining this half-crown, pass the box round to be examined so that the audience may be sure it has no false bottom. Now borrow half-a-crown, and as you return to the table exchange it for your prepared one. Show this to the audience, keeping the papered side carefully towards you, and let them see you drop it into the box. In doing this keep the papered side upwards. Close the box and shake it up and down so that the coin rattles. Now touch the box with your wand and charge the coin to pass into a box, vase, or any other object in another part of the room into which you have previously placed half-a-crown. Shake the box again, this time from side to side, and there will be no rattle. Open it, the coin cannot be seen. Now ask the audience to go to the place where you have planted the other half-crown, and while they are looking for it take out your papered half-crown. When they have found the other half-crown hand round the box again for them to examine. Simple as is this trick, it is very puzzling to the audience.

$How Threepence Vanished.$--Place a threepenny piece upon the palm of your hand. Close your hand, but have a piece of wax upon the nail of your middle finger. Press this upon the coin, open your hand, and the coin will be out of sight.

$The Hat Trick.$--Borrow a hat, for a trick with a hat always has an air of importance. Now, with a deal of elaboration, take a glass of water and proceed deliberately to cover the glass over with the hat. You undertake to drink the water without removing the hat. Your challenge is accepted. You stoop beneath the table and commence making a loud sucking noise with the lips, as though you were drawing the water through the table. With a sharp "Now, sir!" the curiosity of your opponent will make him lift up the hat; you instantly seize the glass and swallow the contents, saying, "You perceive, sir, I have drunk the water and I have not removed the hat."

$Card Tricks.$--INSEPARABLE KINGS.--Take four kings. Beneath the last place any two cards, which you take care to conceal. Then show the four kings and replace the six cards under the pack. Then take a king and place it on the top of the pack, place one of the two other cards in the middle, and the other about the same place, and then, turning up the pack, show that one king is still at the bottom. Then let the cards be cut, and as three kings were left below, all must necessarily get together somewhere about the middle of the pack. Of course in placing the two other cards you pretend to be placing two kings.

TO GUESS CHOSEN CARDS.--Make a set of all the clubs and spades, and another set of hearts and diamonds. Shuffle well each set, and even let them be shuffled by the spectators. Then request a person to draw a card from one of the sets, and another person to draw one from the second set. You now take a set in each hand, presenting them to the two persons requesting them to replace the drawn cards. You must pretend to present to each person the set from which he drew his card, but in reality you present the red set to the person who drew the black card, and the black set to the person who drew the red card.

TO TELL A CARD THOUGHT OF.--Take twenty-one cards of a pack, and deal them out one by one in three lots, requesting someone to think of a card, and remember in which lot it is. Having dealt out the cards, ask him in which lot the card is. Take up the lots successively, and place the lot containing the card in the middle. Deal out the cards again, and ask him to state in which lot the card is; and proceed as before, placing the lot containing the card in the middle. Deal out the cards in like manner a third time, proceeding as before. Then deal them out as usual, and the eleventh card will be the one thought of, infallibly. This is the usual way of showing the card thought of; but, as the trick may be partly discovered by the counting, it is better to hold the cards in your hand, and take out the eleventh card, counting to yourself, of course, from the left hand, but pretending to be considering the guess.

CHEATING THE MAID.--For this amusing trick you arrange the cards thus: Holding the pack in your hands, find all the knaves, place one of them next to your left hand, and the other three on the table. Then find a queen, which also place on the table. Then say:--"Three scamps went into a tavern, and ordered drink. Here they are--the three knaves. 'Who's to pay? I can't,' said the first. 'I won't,' said the second. 'I wish she may get it,' said the third. 'I'll manage it,' said the first, the greatest rogue of the three. 'I say, my pretty girl, haven't you some very old wine in your cellar?' Here's the barmaid thus addressed by the rogue in question (showing the queen), and she replied:--'Oh, yes, sir, prime old wine.' 'Let's have a bottle.' Off went the barmaid. (Put the queen in your pocket.) 'Now for it, my lads,' said the knave in question; '"run" is the word. Let's be off in opposite directions, and meet to-night; you know where.' Hereupon they decamped, taking opposite directions, which I will indicate by placing one on the top of the pack, one at the bottom, and the other in the middle.

"When the poor barmaid returned (taking out the queen from your pocket) with the wine, great was her astonishment to find the room empty. 'Lor!' she exclaimed, 'why, I do declare--did you ever!--Oh! but I'm not agoing to be sarved so. I'll catch the rogues, all of them--that I will.' And off she went after them, as shown by placing her on or after the first.

"Now, to catch the three seems impossible; but the ladies have always smiled at impossibilities, and wonders never cease; for, if you have the goodness to cut these cards, you will find that she has caught the three rogues." When the cards are cut, proceed in the usual way after cutting; and taking up the cards, you will find the queen and three knaves together, which you take out and exhibit to the astonished audience. One of these knaves is not one of the three first exhibited, but the one which you slipped on your left hand at first. There is no chance of detection, however; simply for the reason before given--nobody suspects the trick.

ANOTHER GUESSING TRICK.--Lay out twenty cards of any kind, two by two, and request a friend to think of two in a line; that is, one of the ten sets formed by the twenty cards. This done you take up the sets in the order in which they lie, and place them in rows according to the letters of the following words:--

+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+ | c | i | c | o | s | +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+ | d | e | d | i | t | +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+ | t | u | m | u | s | +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+ | n | e | m | o | n | +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+

You may use a diagram like the above, but as the words are easily retained it had better be dispensed with, distributing the cards on the table just as though upon the diagram, which will make the trick more puzzling and extraordinary. Proceed as follows:--Place the cards two by two on similar letters: thus, place the two cards of the first set on the two d's in _dedit_; the two cards of the second set on the two _i'_s of _cicos_ and _dedit_; the two of the third set on the two _c'_s, and so on with the ten sets.

All the letters of the words being thus covered, ask the friend who has thought of the cards to tell you in which lines these cards are. If both are in the first line (_cicos_), they must be those on the two _c_'s; if they are both in the second line, they cover the _d_'s in _dedit_; both in the third line, they cover the _u_'s in _tumus_; both in the fourth, they cover the _n_'s in _nemon_.

If one be in the first line and the other in the second, they cover the _i_'s in _cicos_ and _dedit_, and thus of the rest--the two cards thought of _necessarily_ covering two _similar letters_, whilst each of the letters occurs only _twice_ in the diagram.

TO TELL A CARD THOUGHT OF.--Take any number--say twenty. Pretend to shuffle them with the faces towards you and remember the first card as you close the pack--say, the ten of diamonds. Tell the friend that the only condition you require is to be told the order in which the card is dealt out by you; in other words he must tell you whether in dealing it comes out first, second, third, etc.

Remembering your first card, you may then turn your back to him, and deal out the cards one by one, and one upon the top of the other, requesting him to think of a card and its order as before said.

Then take up the cards, and shuffle them repeatedly by throwing a portion of them from the bottom to the top, taking care not to mix the cards or letting any drop, and then let the friend cut them as often as he pleases. Then take the cards in hand. Pretend to examine them mysteriously, but in reality only look for your card--the first dealt out--the ten of diamonds, for instance. Now, suppose he tells you that the card he thought of came out fifth. Then, for a certainty, it is the fourth card on the right of the ten of diamonds, in spite of all shuffling, for shuffling cannot alter the order or sequence of the cards. Always remember to count from your own card inclusive to the number of the card thought of towards your right hand. But, should your card happen to be so near the right hand or the top as not to allow sufficient counting, then count as far as it admits to the right and then continue at the left. Thus, suppose there are only two cards above the ten of diamonds, then count two more on the left, making the fifth. If the card you remember, or your first card, is first, then count the requisite number on the left, always beginning with your card, however.

The reason of this trick is simply that by merely cutting the cards and shuffling them in the way indicated, you do not alter the sequence of the cards.

ANOTHER METHOD.--Form three ranks of five cards each, and request a person to think of one of these cards, and tell you in which rank it is. Take up the cards of the three ranks, taking care to place the cards of the ranks in which is the card thought of between those of the two other ranks.

Make three more ranks as before. Ask him again in which rank the card is, and take them up, placing the rank in which the card is between the two others. Operate in like manner a third time, and the card thought of will infallibly be the third of the rank named.

Observe, however, you must not form each rank with five consecutive cards; but you must place the cards one by one, placing one successively in each rank: thus, one at the top on the left of the first rank, one below that first for the second rank, one below the second for the third rank, then one in the first, one in the second, one in the third, and so on.

This trick, which is very easy, always produces a great effect. It only requires a little attention, and it can never fail unless you make a mistake in arranging the cards.

TO TELL CHOSEN CARDS.--The cards may be easily divided into two numerical parts, even and odd: by taking a king for four points, a queen for three, a knave for two, and the other cards for their especial points, we may make up two sets of sixteen cards each, the even composing one, and the odd the other. These two sets being before the performer, he takes one, shuffles it well, and lets a person take a card. He then takes the other, shuffles it, and lets another person take a card. Then, whilst each person is looking at his card, which he is requested to do, the performer dexterously changes the place of the two sets, and he requests them to replace the cards in the set whence they took them. It follows that he who took a card from the even set places it in the odd set, and he who took it from the odd set places it in the even set. Consequently all the shuffling and cutting in the world will be useless, for the performer has only to spread out the cards of each set to point out the cards drawn.

SINGULAR ARRANGEMENT OF SIXTEEN CARDS.--Take the four kings, the four queens, the four knaves, and the four tens of a pack, and ask if there be any one in the company who can form a square with them in such a manner that, taken in any direction, from right to left, from the top to the bottom, by the diagonal--anyhow, in fact--there will always be in each line a king, queen, knave, and a ten. Everybody will think the thing easy, but it is certain that no one will succeed in doing it. When they "give it up," take the sixteen cards and arrange them as follows, when the king, queen, knave, and ten will stand as required.

+----------+----------+----------+---------+ | Ten | Jack | Queen | King | | of | of | of | of | | Spades. | Clubs. | Diamonds.| Hearts. | +----------+----------+----------+---------+ | King | Queen | Jack | Ten | | of | of | of | of | | Spades. | Hearts. | Diamonds.| Clubs. | +----------+----------+----------+---------+ | Jack | Ten | King | Queen | | of | of | of | of | | Hearts. | Diamonds.| Clubs. | Clubs. | +----------+----------+----------+---------+ | Queen | King | Ten | Jack | | of | of | of | of | | Spades. | Diamonds.| Hearts. | Spades. | +----------+----------+----------+---------+

THE CARD THAT CANNOT BE FOUND.--Take any number of cards and spread them out fan-like in your hand, faces fronting the spectators.

Ask one of them to select a card. You tell him to take it, and then to place it at the bottom of the pack. You hold up the pack, so that the spectators may see that the card is really at the bottom. Suppose this card is the king of hearts.

Then, pretending to take that card, you take the card preceding it, and place it at a point corresponding to A in the following figure.

A C B D

You then take the card drawn, namely, the king of hearts, and place it at the point corresponding to B in the above figure. Finally, you take any two other cards, and place them at C and D. Of course, the cards are placed face downwards.

After this location of the cards, you tell the person who has chosen the card that you will change the position of the cards, by pushing alternately that at the point A to B, and that at D to C, and _vice versa_; and you defy him to follow you in these gyrations of the card, and to find it.

Of course, seeing no difficulty in the thing, and believing with everybody that his card is placed at the point A, he will undertake to follow and find his card. Then performing what you undertake to do, you rapidly change the places of the cards, and yet slowly enough to enable the person to keep in view the card which he thinks his own, and so that you may not lose sight of the one you placed at B.

Having thus disarranged the cards for a few moments, you ask the person to perform his promise by pointing out his card. Feeling sure that he never lost sight of it, he instantly turns one of the cards and is astonished to find that it is not his own. Then you say:--"I told you you would not be able to follow your card in its ramble. But I have done what you couldn't do: here is your card!"

The astonishment of the spectators is increased when you actually show the card; for, having made them observe, in the first instance, that you did not even look at the drawn card, they are utterly at a loss to discover the means you employed to find out and produce the card in question.