Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

THE CONGRESS OF COURT CARDS.--Take the kings, queens, and knaves from the pack, and place them face upwards on the table in three rows of four each, avoiding as much as possible the appearance of arrangement, but really taking care to place them in the following order: In the first row you have only to remember not to have two of the same suit. Begin the second row with a card of the same suit with which you ended the first, let the second card be of the same suit as the first of the first row, the third of the same suit as the second of the first row, and so on. The third row will begin with the suit with which the second left off, the second card will be of the same suit as the first of the second row, and so on. Now pick up the cards in vertical rows, beginning with the last card of the bottom row. The cards may now be cut (not shuffled) any number of times, but, if dealt in four heaps, the king, queen, and knave of each suit will come together.