--CARDS LIABLE TO BE CALLED. SEC. 1. The following cards are liable to be called: (a) Every card so placed upon the table as to expose any of the printing on its face, except such cards as these laws specifically provide, shall not be so liable. (b) Every card so held by a player as to expose any of the printing on its face to his partner or to both of his adversaries at the same time. (c) Every card, except the trump card, named by the player holding it. SEC. 2. If a player says. “I can win the rest,” “The rest are ours,” “It makes no difference how you play,” or words to that effect, or if he plays or exposes his remaining cards before his partner has played to the current trick, his partner’s cards must be laid face up on the table and are liable to be called.
Foolie always obeys this call, comes and stations himself beside the Namer. A little chaffing generally goes on against Foolie. The Namer says, Come chise me oot, come chise me in, tae so and so, naming one by the assumed fancy name. Foolie makes choice of one. If the choice falls right, the one so chosen steps from the line and stands beside Foolie. If the choice falls wrong, the one named remains in the line. All the players names are called out in this way. If any stand unchosen by Foolie, the Namer then goes up to each and asks if he wants, _e.g._, an aipple, an orange, a kirk, a cottage, &c.
_=Keeping Cases.=_ As the cards are withdrawn from the box they are marked on a case-keeper, which is a suit of thirteen cards, with four buttons running on a steel rod opposite each of them. As the cards come out, these buttons are pushed along, so that the player may know how many of each card are still to come, and what cards are left in for the last turn. In brace games, when the cards are pulled out two at a time to change the run of them, the case-keeper is always a confederate of the dealer, and is signalled what cards have been pulled out under the cards shown, so that he can secretly mark them up. A bet placed or left upon a card of which none are left in the box is called a _=sleeper=_, and is public property; the first man that can get his hands on it keeps it. When only one card of any denomination is in the box, it is obvious that such a card cannot be split, and that the bank has no advantage of the player. Such cards are called _=cases=_, and the betting limit on cases is only half the amount allowed on other cards. It is not considered _comme il faut_ for a player to wait for cases, and those who play regularly usually make a number of small bets during the early part of the deal, and then bet high on the cases as they come along. A player who goes upon the principle that the dealer can cheat those who bet high, and who follows and goes against the big bets with small ones, or who plays one-chip bets all over the board, hoping to strike a good spot to fish on, is called a piker; and when a game runs small this way, the dealers call it a _=piking game=_. _=Keeping Tab.
Two lines stand close together holding handkerchiefs across. The questions are asked and answered by the top and bottom players. Then two children run under the line of handkerchiefs. The Dorset version is played by as many as like standing, two and two, opposite each other, each of them taking with the right hand the right hand of the other; then the two that are the King and Queen say or sing the first question, to which the others reply, and the dialogue ends in this manner. Then all the other pairs hold up their hands as high as they can, and the King and Queen run through the archway and back again, and so on with the next pair, and other pairs in turn. The Isle of Man version is played, Mr. Moore says, the same as other Thread the Needle games. (_c_) The game is evidently dramatic in form, and perhaps is illustrative of some fact of history, such as the toll upon merchandise entering a walled town. The changes in the words of the different versions are not very great, but they show the influence of modern history upon the game. The appearance of King George evidently points to the date when it was frequently played, though the older versions are doubtless those in which his Majesty does not do duty.