he must be very strong in trumps, and you may play accordingly. The restrictions to be observed in discarding on this principle are, not to unnecessarily unguard good cards, and to keep a card of your partner's suit to return his lead.

A word or two is necessary as to your course in regard to your adversaries; for it must be recollected you have not only to play your own and your partner's game, but you have also to defend it against hostile attacks, and to be able to attack the enemy in turn.

The principles dictated by the theory of the game in this respect are very clear, the golden rule being to do to them what you would not that they should do unto you. For example: if you find a strong hand of trumps declared against you, you must force that hand to ruff, as the best means of destroying its strength, while you must take the earliest opportunity of making your own weak trumps by ruffing before they are drawn, and of enabling your partner to do the same if he is weak also. You must generally be chary of returning the adversaries' leads, or of doing anything to aid in establishing their suits, of which you should avoid parting with the command-just the reverse of the principle you adopt with your partner. Anything, in fact, which the principle of the game recommends in regard to your partner, you must avoid with your adversaries; and, on the other

hand, you may adopt, towards them, any kind of play which would do your partner harm.

Communication between the Partners.

We have already stated that the theory of the scientific or combined game essentially contemplates the interchange of communication between the partners to the fullest legal extent, as to the state and contents of each other's hands; and as the giving, obtaining, and making use of such information forms one of the chief characteristics of good play, a few additional words on the point may be useful

here.

In the first place, the system of play itself furnishes a large source of information; for by following carefully the established principles, and by avoiding wild and irregular play, you will certainly put your partner in possession of the most material facts as to your hand, while by carefully observing his play you will become possessed of similar information as to his hand in return. A glance through the foregoing remarks will show this quite clearly.

But, independently of this, you must adopt every further means in your power of giving him information, and there are many ways in which this may be done. Wehave already mentioned some conventional signals which, by common consent, have become legalized and adopted for the purpose, such as the signal for trumps, and returning the highest from a short suit; and there are one or two others which may be remarked on.

The mode of playing sequences furnishes one of these. Suppose, being third player, you hold king and queen; it is clearly immaterial, as regards the immediate effect, which of these two cards you play; but, since you have the choice, advantage is taken of the fact to enable you to give your partner information, the rule being that you always play the lowest of the sequence; so that your partner, understanding this convention, will at once acquire the knowledge that you have not the knave, but may have the king. If you played the king, he would erroneously infer you had not the queen, and this error might cause him to do your joint game much injury. This rule of playing the lowest of a sequence applies whenever you are second, third, or fourth player; but when you lead, different considerations come in, which require, in many cases, the highest of the sequence to be played. This is, however, perfectly well understood, and causes no confusion.

There are also several other lesser means of conveying information, such as by retaining the turn-up card as long as you can, and by particular modes of play in particular cases; as, for example, if you found yourself at a certain period of the game with the best and second best cards of trumps, or of a plain

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suit when trumps were out, you would lead the second best, to show your partner you held the best also; or, in discarding from a suit of which you have full command, it is a convention to throw away the highest, which your partner must know you would not do without good reason. Other devices of this kind will often suggest themselves in the course of play.

And this consideration should also guide you to be extremely careful against doing anything which may mislead your partner, particularly in the management of your small cards; for example, it would be inexcusable unnecessarily to throw away a three or a four if you held a two. Deceiving your partner is a crime which ought to be held in the greatest abhorrence by a Whist player. It is ranked by one of our greatest Whist authorities with want of veracity in common affairs. In no other position in life,' says he, 'would you tell me that which is untrue; and why should you do it here?'

6

On the Degree of Strictness with which Systematic Play should be adhered to.

It does not follow that because the modern scientific game involves a general system of play, this system is to be rigidly and slavishly adhered to, without judgment or discrimination. On the contrary, one of the characteristics of a fine player is his ability

and tact in finding out when and to what extent he may modify or depart from the ordinary rules. It is impossible to teach this, and it is scarcely advisable that the learner should trouble himself much about it; for it is far preferable to show even too strict an adherence to principle than to depart from it wildly and unskilfully. When the systematic theory and practice of the scientific game have been fully mastered, practice and observation will soon point out, to the intelligent student, the modes in which he may advantageously modify his play.

The principal cause which justifies what one may call exceptional or irregular play, is the state of the score, which in Short Whist continually requires the most careful attention. The necessity for gaining a certain definite number of tricks, in order to win or to save the game, under peculiar circumstances of the hands, often gives rise to special problems, out of the usual category, and for which the ordinary system must be entirely thrown aside. If, for example, you score four. and have six tricks already, it is absurd to trouble yourself about any scientific mode of play, if by any possible means, ever so irregular and exceptional, you can ensure one trick more. And so if, at love-all, two honors are declared against you, and you have four tricks up, any kind of play will be right that will get you the fifth trick to save the game. Again, suppose the adversaries are four, and you,