Begin by laying out the cards in four rows according to the suits, all
of a suit in a row side by side. The cards must now be arranged. Take up
the _six_ in the top or bottom row, then the _two_ in the _next_ row,
the _ten_ in the _third_, and the _nine_ in the _fourth_, placing them
one upon the other in the left hand. Then begin again with the row from
which you took the _six_, and take up the _three_. From the next row
take the _king_. These numbers will be easily remembered with a little
practice, amounting altogether to 30, made up thus—6 and 2 are 8, 8 and
10 are 18, 18 and 9 are 27, 27 and 3 are 30—_King_. By repeating this
addition a few times, it will be fixed in the memory. Proceed by next
beginning with the row next to the one from which you took the last card
or the king, and take the _eight_; from the next row take the _four_;
from the next the _ace_; from the next the _knave_. These cards make up
13. Therefore say, 8 and 4 are 12 and one are 13—_knave_. From the next
row to that whence you took the knave, take the seven; from the next row
take the five; from the next the queen. These cards makeup 12. Thus—7
and 5 are 12—_queen_. It thus appears that you have taken up _thirteen_
cards consisting of the four suits, successively taken and being
arranged as follows—6, 2, 10, 9, 3, king; 8, 4, 1, knave; 7, 5, queen.
Proceed in like manner with the remainder of the cards, beginning with
the row next to that from which you took the queen, and take the _six_,
then from the next row the _two_, and so on as before, making up another
batch of 13 cards. Repeat the process for a third batch, and finish with
the remainder for the fourth—always remembering to take the card from
the next row in succession continually; in other words, only one card
must be taken from each row at a time. When the cards are thus arranged,
request a party to cut them. This is only pretence; for you must take
care dexterously to replace the cut just as it was before. Let them be
cut again, and replace them as before. Your _ruse_ will not be detected,
simply because nobody suspects the possibility of the thing. Now take up
the pack, and from the _bottom_ take the first _four_ cards handing the
remainder to a party sitting before you, saying, “I shall now call every
card in succession from the top of the pack in your hand.” To do this,
two things must be remembered; and there is no difficulty in it. First,
the numbers 6, 2, 10, 9, 3, king, &c., before given; and next the _suit_
of those cards. Now you know the _numbers_ by heart, and the _suit_ is
shown by the four cards which you hold in your hand, fan-like, in the
usual way. If the first of the four cards be a _club_, the first card
you call will be the _six of clubs_; if the next be the _heart_, the
next card called will be the _two_ of hearts, and so on throughout the
_thirteen_ made up from every row, as before given, and the suits of
each card will be indicated successively by the suit of each of your
four indicator cards; thus, as the case may be, clubs, _hearts_,
_diamonds_, spades; clubs, hearts, diamonds, spades, and so on. After a
little private practice, you will readily and rapidly call, as the case
may be, from the four cards in your hand:—the six of clubs, two of
hearts, ten of diamonds, nine of spades, three of clubs, king of hearts,
eight of diamonds, four of spades, ace of clubs, knave of hearts, seven
of diamonds, five of spades, queen of clubs—and so on to the last card
in the pack.