_=A Spare=_ is made when all ten pins are knocked down with the two balls of one inning, and it is marked with a diagonal stroke. If the player fails to get either a strike or a spare, it is a _=Break=_, marked with a horizontal line, under which is written the actual number of pins down. After each ball is rolled any pins that have fallen on the alley are called _=deadwood=_, and must be removed before the second ball is rolled. _=Counting.=_ If a player makes a strike in one inning, all that he makes on the next two balls rolled, whether in one inning or not, counts also on the strike, so as to give him the total score on three balls for the frame. Three successive strikes would give him 30 points on the first frame, with a ball still to roll to complete the second frame, and two balls to roll to complete the third. If he got two strikes in succession, and 5 pins on the first ball of the third frame, 4 on the second ball, the first frame would be worth 25, the second frame 19, and the break on the third frame 9; making his total score 53 for the three frames. If the player makes a spare in one inning, all the pins knocked down by the first ball of the next inning count also on the spare. Suppose a spare to be followed by a strike, the frame in which the spare was made would be worth 20. If he made 5 pins only, the spare would be worth 15.
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.=_ It frequently happens that a player is forced to make two declarations at the same time, although he can score only one of them. For instance: A player has announced and shown four Kings, one of them being the King of spades. On winning another trick he shows and scores bézique. One of the bézique cards forms a marriage with the spade King, and as the combinations belong to different classes, both may be scored, although the same card is used in each; but the player cannot score the second combination until he wins another trick. Under such circumstances it is usual to declare both combinations, scoring the more valuable, and repeating the one left over until an opportunity arises to score it.
--Moor s _Suffolk Words_. Hity Tity The Somerset name for See-Saw. Hoatie, Hots When a number of boys agree to have a game at the Pearie or peg-top, a circle is drawn on the ground, within which all the tops must strike and spin. If any of them bounce out of the circle without spinning, it is called a Hoatie. The punishment to which the Hoatie is subjected consists in being placed in the ring, while all the boys whose tops ran fairly have the privilege of striking--or, as it is called, deggin --it till it is either split or struck out of the circle. If either of these take place, the boy to whom the Hoatie belonged has the privilege of playing again.--Upper Lanarkshire (Jamieson). See Gully, Hoges. Hob-in-the-Hall An old game mentioned by Wycherley (_Plain Dealer_, 1677). Hockerty Cokerty The same game as Cockerty-hooie.
=_ The players who shall form the table, and their positions at the beginning of the game may be decided by drawing from an outspread pack, or by throwing round a card to each candidate, face up. If there are eight or more candidates, the tables shall divide evenly if the number is even, those cutting the highest cards playing together. If the number is odd, the smaller table shall be formed by those cutting the highest cards. In cutting, the ace is low. Any player exposing more than one card must cut again. _=3.=_ The table formed, the players draw from the outspread pack for positions. The lowest cut has the first choice, and deals the first hand. The player cutting the next lowest has the next choice, and so on until all are seated. _=4.
If the object ball is reached before this retrograde motion is exhausted, the effect will be to stop the forward motion of the cue ball, and to give what is left of the retrograde motion full play, making the cue ball return. The two great mistakes made by beginners in playing draw shots are that they pull the cue back, instead of driving it clear through the ball aimed at, and that they strike so hard that the forward motion of the cue ball is too strong for the retrograde motion to overcome it, or the object ball to stop it. It is never necessary to strike harder than sufficient to reach the object ball and get back to the carrom ball, unless one is playing for position. When the balls are so close together that to run the cue through the ball would make a foul shot, the draw may still be made by pointing the cue off to the side, and pushing it past the cue ball, instead of through it. This will secure the retrograde motion, but accompanied by a great deal of twist, which must be calculated for if the cue ball is to strike a cushion. A short draw may also be made by using the pinch. [Illustration] _=The Massé.=_ Most players imagine this to be a very difficult shot, but it is extremely simple if the principle of the direction of the cue and the effect of the pinch are kept in view. If we place the three balls in a straight line, about four inches apart, we have the simplest form of the massé. To find the exact spot at which the cue ball must be struck, join the centres of the cue and object balls by an imaginary line A-B.
But she was never on the wrong side of the Pass line. I kept track, not wanting my stack to build up past the thousand with which I had started. Most of all, I watched the skinny gal dope the dice, sniffle and wipe the end of her nose. She was one homely sharecropper, that was a fact, but she had a nice feel for Lady Luck. Or for what I planned next. * * * * * Wanting to come out with an even thousand, I adjusted the size of her last bet. When I won it, I pulled my chips off the table, which Sniffles didn t resist. She used the lull to grab a handful of sandwiches from another waiter s tray. A gambler at the far end of the table came out, calling loudly to the dice. The cubes made the length of the table, bounced off the rail and came to a stop dead center, between me and the three stick-men in the black aprons.
_=Tricks and Honours.=_ The score for tricks and for honours must be kept separate, usually above and below the line, as at bridge. All trick points, which are the only ones that count toward game, are placed below the line; the honour points above. For winning a game, 1,000 points are added in the honour column. The side that first wins two games of 500 points each adds 2,000 rubber points in the honour column. _=Slams.=_ If a little slam, 12 tricks, is made, but has not been bid, it is worth 1,000 points in honours. If a little slam, “six tricks,” has been bid and is made, it is worth 5,000 more for bidding it, or 6,000 altogether. If a grand slam, 13 tricks, is made but not bid, it is worth 2,000 honour points. If a little slam is bid and a grand slam made, it is worth 7,000 altogether.
-+---+-.-+ | | . | | . | | . | | . | +---+-.-+---+-.-+---+-.-+---+-.-+ | | .
In establishing a long suit it is very important to note the fall of the missing cards in the sequences. In the first of the two combinations just given, the declarer should be as careful to watch for the fall of the 8 and 6 as for the A Q and 10. _=Leading.=_ It is quite unnecessary to follow any system of leads, further than to distinguish between the combinations from which high or low cards are led. But it is important to remember that although a high-card combination may be divided, it should be played as if in one hand. For instance: The declarer holds Q J x x x of a suit; Dummy having A x x. By leading Q or J, Dummy is enabled to finesse, as if he held A Q J. The declarer holds K J x x x; Dummy having Q x x. The play is to force the Ace, as if the combination of K Q J x x were in one hand. Many opportunities arise for leading the Ace first from a short suit, in order to secure a ruff on the second or third round.
Billy-base A name for Prisoner s Base. --Halliwell s _Dictionary_. Bingo [Music] --Leicestershire. [Music] --Hexham. [Music] --Derbyshire. [Music] --Earls Heaton, Yorks. [Music] --Enborne. I. The miller s mill-dog lay at the mill-door, And his name was Little Bingo. B with an I, I with an N, N with a G, G with an O, And his name was Little Bingo.
A sequence of four cards of the same suit is a double combination, and will beat anything but a fredon. When doublets are shown, the holder is paid for both combinations, _=six=_ for tricon and prime, or _=eight=_ for sequence and flush, as the case may be. _=A Fredon=_, or four of a kind, is the best possible hand, and the holder is paid _=ten or eleven counters=_ by each of the other players, according to the pip value of his cards. He is paid eight counters for fredon, and two for the prime, if it is smaller than 8’s; but he claims grand prime if he has four 9’s, or four 10’S, and gets eleven counters. In case of _=ties=_ which cannot be decided by the pip values, the elder hand wins. Even if a player has lost his entire stake in the pool, he must pay the various combinations shown, and it is usual to reserve about ten counters for this purpose. _=Betting the Hands.=_ After the last cards have been drawn, the players proceed to bet upon their hands precisely as at Poker. If a player makes a bet or raise which no one will call, he takes the pool, and then shows his hand and demands payment for the combination he holds. It is very unusual for a player to stifle a hand at Ambigu, as he would at Bouillotte.
If he fails to win all five tricks, the adversaries count _=one=_. If he is euchred, they count _=three=_; but they are not permitted to play alone against him. _=Jambone.=_ Any person playing a lone hand may announce Jambone, and expose his cards face up on the table. The adversaries then have me right to call any card they please, either for the lead, or in following suit; but they cannot make the player revoke, nor can they consult, or in any way expose their hands. If a lead is required, it must be called by the person on the jambone player’s left. If a card is called on a trick, it must be called by the person on the jambone player’s right. If in spite of these difficulties the jambone player succeeds in winning five tricks, he scores _=eight=_ points. If he wins three or four only, he counts _=one=_ point. If he is euchred he loses _=two=_.
II THE BEGINNINGS OF MODERN LITTLE WARFARE THE beginning of the game of Little War, as we know it, became possible with the invention of the spring breechloader gun. This priceless gift to boyhood appeared somewhen towards the end of the last century, a gun capable of hitting a toy soldier nine times out of ten at a distance of nine yards. It has completely superseded all the spiral-spring and other makes of gun hitherto used in playroom warfare. These spring breechloaders are made in various sizes and patterns, but the one used in our game is that known in England as the four-point-seven gun. It fires a wooden cylinder about an inch long, and has a screw adjustment for elevation and depression. It is an altogether elegant weapon. It was with one of these guns that the beginning of our war game was made. It was at Sandgate--in England. [Illustration: Showing a country prepared for the war game] [Illustration: Showing countries prepared for the war game] The present writer had been lunching with a friend--let me veil his identity under the initials J. K.