Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

After having offered the string, which should be about four feet in length, for examination, the performer takes the ends (pointing upwards) between the first and second finger and thumb of the left hand, and the first finger and thumb of the right hand, letting the remainder of the string hang down in a loop between them. Now bringing the right hand close to the left, he draws that portion of the string which is held in the right hand towards himself between the first and second fingers of the left hand (thus crossing at right angles that end of the cord which is held in the left hand), continuing to pull until half the length of the string has passed the left hand, and at the same time slipping the third finger of the left hand between the two parts of the string, which will thus be as shown in Fig. 152, in which, for convenience of reference, the three lines in which the string now hangs are marked a, b, and c, and one-half of the string is shown black, and the other half white, though of course there would be no such difference of colour in the original.[L] The first finger and thumb of the right hand, still retaining the end which they already hold, seize the portion b at the point marked with that letter, the third finger of the left hand at the same time drawing back the portion a towards the palm of the hand. The string will thus be brought into the position shown in Figs. 153 and 154, (in the latter of which, for the sake of clearness, the thumbs are made transparent), the part now held horizontally between the two hands, which appears to be the middle of the string, really being only the immediate continuation of the end held in the left hand. The whole operation of arranging the string in proper position, though tedious to describe, does not take half a second in practice.