Between the two chairs is placed a pail of water, into which the victim falls. Cashhornie A game played with clubs by two opposite parties of boys, the aim of each party being to drive a ball into a hole belonging to their antagonists, while the latter strain every nerve to prevent this.--Jamieson. Castles A game at marbles. Each boy makes a small pyramid of three as a base, and one on the top. The players aim at these from a distant stroke with balsers, winning such of the castles as they may in turn knock down (Lowsley s _Glossary of Berkshire Words_). In London, the marble alluded to as balser was called bonsor or bouncer (J. P. Emslie). See Cockly Jock, Cogs.
The checks are something like dice, but only two opposite sides are plain, the other four being fluted. The table played on is generally a doorstep, and it is made ready by drawing a ring upon it with anything handy which will make a mark. There are twelve figures or movements to be gone through as follows. Some have special names, but I do not learn that all have. 1. The player, taking the checks and ball in the right hand, throws down the checks, keeping the ball in the hand. If any check fall outside the ring the player is down. There is skill needed in the throwing of the checks in this and the following movements, so that they may be conveniently placed for taking up in the proper order. The checks being scattered, the player throws up the ball, takes up one check, and catches the ball as it comes down, or, as it is sometimes played, after it has bounced once from the step. This is repeated till all the checks are taken up.
W. Gregor). Knights Two big boys take two smaller ones on their shoulders. The big boys act as horses, while the younger ones seated on their shoulders try to pull each other over. The horses may push and strike each other with their shoulders, but must not kick or trip up with their feet, or use their hands or elbows. The game is usually won by the Horse and Knight who throw their opponents twice out of three times (G. L. Gomme). Strutt (_Sports_, p. 84) describes this, and says, A sport of this kind was in practice with us at the commencement of the fourteenth century.
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When the stock is exhausted, so that no cards remain to be drawn, no further announcements can be made. Only one meld can be scored at a time, so that a trick must be made for every announcement made, or the combination cannot be scored, and a fresh card must be played from the hand for every fresh meld. This is a very important rule, and little understood. Suppose a player holds four Kings and four Queens. The total count for the various combinations these cards will make is 220: two plain-suit marriages, 20 each; royal marriage, 40; four Kings, 80; and four Queens, 60. As only one combination can be scored for each trick won, and as the player must lay down at least one fresh card for each successive meld, it is evident that if he begins with the 80 Kings, and then marries each of them in turn, when he comes to the fourth Queen he will have to sacrifice the 20 for a marriage in order to score the 60 for the four Queens. He cannot score both, or he will not be complying with the rule about the fresh card from the hand for every meld. That is why four Kings and four Queens are never worth 240, but only 220. A player cannot meld cards which have already been used to form higher combinations in the same class; but he may use cards melded in lower combinations to form more valuable ones in the same class, provided he adds at least one fresh card from his hand. The principle is that cards may be _=added=_ to melds already shown, but they cannot be _=taken away=_ to form other combinations in the same class.
_=THE SKAT CARDS.=_ The successful bidder determined, the skat cards are pushed towards him, and the manner in which he uses them limits the game he is allowed to play. While the player must win or lose a game worth as many as bid, he may attempt to win as many more as he pleases. If he has got the play on a bid of ten, that does not prevent him from playing a club Solo, with schneider announced. But if he has bid or refused eleven, and plays a tourné in diamonds, he must make schneider or play with or without two Matadores in order to bring his multipliers up to three. It both these fail him he loses 15, the next higher game than his bid possible in a diamond tourné. As Frage is no longer played on account of its small value, if the player takes both the skat cards into his hand at the same time, without showing them, his game must be a Gucki Grand, unless he has previously announced that it is a Gucki Nullo. His game announced, he lays out any two cards he pleases for his skat, so as to play with ten only. If the player turns over either of the skat cards, his game is limited to a tourné. If he turns a Jack, he may change to Grand, but not to Grand Ouvert.
If both players have more than their right number of cards, the deal is void. If either has less than his proper number, his adversary having the right number, the deal stands good, and there is no penalty except that the player with the right number of cards wins and scores for the last trick. If both have less than the right number, the deal stands good, and the actual winner of the last trick scores it. It will be observed that these rules are quite different from the French rules, which have been given in connection with the ordinary game of Bézique. In France, it is always the custom to establish the _status quo_, if possible, and to assume that the error was quite unintentional. In England, all laws are based on the assumption that your adversary is a rogue, and the penalties are absurdly severe, but we have no authority to change them. _=Irregularities in Drawing.=_ If a player has forgotten to take his card from the talon, and has played to the next trick, the English laws compel him to play the remainder of the hand with eight cards; the French laws give his adversary the option of calling the deal void, or allowing the player in error to draw two cards from the stock next time. If a player draws two cards from the stock, instead of one, he must show the second one to his adversary if he has seen it himself. If it was his adversary’s card, he must show his own card also.
I gave her a last shake for the lie. Let s have it, I went after her. How much of what you ve been feeding me is just window dressing? She shrugged, but stayed silent. _Have_ you been married? I insisted. Yes, Billy Joe. _And_ divorced? Oh, darlin Billy, she sighed. I jest shouldn t never a _done_ that. But I did, she added. Talk English, I snapped. This chitterlin s and corn pone are just more window dressing, right? Her face was solemn behind the glasses.
Bone-yard, the stock at dominoes. Book, the first six tricks taken by either side at Whist which do not count toward game. Both Ends against the Middle, a system of trimming cards for dealing a brace game of Faro. Brace Game, a conspiracy between the dealer and the case-keeper at Faro, so that cards improperly taken from the dealing box shall be properly marked by the case-keeper. Break. In Billiards, a succession of counting shots made by one player, usually called a “run” in America. In Ten Pins, a break is a failure to make either a strike or a spare. Break Even, a system of playing Faro, betting each card to win or lose an even number of times. Brelan, F., three cards of the same denomination.
With an established suit, a card of re-entry, and four trumps King high, a player should lead trumps; but if his partner wins the first round and returns a small trump, the King should not be put on, no matter what Second Hand plays, unless the card next below the King is fourchette. Some of the most brilliant endings in whist are skirmishes for the possession of the last trump; the player who is at a disadvantage often persistently refuses the fatal force, hoping the leader will be compelled to change his suit, or will lose the lead. _=Drawing the Losing Trump.=_ It is usually best to draw losing trumps from the adversaries, unless a player can foresee that he may want the best to stop a strong adverse suit. _=A Thirteenth Card=_, played by the partner, is usually considered an invitation to put on the best trump. The Second Hand should not trump a thirteenth card unless he is weak in trumps. _=AMERICAN LEADS.=_ Advanced players, who have had so much practice that they can infer the probable position of the cards without devoting their entire attention to it, have adopted a new system of leading from the four combinations following, in order to show the number of small cards in the suit:-- [Illustration: 🃑 🃞 🃝 🃛 🃖 | 🂱 🂾 🂶 🂴 🂲 🃁 🃎 🃍 🃆 🃅 | 🂮 🂭 🂧 🂤 🂢 ] From these the King is never led if there are more than four cards in the suit. Having more than four, the lowest of the sequence of high cards is led. From the first this would be the Jack; from the second the Queen; from the third the Ace, (because the King is barred;) and from the fourth the Queen.
No one is allowed to see any trick that has been turned and quitted. _=Taking Tricks.=_ As the tricks are taken they should be neatly laid one upon the other in such a manner that any player at the table can count them. All tricks belonging to one side should be kept together. At the end of each hand the score should be claimed and marked. Revokes must be detected and claimed before the cards are cut for the following deal. _=CUTTING OUT.=_ When the play is confined to four players, rubbers are usually played, and the table is complete with six persons, two looking on, and awaiting their turn. At the end of a rubber, if there are more than four players belonging to the table, those who have just played cut to decide which shall give place to those waiting, the players cutting the highest cards going out. If six belong to the table, there will be no further cutting out, as those who are out for one rubber re-enter for the next, taking the places of those who have played two consecutive rubbers.
I made a break for it with the rest of the crowd, trying to keep my eye on Sniffles. But she had the sure-loser s touch of slipping away from any authority. She vanished into the milling mob. My last glimpse had been of a skinny arm reaching up to pluck some more free _hors d oeuvres_ from a tray as she fled. I should have saved myself the trouble. They had a bouncer on each of my elbows before I had moved five feet. They carried more than dragged me into a private dining room behind the bar. It went along with the ersatz rustic _decor_ of the rest of the Sky Hi Club. There was sawdust on the genuine wood floor, big brass spittoons and a life-sized oil-color of a reclining nude, done with meaty attention to detail, behind a small mahogany topped bar. Stacks of clean glasses vied for space with labeled bottles on the back-bar.
|Born for your sake. | | 29.| -- | | 30.| -- | | 31.| -- | | 32.| -- | | 33.| -- | | 34.| -- | | 35.|Bells shall ring, cats| | |shall sing. | | 36.