MENTAL MAGIC WITH CARDSBY

JEAN HUGARD

Originally Published for the ProfessionBy

CALOSTRO PUBLICATIONS1935,

P. 0. Box 76,Times Square Station.

New York, N. Y.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTIONThe Importance of Showmanship

CHAPTER I: FORCING THOUGHT PRINCIPLESeveral Methods of Forcing a Certain Card.

Card and Number Divination.

CHAPTER II: THE KEY CARD PRINCIPLEAn Example of Presentation.

The Three Heaps.The Trio.

The Moving Finger.A Card and a Number.

Divining a Card.The Count Down.

The Six Piles

CHAPTER III: THE NAIL OR PIN MARKINGPRINCIPLE

Thought Card DiscoveredA Test Discovery

An Envelope MysteryA Variation

CHAPTER IV: THE PREARRANGED PACKPRINCIPLE

Method of Changing PacksPartial Set-ups

Mephisto's MessageThought Card to Pocket

Finding a NumberMental Spelling

Set-up of Full PackReading any Card Called For

Locating a Page and Word by CardsClairvoyant Reading of Several Cards

A Startling ExperimentNovel Card Reading

CHAPTER V: VARIOUS PRESENTATIONS OFTHE ONE WAY DECK PRINCIPLE

CHAPTER VI: TRICKS WITH ASSISTANT ASTHE MEDIUMFIRST METHOD

SECOND METHOD

CHAPTER VII: CODES FOR MIND READINGWITH CARDSTalking CodesFirst Method

Second MethodSilent CodesMethod OneMethod Two

Silent Code for Confederate

CHAPTER VIII: FORCING DECKS

CHAPTER IX: THE MARKED CARD PRINCIPLEA Card Prediction.

CHAPTER X: THE IMPRESSION OR CARBONSYSTEM

Method OneMethod Two

CHAPTER XI: THE MIRROR PRINCIPLE

CHAPTER XII: A PREDICTION

CHAPTER XIII: THE TELEPATHIC BRIDGEGAME

INTRODUCTION

The Importance of Showmanship

Before entering on an explanation of these mind reading effects, a description of

the proper method of presentation and showmanship is desirable. The author of abooklet recently published, describing the difference between a magician and amind reader, writes that the magician repeatedly shows his hands empty andprotests that he does not use this or that sleight, whereas the mind reader doesnone of these things, presenting his feats without flourishes or any suggestionwhatever of cleverness in manipulation. Now, if that author had written"manipulator" instead of "magician" he would have been right. A finishedmagician will avoid all unnecessary and ostentatious display of the front and backof his hands, showing hands empty and so on. His every move will be a naturalone and only such as would be used by anyone under similar circumstances. Inevery way possible, he will strive to give the impression that he himself plays onlya passive part in connection with the wonders that happen.

These observations apply with even greater force to exhibitions of pretended mindreading with cards, which should be handled without any display of flourishes orfancy moves, with the possible exception of the riffle shuffle which is now in suchgeneral use that no suspicion of cleverness is apt to be attached to it. The waterfallfinish after the shuffle is taboo. It is better to affect a slight awkwardness; forinstance, while shuffling, you may drop a card occasionally, but, be careful not tooverdo this, either. In short, handle the cards just as any card player would.

In the selection of an assistant from the audience, it is well to have the spectatorsdecide who is to be the subject of the test in order to offset any suspicion ofconfederacy. If more than one person is to take part in the experiment, let the onefirst chosen select the next and so on. Sometimes it may be necessary for you tochoose someone whose appearance leads you to believe he will be more inclinedto help than to hinder you. Have experiments requiring friendly subjects followothers in which you have shown your powers with assistants chosen by theaudience. Pretense of hypnotizing the subject will add to the effect andshowmanship.

CHAPTER I: Forcing Thought Principle

Several Methods of Forcing a Certain Card

Knowing how to induce a spectator to think of a certain card is important. A goodmethod is by ruffling the cards. Take the deck face downwards in the left hand,thumb on the back near its inner end. Bring the right hand over the pack, fingers atthe outer end, thumb at the inner end. Bend the cards upwards before the subject'seyes and let the outer ends of the pack spring free. Stop the movement for amoment so that only one card may be plainly seen, then slip the tip of the secondfinger of the left hand under it and continue the ruffle.

Another way is to secretly push the upper portion of the deck a trifle upwards, theresulting break being hidden by the fingers of the right hand. When the cards areruffled, there will be a slight stop when the lowest card of the upper portion isreached. In either method one card only has been seen by the spectator and thatwill most likely be the card he will think of. When presenting the pack to his gaze,it is advisable to ask him to take no notice of the bottom card but to make a

"mental note" of any other card he sees.

Again, you may spring the cards from your right hand into your left, face upward.Let the cards shoot down so rapidly that no one of them can be identified, butabout half-way through the deck, stop the action for a moment, then spring theremainder. The only card that you, yourself, could distinguish will most likely bethe card mentally selected by the observer. To locate a freely selected card, youmay spring the cards face downward, stopping at the spectator's request.. He liftsup the last card that has fallen and looks at it. You quietly sight the face card ofthose in your right hand and when the card is replaced on the left hand portion bythe spectator you drop the right hand portion on top of it. Thus you know thechosen card lies next below the one you just noted so that you can find it whenyou want to.

Another very easy method is by means of a simple cut. You hold the deck towardsa spectator face down on your left hand, asking him to choose a card. Let him cutthe pack and look at the bottom card of his portion, take this from him and slip thetip of the little finger of your right hand between the packets as you reassemble thedeck. A moment later, divide the pack with your right thumb at the position heldby the little finger tip and then riffle shuffle the two packs. You have only to letthe bottom card of the right hand packet fall first and the chosen card will be at thebottom.

A more subtle procedure is this. Have the deck well shuffled and hold it facedownwards in your left hand. Take off cards one by one with your right hand andhold them facing the spectator. Count mentally each card as you take it and keepthese cards well squared, so that the person can see only the last card. Take thecards rather slowly and at the same rate of speed throughout and keep separatingthe hands some little distance apart. Watch the spectator's eyes, they will followthe movements of your right hand in taking and exposing each card. When theeyes rest, note the number of that card but continue to show five or six more cardsat exactly the same pace before you ask if a mental selection has been made. Youhave then only to shuffle off the cards above the one noted to get the card at yourcommand for any finish you may wish to make.

Card and Number Divination.

A deck having been well shuffled you take it and by one of the methodspreviously explained force a spectator to think of a certain card and bring this cardto the top by means of a simple cut. in the course of a shuffle, run six cards on topof it so that the card will lie seventh. This may easily be done by a riffle shuffle.You have only to hold back several cards from the top of the left hand packet andlet them fall last. Two or three riffles will enable you to do this in the most naturalmanner possible.

Now ask a second spectator to think of a number between one and ten. if seven ischosen-gazing steadily at him, make a false shuffle leaving the top seven cards intheir original position. Lay the deck down. Have the card and the number calledand, if all goes as you have arranged, let a third spectator take the pack, deal off

six cards and show that the seventh is the card thought of. A very astonishingresult.

If you exercise a little care in the choice of your two assistants, the chances arethat the trick will come out right, but supposing some number other than seven iscalled. For six, you simply have six cards dealt and the next card shown. Forcertain other numbers you will have to deal the cards yourself. If eight or nine arechosen, make a false count once or twice as the case may be. For two, three, four,or five palm off the number of cards required to make the count correct. Don't bein a hurry, talk at length on the extreme difficulty of reading the thoughts of twopersons at the same time and don't look at your hands while palming the cards.

If some other number has been thought of, proceed as follows. Deal cards to thenumber called and lay that card, whatever it may be, face down on the table. Runthrough the pack, faces to yourself and slide the chosen card behind the others,getting it to the top. Then show the faces to the company, proving that the card isnot there by simply not showing the top card. With the pack in your left hand, takeup the card on the table with your right, go to the spectator and show it to him sothat he alone sees the card, claiming you have made a complete success. Turn toyour table, make the bottom change, and lay the spectator's card down. Palm thebottom card in your left hand.

The spectator claims you have made a mistake. You maintain that you showed himthe card he thought of. Keep up the argument as long as it amuses the rest of thecompany, then let him turn over the card on the table. It is his card. "As for thecard you thought you saw just now," you continue, "It has been in my pocket thewhole evening." You thrust your hand into your pocket and bring out the palmedcard.

CHAPTER II: The Key Card Principle

An Example of Presentation.

Since space will not allow for giving the patter for every experiment, thepresentation of the following trick must serve as an example on which to baseothers. A simple effect has been chosen to show how it can be built up into aseeming miracle of mind reading.

You have any pack thoroughly shuffled and request the audience to choose theperson who is to act as the medium. This done, hand the pack to him and, in sodoing, tilt the inner end slightly upward so that you can read the index of thebottom card. You say to him, "Now, Mr. Jones, will you kindly divide the packinto seven portions, face down on the table? No need to deal them, just cut thepack into seven heaps. You all know that from the earliest ages, seven has beenregarded as a mystical number. Greece had her Seven Sages. There were theSeven Sleepers of Ephesus and Seven Wonders of the Old World; in Holy writ, wehave the Seven Seals, the Seven Stars, the Seven Lamps, the Seven Loaves, SevenMortal Sins and Seven Virtues. There are seven days in the week, seven notes inmusic and seven colors in the spectrum. A volume could be written on the number

seven. To me, being the seventh son of a seventh son, it is peculiarly significant.

"I will ask Mr. Jones to take the top card of any heap, pick it up very carefully sothat I cannot possibly get a glimpse of its face, and impress its denominationfirmly on your mind. Replace it, and now, to avoid suspicion of any manipulationof the card I will place three heaps above it and three below it, making it safe frominterference."

You must note which heap has the original bottom card of the pack and this heapis the first of the three that you place on the selected card. If, by one chance inseven, the top card of this heap has been chosen, simply tell the subject to put it ontop of any other heap. In either case you know that the card is the next card belowthe one you sighted. at the bottom of the deck. Gather up the other three heaps andplace them underneath. Square the pack by tapping its edges on the table. Youthen say, "You will have noticed that I have not touched the card, that I have notseen it or any other card in the pack and to avoid any suspicion that I might knoweven its approximate position in the pack, will you kindly cut the cards severaltimes?" See that the cuts are completed. "You must all be satisfied that I cannotpossibly know where the card is? Good. I will lay the cards out face upwards sothat Mr. Jones can see his card and while my back is turned I want him to take outhis card, but to be very careful not to disturb any other card."

Spread the cards and note the one that follows the original bottom card of the deckand turn away. The subject takes his card out of the line. You continue, "I will asksomeone else to gather up the rest of the pack and place it in his pocket. Done?Thank you. Now, Mr. Jones, will you put your card face down on the table, placeboth hands on it. Ready?" You turn and face him.

"Now, please look at me and concentrate on your card. Are you doing that? I don'tseem to get any impression. Let me just touch your hands. Contact makes it easiersometimes. Yes, that's better. It's a red card with an intricate pattern . . . a courtcard . . . a diamond . . . the king of diamonds." The card is turned up and shown tobe correct.

It will be seen that the trick is made up of the simplest possible elements, butpresented in this manner, it will be found to create a striking impression.

The Three Heaps.

At any favorable opportunity secretly note and memorize the two cards at the topof the deck. Invite a spectator to cut the cards into three heaps and watch wherethe packet with the two known cards is placed. Let us suppose that the top cardwas the ace of diamonds, followed by the seven of spades. and that they are on thetop of the third heap after the cutting has been done.

Claiming clairvoyant powers, pick up the top card of the first heap, sayingconfidently, "This card is the ace of diamonds." Looking at it but not lettinganyone else get a glimpse of its face, you find that it really is the ten of diamonds.

Take the top card of the second packet in the same way, saying, "And this card isthe ten of diamonds." Place this on the other card in your hand and smilecheerfully as if you had scored another hit. Suppose it is the jack of spades, takeup the card on top of the third heap, (ace of diamonds) and call it the jack ofspades.

Slip this card behind the other two and throw all three on the table, face up. "Therethey are, just as I stated, ace of diamonds, ten of diamonds and the jack of spades.Would you like a further proof? Very well."

Knowing that the card now on the top of the third heap is the seven of spades youproceed to name the top cards of the three heaps in exactly the same way asbefore.

The Trio.

Any pack of cards having been freely shuffled by the spectators, you take it and,under pretense of removing the joker, you memorize the three cards lying abovethe bottom card. Suppose these three cards are the king of clubs, nine of spades,and ace of diamonds. Commit them to memory thus . . . king, nine, ace . . . club,spade, diamond. This is much easier than taking the name of each card separately.

Lay the pack down and ask a spectator to cut it as nearly as possible into two equalparts. To find out how closely he has come to an exact division you pick up theoriginal top half of the deck and he takes the lower portion. You each count yourcards by dealing them on the table. The positions of the cards are thus reversed,the original bottom card will now be the top card of the spectator's heap and underit will lie the three cards memorized by you.

Ask which half you shall take. If the packet just counted by you is indicated, takeit and lay it aside. If, however, the other portion is chosen, take it up and hand it tothe spectator. In either case he gets the packet with the three memorized cards.Instruct him to take off the top card and push it into the middle, then to do thesame with the bottom card. This is mere camouflage but it helps to confuse thehelper. Next, he is to take the top card and lay it face down before him, hand thesecond card face down to any one he pleases and do the same with the third card.

Go through the usual routine of having each person concentrate on his card andyou successfully read their thoughts. You may effectively pretend to get the cardsby automatic writing or by asking the subjects to make mental pictures of theircards and then you make a rough drawing of each.

The Moving Finger.

Any deck may be used and it may be freely shuffled by the spectators. First it isnecessary that you find out secretly the name of the top card, in the followingmanner:

Explain to a spectator what he is to do after your back is turned. He is to think ofany number, deal cards face down until he reaches that number, turn that card,memorize it, replace it on the top of the deck and then bury it by placing the dealtcards on it. Illustrate this by saying, "Suppose you thought of six. You would dealoff five cards thus, then look at the next card, the sixth, replace it and put the dealtcards on it."

You look at the sixth card, but you don't let the subject or any one else see what itis. To bring this card back to the top of the pack imperceptibly, you pretend thatyour subject does not understand what is to be done so you go through theprocedure again. Suggesting that the number might be seven, deal off six cards,point to the next as being the one to be memorized, but don't turn it over, simplypick up the six cards just dealt and drop them on the pack. You now know the topcard formerly the sixth and the knowledge has been obtained in such a subtle waythat no one can have any suspicion that you could know any card at all.

You turn away; the spectator thinks of a number, deals to it, looks at the card,buries it by replacing the cards dealt, gives the cards a single complete cut andsquares the pack. Then he calls, "Ready." Turn, and taking the cards, spread themface up on the table. Watch for your key card, the one preceding it on the right willbe the spectator's card. Tell him that you will pass your index finger along the lineof cards and that when it reaches his card he is to think, "STOP! That is my card!"Act accordingly, passing your finger over the cards slowly until the card isreached, then hesitate, moving the finger back and forth, finally dropping it on thecard.

A Card and a Number.

Any deck having been freely shuffled, you take it back and holding it in your lefthand, riffle off the outer left corners of about a dozen cards with the left thumb.Lift these cards off the pack with the right hand and get a glimpse of the bottomcard of the packet. The position of the cards enables you to do this imperceptibly.

Count these cards, face down, reversing their order, thus bringing the sighted cardto the top. Spread this packet in a wide fan and invite a spectator to touch one andmake a mental note of it. Quickly note at what number in the fan the chosen cardlies, close the fan and drop the cards on the table, face down. Lay the rest of thedeck on top and invite the spectator to cut. Complete the cut.

Tell the subject that you will deal the cards face up and that he is to count as youdeal so that he will know at what number in the pack his card lies but on noaccount to give any indication when the card appears. Supposing that the cardtouched was the sixth card in the fan, you have merely to count till you reach thecard you sighted originally, when you know that the selected card is the fifth onebeyond that. Note the number and the card but continue the deal without anyalteration of pace.

When you have dealt about three-quarters of the pack, stop and ask if the card hasbeen seen and if the number at which it lies has been noted. Drop the rest of the

cards on top of those dealt. Grasp the spectator's hand and in the usual hesitating,groping way, give out the number and the name of the card.

Divining a Card.

You secretly get the ace of spades to the bottom of the deck. Shuffle thoroughly byboth the riffle and the overhand methods, retaining the ace in that position, andbeing careful not to allow anyone to get a glimpse of it. Lay the pack face down onthe table for a moment while you explain that you are going to ask someone tomerely think of a card. Pick out a likely looking person and hand the deck to him,holding it in such a way that he will see the ace of spades, saying, "Will you thinkof a card? Just any card that comes into your mind. You have done that? Pleaseshuffle the cards and keep your thoughts on the one you have selected. Thankyou."

On your table you have a blank card and a pencil. Take these and on the card drawfour lines right across it, leaving the second and fourth spaces a little wider thanthe others. Place this on the back of the deck and hand it, along with a pencil to thespectator, with a request that the card thought of and any four others be written inthe spaces. You say, "You may write it first, or last, or in the middle, anywhereyou wish and any other four cards in the other spaces." This will tend to influencethe person to write the name of his thought card in the second or fourth spaces.

Turn away but covertly watch the subject's actions while he is writing. He willhesitate a little before writing the names of each of the four indifferent cards butwill write the name of his selected card quickly and, most probably, in the secondor fourth space. With a little practice you will have no difficulty in deciding onwhat space the chosen card has been written.

Take the pack and the list card from the spectator and glance at the names. Notethe card written in the space you decided on and toss the list card on to the table.This should be done in the most casual manner to give the impression that youhave not read any part of the list. Ask your subject to think intently of his card, runthrough the deck, take out the card you have decided on and put it face down onthe table. There is a big chance that the ace of spades will have been selected,owing to the manner in which you handed the deck out in the beginning of thetrick, and if you find that name written in the space you fixed on, you may becertain you are right.

Hand the list back to the subject and have him cross off the names of the fourindifferent cards. The name of the remaining card is called and you turn up thecard you laid on the table.

The Count Down

Secretly get two known cards, say the two black kings, to the top and bottom ofthe pack. Shuffle freely by both overhand and riffle methods, keeping both cardsin position, but creating the impression that it is not possible for you to know the

whereabouts of any card at all.

While shuffling, explain to a spectator that he is to think of any number, saybetween one and twenty, that you will then turn away and he is to deal cards to thenumber thought of, look at the last one dealt, drop the rest of the pack on top, cutthe deck and carefully square it. When he says he has fixed on a number, repeatyour instructions, hand him the deck, impressing on him to deal carefully, card bycard and turn away. Don't hand the deck to him till the last moment or he may betempted to shuffle the cards himself.

When your subject announces that he has done his part, take the pack and run overthe faces of the cards. Watch for the king that was originally on the top. Countingit as one, continue the count till you reach the card before the king that wasoriginally on the bottom. That will give you the card and the number thought of.Do all this as casually as possible, as if merely playing with the cards and all thetime urging your subject to concentrate his thought on the card and the number.Finally complain that you are not getting a definite impression, take his hand andpress it to your forehead then get the number and the card in the usual mysteriousfashion.

The Six Piles

Any full pack of fifty-two cards may be used. The trick depends on your havingplaced secretly six cards of one suit on the top and six more of the same suit on thebottom. To do this, first run through the cards to see if the full number is there anddiscard the joker. Take this opportunity to place several cards of one suit, sayhearts, at the top and bottom. Then say there are several cards which you find ithard to get a mental impression of and run through the deck to find them. Take outone card of the suit you have decided to use, in this case a heart, and any threecards of the other suits. This action will give you ample opportunity to place theremaining hearts at the top and bottom. Put the four discards and the joker in yourpocket.

Riffle shuffle several times without disturbing the top six and bottom six and, ifyou know how to make a false cut, do it. Hand the pack to a spectator and instructhim to deal six heaps by laying out six cards in a row and then dealing a card oneach in rotation until the pack is exhausted. The result will be six heaps of eightcards with a heart at the top and bottom of each pile. He is then told to take a cardfrom the middle of any heap, note carefully what it is and place it on top of anyother pile, squaring the cards carefully so that you can get no clue to what he hasdone. Turn your back while he does this.

When he says he has followed your instructions turn and give him pad and penciland have him write the name of the card, tear off the sheet, fold it and put it in hispocket. It is well to do this for two reasons, one is to avoid all chance of thesubject failing to remember his card, and the other to get the company accustomedto the use of a pad which you may use in some other trick to get the name of a cardby the impression or carbon method.

The piles are assembled by the spectator in any order that he likes, but you see thateach pile is picked up complete. The chosen card will be that one which isbetween two hearts. You spread the pack out on the table being careful to haveevery card showing. Tell the spectator that you will run your forefinger over theline of cards and that when it comes over his card he is to think, "STOP! That ismy card!" You do this rather slowly, beginning with the top card of the pack andmentally count till you come to the chosen card, but do not stop, simply make amental note of the card and the number and continue to the end of the line.

Reproach your assistant for not having concentrated on his card and make himadmit that he really didn't think you could read his mind. Gather up the deck andlay it aside for the moment. Take his hand and tell him to make a mental picture ofthe card. Then you name it in the usual hesitating manner. Compliment him on hissuccess and hand the pack to him. Tell him you will turn your back while he dealsthe cards slowly, face down. You turn away and as he deals, you count; when thenumber is reach at which the card was in the line you call, "STOP! That is yourcard!" He turns it face up and finds it is his card. The slip is taken from his pocketand the card is verified.

CHAPTER III: The Nail or Pin Marking Principle

Thought Card Discovered

Beforehand, place a small black pin in the lower edge of your vest. Introduce thetrick by having a deck shuffled freely by one spectator and ask another spectator tothink of a card. Hand the deck to him and have him remove the card thought ofand put it face down on the table. Over it he is to spread his handkerchief so thatyou cannot possibly get a glimpse of its face.

While this is being done, get the pin between the tips of your second and thirdfingers, right hand, point downwards. Put this hand on top of the card, which isstill covered with the handkerchief and your left hand on top of your right. Invitethe spectator to place his hands on yours, explaining that you cannot do a thoughtreading trick without contact with the medium. Under cover of this arrangementpush the pin into the top right hand corner of the card, making a tiny raised spot onthe face of the card, invisible to any one not looking for it, but easily found by thetip of your second finger when dealing the cards.

Having done this, ask the spectator to take the pack, insert the card in it andshuffle freely. Meantime you drop the pin on the carpet unperceived. When he issatisfied that his card, (though lost to sight, to memory clear), take the deck anddeal face up, asking him to keep his mind intently on his card but to make no signwhen it appears. When your finger-tip tells you, you hold the thought card, notewhat it is but continue the deal with no change of pace. Having dealt the wholepack without finding the card, accuse the subject of having let his mind wanderfrom the matter in hand. You insist that the experiment is a genuine one, tell himyou will try again and that if he will cooperate with you, success will be assured.Let him again shuffle the cards.

Spread the cards face up in a wide row. Grasp his left hand with your left andsweep your right hand over the cards. Drop it dramatically on his card. He willthen probably be inclined to think that there really is something in this telepathicbusiness after all.

A Test Discovery

For this mysterious trick an unprepared deck shuffled by anyone may be used.Make the most of this by having the cards shuffled by several spectators. Whenyou take the cards back, ask the audience to select someone to help you to avoidall suspicion of confederacy. This diversion will give you ample time to mark thelower right hand corner of the top card by pressing it between the ball of your rightthumb above and the nail of the second finger below. The little hump that resultscan readily be detected when you deal the cards later. Lay the pack on the table.

Ask the subject to come forward and instruct him thus: first, he is to think of anynumber between one and twenty, then he is to deal that number of cards on thetable, take any card he pleases from those remaining in his hands, commit it tomemory, and put it on top of the cards dealt. Shuffle the remaining cards and dropthem on top of the other packet. While he deals, you move around casually, butyou care fully note the number of cards dealt. To further convince everyone thathis card is now lost, let him cut the deck several times, making complete cuts.Then deal the cards, one by one, into two equal piles, put the heap on which thelast card fell on top of the other one, make another complete cut and finally squarethe cards.

Now, take up the pack and as you deal them face up, go over what has been done,enlarging on the fact that not once did you touch the cards and the impossibility offinding the card in any other way than by having it named and searching the packfor it. In the meantime you are feeling each card, as you deal it, for the hump onthe corner of the original top card. When you reach this card deal it on the others,then pick up all the cards dealt, turn them face down and place them under thecards in your hands, then put the pack down. You say that your subject'ssubconscious mind kept track of the wanderings of the chosen card throughout thenumerous shuffles, cuts and deals and that it will be possible for you to find it bymaking contact with his subconscious mind. Grip his hand and urge him todismiss all thought of the card from his conscious mind; he is simply to make hismind a blank.

After a moment or two, announce dramatically that the card lies at a certainnumber from the top of the deck. The subject deals to that number and turns up hiscard.

The simple rule to determine the position of the card is this. If the subject dealt aneven number of cards before looking at one, divide that number by two and theresulting figure will denote the position of the card from your key card. If,however, he dealt an odd number, say, seventeen, divide it as nearly as possible inhalf, thus 9 - 8. To the larger figure add 26, one-half the cards in the pack, and thetotal, in this case, 35, will give the position of the card. Be careful to have a

complete deck, then if the various steps are carried out correctly the experimentcannot fail and will remain a mystery, even to magicians who do not know theprinciple.

An Envelope Mystery

In this effective experiment, three cards are selected and sealed in envelopes bythe spectators. They concentrate on their cards and you read their thoughtscorrectly.

Any three envelopes are used and you hand them to different people. The first oneyou don't interfere with, on the second one make a mark by pressing the top righthand corner between the ball of the right thumb above and the nail of the secondfinger below, and on the third envelope make two marks in the same way. Do notpress heavily, a very slight lump can be readily detected by the right thumb whenthe envelopes are returned.

Force three cards by any of the numerous methods and, if possible, use a differentmethod for each card. The first card is taken by the person who holds theunmarked envelope, the second goes to the person having the envelope with onemark on it and the third to the holder of the one with two marks. Each is told tomemorize his card, place it in his envelope and close the flap securely. With asmuch fuss as possible, have a blindfold tied over your eyes. Any one of theenvelopes is handed to you and you put it to your forehead, holding it by the endswith both hands. You know at once which envelope it is and therefore what card isin it and you build up the effect by asking the person to concentrate on his card, toimagine he sees a large picture of it on the wall, and so on. Act as if the necessaryinformation comes to you by degrees, make a mistake in the number of spots, orthe suit, then correct yourself. In short, act the part as you think it would be playedif mind reading were a fact, Open the envelope, tearing off the marked end,remove the card and show it. Repeat with the other two.

A Variation

In a variation of the preceding trick, you mark nine envelopes thus: the first with apin prick at the top left hand corner, the second at the middle of the top edge, thethird at the top of the right hand corner, the fourth at the middle of the left side, thefifth in the middle of the envelope, the sixth at the middle of the right hand side,the seventh at the lower left corner, the eighth at the middle of the lower edge andthe last at the lower right hand corner. It will require no great effort to identifyeach envelope by feeling the little lump on each with the ball of the thumb. Placethem in order, one to nine, on top of the original package of envelopes, and keepthe paper band around it intact.

You have a deck which has been arranged in a certain order according to aformula that is familiar to you. False shuffle the cards and have several completecuts made by spectators. Put the pack on the table and let a subject cut it where hepleases, lay the cut portion aside and take the top card of the remainder. Instruct

him to memorize the card and put it in an envelope giving him the top envelope ofthe package. He puts his card inside, closes the envelope and puts it in his pocket.Follow the same procedure with eight other spectators, making sure that the cardsgo into the marked envelopes in their proper order.

While this is being done you have ample time to get a secret glimpse of the bottomcard of the portion cut off and this gives you the necessary clue to the cards in theenvelopes. You request a spectator to blindfold you in any way he wishes, tosatisfy himself that you cannot possibly see a thing. Then the envelopes arehanded to you in any order and you hold each one to your forehead with bothhands. Do not be in a hurry and don't make any obvious feeling movements withyour thumbs. Each thumb will be in position to feel a mark on the edges of theenvelope in hand. If there is no mark there, remove the envelope from yourforehead for a moment, saying that you cannot get any impression. Take a freshgrip, bringing your thumb over the middle of the envelope and find the mark asyou raise it to your forehead once more.

Take out each card as read, and show it, crumple up the envelopes and toss themaside.

CHAPTER IV: The Prearranged Pack Principle

Method of Changing Packs

Many of the best mind reading effects are obtained by having the cards arranged ina set order which is memorized by the performer. There are two systems in generaluse, the "Eight Kings Threatened To Save, 8-K-3-10-2-7", etc., and the SiStebbins system. Full details of these are given in various text books on magic. Athird system which is far in advance of either of the aforementioned is the NicolaSystem which is fully explained in Nicola's book. This system has manyadvantages over the others and is strongly recommended to the student. Butwhichever arrangement is used, in order to get the best effect, a deck with thesame back pattern should be first introduced and freely handled and shuffled bythe spectators, then later this deck should be secretly exchanged for the set-uppack. There are many ways of doing this imperceptibly, a good one being thefollowing in which the switch is made during the execution of a good trick, inwhich you apparently name the card at any number of a shuffled pack.

You have the prearranged pack in your upper right vest pocket. The other deckwith similar back pattern having been shuffled by a spectator, put it in your insidecoat pocket. Invite someone to call any small number, and instantly you name thetop card of the set-up deck in the vest pocket. Draw cards from your coat pocket,one by one, up to one less than the number called, then take out the top card of thedeck in the vest pocket, but in doing this, insert the fingers in your coat pocket sothat the bulge in the cloth outside is visible to the spectators, and draw up the vestpocket card with the thumb.

Produce three cards in this manner, laying them aside face up in a pile and keepthe cards from the other deck in a separate heap. Finally pick up this pile with your

left hand and take out the balance of the deck from the coat pocket. At least, that iswhat you appear to do, really you drop the cards you have just picked up into yourcoat pocket and bring out the prearranged pack from your vest pocket. Drop thison the three cards left on the table and you have not only done a very effectivemental trick, but you have imperceptibly switched the packs and you are ready toproceed with any effect for which the set-up is necessary.

The free preliminary shuffling of the ordinary deck by members of the audiencewill make it unlikely that any spectator will want to shuffle the cards again. This isa point which should never be neglected when using a set-up pack.

Partial Set-ups

Mephisto's Message

Arrange sixteen cards of mixed suits on the top of the deck thus: 3, 2, court card,5, 2, court card, 5, 3, court card, 5, 3, 2, 5, 3, 2, court card, and note the twelfthcard from the bottom of the pack.

To present the trick, write the name of the twelfth card on a slip of paper and sealit in an envelope. Let a spectator initial this on the outside and put it in his pocket.Ask another person to cut the deck as nearly as possible in half and hand him thelower portion to deal and count, to test his accuracy. No matter what the numbermay be, you say it is near enough. Counting has reversed the order of these cardsand the noted card is now twelfth from the top. Slip a rubber band around thepacket and let someone hold it.

From the upper packet ask someone else (always have as many of the audienceparticipate in these effects as possible), to deal off sixteen cards in four piles.Owing to the arrangement, it will make no difference whether he deals the cards asin dealing hands for a poker game, or each pile of four separately, the total of thespots of any pile will amount to twelve. Count the court cards as two, the actualnumber of their spots. Any pile is now chosen and while the spots are beingcounted pick up the other three heaps, drop them on the pack and shuffle the cards.

Ask the spectator holding the banded packet to deal to the twelfth card and turn itup. Your prediction is taken out and read aloud. It names that very card.

Thought Card to Pocket

To prepare for this fine effect, take the following cards of different suits: 2, 3, 5, 7,8, 9, jack and king, and, from another pack with similar backs, pick out theduplicates of these cards. Place one of these duplicate cards in each of yourpockets with the exception of your inside coat pocket. Memorize the position ofeach card. The best way to do this is to put the two in your right coat pocket, thethree in your right trousers pocket, five in lower right vest pocket, seven in theupper right vest pocket and so on in order, the king going into your left trouserspocket. A few minutes practice will enable you to find the right pocket the

moment a card is named. Shuffle the other set of eight cards and drop them on thetop of the deck.

To present the trick, take the deck and cut at about the middle, but keep the tip ofyour left little finger between the packets. Hold the deck up to a spectator andspread the eight cards below your little finger tip before his eyes asking him tomentally select a card. Cover the bottom card with your left hand and do notexpose the faces of any cards but the duplicate eight. Close up the deck, but keepyour little finger in position above the eight cards, and turn away as the spectatorwrites the name of his card on a slip of paper.

Quietly, and without moving your elbows, cut the pack at the little finger break,palm off and put the eight cards in your breast pocket. When the spectator is readytell him to fold the slip, put it in the middle of the pack and place both in the cardcase. After a few moments of patter about the power of thought transmission, etc.,let someone take the cards from the case, read out the name on the slip and thensearch the pack for the card. Of course it has disappeared (along with all the othersfrom which a choice was made, but no one else knows that). You take the cardtriumphantly from your pocket and throw it down proving that you read his verythoughts. Take the first opportunity of removing this duplicate card from the deckand replacing the eight from your breast pocket.

Finding a Number

Beforehand, you have placed on the top of your pack fourteen cards of mixed suitsrunning thus: joker, ace, then spot cards from two to ten in sequence, jack, queen,king. False shuffle the deck and deal off fourteen cards, thus reversing the order,which will run from the king down to the ace, the joker being the fourteenth card.

Invite a spectator to cut the dealt packet and see that the cut is completed. Thismay be done as often as desired. Finally cut yourself and note the bottom card asyou do so. The number of spots on it, or if it is a court card, its numerical value,jack 11, queen 12, king 13, will be your key. Suppose you have cut a four to thebottom. Instruct a spectator to think of any number between one and fourteen, thento take cards, one by one, from the bottom of the packet and place them on the topto the number he has mentally chosen. When he has done this, the fourth card willgive you by its spots the number of cards moved,

The trick may be repeated any number of times so long as the sequence ismaintained. Add the value of the last key card to its position in the packet and youget the key to the next operation. In the case just given, suppose the fourth card isa six, add six to four and you know that the tenth card will denote whatevernumber of cards the spectator moves next. If none are moved, the joker turns up.When a total of over fourteen is reached, subtract fourteen, the remainder will bethe new key. If the total is fourteen, secretly sight the bottom card and you canthen read the spectator's mind without first turning a card. If total is fifteen, get aglimpse of the top card and do the same.

In presenting the trick, you turn your back while the cards are being moved, and

have the subject put the packet on the table before you turn around. Take no noticeof the cards for the moment.

Tell the spectator to concentrate on his number, hold his hand, or place your handon his forehead, or go through any other routine you use in pretending to read hismind. Then confidently announce that you have read the number. To prove theassertion, take the packet, remove the key card without looking at the faces of thecards, and lay it face down on the table. The subject names his number and thecard is turned revealing the same number of spots.

Be careful to replace the key card in its proper place in the sequence.

Mental Spelling

Arrange three sets of five cards as follows :-10C..9C..4H..3S..9D -AC..6S..KH..7S..JD-6C..AH..JS..QH..4D, and put them on the top of your pack.The first card of each group is spelled with ten letters thus-T E N 0 F C L U B S ,the next with eleven, and so on, each card taking one more letter. The spelling isuniform the word "of" being used in each case.

To present the trick, take off three packets with seeming nonchalance, but beingcareful to have exactly five cards in each, and lay them on the table withoutdisturbing their order. Ask a spectator to take any one of the heaps and mentallynote one card. Drop his cards on top of the pack, then take up the other two handsand put them on top of all. Any one of the five cards from which a mentalselection was made, is now in the right position to be spelled in the usual way, onecard being dealt for each letter, after which the next card is turned up.

As soon as the three sets have been put on top of the deck, a false shuffle shouldbe made. An easy one is this. Lift the lower half of the deck with your right handin the usual way for beginning an overhand shuffle. Slide the first card of thisportion off with your left thumb so that it will project a little at the back of thecards in your left hand, that is, inwards, towards your body. Shuffle off the rest ofthe cards in your right hand freely on top of this, then pick up the cards under theprojecting card and drop them on top. Your set-up cards are again on the top. Laythe pack down. Instruct your subject to set his mind on his card and proceed withyour pretense of mind reading, hold his hand to your forehead, read his pulse, anyrigmarole you choose, but do it seriously. Announce that you have received animpression and that you will place the card in such a position as to provepositively that you have read his mind.

Take the pack and shuffle it, repeating the false shuffle just described, and executeseveral false cuts if you can. Then hand the cards to the spectator. Let him namethe card he thought of and spell it out, dealing a card for each letter. The cardfollowing the last letter is turned and proves to be the very card he mentallyselected.

Set-up of Full Pack

Reading any Card Called For

Place a prearranged pack in your inside coat pocket. With the duplicateunprepared deck force the thought of a card by one of the methods explained onPage 8 and hand the deck out to be freely shuffled. Take it back and pretend to putit in your inside coat breast pocket. In reality, you turn your right side to the frontand under cover of your coat put the deck in your upper right vest pocket. Press ithome with your thumb and insert your fingers in the inside coat breast pocket,pressing slightly outwards so that the bulge in the cloth outside is seen by thespectators, convincing them that the pack is really put in that pocket.

Draw out the arranged cards one by one, impressing on your subject that he mustthink intently of his thought card. Hesitate whenever you produce a card similar tohis, one with the same number of spots but of a different suit, and so on, andfinally bring out the card itself, or really its duplicate. Let the spectator name hiscard and then turn over the card you hold.

In placing the cards down as you take them from your pocket lay them face up,one on the other, so that the pack remains in perfect order for any furtherdemonstration. It will be noted that this trick provides for another switch by meansof which you get possession of a new set-up deck while doing a trick.

Locating a Page and Word by Cards

For this trick the best set up is the "Eight-Kings" formula, but you omit the courtcards. The spot cards will run thus:-8, 3, 10, 2, 7, 9, 5, 4, 1, 6- repeated four times.Mix the suits freely and place the court cards at the bottom of the deck.

If the spot cards are cut for the choice of three cards there are only tencombinations possible as follows:

8-3-10 - 3-10-2 - 10-2-7 - 2-7-9 - 7-9-5 - 9-5-4 - 5-4-1 - 4-1-6 - 1-6-8 - 6-8-3.

Take the total of each group of figures to represent a page and the highest of thethree figures to denote a word and make up a list of ten pages and words from abook or a magazine. Write each word and page opposite its group of figures on asmall card and put this in your pocket.

To present the trick you take the deck, set up as above, from its case, divide it atthe bottom spot card and riffle shuffle, running the court cards in amongst the spotcards. Then saying that you are about to have some numbers chosen by purechance, you run through the pack and discard the court cards, putting them aside.Cut the spot cards several times.

Then have a spectator cut the pile and take the next three cards. You sight thebottom card of the packet cut off the one just over the three selected and at onceyou know what the three cards chosen are. Tell the subject to add the spots of thethree cards and to note the number of spots on the highest card, then taking thefirst to represent a page and the second a word on that page, hand him the book so

that he can look up both and impress them on his mind. While he does this, youhave all the time you need to palm your list and note the page and word oppositethe combination that has happened to be cut. Then, with much effort, youannounce the word and the page in the usual fashion.

Clairvoyant Reading of Several Cards

Having successfully switched the deck for the one set up, you make a false shuffleand have it cut several times by spectators. Invite some one to divide it into asmany heaps as he wishes by lifting off a packet and putting it to the right, an otherpacket to the right of that, and so on. One packet is then chosen by the spectatorand is covered with his handkerchief. Lift this packet and while wrapping thefabric round it rather tightly you are enabled to read the denomination of thebottom card. Put the parcel in the spectator's pocket.

As you gather up the other piles glance secretly at the bottom card of that whichwas to the right of the one chosen. The card following this in your formula will bethe top card of the chosen packet. You already know the bottom card so that youare now in a position to name all the cards in the packet and tell how many cards itcontains. A better procedure is to have yourself blindfolded. Request the subject totake the parcel from his pocket, take out the cards and look at the top card,concentrating his thought on it. You "read" the card in the usual fashion. Let himturn the packet over and mentally transmit the bottom card to you. He "succeeds"is doing this, and you now tell the name of the card. Next, ask him to count downto the fifth, or any other number and you read that one too.

Finally ask him to count the cards in his packet and send you the number mentally.Of course you get it and you congratulate him on his great powers ofconcentration.

A Startling Experiment

In this trick, there is no need to introduce the arranged pack by making a switch.Simply take the pack from its case, false shuffle and cut several times, hand thedeck to a spectator, asking him to cut. Then say casually, "Give the cards ashuffle," indicating with your hands the motions of an overhand shuffle.

As soon as he has made a few moves of an overhand shuffle, say, "That's fine.Now put the cards on my left hand and cut anywhere you please." He does this andremoves the top card of the packet remaining in your hand. Take the cut portionfrom him and complete the cut. Give him the deck, tilting the rear end upwards alittle as you do so and so getting a glimpse of the bottom card. The card he hastaken is the one following this in your formula.

The spectator pushes his card into the deck anywhere he wishes, squares the packand hands it back to you. After the usual by-play, you read his thoughts and namethe card. The trick depends on the fact that you allowed the subject to make apartial shuffle only, by which the greater number of the cards would still be left in

their set-up order, so that the odds are greatly in your favor. If, by mischance, thetrick fails, lay the blame on your subject, accusing him of not having set his mindon the card and try again with practical certainty of success.

The principle has just been "discovered" by some of the alleged master

minds of mystery, but it is probably as old as the pre-arranged deck itself. Robert-Houdin, who flourished just about a century ago, enlarges upon it in one of hisbooks and further says that gamblers, even in those days, made great use ofarranged packs, thus increasing the odds in their favor, since after very thoroughshuffling some of the cards will remain in sequence.

Novel Card Reading

After having executed several false shuffles and cuts, place the pack behind yourback. Push the cards off slowly and allow a spectator to take any one that hepleases. As soon as he removes a card, slip the tip of your left little finger on topof the next card as you turn to face him. Keeping the pack behind your back, cutthe pack at the break and palm the top card in your right hand. That card will bethe one following the card chosen.

Instruct the spectator to note what his card is, then to place it against his foreheadand fix his mind steadily on it. As you say this, bring your right hand forward witha natural and appropriate gesture towards his head and thus bring the palmed carddirectly into your line of sight. Note what card it is, drop your hand behind yourback and replace the palmed card on the pack.

Proceed with your pretense of reading your subject's mind by naming his card withas much dramatic by-play as you can command.

CHAPTER V: Various Presentations of the One Way Deck Principle

In certain popular brands of playing cards, there are irregularities in the patterns ofthe back at each end of the cards. In some instances the margins are narrower atone end of pack. If such a pack is arranged with the exactly similar ends allpointing one way, then if a card is turned end for end and the deck mixed, thatcard can be picked out with ease and certainty, merely by a scrutiny of the backs.

Even when the difference in the markings is minute, so minute as to be invisible tothe uninitiated, any one knowing what to look for has no difficulty in finding areversed card by glancing at the backs. This principle is the basis of some of thebest effects of the so-called mental feats. Perhaps the most useful pack for thispurpose is the brand known as League Bicycle Cards No. 808. In the center of theback pattern there is a circle and in the circle a winged design made up of threewings. When the cards are held in one way the center wing will face to the righthand side, but when a card is reversed the center wing faces to the left. Themarking is so bold that it can be detected at a distance of fifteen to twenty feet ifyou know of it and look for it, but the difference will never be noticed by the

uninitiated.

Take a pack of this brand and set the cards with the pointers all one way. Let aspectator shuffle them, then offer the pack for a free choice. Reverse the pack andhave him push the card in at any point and shuffle again. Under the pretense ofshowing him that his card is still in the pack, hold the cards upright before his eyesand run them over, faces towards him, and count them to yourself as you do so.When you come to the reversed card, bend the lower left corner up and read theindex, making a mental note of it and the number at which the card stands.Continue to run the cards to the last one. Ask him if he has seen his card and heassents.

Lay the pack down and have him blindfold you. He then deals the cards face downand when he reaches the number you noted you call, "STOP! That card is yours!"He turns over the card and it proves to be his card.

One of the best ways of applying this principle is this. Having set the cards all oneway, you hand the pack to a spectator to shuffle. Instruct him then to fan the cardswith their faces toward himself, take out one card and lay it face down on thetable. He is then to shuffle the pack again, replace his card and again shuffle. Lethim then hold the pack upright in his left hand, faces towards himself, and takethem off, one by one, with his right hand, removing each one to a distance ofabout six inches. When he arrives at his card, you tell him he is to merely think,"STOP! This is my card!" You impress on him that he must be careful to make nooutward indication of the identity of the card. By the aid of your greatly developed"mental powers", you stop him when you see he has taken the reversed card. Thestrong point of the feat is the fact that from first to last you do not touch the card.

A similar feat can be done with two people and again you do not touch the cards.With the cards all set the one way, let one person offer the deck to a secondspectator, who draws a card. The first turns his back and the second replaces thecard in the deck. In the action, the deck is automatically reversed, so that you canget the chosen card at your pleasure and reveal it in any way you please.

Here is another subtle way of utilizing this principle. The pointers being set all theone way, have the pack shuffled by a spectator. Take it back and, by way ofillustrating what you want him to do, deal out a row of four cards face down, thena second four on top of these so that you have four piles of two cards each. Spreadthe rest of the cards fanwise in your left hand from left to right to show how wellmixed they are and close the fan by placing your right hand on the left side of thefan and pushing the cards all the way around to the right, thus reversing the cards.Take the deck thus in your right hand. Push two of the piles on the table togetherwith your left hand and drop the pack on them. With your right hand pick up theother two packets and place them on top. You will thus have four cards on the topand four cards on the bottom with the pointers reversed.

Hand the pack to the spectator to deal four piles as directed and it follows thatthere will be a reversed card at the top and bottom of each heap. You turn yourback and tell him to take a card from the middle of any heap, place it on the top ofany other heap, reassemble the heaps in any order he pleases and shuffle the deck.

His card will then be the only card that is between two reversed cards.

You can sight it by spreading the cards in a wide fan upright, faces to thespectator, showing him that the card is still in the deck, and turn back the lowerleft corner to read the index. Or you may run the card to the bottom in shufflingand get a glimpse of it in laying the pack on the table. Then read the spectator'sthoughts by naming the card in the usual way.

There are many ways in which this principle can be utilized and the foregoingshould be looked upon merely as a basis on which to work out your owncombinations.

CHAPTER VI: Tricks with Assistant as the Medium

FIRST METHOD

The usual method of presentation is to have the medium blindfolded and seated,with back to the audience, as far away from the performer as the room will permit.Cards are selected by the spectators and the medium names them correctly. Thereare several ways by which the trick can be done. One of the simplest and mosteffective is for the medium to have memorized six or eight cards as in the 8-King-3-10 arrangement. These cards in the order as memorized, the performer has in hispocket. At a favorable opportunity, they are added to the pack and forced onvarious members of the audience. The medium then calls the cards in the usualpiecemeal fashion.

A more subtle procedure is this. You false shuffle a prearranged deck and youhave it cut by several spectators. Then have a card freely selected by one of theaudience. As the card is taken, separate the cards a little at that point, a packet ineach hand. In putting them together again slide the top card of the lower packet tothe top of the upper. Repeat this operation four times with the final result that onthe top of the packet you have five cards to cue the medium as to the identity ofthe cards drawn. You turn your back, asking those who selected cards to hold themup for all to see them, and you slip the five top cards into your pocket. Then leteach person replace his card and shuffle the deck.

While this is being done you introduce the medium who is blind-folded and seatedwith back to audience. You have ample cover to quietly slip the five cards to themedium, who then proceeds to name the selected cards. To do this in their properorder the medium holds the five cards face up and names the cards preceding themin the prearrangement. The blindfold causes no trouble since the cards can easilybe seen by looking down the nose.

SECOND METHOD

In your right trousers pocket, place a two or a four of any suit from the pack to beused and also a stub of a soft pencil or a pencil thumb tip obtainable at all magicalsupply houses. These cards are the best for the trick on account of the large

proportion of surface not covered by the spots.

You have the pack thoroughly shuffled and allow three or four persons to selectcards while the pack is in their own hands. You see what these cards are andremember them. Take the pack, get a glimpse of the bottom card and force it onsome other person, and you tell him to put the card in his pocket without lookingat it.

The other cards chosen are now returned to the pack by the spectators themselvesand they each shuffle the deck. While this is being done, write the names of thecards, in short form, on the card in your pocket thus, J S, A H, 10C, and so on,writing the forced card last of all. The card in the pocket should, of course, faceoutwards. As soon as you have done this, turn the card over in your pocket andpalm it. Take the deck back and add the palmed card to it on top.

The medium may be seated as far away as possible, with his back to the audience,or in an adjoining room. The pack is taken to him by one of the audience and allhe has to do is to read the names on the top card and pick the cards out one by one,naming them as he does so in the usual way. For the last card, the forced card, youhave the spectator take it from his pocket, look at it without allowing anyone elseto see it, and then hold it face down. The medium names it correctly.

The pack is returned to the audience and, since the medium has pocketed themessage card, there is no clue left to the mystery.

CHAPTER VII: Codes for Mind Reading with Cards

Talking Codes

First Method

For this code, it is necessary first to memorize the letter-number system as set outbelow. This is a very easy matter since the letters chosen can easily be associatedwith the numerals they represent, thus 1 has one stroke, n two, m three, r is the lastletter of the word four, and so on. The value of the card to be transmitted isindicated by the first letter of the first word in the phrase spoken. This is soworded that you may address it to the spectator. Thus your do not appear tocommunicate with the medium at all. The presentation is this. Introduce themedium and blindfold her (have a lady assistant if possible). Let the spectatorsshuffle the cards, then taking the pack, spread the cards face up before a spectatorand ask that a card be merely touched. Suppose, for instance, that it is the five ofclubs. You say to the person, "Put your finger on the card and fix your mind onthat card only." Again to signal the jack of spades, you would say to the spectator,"Allow me, finger on the card, please." For the king of diamonds simply saynothing at all.

CODE

Second Method

This is an improvement on the foregoing method in as much as a good part of thesignaling is done simply by silence on the part of the transmitter. The code words

Letter Value Signal Phrase

I 1 "Let your mind concentrate."

N 2 "Now concentrate."

M 3 "May I ask you to concentrate?"

R 4 "Are you ready to concentrate?"

F - V 5 "Fix your mind on the card."

B - P 6 "Please, concentrate."

T - D 7 "Tell the medium to name your card."

Ch - J 8 "Just concentrate."

K - G 9 "Kindly concentrate."

S - Z 10 "See if you can concentrate."

Jack 11 "Allow me."

Queen 12 "Please, let your mind concentrate."

King 13 Silence

Suit Phrase

Clubs "Put your finger on the card."

Hearts "Place your finger on the card."

Spades "Finger on the card."

Diamonds Silence

are addressed to the spectator but to shorten the signals required, the cards aredivided into groups of three as follows:

For example, suppose the spectator picked up a five, the words, "THANK YOU,"conveys to the medium that a card of the second group has been taken, that is, afour, five or six. Again, "THANK YOU VERY MUCH," would signal a card ofthe fourth group, a ten, Jack or Queen.

To signal which card of a group has been taken, the following signal phrases areused:

First: "Concentrate on it."

Second: "Concentrate on the card."

Third: "Concentrate on your card."

Example:-Suppose the card to be a SIX. This would be transmitted as follows:"THANK YOU. CONCENTRATE ON YOUR CARD."

SUITS:

Clubs: No code word

Hearts: Insert the word PLEASE

Spades: Use the word PLEASE at the end of the last sentence.

Diamonds: Prefix the word NOW

For instance the FIVE of CLUBS signal would be, "THANK YOU.CONCENTRATE ON THE CARD."

So the expression, "THANK YOU. PLEASE CONCENTRATE ON IT," wouldconvey the FOUR of HEARTS.

Values Signal Phrase

Ace, Two, Three No code word

Four, Five, Six "Thank you."

Seven, Eight, Nine "Thank you, sir (or madam)."

Ten, Jack, Queen "Thank you very much."

The expression, "THANK YOU VERY MUCH. CONCENTRATE ON YOURCARD PLEASE," would indicate the QUEEN of SPADES.

For instance, "THANK YOU SIR. NOW CONCENTRATE ON THE CARD,"tells the medium that the card is the EIGHT of DIAMONDS.

For the KINGS use these sentences:

KC: "Ask the medium to name your card."

KH: "Please, ask the medium to name your card."

KS: "Ask the medium to name your card, please."

KD: "Now ask the medium to name your card."

It should be clearly understood that for the group of the first three values, ace, twoand three, only the position and suit signals are required, thus-Ace of Clubs,"CONCENTRATE ON IT." Two of Hearts, "PLEASE CONCENTRATE ONTHE CARD." Three of Diamonds, "NOW, CONCENTRATE ON YOURCARD."

These codes are simple and easily learned, but they must be well rehearsed, so thatthe necessary sentences come readily from the transmitter's tongue, as if spokencasually to the spectator. The medium, on the other hand will naturally give outthe names hesitatingly and with effort, as if the information were coming to her bydegrees.

Silent Codes

Method One

An easy and effective code is one in which the signals are given by the direction inwhich you glance. The basis of this is the old principle that, with the numbers 1, 2,4, 8, any number up to 13 can be made up. The application of the principle to thesignaling of cards is as follows:

For the suits -

Glance to the left signals-Clubs.Glance over medium's head signals-Hearts.Glance to the right signals-Spades.Glance downward signals-Diamonds.

For the values of cards, hold the pack spread in a wide fan.

Glance at the left end signals - 1.

Glance at the center signals - 2.Glance at the right end signals - 4.Glance at the spectator signals - 8.

For instance, you present the cards to a spectator, fanned out widely and facesupwards. He takes one, say, the five of hearts, and you turn towards your medium,keeping the cards fanned with their backs towards him. You glance at the right endof the fan, then to the left end signaling "five", then gaze directly over themedium's head, signaling "Hearts".

Method Two

The elements of this second method are even simpler than those of the precedingmethod. The signals are sent by the manner in which the cards are shuffled. Thusthe code for the suits is -

Clubs-one riffle shuffle.Hearts-two riffle shuffles.Spades-three riffle shuffles.Diamonds-no riffle shuffle.

To signal the values of the cards-Shuffle by the overhand method, run, that is, pulloff with the left hand, single cards, to the value to be signaled, then finish theshuffle in the ordinary way. Medium takes note of the first overhand shuffle only.

Example:-to signal the eight of spades, run eight cards sharply and shuffle off.Riffle three times.

The chosen cards must be sighted. The easiest way to do this is to spread the cardsupright before the spectator and have him choose a card by simply touching itsface. You turn up the lower left corner of the card and read the index. The action iscompletely under cover. Or you may spring the cards from your right hand intoyour left. When a spectator calls, "Stop!" raise the right hand showing him the faceof the next card. Keep the packet bent a little and you can read the lower left indexwith a quick glance.

A very good finish to this method of presentation is to have half-a-dozen cards setup in an order known to the medium and yourself in your pocket. Have the deckagain shuffled by a spectator and palm the set-up packet. Receive the deck on thepalm of your left hand, have it cut by the spectator and, in picking up the lowerportion, add the palmed packet. Hand these cards out to various members of theaudience and the medium rapidly calls out their names.

Silent Code for Confederate

The use of confederates or "plants" by a professional magician is a subterfuge heconsiders beneath contempt. However, for the amateur entertaining his friends,such "jokes" are permissible. A very good code is the following, made by finger

signals. To use it, you have a friend sitting in the front row in your back parlortheater who has been rehearsed in the signals and who keeps his hands on hisknees or in plain sight. Let a spectator shuffle the deck thoroughly and return it toyou. Holding it behind your back, allow a spectator to choose any card he pleases.He holds it up for everyone to see, then pushes it back and shuffles the cards. Yourconfederate who has seen the card then signals suit and value to you in thefollowing manner:-

Suits by left hand-

First finger extended-signals clubs.Two fingers extended-signals hearts.Three fingers extended-signals spades.Four fingers extended-signals diamonds.

Values by right hand- Divide the cards into three sets, A, 2, 3, 4-5, 6, 7, 8-9, 10,J, Q.

First finger extended-signals first card of set (i.e.: A, 5 or 9).Two fingers extended-signals second card of set (i.e.: 2, 6, or 10).Three fingers extended-signals third card of set (i.e.: 3, 7, or J).Four fingers extended-signals fourth card of set (i.e.: 4, 8. or Q).

The thumb signals the set thus-

Bent under the fingers-signals first set.Pressed against the fingers-signals second set.Spread apart-signals third set.Right hand fisted-signals a king.

Example -ten of hearts:

Left hand-two fingers extended.

Right hand-two fingers extended, thumb spread apart.

The code is so simple that you could impart it to an obliging friend with tenminutes training and proceed at once to "fool", using the word in its propersignificance, the rest of the gathering.

CHAPTER VIII: Forcing Decks

Some performers pretend to look down upon the use of forcing decks, yet the verysame artists will use a shell when manipulating billiard balls without compunction.This seems to be rather foolish. Any method is legitimate, except confederacy.The use of a forcing deck will some times greatly strengthen the effect but youshould have arranged in advance a method for changing the deck for an ordinaryone at the conclusion of the trick. Boldly done, the following trick will illustratethe effect that may be obtained by the use of a forcing deck.

You need a forcing deck which has one indifferent card at the top and anotherindifferent card at the bottom. This is in its case, lying on the table. In your insidecoat pocket have a deck with the same back pattern, its top card being the same asthe cards making up the forcing deck.

To present the trick, take the forcing deck from its case and riffle shuffle it severaltimes without disturbing the top and bottom cards and handle the shuffles so thatthe faces of the cards are not exposed to the audience. Square the cards carefullyand ask any spectator to come forward, cut the deck at any point, look at thebottom card of the cut portion and impress that card on his mind, replace the cutand square the deck carefully. You illustrate this by cutting the cards severaltimes, carefully holding the cut-away from the spectators, and calling the name ofa different card each time. Square the deck and turn away. The spectator cuts thecards, notes the bottom one, replaces the cut and he also squares the deck.

You turn and pick up the deck. Explain to your subject that he must make a mentalpicture of his card and keep his mind on it. For instance, you say, as you turn thebottom card of the deck towards him, "Had your card been the . . (name bottomcard) you would imagine you see a large picture of it on the wall there. Or if youhad chanced to pick out the - (show top card) you would do the same with it. Themore clearly you visualize the card you have in mind, the more likely will be mysuccess. My part is purely passive." The naming of different cards as you cut, andthe actual showing of the top and bottom card, will tend to eliminate the idea offorcing cards even with those who may know of the principle.

Riffle shuffle the deck and place it in your inside breast coat pocket, really puttingit in your upper vest pocket, as has been explained previously. Pretending greatmental effort, you draw out the top card and lay it face down on the table. Takeout the ordinary deck and hand it to the spectator, asking him to go through it andcertify that his card is no longer there. He finds that that is so. You ask him to callits name. You turn the card on the table and so give proof positive that you have"read his mind."

CHAPTER IX: The Marked Card Principle

A method of marking a card with the finger nail or a pin has already beenexplained. An elaboration of this principle is to have the back of each card markedso that its suit and value can be read as easily as if the card were face up. There areseveral different makes of such cards, the patterns on the backs of which designatethe names by slight variations in the positions or coloring of certain dots or lines.

A wonderful example of the ingenuity employed in designing such tell-tale backpatterns is the pack known as DeLand's Dollar Deck. When these cards are set upin the Si Stebbins order, the back pattern not only signals the name of the carditself, but also the relative positions of every other card. Thus, by reading the topcard, you are enabled to tell exactly at what number any other card lies, or, anumber being called, you can name the card at that number. With this pack, a keycard with a dial and pointer system is furnished, and with this in the medium'spossession, and the top card of the deck having been signaled to him, he can at

once name the card at any number in the deck, tell at what number any card calledfor lies, the number of cards cut by a spectator, and other seemingly impossiblefeats. Used thus, with a code system to signal the top card to the medium, abaffling series of mind reading and second sight effects can be performed with aminimum of effort.

Marked cards or "readers" as they are termed, are useful in the presentation of amind reading act with a second person playing the part of a medium. Instead ofhaving cards chosen with the pack face up, you can read the name of the carddrawn by the mark on the back. Thus, to the audience, the only possible means ofcommunication with the medium is by the transmission of thought from thespectator himself. The effect is greatly strengthened thereby.

The following trick with a reader deck is given as an example. Other experimentscan readily be arranged. For instance reading the top cards of three heaps becomesa very simple matter. A card can be read as the spectator draws it from the packand it can be easily found without looking at the faces, no matter how much thedeck is shuffled. Any person with keen eyesight can perform apparent miracleswith these cards. Robert-Houdin tells of a French magician, Lacaze, who coulddistinguish at a distance of several paces a mark so minute as to be invisible toordinary vision at close range.

A Card Prediction.

You hand the deck to a spectator to be shuffled and then placed on the table. Readthe top card by the marks, then write its name on one side of a visiting card. Placethis visiting card on the table, written side downwards. Ask the spectator to nameany number and deal that number of cards on the table, face down, then to placethe rest of the cards in a separate heap alongside.

Now place the visiting card, face down, on top of the balance of the deck. Instructthe spectator to place the cards he dealt on top of your visiting card, and place hishands on the pack. Put your hands on top of his and hold the position for a fewmoments, expatiating meanwhile on the currents of influence, and so on.

Finally, withdraw the visiting card from the deck and ask the spectator to now dealcards to the number he chose, and place the card at that number, face down on thetable. Then hand him the visiting card. He reads the name on it aloud, turns overthe card just dealt and your prediction is found to be correct.

CHAPTER X: The Impression or Carbon System

The use of carbon paper to get a secret impression of writing done by a spectatorhas been developed in several ingenious ways. A full explanation of two methodsfollows. From these you may evolve one of your own methods. Perhaps the best ofall is by the preparation of one of the cards of the deck in use, as follows:

Method One

THE EFFECT-A spectator merely thinks of a card, then secretly writes its nameon a slip of paper which he retains. The mind reader names the card correctlywithout asking any questions.

THE METHOD-A prepared card is used. To make it, split apart, by soaking, acard with the same back pattern, as the pack to be used. Dry the back part betweentwo sheets of blotting paper under pressure. When this is dry and perfectly flat,attach a piece of carbon paper of slightly smaller size, on the plain side bygumming it around the edges, the carbon side outwards.

From another pack take a court card and, with a razor blade, cut along the line thatencloses the picture around two ends and one side, leaving the line on one sideintact. The result will be that the flap so cut can be opened out as on a hinge. Ontop of this card glue the prepared back, applying the glue to the outside marginonly, so that the flap remains free to be opened out when required.

Cut a small piece of thin white paper to fit between the flap and the carbon paperand attach it with a tiny dot of gum at the corners, using just enough to hold it inposition. The reason for this is that the paper must be renewed for eachperformance and therefore must be easily detached. Now it follows that if writingis done on a slip of paper placed on the back of such a prepared card, duplicatewriting will appear on the white paper under the carbon sheet.

To present the trick have the prepared card on the top of the deck. Fan the cardsbefore the eyes of a spectator, asking him to merely think of any card, not to nameit or even tell anyone else what card he has in mind. As an after thought andmerely as a proof to the rest of the audience, ask him to write the name of the cardand hand him a slip of paper and a HARD pencil. Place the pack under the paperto facilitate the act of writing. Turn away as he writes to avoid any suspicion thatyou get a glimpse of the name. Tell the spectator to fold the slip and put it in hispocket. Take back the pack.

You go over what has been done. Spread the pack, faces to the audience, holdingthe cards upright, to show how they were offered for a selection, and slip the topprepared card a little to the left and down-

ward behind the others. Open the flap with the tip of your right thumb and bend itbackward so that you can read the impression on the white slip, the work of amoment only. Close the fan of cards and hold the pack in your right hand, takingthe pencil with your left. Then put the pack in your left hand, palming the preparedcard and taking the pencil at the same time. Put the pencil in your pocket and leavethe card there too.

It only remains for you to reveal your knowledge of the card as dramatically asyou can. With a little care, it is quite possible to have the names of two cardswritten in this manner without the one interfering with the other.

In a similar manner, a playing card case can he prepared with carbon paper. If this

is used, the spectator would write the name of his thought card before the deck istaken from the case and the case would be placed under his slip of paper to act as asupport while the writing is done. The name of the card would then be read undercover of removing the pack from the case, which would then be carelessly tossedaside.

Method Two

THE EFFECT-A spectator is asked to think of any card, also any numberbetween one and twenty-five, and then to write both on a slip of paper. A newdeck is opened, shuffled and handed to the spectator. He finds his mentallyselected card at the number he thought of.

THE METHOD-Two small writing pads, such as those obtainable at five and tencent stores for five cents, a hard pencil and a new deck of cards, are required. Oneof the pads is prepared by having a piece of carbon paper gummed by its edgesonly, to the lower side of the third page, the carbon side downwards. This pad islaid on the table with the deck and the pencil, the second pad is in the left outsidecoat pocket. Introduce the experiment as an attempt at thought projection and havethe audience select someone to act as the medium. This done, ask the subject tothink first of any card in the deck, then to choose mentally any number betweenone and twenty five. As an aid to concentration, tell him to write both items on thepad which you take from the table along with the hard pencil. Impress on him thathe must write slowly, concentrating on each letter and figure, in order to make theimpression on his mind clear and precise, (also the impression in the pad distinct).Don't say anything to him about writing plainly, as is usually done in similartricks. Such a request at once suggests that the writing will be actually seen byyou, thus arousing some suspicion in the spectator's mind.

Turn away while the writing is being done. When ready tell the spectator to tearoff the sheet, fold it and hand it to a third person to hold. Take the pad back withyour left hand, the pencil with your right. Drop your left hand to your side and slipthe point of your thumb under the first two pages of the pad. Turn to the table toget the deck and read the carbon impression of the card and number, which arebrought into plain view by merely raising your left thumb.

Put the pad down and take up the deck. Pass this to a second spectator to open,remove the cards and shuffle them. Under a pretense of verifying the number ofcards in the deck, take the pack and apparently count the cards. Really you runthem off as if counting them, but not doing so until you reach the card mentallyselected by the spectator. Counting this card as one, continue to run the otherssingly until you reach the number that was thought of, slip the tip of the right littlefinger between this card and the rest of the deck in your left hand, and continue torun the cards up to the last as if counting them. "Fifty-three", you say. "That iscorrect," and make the pass as you turn the cards over, which action makes aperfect cover for the sleight. If you prefer not to use the pass, then simply cut thecards casually at the break held by the little finger-tip.

Hand the pack to the spectator telling him to concentrate on the card and the

number, while holding the pack tightly between his hands. Review orally what hasbeen done. Take up the pad as you speak about the name of the card and thenumber having been written and retain the pad in your left hand. In the usual wayyou read the spectator's mind, announcing the name of the card and the numberand these are verified by the second spectator unfolding the slip and reading thewriting. Finally you instruct the spectator holding the pack to "will" his card topass to the same number in the pack from the top, that he chose mentally. He dealsto his number and turns the card. It is the very card he mentally selected.

While this is being done you have ample opportunity to change the pad in your lefthand for the unprepared pad in your coat pocket. To do this deftly, hold theprepared pad between your thumb and first finger, put it in the pocket and grip theother pad between the second and third fingers. Release the thumb grip andwithdraw your hand. Smoothly done at a favorable moment and with your left sideaway from the audience, the switch is imperceptible.

CHAPTER XI: The Mirror Principle

The use of a tiny mirror or reflector for secretly reading the faces of the cards hasbeen developed in many ways, both for magic and for

gambling purposes. Perhaps the best application of this principle to mind readingeffects is the following:

A small mirror of very thin glass, or better, a thin metal plate nickeled and highlypolished, is fixed to the back of a playing card. Place this in your right handtrousers pocket, the back of the card inwards. Let a spectator thoroughly shufflethe pack, retain one card and hand the rest of the cards back to you. In themeantime you have palmed the mirrored card and you add it to the top of the deck.mirrored side uppermost. Instruct the spectator to hold his card upright before hiseyes, using both hands to shield it from any possible glimpse you might get of itsface, and gaze steadily at it, concentrating his thoughts upon it.

Take a slip of paper, place it on the deck covering the reflector and, pencil in hand,you pretend to try to get an impression of the card. You say, after a moment or twowithout result, "For some unknown reason I find that very often I get better resultsif my subject closes one eye." Take a step or two nearer to him. "Continue to holdyour card so that I cannot see what it is. Now will you kindly close one eye andcontinue to look at the card with the other?" The subject closes one eye. No, Sir,not that eye, this one." As you say this remove the paper from the top of the deckwith your right hand and thrust the deck in your left hand in front of the spectator'sopen eye, whichever it may be, at such an angle that you catch the reflection of thecard in the mirror.

The action should be a casual one, as if an indicatory gesture only, the hand is atonce withdrawn and the slip placed on the mirror again. You continue, "Yes, that'scorrect. Now concentrate on the card. Try to make a mental picture of it. That'sfine. It's coming over well," and so on. Pretend to get the spots one by one,drawing them on the paper in their proper positions or, if you prefer it, writing the

name of the card, letter by letter.

Fold the slip and hand it to another spectator. Then have the card held up for all tosee. Your slip is opened and the drawing or writing is shown to be correct. In themeantime you have either slipped a card from the bottom to the top of the deck, orbetter, have let the mirror card slip into your left coat pocket. It should be notedthat, for safety's sake, the subject should be seated well in advance of the rest ofthe audience so that there will be no danger of a spectator on either side of himgetting a glimpse of the mirror when you hold the pack over the subject's eye.

CHAPTER XII: A Prediction

You have any deck thoroughly shuffled. Take it back and run over the faces,counting the first nineteen cards and making a mental note of the card lying at thatnumber. Suppose it is the queen of hearts. Take out any other queen from belowthe nineteen cards and any other heart. Lay these aside, face down, without lettinganyone see what they are, saying that you will use them as a prediction, the firstcard to denote value and the second, suit.

Let anyone draw three spot cards openly, these also from the cards below thenineteen. Lay them out in a row with the highest card to the left. suppose the cardsare 9, 6. 1. Request a spectator to write these figures and underneath them thesame figures reversed 1, 6, 9, and sub tract the one from the other. He gets a resultof 792, and is then told to add these three figures together, and announces a totalof 18.

You hand the pack to him and instruct him to deal off eighteen cards and turn upthe next card. He does so and shows the queen of hearts. You turn your predictioncards, a queen and a heart.

Any three figures treated in the same way as above will add to eighteen.

CHAPTER XIII: The Telepathic Bridge Game

This presentation makes one of the very best of all so-called mind reading feats.Four bridge players merely think of a card in their hands and you divine the cardsinfallibly. Any pack may be used and it may be shuffled to any extent before thetrick is begun.

Take the shuffled pack and tell the audience how dangerous it would be to playbridge with a mind reader. Hand to spectator A, four cards from the top of thedeck, requesting him to imagine that nine tricks have been played in a bridge gameand that, having four cards left in his hand, he is to fix in his mind which one ofthose four cards he will play. As soon as he has decided on a card, take the fourcards from him and put them on the bottom of the deck. Do this casually as you goto a second person, B, and as if they were simply pushed into the middle of thepack.

Hand four cards from the top to B, with the same request; he is merely to think ofa card to play. Take back his packet and put it on the bottom so that his four cardswill lie under the first hand of four. Follow exactly the same procedure with twoother spectators, C and D. Thus you will have the sixteen cards, four sets of four,from each of which a card has been mentally selected, in order on the bottom ofthe pack.

You can now shuffle the upper half of the pack as freely as you like but you mustnot disturb the sixteen cards at the bottom, they must always be thrown back onthe bottom as the concluding move in your overhand shuffle. Proceed next to dealout four hands of thirteen cards as in playing bridge, face down. It will be obviousthat A's card must be the fourth card of whatever hand it is now part, since the fourcards from which he made a mental choice have been distributed one card to eachof the hands now dealt. B's card must be the third card in one or other of thehands, C's the second and D's the first card in their respective hands. Spread thefirst hand with the faces of the cards outwards to the spectators A, B, C and D,asking them, in turn, whether they see their cards. Whenever you get anaffirmative response, turn up the lower left corner of the person's card and make amental note of it. Follow the same procedure with the other hands. It is possible ahand may have none of the selected cards, while another may have two or more.The principle remains the same.

Having thus subtly obtained the names of all four of the mentally selected cards,announce them as dramatically as you can. If you are a bridge player, pretend tofollow the player's supposed reasoning in choosing his card. The trick is oftendone with five sets of five cards, but the bridge playing presentation is by far themost plausible and effective.

FINIS