She wrestled it, climbed onto the bed, and held it down with her boney knees. Her fingers kneaded it, working some imaginary devil out through the fingertips, till the hurt was gone. * * * * * We sat close together on the edge of the bed at last, as I worked and moved my arm, one of us more in awe of what had happened than the other. It was weak--with those flabby, unused muscles, it had to be. But I could move it, to any normal position. I never done like that before, she breathed. Jest small ailin . You re a healer, all right, I said. And a prophetess, too, from what I saw at the dice table. You know what a Psi personality is? I asked her.
This we contrived by playing not for the game but for points, scoring the result of each game and counting the points towards the decision of a campaign. Our campaign was to our single game what a rubber is to a game of whist. We made the end of a war 200, 300, or 400 or more points up, according to the number of games we wanted to play, and we scored a hundred for each battle won, and in addition 1 for each infantry-man, 1-1/2 for each cavalry-man, 10 for each gun, 1/2 for each man held prisoner by the enemy, and 1/2 for each prisoner held at the end of the game, subtracting what the antagonist scored by the same scale. Thus, when he felt the battle was hopelessly lost, he had a direct inducement to retreat any guns he could still save and surrender any men who were under the fire of the victors guns and likely to be slaughtered, in order to minimise the score against him. And an interest was given to a skilful retreat, in which the loser not only saved points for himself but inflicted losses upon the pursuing enemy. At first we played the game from the outset, with each player s force within sight of his antagonist; then we found it possible to hang a double curtain of casement cloth from a string stretched across the middle of the field, and we drew this back only after both sides had set out their men. Without these curtains we found the first player was at a heavy disadvantage, because he displayed all his dispositions before his opponent set down his men. And at last our rules have reached stability, and we regard them now with the virtuous pride of men who have persisted in a great undertaking and arrived at precision after much tribulation. There is not a piece of constructive legislation in the world, not a solitary attempt to meet a complicated problem, that we do not now regard the more charitably for our efforts to get a right result from this apparently easy and puerile business of fighting with tin soldiers on the floor. And so our laws all made, battles have been fought, the mere beginnings, we feel, of vast campaigns.
A bézique has been scored, and the Jack got rid of in play; a new Jack of diamonds will not make another bézique with the old Queen. Some judgment is necessary in making announcements, the question of time being often important. Suppose hearts are trumps, and the winner of the trick holds double bézique, sixty Queens, and a royal marriage:-- [Illustration: 🃋 🃋 🂭 🂭 🃍 🂽 🂾 ] He cannot lay all these cards down at once, and claim 600 points. Neither can he lay down four Queens and two Jacks, and score 560; nor four Queens and a King and score 100. He may announce them if he chooses to expose his hand in that manner, but he can score only one combination, and must win a separate trick to score each of the others. It would be better for him to select some one of the combinations, and declare it, waiting until he won another trick to declare the next one. A beginner would be apt to declare the highest count first, 500 for the double bézique; but under the rule which prevents a player from making a declaration which forms part of a higher one of the same class already made, he would lose the 40 points for the single bézique. It would be better to declare the single bézique first, scoring 40 points for it, and after winning another trick to show the other bézique, scoring 500 points more for the double combination. A player is not allowed to score 40 for the second bézique, and then 500 for the two combined; because if new announcements are made in the same class, at least one new card must be added from the player’s hand when the announcement is made, even if it is not scored until later. _=Double Declarations.
When only two play, the game may be scored on a pull-up cribbage board, and settled for at the end. _=PLAYERS.=_ Any number from two to six persons may play, but four is the usual number, each playing for himself against all the others. The players on the dealer’s right and left are known as the _=pone=_ and the _=eldest hand=_, respectively. _=STAKES.=_ The value of the counters must be agreed upon before play begins, and the method of settling should also be understood, Sweepstake Hearts and Howell’s Settling being entirely different games, and requiring totally different methods of play. _=CUTTING.=_ If seven players assemble, it is usual to make up a table in which the dealer takes no cards. If there are more than seven candidates for play, two tables must be formed. Players draw from an outspread pack for the choice of seats and cards, the lowest cut having the first choice, and the others following in their order.
=_ If any player robs when he does not hold the ace; leads or plays out of turn; reneges to the lead of a higher trump; renounces in the trump suit; revokes in a plain suit; or exposes a card after any player has won two tricks, he loses all his right and interest in the current pool, which he cannot win, either on that or any subsequent deal, but to which he must continue to contribute when it comes to his turn to deal. After the pool has been won, and a fresh one formed, the penalty is removed. _=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ Observation, quickness, and good judgment of character are the essentials for success at Spoil Five, the last being probably the most important. The peculiar order of the cards; the privilege of renouncing when holding a card of the suit led; and the right of passing inferior trump leads, are very confusing to the beginner; but with practice the routine and strategy of the game soon become familiar. The player should first make up his mind whether he is going to try to win the pool or to spoil it. Particular attention should be paid to the player who robs, because he must have at least the ace and the turn-up in trumps, and is more likely to need spoiling than any other player. When a player wins a trick, some judgment will be necessary to decide whether he is trying for the pool himself, or simply spoiling it for some one else. When he wins two tricks, every other player at the table must combine against him. With only one small or medium trump, it is better to use it at the first opportunity.
These changes successively bring about the three following positions:-- c | b | a a b | a c | c b S | S | S | | Hands:--1 to 4 | 5 to 8 | 9 to 12 For the overplay, the trays are reversed, the hands originally dealt N & S being placed E & W; but the players continue to change right and left alternately. This brings the same partners together, but on different sides of the table. c | b | a b a | c a | c b S | S | S | | Hands:--1 to 4 | 5 to 8 | 9 to 12 _=Scoring.=_ The names of the four players should be written at the head of each score-card, and as there is no trump turned in memory duplicate, the third and seventh columns can both be used for the numbers of the players that are partners, and the sixth column for the N & S gains. When the match is finished, a tabulation of the tricks lost or won by each player will readily show which is the winner. In the illustration which we give, No. 3 finishes plus 6; No. 4 plus 2; No. 1 minus 4; and No. 2 minus 4.
The second player in each trick must win the trick if he can, either with a higher card or with a trump. For each honour in trumps in the tricks won the player marks a white counter at the end of the hand. The winner of the odd trick scores as many white counters as he has tricks in excess of his adversary. If either player makes capot, (all twelve tricks,) he scores two red counters. _=Scoring.=_ When one player reaches six white counters and changes them for a red, his adversary must take down any white counters he may have scored. For instance: The pone has 2 reds and 4 whites up; the dealer has 1 red and 5 whites. The pone scores two whites, reaching six, and advancing his score to 3 reds, which are sometimes called impérials. The dealer must take down his white counters, losing that count altogether, and leaving himself 1 red. The only exception to this is that at the beginning of the hand if both have impérials combinations in hand, neither side takes down its white counters.
Change Seats, the King s Come In this game as many seats are placed round a room as will serve all the company save one. The want of a seat falls on an individual by a kind of lot, regulated, as in many other games, by the repetition of an old rhythm. All the rest being seated, he who has no seat stands in the middle, repeating the words Change seats, change seats, &c., while all the rest are on the alert to observe when he adds, the king s come, or, as it is sometimes expressed, change their seats. The sport lies in the bustle in consequence of every one s endeavouring to avoid the misfortune of being the unhappy individual who is left without a seat. The principal actor often slily says, The king s _not_ come, when, of course the company ought to keep their seats; but from their anxious expectation of the usual summons, they generally start up, which affords a great deal of merriment.--Brand s _Pop. Antiq._, ii. 409.
This enables us to formulate the great principle of the American game, which is that when a player is ahead he should go ahead as fast as he can; and when he is behind, he should stay behind as long as he can. In the first place he is playing a forward, and in the second place a backward game. _=The Forward Game.=_ The great point in this game, after having obtained the advantage of several good throws in the opening, is to get home as rapidly as possible without unnecessarily exposing your men by leaving blots. Do not take up your adversary’s men if you can help it, because by so doing you place obstacles in your own path, and assist him by allowing him to stay behind, which is just his game. Get past all his men if possible, especially if he has moved his two men out of your home table. _=The Backward Game.=_ Exactly the opposite tactics are of course the best for the player who is behind. He should keep two or three men in his adversary’s home table, preferably on the ace and deuce points, in the hope of catching some of the enemy, and setting them back. The result of these tactics, if successful, will be to offset the advantage of the adversary’s high throws early in the game, because every man captured not only has to start his journey over again, but is liable to be picked up a second or third time.
Success in love. Eight. Great anticipations. Seven. Trifling love affairs. _=R.=_ They will get you into trouble. _=DIAMONDS.=_ Ace. A letter, or a written notice.
If he has none of the suit led, he may trump or discard as he pleases. The highest card played of the suit led wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits. _=Scoring.=_ At the end of the hand the various players claim the points made, and score them by placing white counters in the pool. If the bidder makes any points in excess of the number bid, he scores them. The first player to get rid of his seven white counters wins the pool, and takes down all the red counters it contains. The white counters are then redistributed, and the players cut for the first deal of the new game. If two players can count out on the same deal, and one of them is the bidder, he wins the pool if he has made good his bid. If neither of the ties is the bidder, the points count out in their regular order, High first, then Low, then Jack, and finally Game. For instance: Seven are playing.