scales. The other cards seemed alive likewise, even the ordinary
ones, just like the court-cards. There seemed to be pictures moving
inside the emblems on their faces. The clubs in my hand ran into
higher figures than the spades; these came next in number, and
diamonds next. I had no picture-cards of diamonds, but I had the Ace.
And this was so bright I could not look at it. Except the two queens
of Clubs and Hearts I think I had no picture-cards in my hand, and
very few red cards of any kind. There were high figures in the spades.
It was the personage behind my chair who dealt the cards always.
I said to my partner:--"It is difficult to play at all, whether
by luck or by skill, for I get such a bad hand dealt me each time."

"That is your fault," he said. "Play your best with what you have,
and next time you will get better cards."

"How can that be?" I asked.

"Because after each game, the `tricks' you take are added to the
bottom of the pack which the dealer holds, and you get the `honors'
you have taken up from the table. Play well and take all you can.
But you must put more head into it. You trust too much to fortune.
Don't blame the dealer; he can't see."

"I shall lose this game," I said presently, for the two persons
playing against us seemed to be taking up all the cards quickly,
and the "lead" never came to my turn.

"It is because you don't count your points before putting down a card,"
my partner said. "If they play high numbers, you must play higher."