It is now Black’s turn to play, and he must stop White from forming a line of three men with a vacant square at each end. To do this he must place a man either on 7 or 17. Supposing he plays on to 17, then White can force the game thus:—
| White. | Black. | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | 23 | Black plays on 23 to stop White |
| 7 | 3 | getting an open three; 9 would not |
| 9 | 5 | be so good. |
| 11 | 12 | |
| 2 |
The position is now as diagrammed:—
Black to Play.
Fig. 28.
It will be seen that White has now three on a perpendicular (beginning at 2) with a vacant square, and he also has three on a diagonal (also beginning at 2) with a vacant square. Black can now only occupy one of the vacant squares, and White thereupon occupies the other, thereby forming his quaternion and winning. Black lost the game on his second play by placing his man on 17; had he gone on to 7 his game would have been as good as White’s.
Now for a few general hints. Open the game on the middle of the board. Play to squares near those occupied by your opponent’s men. Keep your men in connection (with an eye to forming threes, as in the illustrative game given above). Keep forming threes as long as you can so as to force your opponent to stop the threatened quaternion. Keep a wary eye always on your opponent’s game, and try to confine him as much as possible so as to prevent him from forming threes with an adjacent vacant square. Play the cautious game rather than the risky one—that is, keep the draw always in hand, and win if you can.
Consequences.—Each player has a slip of paper. Three inches broad and eight inches long is a convenient shape and size. Each player writes upon the top an adjective which might be applied to a lady, and then folds the top of the slip so as to cover the word. All now pass their slips to their neighbours so that each one has another slip. Without looking at the adjective, which should be well covered by the fold, each writes the name of a lady who is in the room, and folds the slip again so that no writing may be seen. Once more the slips are passed along, and upon the new slip which each player has now should be written an adjective applicable to a gentleman. Fold the paper and pass it along again. This process is repeated until this adjective has been followed by the name of some gentleman of the party, then by the name of a place, next by what the gentleman said to the lady, then her reply. After that come the consequences, and finally what the world said. All the slips are now dropped into a hat, and someone is appointed to read them one by one, supplying the verbs in the right place. They will create roars of laughter, for they will run something like this: Simpering Jane Cook met Knock-kneed Peter Thompson up a tree. He said to her, “Well, I am surprised” and she replied, “Does your mother know you’re out?” The consequences were that he pawned his boots, and the world said, “I told you so.”
Concert.—The players having selected a “conductor,” seat themselves round him. The conductor now gives to each a musical instrument, and shows how it is to be played. When all are provided with their imaginary instruments, he orders them to tune, and so gives each musician a chance to make all sorts of noises. Next the conductor waves an imaginary baton, and begins to hum a lively tune, in which he is accompanied by his band, each player imitating with his hands the different movements made in performing on his supposed instrument. Every now and then the conductor pretends to play an instrument, and the player to whom it belongs must instantly alter his movements for those of the conductor, and continue to beat time until the conductor abandons his instrument. Should a player fail to take the conductor’s office at the proper time, he must pay a forfeit.