of the cards, you tell the party who has chosen
the card that you will change the position of the cards, by pushing
alternately that at the point A to B, and that at D to C, and vice
versa; and you defy him to follow you in these gyrations of the card,
and to find it.

Of course, seeing no difficulty in the thing, and believing with
everybody that his card is placed at the point A, he will undertake to
follow and find his card. Then performing what you undertake to do, you
rapidly change the places of the cards, and yet slowly enough to enable
the party to keep in view the card which he thinks his own, and so that
you may not lose sight of the one you placed at B.

Having thus arranged the cards for a few moments, you ask the party to
perform his promise by pointing out his card. Feeling sure that he never
lost sight of it, he instantly turns one of the cards and is astonished
to find that it is not his own. Then you say:--'I told you you would
not be able to follow your card in its ramble. But I have done what you
couldn't do: here is your card!'

The astonishment of the spectators is increased when you actually show
the card; for, having made them observe in the first instance, that
you did not even look at the drawn card, they are utterly at a loss
to discover the means you employed to find out and produce the card in
question.

14. Cards being drawn from a pack, to get them guessed by a person
blindfolded.

At all these performances there are always amongst the spectators
persons in league with the prestidigitator. In the present case a woman
is the assistant, with whom he has entered into an arrangement by which
each card is represented by a letter of the alphabet; and the following
are the cards selected for the trick with their representative letters.

The performer takes a handkerchief and blindfolds the lady in question,
and places her in the centre of the circle of spectators. Then spreading
out the cards, he requests each of the spectators to draw a card.

He requests the first to give him the card he has drawn; he looks at it,
and placing it on the table face downwards, he asks the lady to name the
card, which she does instantly and without hesitation.

Of course this appears wonderful to the spectators, and their
astonishment goes on increasing whilst the lady names every card in
succession to the last.

It is, however, a very simple affair. Each card represents a letter of
the alphabet, as we s