XXVI

THE FOUR MARRIAGES (WITH TWO WHIST PACKS)

DEAL out a series of cards on the table, face upwards, rejecting any card that is of the same denomination (irrespective of suit) as that of any card already dealt. You will thus eventually get thirteen cards all of different value. When you arrive at this stage make a packet of these thirteen, in the order in which they happen to lie, and place them face upward in the centre of the board, the uppermost card, of course, being the only one that is visible. You now begin to deal the cards from " stock " (the remaining ninety-one cards), face upward, on to a waste-heap. As soon as an ace or a two of any suit is turned up, it is placed on the board as a foundation card. There will thus eventually be eight foundation cards — the four aces and the four twos of each suit. These foundations are to be built upon upward in suit by twos; that is to say, the series from an ace will be ace, 3, 5, 7, 9, knave, king, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, queen; while the series from a deuce will be 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, queen, ace, 3, 5, 7, 9, knave, king. You may build either with the top card from "stock," the top card of the waste-heap (which will be the card last dealt thereon), or the top card of the packet in centre of the board; you have thus, at any given moment, the choice of three different cards.

You are allowed to turn and re-deal the waste heap twice, without shuffling; that is, you are allowed three deals in all. If the game succeeds, there will be no cards left in the centre or in the pack, and the eight foundation packets will have been built up to the four kings and the four queens of each suit. In laying the foundations the ace and deuce of each suit should be placed adjacent to each other, so that, at the end of the game, each king will be found in the company of his royal spouse. The diagram on p. 107 shows the game in progress.

Packets 1, 3, 5, 7 are progressing upward from the aces, the ace of spades having not yet been built upon at all. Packets 2, 4, 6, 8 are progressing upward from the deuces, those of hearts and clubs not having been built upon. Thirty-six cards have been dealt on to the waste heap, the topmost card of the heap being the 7 of hearts. If the next card to be dealt from stock were the 5 of hearts, that card would be placed on packet 1, and the 7 from the waste-heap would then be placed upon the 5. The game is going favourably, as all the eight foundation cards have come up early; but it is very apt to get blocked towards the end.

This game, with a slightly different form of lay-out, is also known as "Quadrille," and as "La Française."