Page:Once a Week June to Dec 1863.pdf/397

 26, 1863.] certainty in naming the right card an impossibility. The gaming begins sometimes by the entrance of the man called the player, who has pocket-knives to sell, and offers them to the company. If nobody will purchase a knife, he offers to raffle one by the cards. If the kid and his flat decline to play, some other members of the company accept the challenge. The player lifts the card, and says, without looking at it, “This is the right one.” The kid sees that the card is wrong, and whispers so to the flat. A bet is made, and the decoy bets as well as the victim; the company cause a confusion, in the excitement of which the card is dexterously shuffled and the victim is done. Before playing deep they often make a bargain—“No grumbling at losses;” and the kid bets heavily to keep the game sweet. The man who murmurs against fortune must stand glasses round. When they have won all they can, they begin to leave one at a time. Some member of the company, however, sympathises with the flat, and keeps him at bay until the rest of the gang are clear off, when he also absconds, and the flat is left to the misery which he has foolishly brought upon himself.

Blacks and Reds.—This game is worked by three or four magsmen, and the flat is picked up in some such way as we have already described. The game is cutting the cards,—which cuts most blacks or reds. The cards are mixed promiscuously, to all appearance, but not so in reality. The cards are “faked,” that is marked—there being a slight difference of sizes; the differentia, though small, is easily felt by the gambler’s educated touch. The kid is a man of fortune, out for a spree, and merrily pulls out his cards, and proposes a game. After playing awhile without bets they manœuvre into serious business. The man of fortune goes out of the room and leaves his cards upon the table. One of the gang tells the flat that he will have a lark with the gentleman; so he takes half of the red cards out of the pack and puts them into his pocket. The man of fortune returns, seems not to know that the cards have been tampered with, and at once offers a bet, that he can cut more reds than any of the company can cut blacks. If the flat will not bet some one else bets, and of course wins. Then the flat bets, and loses, by reason of the “faked” cards.

The Grease Pot.—A jug of ale stands upon the table, out of which the gambler drinks. He puts a shilling upon the table and sets his jug upon it. In a short while he turns his head, and one of the company quickly takes the shilling from under the jug without the gambler perceiving it. Then the kid offers a heavy wager that the shilling is not under the jug, and the flat joins his bet with his friend. The gambler accepts the bet, lifts the jug from the table, and there, sure enough, the shilling is, and the victim is swindled; for another shilling, made adhesive, was attached to the bottom of the jug, and loosened by a sharp-pressed draw of the jug along the table.

The Mallet.—This is an instrument similar to those used by carpenters, and is gambled with in some of the “right houses.” The owner shakes it, and a coin, or something of the kind, is heard to rattle inside the mallet. The gambler leaves his tool upon the table and goes out of the room. During his absence the kid and the flat, for a joke, take the coin out of the mallet and put something else in. On the gambler’s return to the room, the kid asks him what there is in the mallet; he mentions the piece of coin. Then the kid offers a wager that such a coin is not in the mallet, and the flat joins in the bet. The mallet is shaken and then opened, when out tumbles a piece of coin similar to the one which had been previously taken out. The flat is done. A second piece of coin had been fastened and concealed in the mallet, and was turned out by a little extra shaking.

The Sneezer is a round snuff-box with a loose ring inside, and a second ring made fast. It is used in the same way as the mallet, The magsmen also occasionally use a “Monkey,” which is a lock, and the bet is about opening it.

The cleverest card trick of the thieves which I have ever seen, is called bringing the king and queen together. Thousands of pounds have been wagered and lost on this game by unsuspecting and unininitiateduninitiated [sic] people. It is difficult to explain without a pack of cards. The pack is divided into three heaps, the magsman takes a king and queen in his hand, shows them to the company, and says that he can lay them together, shuffle them, and bring them together again. The three heaps of cards lie upon the table with the face upwards; the magsman then lays the queen—face downwards—upon one of the heaps. He then turns his back upon the cards to show the company the king; and while he does so his pal places several cards upon the queen. He then puts the king upon the queen, as he thinks, says he can deal out the three heaps, and bring out the king and queen together. The company, knowing that several cards have been placed between the king and queen, offer heavy bets. The cards are shuffled, and thrown out of hand, one by one, upon the table; sure enough, the queen is the card which comes out next after the king, to the amazement of the spectators. The explanation is, that the magsman noticed what card it was which he placed the queen upon; he deals out until he comes to this card upon which the queen was placed, and after dealing it out, the rogue knows the queen card comes next; so he thrusts the queen back, holds it in his hand until the king is played, when he at once puts the queen upon it.

A magsman once told me the following stories, which I believe to be substantially true.

“I once attended an execution in the North, and I determined, if possible, to fleece Jack Ketch. My pals and I set to work, found out where he lodged, and by what train he would leave the town where the execution took place. I got to the station in good time, and kept a sharp look-out for my friend the executioner. Presently Jack Ketch arrived, and with him a mob, who hooted and groaned dreadfully. We thieves thought they were groaning at us, and we began to be alarmed; but we soon saw that they were hooting the hangman. He took his seat, and we took ours. Still the mob yelled and groaned. A gentleman asked