Fig. 20.
To discover this very slight alteration it required a most practised eye; but slight as it was, it was sufficient for the sharper; and, according to these indications, he either took the upper card, if it were to his advantage, or dealt to himself the lower one by the "filage."[K] In this manner he could also, at the end of the deal, retain or give himself the card he required.
PART V.
THE "POINTÉES," OR PRICKED CARDS.
These marks are made by the Greek to distinguish all the high cards.
With the point of a pin, a little blunted, he pricks the card in the corner at the side of the picture, so as to produce a minute elevation on the upper surface.
Some Greeks improve on this trick, by pricking between the two card-boards, and afterwards pasting them together again. In this way, nothing is to be seen on the upper part of the card but a small roughness, which, should it ever be remarked, would pass for a defect in the card-board.
Others, who are still more adroit, instead of making any mark above, do it from beneath, and in this manner the mark is completely hidden by the painting, and can only be discovered by the touch.