_Preparation._ The two “flower-pots” (see page 5), separated, are placed
upon the table. Also the card mat (see page 1), loaded with the _ten_ of
any given suit, say diamonds, taken from the pack performer is about to
use, and a double-faced card, representing on the one side the seven, and
on the other the three of the same suit. The deuce and five of same suit
to be laid on the top of the pack.
Performer, advancing pack in hand, palms off the two top cards, and
offers the rest to be shuffled. This done, he forces these two cards on
different persons. On receiving back one of them, he brings it to the
top; executes a false shuffle leaving it in the same position; brings it
again to the middle by the pass, and has the second card replaced upon
it; then, once again making the pass, brings both together to the top.
(The use of the Charlier pass is here recommended.)
The patter may be to something like the following effect: “Two cards have
been chosen, ladies and gentlemen. I can’t say what they are, but I can
very easily find out. I shall simply order them to rise up and paw the
air. It all depends on the strength of the will. I myself happen to have
a very strong will, in fact, I don’t know anyone who has a stronger will,
except my wife. I exert my will, and say, ‘first card, rise!’ and up it
comes, as you see.”
Stepping well back from the spectators, so that they cannot distinguish
from what part of the pack the card comes, he works up the hindmost card
by the familiar “hand” method. (“Modern Magic,” p. 129.)
“Here we have one of the two cards. Let us see what it is. The five
of diamonds! Good! And now for the other. Second card; rise! Up comes
another card, you see, the deuce of diamonds. Those are the cards which
were drawn, are they not?
“Now the question arises, ‘what shall we do with them?’ It is a pity the
ladies didn’t choose bigger cards. You can’t ‘go nap’[6] on a deuce and
a five, can you? I think I can’t do better than use them to show you a
little experiment in conjurer’s arithmetic. Will some young mathematician
among the audience kindly tell us what two and five, added together,
make?” (He waits for reply, but if none, pretends to hear one.) “Seven!
Right first time. And if you take two from five how many remain? Three?
Good again. Really there are lot of clever people about, if you know
where to look for them.
“Now I want to show you that the cards know all about it themselves; in
fact, they are just as clever at doing sums as we are. I will take these
two cards and drop them into one of these pretty flower-pots. Let me show
you first that it is quite empty.”
He lays the cards on the little mat while showing inside of flower-pot
(the one with secret pocket), then picks up mat, and transfers it from
hand to hand, showing, without remark, that the hands are otherwise
empty, and lets the two cards slide off it into the flower-pot, the
concealed cards naturally going with them.
“Now, ladies and gentlemen, what shall the cards do for you, the
addition, or the subtraction sum? It is all the same to me. The addition?
Very good. They can’t talk, so they will call another card from the pack
to give you the answer. Yes, here we have it. Five--and two--are--seven.”
As he names each card, he produces it from the flower-pot, the third
being the double-faced card, shown as the seven.
“Now I can hear what some of you are thinking. Oh, yes! I often hear what
people think. You are thinking that if you had said subtraction instead
of addition, I should have been in what is popularly called a hole. But
you are mistaken. Now we will ask the cards to do the subtraction sum.
The seven will go back to the pack, and send another card in its place.”
He drops all three cards back into the flower-pot, and brings them up as
before, save that this time the trick card is made to face the other way.
“_Five_--less _two_--are _three! Quod erat demonstrandum_, as our old
friend Euclid used to say when he had just floored a new poser. As the
cards seem to be in a good humour, we will try them once more, and see if
we can get them to do a little multiplication.” (He drops the three cards
into the flower-pot, as before, but this time lets the fake card fall
into the pocket.) “Five times--two--are ‘ten.’” (Showing the two cards
and the ten, in that order.)
“Now I will ask some gentleman to see that these three cards really
belong to the pack. The three and seven went back to it as soon as they
were done with. The flower-pot, as you see, is again empty.” (He shows by
lifting it that apparently it is so.)
If the first choice of the audience is for subtraction the order of
production will naturally be varied accordingly.
[6] To endeavor to take all five tricks in the game of Napoleon.