unt backwards to himself, beginning with the card touched,
and giving to that card the number of the one thought of. By counting in
this way, the party will at length count the entire number on the card
thought of, which you will thus be able to designate with certainty.

Example:--Suppose the card thought of is G, marking 7; again, supposing
the one touched to be D, equal to 4; you add to this number the entire
number of cards, which is, in this case, 10, which will make 14. Then,
making the party count this sum, from the number touched, D to C, B, A,
and so on, backwards, so that in commencing to count the number thought
of, 7 on D, the party will continue, saying, 8 on C, 9 on B, 10 on A, 11
on K, 12 on I, 13 on H, and end with counting 14 on G; and you will thus
discover that the number thought of is 7, which corresponds to G.

Of course the party counts TO himself, and only speaks to designate the
point on which he stops, namely, G in this example.

This trick may be performed with any number of cards--as few as six, or
as many as fifteen. Then you must always add to the number the total of
the cards used. The trick will be much more interesting and striking
if you turn the cards face downwards, only trusting to your memory to
retain the order of the numbers.

Of course, the letters are only used to facilitate the explanation. The
cards really form a sort of circle, beginning at 1 or the ace on the
left, and then continuing with the 2, the 3, the 4, the 5, and so on, to
the 10 below the ace; and, by necessity, the party must end his counting
with the very card he thought of, beginning from the one he happens to
point out.

13. The card that cannot be found.

Take any number of cards and spread them out fan-like in your hand,
faces fronting the spectators.

Ask one of them to select a card. You tell him to take it, and then to
place it at the bottom of the pack. You hold up the pack, so that the
spectators may see that the card is really at the bottom. Suppose this
card is the king of hearts.

Then, pretending to take that card, you take the card preceding it, and
place it at a point corresponding to A in the following figure.

A C
B D

You then take the card drawn, namely, the king of hearts, and place it
at the point corresponding to B in the above figure. Finally, you take
any two other cards, and place them at C and D.

Of course, the cards are placed face downwards.

After this location