Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

TO PLACE THE FOUR KINGS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE PACK, AND TO BRING THEM TOGETHER BY A SIMPLE CUT.--Take the four kings (or any other four cards at pleasure), and exhibit them fanwise (see Fig. 31), but secretly place behind the second one (the king of diamonds in the figure) two other court cards of any description, which, being thus hidden behind the king, will not be visible. The audience being satisfied that the four cards are really the four kings, and none other, fold them together, and place them at the top of the pack. Draw attention to the fact that you are about to distribute these four kings in different parts of the pack. Take up the top card, which, being really a king, you may exhibit without apparent intention, and place it at the bottom. Take the next card, which the spectators suppose to be also a king, and place it about half way down the pack, and the next, in like manner, a little higher. Take the fourth card, which, being actually a king, you may show carelessly, and replace it on the top of the pack. You have now really three kings at the top and one at the bottom, though the audience imagine that they have seen them distributed in different parts of the pack, and are proportionately surprised, when the cards are cut, to find that all the kings are again together. It is best to use knaves or queens for the two extra cards, as being less distinguishable from the kings, should a spectator catch a chance glimpse of their faces.