7. To tell a card thought of without even looking at the cards.
Take any number of cards,--say twenty. Pretend to shuffle them
with the faces towards you, and REMEMBER THE FIRST CARD as you
close the pack--suppose the ten of diamonds. Tell the party that
the only condition you require is to be told the ORDER in which
the card is dealt out by you; in other words, he must tell you
whether in dealing it comes out first, second, third, &c.
Remembering your first card, you may then turn your back to him,
and deal out the cards one by one, and one upon the top of the
other, requesting him to think of a card and its order as before
said.
Then take up the cards, and shuffle them repeatedly, by throwing
a portion of them from the bottom to the top, taking care not to
mix the cards or let any drop, and then let the party cut them as
often as he pleases. Then, take the cards in hand. Pretend to
examine them mysteriously, but in reality only look for YOUR
card--the first dealt out--the ten of diamonds for instance.
Now, suppose he tells you that the card he thought of came out
FIFTH. Then, for a certainty, it is the fourth card on the RIGHT
of the ten of diamonds, in spite of all YOUR shuffling, and all
regular cutting, for such shuffling and regular cutting cannot
alter the order or sequence of the cards.
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