and with a common ace and five of diamonds. The five of diamonds, and the two prepared cards, are to be disposed thus:—
and, holding them in your hand, you say,—“A certain Frenchman left fifteen thousand livres, which are represented by these three cards, to his three sons; the two youngest agreed to leave their 5000, each of them, in the hands of the elder, that he might improve it.” While you are telling this story, you lay the five on the table, and put the ace in its place, and at the same time artfully change the position of the other two cards, that the three cards may appear as in the following figure:—
You then resume your discourse. “The eldest brother, instead of improving the money, lost it all by gaming, except three thousand livres, as you here see.” You then lay the ace on the table, and, taking up the five, continue your story. “The eldest, sorry for having lost the money, went to the East Indies with these 3000, and brought back 15,000.” You then show the cards in the same position as at first. To render this deception agreeable, it must be performed with dexterity, and should not be repeated, but the cards immediately put in the pocket; and you should have five common cards in your pocket, ready to show, if any one should desire to see them. Another recreation of this sort may be performed with fives and threes, as follows:—
The Magic Ring.
Make a ring large enough to go on the second or third finger, in which let there be set a large transparent stone, to the bottom of which must be fixed a small piece of black silk, that may be either drawn aside or expanded by turning the stone round. Under the silk is to be the figure of a small card. Then make a person draw the same sort of card as that at the bottom of the ring, and tell him to burn it in the candle. Having first shown him the ring, you take part of the burnt card, and, reducing it to powder, you rub the stone with it; and, at the same time, turn it artfully round, so that the small card at bottom may come in view.