It will thus be seen that each card forms, as it were, a phrase from an assemblage of which nothing but a little practice is required to form complete sentences. Of this we will give a further example, by interpreting the signification of the three other packs--“for the house,” “for those who do not expect it,” and “the surprise.” The first of these, “for the house,” we will suppose to consist of the Queen of Hearts, the Knave of Spades _reversed_, the Ace of Clubs, and the Nine of Diamonds, which reads thus: “The Queen of Hearts is a fair woman, mild and amiable in disposition, who--Knave of Spades reversed--will be deceived by a dark, ill-bred young man--the Ace of Clubs--but she will receive some good news, which will console her--Nine of Diamonds--although it is probable that the news may be delayed.” The pack “for those who do not expect it,” consisting of the Queen of Diamonds, the King of Spades, the Ace of Hearts _reversed_, and the Seven of Spades, would signify: “The Queen of Diamonds is a mischief-making woman--the King of Spades--who is in league with a dishonest lawyer--Ace of Hearts reversed--they will hold a consultation together--Seven of Spades--but the harm they will do will soon be repaired.” Last comes “the surprise,” formed by, we will suppose, the Knave of Clubs, the Ten of Diamonds, the Queen of Spades, and the Nine of Spades, of which the interpretation is: “The Knave of Clubs is a clever, enterprising young man--Ten of Diamonds--about to undertake a journey--Queen of Spades--for the purpose of visiting a widow--Nine of Spades--but one or both of their lives will be endangered.” THE ITALIAN METHOD. Take a pack composed of thirty-two selected cards, viz., the Ace, King, Queen, Knave, Ten, Nine, Eight, and Seven of each suit. Shuffle them well, and either cut or have them cut for you, according to whether you are acting for yourself or another person. Turn up the cards by threes, and when the triplet is composed of cards of the same suit, lay it aside; when of three different suits, pass it by without withdrawing any of the three; but when composed of two of one suit and one of another, withdraw the highest card of the two. When you have come to the end of the pack, gather up all the cards except those you have withdrawn; shuffle, cut, and again turn up by threes. Repeat this operation until you have obtained fifteen cards, which must then be spread out before you, from _left_ to _right_, in the order in which they come to hand.