Miss Matthews describes it as follows:-- A line of children is formed, and the two standing opposite it sing the questions, to which the line reply; then the two start off running in any direction they please, and the others try to catch them. [Illustration: Fig. 1.] [Illustration: Fig. 2.] The second method of playing is best described by the Rev. Walter Gregor, from the Nairn game, which is known as The Gates of Babylon. Mr. Gregor writes as follows:-- This game may be played either by boys or girls. Two of the players join hands, and stand face to face, with their hands in front as if forming a gate.
=_ _=FORMING THE TABLE.=_ A Euchre table is complete with six players. If more than four assemble, they cut for the preference, the four lowest playing the first rubber. Partners and deal are then cut for, the two lowest pairing against the two highest. The lowest deals, and has the choice of seats and cards. _=5.=_ _=Ties.=_ Players cutting cards of equal value cut again, but the new cut decides nothing but the tie. _=6.=_ _=Cutting Out.
Combinations from which the _=Ace=_ is led contain at least five cards in suit, or both Queen and Jack. [Illustration: 🂱 🂷 🂶 🂴 🂲 | 🃑 🃝 🃛 🃖 ] This lead is an indication to partner that the leader has not the King, and that the suit is either long, or contains three honours. _=Rules for Leading Low Cards.=_ If the suit selected for the lead contains none of the combinations from which a high card should be led, it is customary with good players to begin with the 4th-best, counting from the top of the suit. This is called the card of uniformity; because it indicates to the partner that there are remaining in the leader’s hand exactly three cards higher than the one led. From any of the following combinations the proper lead would be the Four:-- [Illustration: 🃞 🃛 🃘 🃔 🃓 | 🃑 🃝 🃚 🃔 🂽 🂻 🂶 🂴 🂲 | 🂱 🂻 🂺 🂴 ] [Illustration: 🂫 🂪 🂩 🂤 🂢 | 🂮 🂨 🂧 🂤 🃊 🃉 🃈 🃄 🃃 | 🃍 🃆 🃅 🃄 ] _=Rules for Leading Short Suits.=_ It will sometimes happen that the only four-card suit in the leader’s hand will be trumps, which it is not desirable to lead. In such cases, if there is no high-card combination in any of the short suits, it is usual to lead the highest card, unless it is an Ace or King. Many good players will not lead the Queen from a three card suit, unless it is accompanied by the Jack. All such leads are called _=forced=_, and are intended to assist the partner, by playing cards which may strengthen him, although of no use to the leader.
Any player making a new trump after the first has been turned down, can play alone. If one player orders up the trump, neither his partner nor his adversary can play alone; and if the dealer’s partner assists, that prevents the dealer from playing a lone hand. In many clubs the mistake is made of allowing the dealer to play alone on his partner’s assist; or letting the pone play alone after the dealer has been assisted; or letting the partner of the player who makes the new trump play alone. This is not good Euchre, because it gives an unfair advantage to one side, as we shall see when we come to the suggestions for good play, especially in connection with ordering up at what is called the “bridge;” that is, when the score is 4 to 1, or 4 to 0. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ The trump settled, the eldest hand, or the player next him on the left, if the partner of the eldest hand is playing alone, begins by leading any card he pleases, and the others must follow suit if they can. Failure to follow suit when able is a _=revoke=_, if the error is not discovered and corrected before the trick in which it occurs is turned and quitted. If the player discovers his mistake in time, the card played in error must be left on the table, and is liable to be called. When a revoke is discovered and claimed by the adversaries, it is usual to abandon the hand, and the adversaries of the revoking player can either deduct two points from his score, or add two to their own score, for every revoke made during the hand. The penalty cannot be divided.
One boy, the Post, takes his stand beside a wall. Another boy stoops down with his head touching the Post s breast. Several other boys stoop down in the same way behind the first boy, all in line. The Rider then leaps on the back of the boy at the end of the row of stooping boys, and from his back to that of the one in front, and so on from back to back till he reaches the boy next the Post. He then holds up so many fingers, and says-- Buck, buck, how many fingers do I hold up? The boy makes a guess. If the number guessed is wrong, the Rider gives the number guessed as well as the correct number, and again holds up so many, saying-- [Four] you say, but [two] it is; Buck, buck, how many fingers do I hold up? This goes on till the correct number is guessed, when the guesser becomes the Rider. The game was called Buck, Buck at Keith. Three players only took part in the game--the Post, the Buck, and the Rider. The words used by the Rider were-- Buck, buck, how many horns do I hold up? If the guess was wrong, the Rider gave the Buck as many blows or kicks with the heel as the difference between the correct number and the number guessed. This process went on till the correct number was guessed, when the Rider and the Buck changed places.
Should the spot allotted to any pool ball be occupied when it becomes necessary to respot it, it shall be placed upon the _nearest unoccupied spot_, and, failing that, as near as possible to its proper spot in the direction of the centre spot. If the middle spot of the baulk line is occupied, the brown ball after being pocketed shall, if possible, be placed on the left-hand spot of the baulk line, and, failing that, the rule as above applies. 13. If the striker’s ball is touching another, such ball not being playable, and he disturb the ball touching his own, the stroke is foul. 14. Should the striker’s ball be so placed that he cannot play direct on the object ball, he is said to be “snookered.” FOUL STROKES AND PENALTIES. 15. Foul strokes are made or penalties incurred by (1) “Pushing” instead of striking the ball, or striking the ball more than once; (2) Playing out of turn; (3) Playing with both feet off the floor; (4) Playing before all the balls have become stationary, when off the table, or wrongly spotted; (5) Playing with the wrong ball; (6) Touching or moving any ball, except in the legitimate manner set forth in these rules; (7) Forcing any ball off the table; (8) Wilfully interfering with an opponent, or the run of the balls, and refusing to obey the referee’s decision; (9) Missing, running a coup, striking the wrong ball, or pocketing the white ball; (10) Playing at or pocketing any ball except in the proper rotation; (11) Striking two balls, other than two red balls, simultaneously; (12) Giving an intentional miss; (13) Pocketing more than one ball--other than red balls--by one stroke. 16.
Then the Mother counts the children by the seven days of the week, Monday, Tuesday, &c., and appoints another girl to act as guardian over them. She then pretends to go out washing, removing to a short distance so as to be within ear-shot of the other children. As soon as the Mother has gone, the old Witch comes and says, Please, can I light my pipe? Then the children say, Yes, if you won t spit on t hearth. She pretends to light her pipe, but spits on the hearth, and runs away with the girl called Sunday. Then the Guardian, among the confusion, pretends to rush down stairs, and, failing to find Sunday, calls out, Mother, mother, t pot boils over. The Mother replies, Put your head in; the Guardian says, It s all over hairs; the Mother says, Put the dish-clout in; the Guardian says, It s greasy; the Mother says, Get a fork; the Guardian says, It s rusty; the Mother says, I ll come mysen. She comes, and begins to count the children, Monday, Tuesday, up to Saturday, and missing Sunday, asks, Where s Sunday? the Guardian says, T old Witch has fetched her. The Mother answers, Where was you? Up stairs. The Mother says, What doing? Making t beds.
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You may succeed in confining the whole twelve of your adversary’s men, without capturing any of them, as in Diagram No. 2; or such as are left on the board after a certain number have been captured, as in Diagram No. 3. [Illustration: No. 2. +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ⛂ | | ⛀ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | ⛂ | | ⛀ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | ⛀ | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ White to Move.] [Illustration: No. 3. +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | ⛂ | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | ⛂ | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ⛂ | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | ⛀ | | | | ⛀ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ⛃ | | ⛀ | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ White to Move.] Diagram No.
While it is the rule for the player to stand when the odds are two to one in his favour for making the odd trick, and to ask for cards when the odds are less, there are exceptions. The chances of improving by taking in cards must not be forgotten, and it must be remembered that the player who proposes runs no risk of penalty. He has also the advantage of scoring two for the vole if he can get cards enough to win every trick, whereas the dealer gets no more for the vole than for the odd trick if the player does not propose. Some beginners have a bad habit of asking for cards if they are pretty certain of the point. Unless they hold the King this is not wise, for the player cannot discard more than one or two cards, but the dealer may take five, and then stands a fair chance of getting the King, which would not only count a point for him, but would effectually stop the vole for which the player was drawing cards. The most obvious example of a jeux de règle is one trump, a winning sequence of three cards in one suit, and a small card in another. For instance: Hearts trumps-- 1 [Illustration: 🂷 🃛 🃝 🃞 🂧] 44,724 to 21,056. If the dealer does not hold two trumps, it is impossible to prevent the player from winning the point with these cards; because he need only lead his winning sequence until it is trumped, and then trump himself in again. With this hand the player will win 44,724 times out of 65,780. There are about twenty hands which are generally known as jeux de règle, and every écarté player should be familiar with them.
On this second round, C having passed out, it is D’s turn to say whether or not he will raise. On the next round it will be A’s turn, and after that it will be B’s second turn, and so on. Should any player meet the bet but refuse to raise, although it is his turn, he still cannot call. If he does not avail himself of his privilege of raising, he must _=pass the word=_ to the player on his right; that is, transfer the privilege to him. If he declines, it is a call; if he raises, it goes on until every player has refused to avail himself of the privilege. If a player chooses to raise without waiting for his turn, of course he can do so. One of the fine points in the game is knowing when to raise the bet yourself, and when to pass the word. _=Rank of the Hands.=_ If a call is made, the hands are shown, and the best Bouillotte hand wins. There are only two classes of hands recognized in Bouillotte, the brelan, and the point; but there are three kinds of brelans, which rank in the following order: _=A Brelan Carré=_ is four of a kind; three in the player’s hand, and the fourth turned up on the pack.
Feeling a little creaky about falling a couple stories to the ground, I lay down on my back on the narrow parapet, with my hands behind my head to soften the concrete a little, and looked straight up into the night sky. A dawdling August Perseid scratched a thin mark of light across the blackness. I heard a coyote howl. This was desert. This was peace. The dice and chuck-a-luck seemed ten thousand miles away. I heard a sound. Gravel crunched dimly under another foot. Somebody had stepped invisibly onto the roof. It scared the daylights out of me, more so because I was flat on my back.
They were good. But they had limitations. So much depended on the choice of Partners, so much on the sheer luck of who drew whom. THE SHUFFLE Father Moontree and the little girl named West entered the room. They were the other two pinlighters. The human complement of the Fighting Room was now complete. Father Moontree was a red-faced man of forty-five who had lived the peaceful life of a farmer until he reached his fortieth year. Only then, belatedly, did the authorities find he was telepathic and agree to let him late in life enter upon the career of pinlighter. He did well at it, but he was fantastically old for this kind of business. Father Moontree looked at the glum Woodley and the musing Underhill.