XXVII

INTRIGUE (WITH TWO WHIST PACKS)

THIS is a variation of an older game known as the "Picture Gallery." Take out a queen — it does not matter which one  — and place it at the left-hand side of the board. Now begin dealing out the cards upon it, just as they come, until a 5, a 6, or another queen is dealt. If the card is a 5, place it under the queen. If it is a 6, place it over the queen. If it is another queen, cease dealing out the cards on the first queen and begin to deal them upon this second one until a third turns up, when you at once transfer your attentions to her, and so on until all the queens are out, when the last one gets the remainder of the pack played upon her.

Meanwhile, as 5's and 6's turn up in dealing, you are to place the former in a row with the first 5 dealt, and the latter in a row with the first 6 dealt. The 5's are to be built upon, irrespective of suit, downwards to the kings, which crown these packets in the bottom row. The 6's are to be built upon, irrespective of suit, upwards to the knaves, which are the crowning cards of the top row. You build as often as you can, from exposed cards or from the pack, and whenever you can exhaust one of the packets in the middle row, exposing a queen, do so, as this queen will be of advantage later on. When all the cards have been dealt, the top row should show eight knaves, the middle one eight queens, and the bottom one eight kings; but probably some of the queens are still covered, and some of the packets, in the rows above and below, are unfinished. You are now allowed to take the topmost card from any one of the packets in the middle row, and put it on an exposed queen. If there is another exposed queen, you can put a card on that also, and on as many queens as are not covered; but if by this means you cannot free the cards with which you want to continue the sequences, the game is blocked, for you may not transfer to a queen more than once.

By taking care to diminish the fuller packets, however, the queens and their cavaliers will generally appear in their three rows. (See p. 110.)

Six packets have been built up complete from 6 to knave, and five from 5 to king; but the game would be blocked were it not for the fact that three queens are exposed. Move the first knave in the middle row upon the queen of spades, and a 3 will be disclosed which can be put on the 4. A 2, revealed by removal of the 3, can be put upon the latter card, when another queen is exposed. Put the second knave in the middle row on this queen. An 8 of clubs

EXAMPLE.

is exposed, but is of no use yet. Now move the 2 of clubs on to the queen of hearts shown in the above diagram. A 7 is underneath the 2; and when it is put on the 6 in the top row, the 8 of clubs can follow, and then the 9 of diamonds. By the removal of the 8 another queen is exposed. This allows two cards to be taken from the last packet in the middle row. Should the new exposure result favourably, the game may be successfully completed.