=_ A player anxious to have trumps led, but who has no immediate prospect of the lead, may call on his partner to lead trumps at the first opportunity, by playing any two cards of a suit led, the higher before the lower. Let us suppose him to hold five good trumps, with the Six and Two of a suit of which his partner leads King, then Jack. By playing first the Six, and then the Two, he calls upon his partner to quit the suit, and lead a trump. Among some players, the lead of a strengthening card when an honour is turned, is a call for trumps to be led through that honour at the first opportunity, but it is not good play. Passing a certain winning card is regarded by most players as an imperative call for trumps. The discard of any card higher than a Seven is known as a single-card-call. Even if it was not so intended, it is assumed that a trump lead cannot injure a player with nothing smaller than a Nine in his hand. _=Answering Trump Signals.=_ In response to partner’s call, a player should lead the best trump if he holds it; one of the second and third best if he holds them; the highest of three or less; the lowest of four; and the fourth-best of more than four. Holding any of the regular high-card combinations in trumps, he should lead them in the regular way in answer to a call.
] _=11.=_ Foul strokes do not score to the player, who must allow his opponent to follow on. They are made thus: By striking a ball twice with the cue; by touching with the hand, ball, or cue an opponent’s or the red ball; by playing with the wrong ball; by lifting both feet from the floor when playing; by playing at the striker’s own ball and displacing it ever so little (except while taking aim, when it shall be replaced, and he shall play again). _=12.=_ The penalty for a foul stroke is losing the lead, and, in case of a score, an opponent must have the red ball spotted, and himself break the balls, when the player who made the foul must follow suit, both playing from the D. If the foul is not claimed the player continues to score, if he can. _=13.=_ After being pocketed or forced off the table the red ball must be spotted on the top spot, but if that is occupied by another ball the red must be placed on the centre spot between the middle pockets. _=14.=_ If in taking aim the player moves his ball and causes it to strike another, even without intending to make a stroke, a foul stroke may be claimed by an adversary.
What seemed to be Dragons to the human mind appeared in the form of gigantic Rats in the minds of the Partners. Out in the pitiless nothingness of space, the Partners minds responded to an instinct as old as life. The Partners attacked, striking with a speed faster than Man s, going from attack to attack until the Rats or themselves were destroyed. Almost all the time, it was the Partners who won. With the safety of the inter-stellar skip, skip, skip of the ships, commerce increased immensely, the population of all the colonies went up, and the demand for trained Partners increased. Underhill and Woodley were a part of the third generation of pinlighters and yet, to them, it seemed as though their craft had endured forever. [Illustration] Gearing space into minds by means of the pin-set, adding the Partners to those minds, keying up the mind for the tension of a fight on which all depended--this was more than human synapses could stand for long. Underhill needed his two months rest after half an hour of fighting. Woodley needed his retirement after ten years of service. They were young.
If lost, it costs 132. If he makes schwarz after announcing schneider, it adds one multiplier, 77. The smallest possible game is a diamond with or without 1, worth 18; 36 if lost. The largest game possible to lose is a grand with four, schwarz announced, costing 1,008. THE LAWS OF SKAT. THE GAMES. 1. The following are the unit values of the various games:-- Frage shall not be allowed. Tournée in diamonds 5, in hearts 6, in spades 7 and in clubs 8. Solo in diamonds 9, in hearts 10, in spades 11 and in clubs 12, Turned grand 12, gucki grand 16, solo grand 20 and open grand 24.
152, 153, the author says he obtained the following note from a Bristol correspondent:-- About forty years ago, one moonlight night in the streets of Bristol, my attention was attracted by a dance and chorus of boys and girls, to which the words of this ballad gave measure. The breaking down of the Bridge was announced as the dancers moved round in a circle hand in hand, and the question, How shall we build it up again? was chanted by the leader while the rest stood still. This correspondent also sent the tune the children sang, which is printed in the _Chronicles of London Bridge_. This was evidently the same game, but it would appear that the verses have also been used as a song, and it would be interesting to find out which is the more ancient of the two--the song or the game; and to do this it is necessary that we should know something of the history of the song. A correspondent of _Notes and Queries_ (ii. 338) speaks of it as a lullaby song well known in the southern part of Kent and in Lincolnshire. In the _Gentleman s Magazine_ (1823, Part II. p. 232) appeared the following interesting note:-- The projected demolition of London Bridge recalls to my mind the introductory lines of an old ballad which more than seventy years ago I heard plaintively warbled by a lady who was born in the reign of Charles II., and who lived till nearly the end of that of George II.
The rules for drawing, etc., are more fully described in connection with the very similar game of Baccara. MACAO. In this variety of Vingt-et-un only one card is dealt to each player; court cards and tens count nothing, and the Ace is always worth one. The number to be reached is 9, instead of 21, and if a player has a 9 natural, he receives from the banker three times his stake; if an 8 natural, he receives double, and for a 7 natural, he is paid. If the banker has an equal number of points natural, it is a tie; and if the banker has a 7, 8, or 9 natural he receives from each of the others once, twice, or three times the amount of their stakes. If none of these naturals are shown, the players draw in turn, as at Vingt-et-un, and the dealer receives from those who have less points than he, or who are créve, and pays those who have more, but have not passed 9. FARMER. Any number of persons may play. All the 8’s and all the 6’s but the ♡6 are discarded from a pack of fifty-two cards.
The only penalty is that the ball so offending shall be spotted upon the white-ball spot at the foot of the table, or if that be occupied then on the nearest spot thereto unoccupied. When the pins are arranged, the rotation of the players is determined in like manner as in Fifteen-Ball Pool, after which each player receives from the marker a little numbered ball which is placed in the player’s cup on the pool board, and the number of which is not known to any of his opponents. The object of the player is to knock down as many pins as will count exactly thirty-one when the number on the small ball held by him is added to their aggregate; thus, if the small ball is No. 9, the player will have to gain twenty-two points on the pins before calling game, and whoever first gets exactly thirty-one points in this manner wins the pool. A white ball is spotted five inches from the lower end of the table, on a line drawn down the centre; and the red ball placed upon its own spot at the foot of the table. Player No. 1 must play with the remaining white ball from any point within the string-line at the head of the table at either the red or white ball, or place his own on the string spot. Player No. 2 may play with any ball on the table--red or white. After the first stroke has been played, the players, in their order, may play with or at any ball upon the board.