Love Conquers All | Page 5

which may be taken as a
criterion for the whole country.
NUMBER WHO MAY WATCH
There should not be more than one watcher for each table. When there
are two, or more, confusion is apt to result and no one of the watchers

can devote his attention to the game as it should be devoted. Two
watchers are also likely to bump into each other as they make their way
around the table looking over the players' shoulders. If there are more
watchers than there are tables, two can share one table between them,
one being dummy while the other watches. In this event the first one
should watch until the hand has been dealt and six tricks taken, being
relieved by the second one for the remaining tricks and the marking
down of the score.
PRELIMINARIES
In order to avoid any charge of signalling, it will be well for the
following conversational formula to be used before the game begins:
The ring-leader of the game says to the fifth person: "Won't you join
the game and make a fourth? I have some work which I really ought to
be doing."
The fifth person replies: "Oh, no, thank you! I play a wretched game.
I'd much rather sit here and read, if you don't mind."
To which the ring-leader replies: "Pray do."
After the first hand has been dealt, the fifth person, whom we shall now
call the "watcher," puts down the book and leans forward in his (or her)
chair, craning the neck to see what is in the hand nearest him. The
strain becoming too great, he arises and approaches the table, saying:
"Do you mind if I watch a bit?"
No answer need be given to this, unless someone at the table has nerve
enough to tell the truth.
PROCEDURE
The game is now on. The watcher walks around the table, giving each
hand a careful scrutiny, groaning slightly at the sight of a poor one and
making noises of joyful anticipation at the good ones. Stopping behind
an especially unpromising array of cards, it is well to say: "Well,

unlucky at cards, lucky in love, you know." This gives the partner an
opportunity to judge his chances on the bid he is about to make, and is
perfectly fair to the other side, too, for they are not left entirely in the
dark. Thus everyone benefits by the remark.
[Illustration: The watcher walks around the table, giving each hand a
careful scrutiny.]
When the bidding begins, the watcher has considerable opportunity for
effective work. Having seen how the cards lie, he is able to stand back
and listen with a knowing expression, laughing at unjustified bids and
urging on those who should, in his estimation, plunge. At the
conclusion of the bidding he should say: "Well, we're off!"
As the hand progresses and the players become intent on the game, the
watcher may be the cause of no little innocent diversion. He may ask
one of the players for a match, or, standing behind the one who is
playing the hand, he may say:
"I'll give you three guesses as to whom I ran into on the street yesterday.
Someone you all know. Used to go to school with you, Harry ... Light
hair and blue eyes ... Medium build ... Well, sir, it was Lew Milliken.
Yessir, Lew Milliken. Hadn't seen him for fifteen years. Asked after
you, Harry ... and George too. And what do you think he told me about
Chick?"
Answers may or may not be returned to these remarks, according to the
good nature of the players, but in any event, they serve their purpose of
distraction.
Particular care should be taken that no one of the players is allowed to
make a mistake. The watcher, having his mind free, is naturally in a
better position to keep track of matters of sequence and revoking. Thus,
he may say:
"The lead was over here, George," or
"I think that you refused spades a few hands ago, Lillian."

Of course, there are some watchers who have an inherited delicacy
about offering advice or talking to the players. Some people are that
way. They are interested in the game, and love to watch but they feel
that they ought not to interfere. I had a cousin who just wouldn't talk
while a hand was being played, and so, as she had to do something, she
hummed. She didn't hum very well, and her program was limited to the
first two lines of "How Firm a Foundation," but she carried it off very
well and often got the players to humming it along with her. She could
also drum rather well with her fingers on the back of the chair of one of
the players while looking