'But we this resolution have laid down--
Never to play so high as for a Crown.'

Finally, as to allusions to gaming, the reader may remember the
famous sarcasm of the late Earl of Derby (as Lord Stanley) some
thirty years ago, comparing the Government to Thimble-riggers in
operation.


CHAPTER X.

PIQUET, BASSET, FARO, HAZARD, PASSE-DIX, PUT, CROSS AND PILE,
THIMBLE-RIG.

----

PIQUET

Piquet is said to have derived its name from that of its
inventor,
who contrived it to amuse Charles VI. of France. The game was
played with thirty two cards, that is, discarding out of the pack
all the deuces, treys, fours, fives, and sixes. Regular
piquet-packs were sold. In reckoning up the points, every card
counted for its value, as ten for ten, nine for nine, and so on
down to seven, which was, of course, the lowest; but the ace
reckoned for eleven. All court cards reckoned for ten. As in
other games, the ace won the king, the king the queen, and so on,
to the knave, which won the ten. The cards were dealt at option
by