The person in question now selects a suit, spades or clubs, &c.—or a card may previously be drawn to determine the suit.
Suppose diamonds is the chosen suit: you take up the first heap, and throw away all the cards until you come to a matadore of diamonds. (The matadores are the ace, king, queen, knave and ten.) You do the same with the other heaps. If any one of the heaps does not contain a matadore, you cast it entirely aside.
The heaps which are left you now place one upon another in order, beginning at the left hand, and, without shuffling them, you lay them in five heaps, and proceed as before. This time there are, of course, fewer cards, beside matadores, than before. After having cast aside the cards which you meet with before finding a matadore, you take up the heaps, and, without shuffling them, lay them in five heaps, for the third time. This third and last time, you must, if your wish is to be fulfilled, be able to discard all the cards except the matadores. If any other cards are left in the heaps, your wish will not be granted.
TELLING FORTUNES BY DOMINOES AND DICE.
The telling of fortunes by the spots on Dominoes and Dice is a very ancient custom, and has always been practised by the most celebrated astrologers and fortune-tellers. The calculations have all to be made by drawing a horoscope from each domino and the spots on each side of a die; therefore the process is exceedingly tedious. We have given in the following pages the results of three years’ experimental labor on this subject; not constant labor, for there are but a few hours in each year when the stars are in the right position to draw the horoscope of any particular domino. A good many of the signs predicted here have been proved to be correct within the personal knowledge of the writer, and he doubts not they will all be found to be accurate.
METHOD OF TELLING FORTUNES WITH DOMINOES.
Shuffle the dominoes well on a smooth table, with their faces downward, then draw one and see what it signifies according to the description given below.