Part 60

The nine of hearts has long been regarded as the wish card; that is to say, if a player wins this card, in any agreed manner, he or she will have a wish fulfilled.

The most usual way to decide who is to be the lucky individual is for the players to sit around the table and for each to write down a wish on a slip of paper, and then to initial it. That done, the papers are collected and set aside to await the decision of the cards.

The cards are dealt to the players in turn in the ordinary manner from a full pack. Just how many each person is to receive depends on the number of players, but all must have the same number, and each should be given as many as the pack allows. Thus, there will often be a few cards left over. These are set in the middle of the table and not used.

When play starts, somebody begins by turning over the first card on his or her pack. If this is a numeral card, the next person follows by turning over the first card on his or her pack, and so the play continues round the table. But, if someone turns over a jack, the next person must pay that person one card, i.e., the card coming first on his pack. If a queen is turned over, the payment is the next two cards; if it is a king, the next three cards, while an ace requires the payment of the four next cards. The person playing the jack, queen, king or ace takes not only the cards paid but any that may be lying face upwards in front of the person paying. All paid cards are placed at the bottom of the receiver's pack.

There is one point more to note; if, while in the act of paying, the payer turns over a jack, queen, king or ace his debt is cancelled, the previous player gets nothing and the next player has to enter upon the business of paying.

As soon as one player has lost all his or her cards, the game stops and everybody glances through his or her pack to see who possesses the wish card, the nine of hearts. The lucky individual is then given the slip of paper on which his wish is written and must read it out loud. Not until it has been announced to all the company will the Fates take any consideration of it.

OLD MAID

The game known as "Old Maid" is a favorite that will continue to be played as long as cards exist. How it is played is within the knowledge of everybody, but the following variation is not so well-known, and it is certainly more exciting.

Instead of taking out of the pack any of the queens, in this variation the Queen of Clubs is removed. Then, the passing on of cards from one player to another and the pairing, whenever possible, proceeds in the usual way. But a red queen can only be paired with the other red queen, which makes the Queen of Spades a troublesome card.

Whoever is left with it at the end of the game is a very unfortunate old maid, since spades are the most unlucky cards of the whole pack.

THE LAST CARD

Have you some question that you want answered? It may be a question to do with love, marriage, health, finances, or almost anything. Here is a way to find the answer.

From a pack of playing cards, take out the four aces, the four twos, the four threes and the four queens--sixteen cards in all. Note that men use the four kings instead of the queens.

Shuffle the sixteen cards and then spread them out on the table, face down. They should lie on the table in a mixed-up heap and not in an orderly pack.

To start, pick any card from the heap, turn it over, and then, according to its value, place it in its proper position, as indicated by the formation shown in the diagram. Suppose, for instance, that it is a two of hearts; then it fills the space of the bottom left-hand corner; or if it is the queen of diamonds, it goes in the second space of the third row.

When the first card is placed, pick at random a second card and put it in the position indicated for it in the diagram. Follow in the same way with all the other cards, from three to fifteen, but not with the sixteenth. This is the card which supplies your answer. If it is the queen (or king) of hearts, your answer will be "Certainly yes"; if it is the two of spades, it is "Certainly not." The other cards come between these two and supply answers varying from "yes" to "no." Their actual meanings are as follows:--

1.--QUEEN OF HEARTS.--Certainly yes.

2.--ACE OF HEARTS.--Yes.

3.--THREE OF HEARTS.--Probably yes.

4.--TWO OF HEARTS.--A likelihood of yes.

5.--QUEEN OF CLUBS.--It may be yes.

6.--ACE OF CLUBS.--It is hopeful.

7.--THREE OF CLUBS.--If you are lucky, it will be yes.

8.--TWO OF CLUBS.--It is fifty-fifty.

9.--QUEEN OF DIAMONDS.--The chances are equal.

10.--ACE OF DIAMONDS.--If you are unlucky, it will be no.

11.--THREE OF DIAMONDS.--It is not hopeful.

12.--TWO OF DIAMONDS.--It may be no.