Royal Road to Card Magic The

slip of paper or an envelope, being careful that no one sees the writing. In this way all of us will know whether I fail or succeed.'
    6. When this has been done, continue, 'Finally, some people have claimed that I study the expression of the person who thought of the card and by this means learn which is the proper card. To forestall that criticism, I shall turn my head away from you, so that I cannot see you. Under these conditions, which are the fairest that I can devise, I shall show you the cards and when you see your card I will ask you to think “That is my card,” and will attempt to pick up your thought.
    Turn your back and hold the cards well above your right shoulder so that everyone can see them. Push the cards off the face of the pack one by one with the left thumb, taking them in the right hand and allowing sufficient time for each card to be seen by the spectators. When your key card comes into view silently count the next card as one and count off as many cards as you counted in step 2. The last of these is the spectator's card.
    7. 'I think I have your thought,' you say, holding the card aloft. 'This is your card!' The spectator acknowledges that this is so, and you have him hand the slip on which he wrote its name to someone, who reads it aloud and thus certifies to the success of your experiment.
    Sincerely presented, the feat is most impressive.
    The Non-Poker Voice
    In this trick, too, the key card reveals the position of a chosen card.
    1. Before you begin, remove from the pack and pocket any four cards, one of which is a heart. Place six cards of the heart suit at the top of the pack and the remaining six at the bottom.
    2. Assert that you are convinced that there is no such thing as a poker voice; that, no matter how a person may school himself, he cannot keep the inflections that betray the inner emotion from his voice. You claim further that you can infallibly determine which of a number of cards a person may be thinking of merely by listening to his voice as he calls out the names of the cards of a pack.
    3. To offer proof of your assertion, hand someone the prepared pack of cards, turn your back and walk away as you request the spectator to deal six piles of cards, one by one from left to right in turn, thus secretly placing a heart at the top and bottom of each pile. This done, instruct him to remove any card from any one of the piles, show it to the others present and drop it at the top of one of the other five piles. Next, have him gather the piles in any order he likes, without disarranging the cards, and cut the pack two or three times, completing each cut.
    When this has been done there will be six pairs of cards of the heart suit, side by side, spread at intervals throughout the pack. Between one of these pairs there will be an indifferent card, and this will be the chosen card.
    4. Instruct the spectator to take the cards in his hands and, while you still have your back turned, to call out the names of the cards one by one. Warn him that although he may attempt to make his voice expressionless, you will detect the name of his card from the tone of his voice when he names it.
    5. As he calls out the names of the cards, pretend to listen attentively. Whenever he names cards of the heart suit, note if a card of another suit intervenes; for example, he may call, 'Nine of spades, ten of diamonds, four of hearts, seven of spades, nine of hearts.' The intervening card, in this case the seven of spades, will be his card. Let him call off a half dozen cards more and then stop him.
    'You have already named your card. That's right, isn't it?' you say.
    'Yes.'
    'A few moments ago, when you named the spade suit, your voice quivered almost imperceptibly. Your card is a spade. That's correct?'
    'It is.'
    'When you named the value of this spade card, your throat tightened. Do you remember? You were afraid that I would know that the seven of spades was the card. That's correct, is it not?'
    He agrees that it is. You say, 'A word of caution: be careful in poker games!' Take the pack from him, shuffle it absent-mindedly and place it to one side, thus destroying any possible clues to your method.
    Intuition With Cards
    The key cards that have been discussed thus far have been those in which it is necessary to see the faces of the cards. There are many tricks in which this is not desirable, and we shall now explain how the key card principle may be used when only the backs of the cards are