The hands and the two parts of the cards being thus disposed, you draw off the lower cards, confined by the little finger and the other parts of the right hand, and place them, with an imperceptible motion, on the top of the pack. It is necessary, before you attempt any of the recreations that depend on making the pass, that you can perform it so dexterously that the eye cannot distinguish the motion of your hand; otherwise, instead of deceiving others, you will expose yourself. It is also proper that the cards make no noise, as that will occasion suspicion. This dexterity is not to be attained without some practice. It is sometimes usual to prepare a pack of cards, by inserting one or more that are a small matter longer or wider than the rest; and that preparation will be necessary in some of the following recreations.
The Card of Divination.
Have a pack in which there is a longer card than the rest; open the pack at that part where the long card is, and present the pack to a person in such a manner that he will naturally draw that card. He is then to put it into any part of the pack, and shuffle the cards. You take the pack and offer the same card in like manner to a second or third person; observing, however, that they do not stand near enough to observe the card each other draws. You then draw several cards yourself, among which is the long card; and ask each of the parties if his card be among those cards, and he will naturally say yes, as they have all drawn the same card. You then shuffle all the cards together, and, cutting them at the long card, you hold it before the first person, so that the others may not see it, and tell him that is his card. You then put it again in the pack, and, shuffling them a second time, you cut again at the same card, and hold it in like manner to the second person; and so of the rest.
If the first person should not draw the long card, each of the parties must draw different cards; when, cutting the pack at the long card, you put those they have drawn over it, and, seeming to shuffle the cards indiscriminately, you cut them again at the long card, and show one of them his card. You then shuffle and cut again, in the same manner, and show another person his card, and so on; remembering that the card drawn by the last person is the first next the long card; and so of the others.
Another Way.
This recreation may be performed without the long card, in the following manner: let a person draw any card whatever, and replace it in the pack; you then make the pass, and bring that card to the top of the pack, and shuffle them without losing sight of that card. You then offer that card to a second person, that he may draw it, and put it in the middle of the pack. You make the pass, and shuffle the cards a second time, in the same manner, and offer the card to a third person; and so again to a fourth or fifth.
The Four Confederate Cards.
You let a person draw any four cards from the pack, and tell him to think of one of them. When he returns you the four cards, you dexterously place two of them under the pack, and two on the top. Under those at the bottom you place four cards of any sort, and then, taking eight or ten from the bottom cards, you spread them on the table, and ask the person if the card he fixed on be among them. If he say no, you are sure it is one of the two cards on the top. You then pass those two cards to the bottom, and, drawing off the lowest of them, you ask if that is not his card. If he again say no, you take that card up, and bid him draw his card from the bottom of the pack. If the person says his card is among those you first drew from the bottom, you must dexterously take up the four cards that you put under them, and, placing those on the top, let the other two be the bottom cards of the pack, which you are to draw in the manner before described.
The Fifteen Thousand Livres.
You must be prepared with two cards like the following:—