The Two Covers, and the Four Obiects .. Effect: Four cards were used instead of coins, and two pieces ot cardboard, or two small magazines like the Reader's Digest or Time were used as covers. Many stratagems were devised, including the use of five cards, one of them being unsuspected by the audience; to me, however, one of the nicest and neatest of all handlings is that invented and per- fected by a professor of veterinary surgery named Clyde F. Cairy. It is classical in that only four cards are employed, the audience sees the faces of the cards which seems to prove that no trickery is possible, and the cards vanish and appear in the proper sequence. Just as the coins and cards must be done on a soft surface like a rug or a cloth-covered table to kill the clink of the coins, the cards and covers must be done on either a large napkin or a section of newspaper for a reason that will appear as the routine is described. The cards are too large to be palmed as the coins are, therefore the newspaper is used because in this _ case the effect is not only that the cards migrate, as the coins _ did, but they seem to penetrate up through the newspaper! | Needed are four aces, two magazines, and a sheet of | newspaper. | The four aces are picked out of a deck of cards, and in| fanning and showing them, the magician bends the ace of clubs _ downward. Having had the audience see the faces of the aces they are laid out faces up as shown in Fig. 30, sketch 1. The | ace of spades is placed at A, the ace of diamonds at B, the ace of clubs at C, and the ace of hearts at D. Once the audience has seen the layout and realizes that es | red aces are at B, and D, these aces are turned faces down. The black aces have their faces up. The magazines are held as shown in the right and left hands, and are placed over the various aces, two at a time, as shown in sketch 1, With the magazine held in the right hand as. shown, this magazine is held momentarily over the red ace at G, the left-hand magazine is covering A. The right hand moves to the right and as it does so, with the magazine held at the very finger tips, as shown, the grip is changed so that the magazine is held only by the thumb on top and the middle and ring finger tips on the bottom. The move that follows, Mr. |The Two Covers, and the Four Objects... / 97 Ficure 30 Cairy’s invention, is exquisitely simple of execution and bafil- ing in the extreme. As in the case of the coin version of this trick, the first steal is the most important part of the trick. Mr. Cairy accomplishes this with the aid of the forefinger and pinky as shown in Fig. 29, sketch 2. This is the reason for erimping up the ace of clubs earlier. ‘As the right hand moves to the right, the fore and pinky fingers grasp the card at the very ends as shown and pull it98 / Classic Secrets of Magic along to the right, as the left-hand magazine comes down and ‘over the position just occupied by the left-hand magazine. The effect to the audience is that the magazines have changed place and that is all (Fig. 31, sketeh 1). Figure 31The Two Covers, and the Four Objects... / 99 With the ace of clubs held at the finger tips under cover of the protecting magazine, the magazine is transferred for a moment to the left hand as the magician patters. Under cover of this transfer, the face-up ace is turned over so that it is back up. This is effected by the aid of the left finger tips as shown in Fig. 31, sketch 2, working in conjunction with the tight finger tips. The magazine is transferred back to the right hand, the right finger tips hold the card concealed as showa in an underneath view in sketch 3. The red ace at position C is picked up by the left fingers and turned face up so the audience can see that it is the ace of diamonds. It is turned face down and passed under the cover of the magazine, but as this happens the cards are transferred. The right fingers have been holding the black ace; this is trans- ferred to the left finger tips as the left transfers its card, the red ace, to the right finger tips (Fig. 32, sketches 1 and 2). To the audience all that has happened is that the red ace has been out of sight for a second. They have just seen its face, and are thus reassured as to its identity. The right hand with no pause drops the magazine over the face-up ace of spades at A, dropping the concealed, back-up ace of diamonds on top of the ace of spades, All this while (which takes no time in the performing) the deft hand has been immobile, holding the ace of clubs back up, the audience thinking it is the ace of diamonds. The left hand carries the card under the edge of the news- paper as shown in Fig. 32, sketch 3. The card is dropped on ‘the table, and the left fingers move up under the magazine at A, and snap the newspaper as the magician says that he will cause the ace of diamonds to penetrate upward through the newspaper. As the left hand retreats toward point C it picks up the ace of clubs and keeps it hidden under the corner of the newspaper as shown in Fig. 33, sketch 1. The right hand picks up the magazine at A, the audience seeing that a card has joined the ace of spades. The magazine in the right hand is brought down to C, and transferred to the left hand; as this happens the left hand moves to the left and the hidden card is added under the magazine.100 ¥ Classic Secrets of Magic Ficure 32 This maneuver is covered by the fact that as soon as the magazine leaves the right hand the right hand goes to point A and turns over the face-down card showing that it is the ace of diamonds which seems to have penetrated the newspaper. Unknown to the audience, under the magazine in the left hand is the ace of clubs. The right hand picks up the ace of hearts at B and turns it over, showing its face. Then the card is turned so its back isThe Two Covers, and the Four Objects . . . f 101 Ficure 33 up. The magazine is transferred from the left hand to the Tight, and the previous switch is made so that when the maga- dine is dropped on A the ace of hearts is dropped too. The ace of clubs, which the audience thinks is the red ace, is placed under the newspaper as before, and the fingers are tapped under the Paper.102 / Classie Secrets of Magic The magazine is lifted showing the back of card that has appeared, the magazine is transferred to the left hand, which loads the card it holds under the magazine, and the right hand turns over the card at A showing that the ace of hearts has “penetrated” the newspaper. The magazine at D, which has not figured at all, seemingly, so far, is now tapped by the fingers of the right hand. The magician says, “Of course, it is comparatively easy to make a card penetrate anything as thin as a newspaper. It is much harder to make it go through a magazine.” As he says this he fumblingly picks up the magazine at D pretending to pick up the card the audience thinks is under it, ‘the ace of clubs. The effect wanted is that the right fingers have scooped under the magazine and picked up the card at the same time as the hand has picked up the magazine. The magazine and the “card” are dropped on top of the magazine which the left hand dropped at A, To the audience there are three aces on the table. On top of them there is a magazine. On top of the magazine is the ace of clubs covered by the other magazine. The performer makes a mystic gesture at the pile and then has a spectator lift off the magazine. There is, naturally, no card there, The next magazine is lifted, and there, on top of the three face-up aces, is a back-up ace. It is turned over and shown to be the ace of clubs, An alternative ending is to pretend to pick up the non- existent ace of clubs, under cover of the magazine, and holding “both” the card and the magazine in the right hand put them under the far right corner of the newspaper as in Fig. 33, sketch 2. Make mumbo-jumbo as you tell the audience how much more difficult it is to make the card vanish from this position, Migrate across the paper, penetrate the paper, and then join the other aces. Pull the magazine out from under the paper and toss it to one side, as you lift the covering magazine off the four aces and show them. Relax and wait for the inevitable grab that will be made for the newspaper, by those wiseacres who think you have hidden an extra card under the paper! ‘One has to know a great deal about magic to appreciateThe Two Covers, and the Four Objects... / 103 fully the aristry of Mr. Cairy’s conception. Even without a great deal of such knowledge it will be found on performing this trick that here is an effect that almost works itself, so nicely has the inventor worked out its details, Each move blends one with the other. The steal of the first ace looks completely impossible so free is the handling, because of the way the fingers are spread so widely in Fig. 30, sketch 2, and because of the subtle fact that the ace of diamonds seems to be the first ace involved in the trick. ‘The unseen and unsuspected ace of clubs, masquerading as it does, first as the ace of diamonds and then as the ace of hearts, serves a neat function indeed. Then, too, the fact that the ace of clubs is the last card to be conjured through space is a deceptive throw-off, and silent proof that there has not been and could not have been any cheating going on. Truly this is a far ery from the earlier, primitive versions employing in some cases an extra card, in others double-faced cards, and similarly not too pure mechanics. Mr. Cairy’s con- ceit is as baffling as the others, and in many ways easier to perform!