Some few months ago I was shown by a clever amateur, Mr. Victor Farrelly,
a pack of cards prepared, after a method of his own, to replace in a more
subtle form, the familiar _biseauté_ pack. Mr. Farrelly’s plan is to
round off, in a very minute degree, three of the corners of an ordinary
pack. If a given card be turned round in a pack so treated, it is obvious
that its unfiled corner will project, to a microscopic extent, beyond
those above and below it, rendering the card instantly discoverable by
touch.
Mr. Farrelly’s idea is decidedly ingenious, but the uses of the
_biseauté_ pack are rather limited, and the fact that the pack must be
reversed before the card is replaced in it is a drawback. It struck me,
on reflection, that the idea might be developed, in a slightly different
direction, to greater advantage.
My own plan is as follows: Two packs, exactly alike are used. As to one
of these, I treat all four corners after the manner indicated by Mr.
Farrelly, when any card of the second pack, inserted into the one so
treated, naturally becomes in effect, a long card. There is in this case
no need to reverse the pack, and as the minute projection is duplicated
at each end of the diagonal, a less degree of rounding off is necessary.
As a practical illustration of the possible uses of such a pack, I
offer the trick which I am about to describe. The expert will recognise
that, save for the use of the new pack, it is merely a combination
of well-known methods, but as regards the mode of presentation it is
original, and I think will be found worthy of a place in the _répertoire_
of the card-conjurer.
For the purpose of description we will call the pack with rounded corners
the “short,” and the other the “long” pack. Three known cards are
borrowed from the long pack, which may then be put aside, as it plays no
further part in the trick. These three cards are palmed, and after the
short pack has been shuffled by one of the company, are added to it, and
forced upon three different spectators. We will suppose that the three
selected cards are the queen of hearts, forced on a gentleman; the king
of clubs and the ten of diamonds; the two last mentioned forced on ladies.
This done, each of the drawers is invited to replace his or her card in
the pack, which is passed from the one to the other for that purpose, and
before it is returned to you is once more shuffled. You then deliver a
“yarn” to something like the following effect:
“Please bear in mind, ladies and gentlemen, exactly what has been done.
To begin with, you have seen that the pack was thoroughly well shuffled.
Three cards were then freely chosen from it. They have been put back,
not by me, but by the persons who drew them, and the pack has since been
shuffled again. It is therefore obviously impossible that I should know
either what cards have been chosen, or whereabouts they may now be in
the pack. But I enjoy impossibilities. The more impossible a thing is,
the more I want to do it. I will find out these cards or _die_! Don’t be
alarmed, I don’t mean to die just yet; so I must do the other thing. It’s
easy enough, if you know how to do it.
“In the first place I cut the pack into three portions.” (You cut three
times, nipping the “long” corners between second finger and thumb, at
each of the drawn cards in succession, and placing the cards left at
bottom on one or other of the three heaps; then solemnly rub your wand,
without remark, with a silk handkerchief, and lay it across the tops of
the three packets.)
“Now, if the electric influence is strong enough, the three chosen cards
will gradually sink down to the bottom of these three heaps. A nice easy
way of finding them out, is it not? It will take a minute or two for the
charm to operate, so in the meantime I will try to find out the names of
the cards for myself by thought-reading. You drew a card, I think, Sir?
Will you kindly think of that card, as hard as you can, and meanwhile
look straight at me? Thank you. Judging by physiognomy, I should say
that you were rather a ladies’ man. Don’t blush, Sir. It’s nothing to
be ashamed of, is it, ladies? But he did blush, didn’t he? Now, being
a ladies’ man, you will naturally have chosen one of the ladies of the
pack, that is to say one of the queens, and your blush suggests that it
was a red queen. Now there are only two red queens to choose from. The
queen of hearts represents Love, and the queen of diamonds Money. If I
read your thoughts aright I feel safe in declaring that you chose the
queen of hearts. That is right, I think? Quite simple, when you know how
it’s done.
“And now, Madam, for your card. I can see at a glance that you have a
liking for aristocratic society, and you will therefore naturally have
chosen a king. But which king? Think hard of your card, please. A picture
of a dark-complexioned gentleman comes up before my mind’s eye, and I
feel that I can say with confidence that the card you chose was the king
of clubs. Am I right?
“And you, Madam. I have an idea that you have a taste for pretty things,
particularly jewellery. Such being the case, you would naturally choose
diamonds. Think of your card, please. Thank you. I see I was right in my
guess. The card you chose was the ten of diamonds.
“And now to verify my discoveries. If my wand has done its work, those
same three cards will now have percolated through the rest, and settled
down at the bottom of these three heaps. Let us see whether they have
done so.” (The three heaps are turned over.) “Yes, here we have them:
the king of clubs, the queen of hearts, and the ten of diamonds. It
is a curious thing for the cards to do, and I daresay you would like
to know how it is done. As a matter of fact, it is done by synthetic
re-adjustment of dissociated atoms. You don’t know what that means,
perhaps? Well, to say the truth, I don’t quite know myself, but that is
the scientific explanation, so no doubt it is correct.”
The trick may very well end at this point, but if the reader possesses a
card-box, or other apparatus adapted for “vanishing” cards, he may bring
it to a still more striking conclusion. In this case he may continue as
follows:
“Now, I should like to show you a curious effect of sympathy. I take away
these three cards and hand the rest of the pack to the gentleman who drew
the queen of hearts. Kindly hold it up above your head where all can see
it. The three drawn cards” (show them one by one) “I place in this box.
Again I electrify my wand a little, and lay it across the box. Now I want
each gentleman or lady to think of his or her card. Think of it kindly,
and feel as if you would like to see it again. Think hard, please,
because it is you, not I, that perform this experiment, and if you don’t
think hard it will be a failure. I am pleased to see by the expression of
your countenances that you are all thinking hard. Thank you very much.
You may leave off now. The deed is done. The three cards have left the
box, and gone back to the pack. Please look it through, sir, and tell the
company whether it is not so.”
The reader, being familiar with the wiles of conjurers, will doubtless
have guessed that the three cards supposed to have returned to the
pack have in fact never left it, being those naturally belonging to
it, corresponding with the three long cards. But to the outsider their
supposed return will be, in the words of the lamented Lord Dundreary,
“one of those things that no fellow can understand.”
As regards the disappearance of the three cards, the performer is of
course by no means restricted to the use of the card-box. If he is an
expert in sleight-of-hand, he may with even better effect, “vanish” them
one by one by means of the back palm, dropping them a moment later into
the profonde.