give the signal for trumps or any other conventional sign if it was not likely to be understood. And the case would be worse if one or both of the adversaries happened to be observant players; for in such case the more information you gave as to your hand, the more facility you would afford for your own defeat.

It is impossible to give rules for such cases: sometimes it might be politic to play for your own hand only; at others you might partially help your partner (if you could understand his play) though he might not help you; at other times you might most profitably devote your attention to thwarting your adversaries. time.

All would be a matter of judgment at the

The only thing to be said is, that principles of play which depend essentially on a joint action of the two partners, must not inflexibly be carried out when one of their most fundamental conditions is wanting; and that, consequently, what would be very bad play if you had a good partner, may be perfectly good when you have a bad one.

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CHAPTER V.

RULES AND DIRECTIONS FOR PLAY.

THE foregoing remarks illustrate what we have called the Theory of the Scientific or Modern Game. The way in which this theory is usually brought into practical application is by means of Rules or Directions for Play; indeed, the ordinary plan in teaching Whist, either personally or by books, is to give these rules only, either ignoring the theory altogether, or only allowing it to be inferred by the student as well as he can.

Many collections of Rules, carried out in considerable detail, will be found in the best modern works on Whist; but it will be useful to give here a short summary of the principal ones, arranged in a convenient form for reference.

It must be explained that among such rules are included many which have no direct reference to the theory of the game, but are matters of detail, providing for what we may call the accidents of play.

SUMMARY OF RULES AND DIRECTIONS FOR PLAY.

The principles on which most of these rules are based will be found in the foregoing theoretical considerations. Some further explanations, together with notes of exceptions and other useful remarks, are appended in small type

The Lead.

Let your first or principal lead be from your best long suit.

If you have two suits, each of more than three cards, you may prefer the one which is strongest in high cards; but always avoid, if possible, an original lead from a suit of less than four.

Holding in this suit ace and king, lead king first, then ace.

This is preferable to beginning with the ace, as it may sometimes convey useful information. No good partner would trump your king led.

If you hold ace, king, queen, lead king first, then queen, for the same reason.

Holding king and queen, lead king.

And, if it wins, a small one, as the ace ought to be with your partner.

Holding king, queen, knave, ten, lead the lowest of the sequence, to induce your partner to put on the ace, if he has it, and leave you with the command.

Holding ace, queen, knave, lead ace, then queen.

So as to obtain the command with the knave. If your partner holds the king, he ought to put it on the queen (if he can trust your leading from a long suit),

so as not to obstruct your establishment of the suit.

Holding ace and four others (not including king, or queen with knave), lead ace, then a small one.

To prevent the chance of your ace being trumped second round.

Holding queen, knave, ten, or knave, ten, nine, at the head of your suit, lead the highest.

It is an old and well-known rule to lead the highest of a sequence.' But like many other rules, when the reason of it is not comprehended, it is often totally misunderstood and misapplied, The object of doing this is to prevent your partner from putting on the next highest, if he has it; but there are many cases where you ought to desire him to put it on, and where, consequently, the lowest ought to be played-as, for example, when you hold a quart to a king, as before directed. In a general way the rule should apply only to a high sequence heading the suit in your own hand, and not to low or subordinate sequences, to lead the highest of which would only deceive your partner without doing you any good. See an example in the note to the following rule, and also remarks on the trump lead.

In other cases lead the lowest card of your suit.

If you hold king, knave, ten, nine, and a small one, lead the nine; if king, knave, ten, and others, the ten. These are exceptional combinations.

If trumps are out before you open your suit, you should lead differently, keeping back your high cards.

See the rules for trump leads, which apply in a great measure to this case also.

Lead your own long suit, if you return your partner's.

you

have one, before

Unless you happen to hold the master-card in your partner's suit, which you should part with as early as you can, to get it out of your partner's way, and prevent his imagining it is against him.

In returning your partner's lead, if you held not more than three cards of the suit originally, always return the highest you have left.

To strengthen his hand, and as a conventional signal. If you originally held four, return the lowest, unless you have the master-card, which play out at once, as before directed. Also, if you happen to have discarded one of the four, play as if you had held only three.

It is good to lead a suit in which your righthand adversary is weak, or your left-hand strong.

I.e., lead up to the weak suit, or through the strong one. On this principle avoid, if possible, returning your partner's suit, if you have won his lead cheaply.

(Indication of strength is given by the lead-of weakness by the play of third and fourth hand, and by the discard.)