if you do not
succeed in this with a stranger, make some pretence for shuffling the
cards again, and present the pack to a confederate, who, of course,
will draw the card you wish, and who is to show it to two or three
persons next to him, under the pretence that it might slip his memory.
This card you place in the middle of the pack, then _make the pass_,
and bring it to the bottom. Direct the person to look for his card in
the mirror, which the confederate behind the partition is to draw
slowly forward; or if you perform the operation yourself, press the
trigger with your foot, and the card will appear as if placed between
the glass and the quicksilver. While the glass is drawing forward, you
slide off the card from the bottom of the pack, and convey it away.

_The Card in the Opera Glass._

Procure an opera-glass, two inches and a half long; the tube to be
made of ivory, so thin that it may appear transparent. Place it in a
magnifying glass, of such a power, and at such a distance, that a
card, three-quarters of an inch long, may appear like a common-sized
card. At the bottom of the tube lay a circle of black pasteboard, to
which fasten a small card, with the pips, or figures, on both sides,
and in such a manner, that by turning the table, either side of the
glass may be visible.

You then offer two cards to two persons, similar to the double card in
the glass. You put them in the pack again, or convey them to your
pocket; and after a few flourishing motions you tell the persons you
have conveyed their cards into the glass; then you show each person
his card in the glass, by turning it in the proper position.

You may easily induce the parties to draw the two cards you wish, by
placing them first on the top of the pack, and then, by making the
pass, bringing them to the middle.

When you can make the pass in a dexterous manner, it is preferable to
the long card, which obliges the operator to change the pack
frequently, as, if the same card is always drawn, it may excite
suspicion.

_To separate the two Colours of a Pack of Cards by one Cut._

To perform this amusement, all the cards of one colour must be cut
something narrower at one end than the other. You show the cards, and
give them to any one, that he may shuffle them; then holding them
between your hands, one hand being at each extremity, with one motion
you separate the hearts and diamonds from the spades and clubs.

_The Metamorphosed Cards._