Take the remaining cards and count them, when they will be found to be just as many as the points in the two cards. For example, take an ace and a queen, i. e. eleven and ten, and lay them on the table. On the ace you must put fourteen cards, and on the queen fifteen. There will be then fifteen cards in one heap, and sixteen in the other: these added together make thirty-one cards: these subtracted from the number of cards in the pack, i. e. fifty-two, leave twenty-one, the joint number of the ace and queen.
20. THE KNAVES AND THE CONSTABLE.
Select the four knaves from a pack of cards, and one of the kings to perform the office of constable. Secretly place one of the knaves at the bottom of the pack, and lay the other three, with the constable, down upon the table. Proceed with a tale to the effect that three knaves once were to rob a house; one got in at the parlor window (putting a knave at the bottom of the pack, taking care not to lift the pack so high that the one already at the bottom can be seen); one effected his entrance at the first floor window (putting another knave in the middle of the pack); and the other, by getting on the parapet from a neighboring house, contrived to scramble in at the garret window (placing the third knave at the top of the pack); the constable vowed he would capture them, and closely followed the last knave (putting the king likewise upon the top of the pack). Then request as many of the company to cut the cards as please; and tell them that you have no doubt the constable has succeeded in his object, which will be quite evident, when you spread out the pack in your hands; as the king and three knaves will, if the trick is neatly performed, be found together. A very little practice only is required to enable you to convey a knave or any other card secretly to the bottom of the pack.
21. THE PAIRS RE-PAIRED.
Tell out twenty cards in pairs, and ask ten people to take a pair each, and remember them. Take up the pairs in their order, and lay them on the table in order, according to the accompanying table, which forms a memoria technica, and may be construed, "Mutus gave a name to the Coci," (a people who have yet to be discovered.)
| M | U | T | U | S[2] |
| 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 |
Arranging these words in your mind on the table, take the first card of the first pair, lay it on M in Mutus, and the second on the M in Nomen. The next pair goes entirely in Mutus, being two U's. The first card of the second pair goes on T in Mutus, and the second on T in Dedit; and so on until all the cards are laid in their places.
Ask each person in succession in which rows his cards are, and you can immediately point them out. For example, if he says the second and third row, you point out the second and fourth cards in those rows, because they both represent the letter E. If another says the first and last rows, you point out the last cards in each, because the cards represent S in Mutus and S in Cocis. It will be seen that the whole table consists of ten letters, each repeated, which will always point out the positions of the pairs if they are put in the places of those letters. Any number of bystanders may choose pairs, and to make the trick more mysterious, the pairs may be placed on the table back upwards.
23. THE QUEENS DIGGING FOR DIAMONDS.
Select from a pack the aces, kings, queens, and knaves, together with four common cards of each suit. Lay down the four queens in a row, and say, "Here are four queens going to dig for diamonds. (Lay a common diamond over each queen.) They each took a spade with them (place a common spade on each diamond) and dug until they were nearly tired. Their four kings, thinking that they might be attacked by robbers, sent four soldiers to keep guard. (Lay an ace on each spade.) Evening came, and the queens had not returned, so the kings, fearing that they might have come to harm, became uneasy and set off themselves. (Place a king on each ace.) They were only just in time, for as they came along, they met their queens being carried off by four villains (lay a knave on each king), who, although only armed with clubs (place a common club on each knave), had overpowered the guards and driven them off. But the four kings, being possessed of bold hearts (lay a common heart over each king), soon vanquished the villains, and bound them." Gather up the cards, place the heaps upon each other and direct some one to cut them. Have them cut four or five times, and continue to do so until a common heart appears at the bottom. Then continue the tale, and say, "The party then returned home in the following order. First the queen, (lay down the top card) with the diamonds which she had found (lay down the second card, which will be a diamond) in one hand, and her spade (the third card will be a spade) in the other, &c., &c." You continue dealing out the cards in that manner, and it will be found that they will be in precisely the same order as when they were taken up.