Patience

Patience Rulebook

Table of Contents

Sir Tommy Solitaire

This is said to be the first Solitaire invented; but who the Sir Tommy was who gave his name to it — whether it was invented by him, or for his special amusement we do not know. It has the character of being a very aggravating Solitaire, for, though apparently simplicity itself, it is very difficult to do, unless the cards are extremely favorable.

The object to be accomplished in this game is to build up packets from the ace to the king; and you do not follow suit, but take the cards according to their significance. One pack only will be needed, with which you will proceed to form four heaps. As the aces turn out, you place them below these heaps, packing on them at every opportunity. There is no rubbish-heap to be made.

As the cards are dealt you place them supposing they will go on an ace-packet on either of the heaps you choose. But this power of choice is often your bane; it is so difficult to determine, for instance, whether an eight should go on a seven or on a king, with the risk of another king quenching it altogether. If the cards come out unfavorably you often have to put high upon low ones, at the imminent peril of chockering. The kings frequently reserve themselves, in the most provoking manner, till near the end, when it becomes a choice of evils on which heap to put them. Your best chance of succeeding in the game is when they come out early, so as to make a foundation for the heaps; and if you can manage it, it is a good plan to keep one packet for the high cards. You may not transfer from one heap to another; where a card is placed, there it must remain until it works off in due and proper course. Nor have you a second chance. If the packets are not completed by the time the cards are all dealt out, you must shuffle them up and begin again.

Roll Call

The roll-call is almost too trivial to be included in this collection; nevertheless, it is amusing to children, and useful in teaching them the signification of the cards. Turn out from the pack all below seven (retaining the aces); shuffle well, and then deal the cards out, saying as you do so: Seven, eight, nine, ten, jack, queen, king, ace.

If a card of the right number turns up, put it on one side.

Continue dealing out, keeping the same rotation until either all the cards have duly answered to the roll-call, or you find that the remainder always come round in the same order, in which case you have not succeeded in your object.

Wheat-Ear Solitaire

Shuffle two packs together; lay out, face upwards, twenty cards, overlapping as a wheat-ear, and four reserve cards on each side of it. Use the card next turned (i.e., the twenty-ninth) as the foundation of your pile, and the other seven cards of similar value as they come to hand. Pile on these cards in ascending sequence of any suit. Use from the wheat-ear when possible (i.e., whenever a suitable card is exposed); failing that, use from the eight reserve cards, which may be replenished from your hand or the top card of the rubbish-heap, on which you place all unsuitable cards whilst dealing. You have the privilege of dealing over the rubbish-heap once more, but without shuffling; and some allow the extra privilege of taking the top card of the rubbish-heap direct when there is no vacancy in the reserves.

Bezique Solitaire

Take two packs of cards as used for bezique, i.e., leaving out all cards between ace and seven, shuffle them together, and deal them out, faces upwards, in eight rows of eight cards in each row, the second row slightly overlapping the first, and so on.

Then commence by taking out any aces from the exposed row to form the foundation of your eight packets, placing on them any sevens of the same suit, and other cards (from ace, seven, up to king of the same suit) in ascending sequence, as they become exposed. An exposed card may be removed from any row and placed on an exposed card of any other row in descending sequence, but not on the same color; they must be alternately placed red on black or black on red. If, when first dealt, there is no ace in the exposed row, you can go on packing in descending sequence and alternate colors until an ace is exposed. When one of the eight perpendicular lines has been cleared, you can recommence it with any exposed card, and again continue placing black and red alternately. It is an advantage to get off the kings in this way, as they cannot be placed on any other card.

Remove cards as often as you like, as there is no limit to the number of cards that may be in a packet; but the packets must not exceed eight in number. When no more exposed cards can be used for your packets, gather all the unused ones up from the table, shuffle, and deal them in rows of eight as far as you have cards left. You are allowed three deals; but if unable to take up an ace or any other card necessary for your packets, that deal is not counted as one of the three.

Push Pin Solitaire

A very short explanation is required for this game. Shuffle two packs together, then deal out, placing the cards side by side. Whenever one or two cards are between two others of the same suit, or of the same signification, as a diamond and heart between two clubs, or between two jacks, or two aces, etc., you push these cards out and close up the rank. Also, if several cards of one suit are between two of another suit, or of the same value, you may discard them all — that is, suppose five hearts are between two spades, or between the nine of clubs and the nine of diamonds, you may push out all the five, and bring the two other cards together. In this manner the line continues lengthening and then contracting, often returning to the first two. If, when all the cards are dealt out, there is still a line left, you have the privilege of altering the place of two cards, which gives fresh combinations, and allows more imprisoned cards to be set free.

Number Eleven

One pack only is required for this game. Place twelve packets, of four cards each, in three rows, displaying the top cards; the last four are to be kept as a reserve. Now remove any two cards that will form eleven; and as the court cards cannot join in the combination, they may be taken off whenever king, queen, and jack are displayed at the same time on the board. When you have found all your elevens, there will be packets with their faces downwards; turn the top cards up, and proceed as before. As the packets become exhausted, fill each vacant place with a card taken from the reserve. If you do not succeed in removing all the cards, you have failed in the game.

Higgledy Piggledy

No diagram is required to illustrate this game, as a simple description will suffice to make it intelligible. Shuffle two packs together and scatter them higgledy-piggledy over the table, face down, leaving a space in the middle. Draw a card, and lay it face up in the empty space; this, with the seven others of the like value, will be base cards, and are to be built up in suit to the card next them in value, that is, if a queen is the base, the crowning cards of her packet will be the jack. Continue drawing cards one by one, and those which cannot be placed on the bases may form rubbish heaps, of which there are four, packed by the player at discretion. When the cards are all drawn, the player takes up the rubbish heap on the left, turns it, and deals out again, distributing the cards over the three other heaps, of course building on the centre packets whenever he can. In the next round he distributes the second packet over two heaps; then the third over the last one, and finally, the fourth packet is turned and played out. If by that time the bases are not filled up the game has failed.

Picture Solitaire

This game is a very simple one, and is played in the following manner: Lay out nine cards in three rows; then proceed to form a rubbish heap. As you play out the first pack, you place the four aces, as they appear, on the left, the four kings on the right of these nine cards; and these gradually draw to themselves their respective suits, the aces in the upward, the kings in the downward, scale. Whenever you take a card from the centre formation, you must fill up the gap from the rubbish heap. In dealing out the second pack, the aces and kings are treated like the other cards, and thrown on the rubbish heap, unless they can be placed. The heap may be turned once; but if, on going through it the second time, the cards are not absorbed in their respective packets the game has failed.

The Knaves' Dial

This game is a simple and easy one, and merely requires watchfulness in dealing out the cards. Two packs are required, which should be shuffled together thoroughly. The first card which turns up determines the suit which is to form the base of the dial. The cards are to be arranged in a semi-circle, according to their value, from the ace to the king, with the exception of the jacks; as these turn out of the pack, they are placed in two rows within the semi-circle, to watch the progress of their dial. Cards that cannot be placed are thrown on the rubbish heap.

We will suppose that the first card turned up is the four of clubs; clubs, therefore, will be the base, and, as each card of this suit turns out, it is placed according to its signification, and will receive the seven other cards of the same value upon it. But these must be added only in alternate colors; the clubs will receive hearts or diamonds upon them, to be followed by spades, or the clubs of the second pack, which in their turn will receive a red card; and if the game has succeeded, the dial which began as a black one will end as a red. It is allowable to turn the rubbish heap once.

The Baroness Solitaire

This game is one of the No. 13 combinations, and is, like Quadrille Solitaire, a very old one. The kings are to be discarded, as, counting thirteen themselves, they combine with no other number. One pack is required. Deal five cards in a row; if any two of them make thirteen when added together, remove them, and lay them aside. Deal another row of five on the top of the first row; again remove the thirteens, and deal out again. If the thirteens are not all paired by the time the pack is dealt out, the game has failed.

In the diagram given it will be seen that there are two combinations of thirteen (a a and b b) which can be removed.

Grandfather Solitaire

There is an element of difficulty and uncertainty about this game, which renders it more interesting than those where success is more easily attained. Two packs are requisite, which should be thoroughly shuffled together. You will now proceed to lay out on the table two parallel lines of ten cards each. As the kings and aces of the four suits are turned up, they are placed, the former above, the latter below, these two lines, and are built upon, according to their suits, in the usual manner: the duplicate kings and aces which are to crown the packets take their place in the lines like other cards.

When a vacancy occurs in the line, it is at once filled up from the pack. A rubbish heap may now be formed; but the player has a certain privilege of choice: he may, if he pleases, deposit one card upon any or all of the twenty displayed cards. Care and judgment are required here, not to place a card which will chocker the one below it, as that cannot get free until the upper one is removed. The rubbish heap may be turned once; but, notwithstanding all these privileges, the failures are frequent in this game.

Puzzle Solitaire

This game requires only thirty-two cards. (Throw out all below seven, retaining the aces.) Lay four cards out, side by side. When the kings appear, place them above this row, and as you continue dealing out on the lower cards, place those of each suit in their proper sequence on the kings, whenever you are able to do so, down to the seven. You may gather up the four lower packets once, and re-deal them out.

Hasty Solitaire

This is a game for two people. It requires no illustration, and a very few words will explain it. Each player holds a pack in his hand, of course with the backs towards him. This is an invariable rule in all Solitaire. At a given signal the opponents begin forming a rubbish-heap in front of them as quickly as they can. As the aces turn up, they are placed in the centre of the table, and covered with cards in due rotation, not paying any attention to suits. The player who completes a packet with a king must move it from the table; it is generally thrown on the floor, as this game allows no time for small ceremonies. When each player puts a card simultaneously on a packet, the lowest has it; the uppermost must be taken back. When the pack is exhausted, gather up the rubbish-heap, and deal out again. The player who gets rid of all his cards first wins the game.

One to Six Solitaire

This is a game which at first sight appears extremely simple, yet failure is not only a possibility, but a very frequent result. The principal feature in this Solitaire is that you count from one to six, laying four cards down in a row, and adding the fifth and sixth to the rubbish heap. As soon as the sixth is turned, but not before, you survey the exposed cards; the aces of the first pack you place in a row below, the kings in one above, the four piles, and these gather to them, by degrees, their own suits, in due rotation. You continue this process, dealing on the four centre piles, and adding two to the rubbish heap, until both packs are finished, the aces and kings of the second one being dealt out like the other cards. You may now spread out the rubbish heap, and take from it all the cards that can find places on the upper or lower row of packets. Gather up the four centre piles, place the remaining cards of the rubbish heap on the top, so as to alter the rotation, and again begin to count from one to six. You may repeat the whole process three times; yet, even so, with the enormous advantage of taking what cards you want from the rubbish heap, they have such a faculty for burying themselves, that you often come to the end of the third trial without having attained your object, i.e., the completion of the eight packets.

Antipathy Solitaire

This is a game for two players, and no great skill is required for it. It is more adapted for children than for adults. Two packs must be thoroughly well shuffled together, and then equally divided. The players place their respective packets before them, face downwards, and turn a card simultaneously. If the two agree in value they are thrown aside; if not, they are laid down, face upwards, and another card is turned by each.

When the two packs have been gone through in this manner, the cards are gathered up together (all but the pairs thrown aside, which are out of the game), well shuffled again, and divided as before, and once more the search for corresponding couples begins. The process is repeated six times; if then the larger number of cards remain unpaired, the players have a decided antipathy to one another, but if the majority have been thrown out, it shows that their sentiments are in accord.

Halma Solitaire

This is a brisk and lively little game; there is no great skill in it, but, like Young Rapid in the play, it "keeps moving," and does not allow the attention to relax.

Shuffle two packs together, and lay out four cards. If the first be of the same suit, or the same value, as the third or fourth, pass it over the intermediate card or cards, and place it on the available one; and similarly the second may jump over the third and be deposited on the fourth. Now lay out four more cards, and again see whether any jumps can be made; if not, lay out four fresh cards, and continue this until the pack is exhausted.

The jumps are always to be made from the left to the right, and over one or two (not more) intermediate packets. Sometimes the line lengthens out a long way, and then again contracts, as a fresh series of jumps can be made, the packets meanwhile increasing in bulk. The jumps can be taken at any part of the line, and the packets passed over must be pushed up towards the left. The object is to reduce the final number of packets to four.

In the Diagram given no jumps could be made with the first four cards, and four others have just been laid down which will give four jumps, thus: eight of clubs on to two of clubs, king of hearts on to nine of hearts, queen of diamonds on to queen of spades, and the eight and two of clubs on to the eight of diamonds, reducing the number of packets to four. Now lay out four more cards, and proceed.

Congress Solitaire

This game is difficult, and requires a good deal of play. There is a peculiarity in it, which at first sight appears to give a great advantage to the player; but, unless carefully used, it often results in hopeless chockering. The primary formation is as follows: Two perpendicular rows of four cards are placed at a sufficient distance from one another to allow of the eight aces being arranged in two rows between them.

The aces are built upon according to their respective suits; but on the eight side cards you may place any in the descending scale, having regard only to their value, and not to the suit. Thus, a jack of hearts may follow a queen of diamonds, and a ten of spades can be placed upon it. These side cards should not be arranged in compact packets, but spread out in a fan shape, so that you may see at a glance where your cards are. You are not bound to pack on the side packets. You may play cards that look apparently suitable upon the rubbish heap, if you prefer it, and it is often good policy to do so, and not to get one suit blocking another. There is no second turn, therefore great carefulness is necessary.

Barton Solitaire

This is one of the games so dear to the heart of a true Solitaire lover, in which the difficulties are many and great, and only to be overcome by drawing largely on the qualities of patience and perseverance. It is played with four packs, which are to be shuffled together, and laid out in six rows of seventeen cards each. If there are any aces in the lowest row, which is the only one that can be dealt with at the commencement of the game, take them out, and place them to form foundations of piles built up to their respective kings.

Now deal the remaining cards out on a rubbish-heap. You may pack on exposed cards in a downward direction, following suit; but it is not well to exercise this privilege too freely at the beginning of a game, for a card once packed is blocked, and can only be transferred to an ace-packet; whereas, a free card can be moved to an upper row, if there is an exposed one suitable for placing it on. No cards may be brought down to a lower row, or shifted laterally; they can only be moved up. Of course, the great object is to free as many aces as possible, which is another reason for not blocking cards that are in the line below them.

When a vacancy is made in the top row, any exposed card may be placed in it. There is no second turn of the rubbish-heap, consequently it is but seldom that the game is fully accomplished; many players think they have done well if they have succeeded in building eight ace-packets up to their kings.

Lady of the Manor

Two packs are required for this game, but they should not be shuffled together. From the first one you will count out four packets of twelve cards each, and lay them in a row, face upwards, leaving room for the formation of eight ace packets below them. The remaining cards are to be arranged in a semi-circle, according to their value, from the deuce to the king. As the aces turn up, you place them in a row below the four packets. You will now proceed to build on the aces without any regard to suits. You may take the cards from the semicircle for this purpose, until a suitable one appears on either of the four packets, when it must be taken in preference, as, unless you can succeed in working all the cards off those packets, you will fail in the game.

Triple Alliance

This is a game for one pack. The description is simple, but the game is not so easy to do as it looks; for if the cards do not turn out well, or if judgement is not exercised in forming the triplets, several cards are left at the end which cannot form an alliance, and therefore the game is a failure. Shuffle well, and lay out a board in two lines, each line containing nine packets of three cards each, except the last two, which will only have two cards.

Now proceed to search among the exposed cards for three of consecutive value, without paying any attention to suit, and dispose them in a fan shape, either above or below your board, according to your space. If there are two or three exposed cards the same value, it is allowable to look underneath and see which would be most judicious to take as freeing useful cards. Continue forming these triplets, and dispose them by placing the lowest in value underneath. On the occasions on which kings and aces combine, the king is counted the lowest. The triplets run, queen, king, ace, and king, ace, two. There will be four duplicate sets of alliances, and only four; if you repeat any set three times it will throw out the game at the end. If you succeed you will form seventeen alliances with one card over, which card is usually a seven or a ten.

Blonde and Brunette Solitaire

If the end and aim of Solitaire is to thoroughly puzzle a player, the Blonde and Brunette game certainly bears off the palm. We give it in order to make the series complete; but it is not generally liked, as there is no individual choice, and consequently no scope for play. Great carefulness is the quality required to bring it to a successful issue. Shuffle two packs thoroughly well together; then lay eight cards in a row. As you deal out the remainder of the pack, you place on these cards any that will suit in a descending ratio, as a queen on a king, a seven on an eight, a two on a three. The aces, as they appear, must form a row above, and these are built upwards. Cards that cannot find a place in either of these rows go on to the rubbish heap. So far the description sounds very much like other games of Solitaire; but there is this peculiarity, that two cards of the same color must never be put together: on a red ace you will place a black deuce; on a black six, in the first row, a red five; and you will find it a very bewildering thing to do. Whenever you make a vacancy in the first row, by transferring a pile to an ace packet, the vacancy is to be filled from the rubbish heap. As you are allowed to turn the latter once, it is generally owing to some oversight on your part when you fail in the game.

Narcotic Solitaire

This game is so called because it is said that the monotonous dealing out the cards over and over again induces drowsiness, and is a remedy for insomnia. It is to be doubted, however, whether sometimes when they wilfully persevere in coming out just wrong, it may not rather induce strong language than sleepiness.

It is played with one pack in the following way: Deal four cards in a row; if there are two of the same value place the right hand one upon the left, thus bringing two together; the same if there are three of the like sort. Continue dealing thus, always packing the sets together on the left. When the pack is exhausted, take up the packets in order, beginning with the right hand one, and deal out again; this process has to be repeated many times. When four of the same value are dealt across they are discarded, and the game is won when all the cards are got rid of in this way.

It is strange, however, how often when the player has packed four together and thinks that surely they will come out right next deal, one of them persists in going round the corner as it were, and leaving its companions with an interloper; it is often more than half-an-hour before the sets are all thrown out.

Clock Solitaire

Only one pack is used for this game. Lay out twelve cards as shown in the Diagram, facing upwards, but not choosing the cards. If any court cards (i.e., king, queen, or jack) occur, place them underneath the pack in your hand; then proceed by placing cards from the top of this pack on any two cards in the clock-face that, when added together, make eleven, such as eight and three, seven and four, if you can succeed in finding elevens, until your pack is exhausted, when each card in the original clock-face will be covered by a court card, and the game brought to a successful termination.

Square Solitaire

Square Solitaire requires no illustration. Form three sides of a square, thus: Place four cards along the top, and four on each side, horizontally. Two packs are requisite, which should be shuffled together. Now proceed to deal out. In the centre of the square place the deuces, as they come out, and build upon them until each edifice is crowned by an ace. You are also allowed to place on the twelve fundamental cards any of the same suit, in a descending line as a nine on a ten, then an eight on the nine, and so on. Whenever you take one of these packets to build on the deuces, fill up the vacancy from the rubbish heap which you are forming with those cards that cannot be placed. There is no second turn in this game; it therefore behoves the player to be on the alert, and allow no opportunity of packing to escape.

Reverse Solitaire

Shuffle two packs together, then lay out twenty-one cards in three rows of seven cards each. The cards are to be alternately open and reverse; that is, the first will be face upwards (open), the second face downward, and so on, as shown in the accompanying Diagram.

As each row begins and ends with an open card, there will be twelve open and nine reverse. Having laid them out, survey the board, to see if you can find a reverse card between duplicates (i.e., between two kings, two sixes, etc.); if there is, the reverse and the card on its right are thrown out, and the gap closed up by bringing the rest of the row to the left. Now deal round on the open cards again, throwing out the reverse card and its right-hand duplicate packets as soon as it appears. When a row is reduced to three, both the right and left-hand packets are dismissed with their reverse. If you succeed in clearing the board, you have accomplished the game, whether you have dealt out all the cards or not.

Bisley Solitaire

This is a game for one pack only, and the possibilities of accomplishing it vary very much. Sometimes the cards work off without the slightest difficulty; at others there are obstacles which, even with the most careful manipulation, prove insuperable, and the only thing to do then is to gather up the cards and try again.

The first proceeding is to lay out the pack in four rows of thirteen cards each; but in doing this the first four places are left blank, to be filled with the aces as they turn up. The player therefore begins at the fifth place, putting nine cards only in the first row, unless any aces have appeared. The board being completed, search for twos (which place on their proper aces) and for kings. These latter you take out, and form a row underneath, building on them according to suit, and in a downward direction. Now examine the board carefully to see if there is any packing to be done; the only cards you can deal with are "exposed" ones (that is, cards with none below them), so each one you move frees the one above it. The packing can be either upwards or downwards, always following suit, and can be altered at pleasure; for instance, if you wish to free a nine which has a seven underneath it, and there is an exposed six, you may pack the seven on it, and afterwards if an eight is placed on the nine, you can unpack again and transfer the seven and six to the nine packet. Sometimes the cards are entirely "chockered," and no amount of transfer from one packet to another will set them free; this happens when there is a cross-block, say a four under a nine, and an eight under a seven, all of one suit; it is obvious that neither can be reached, and the game must inevitably fail. Often, however, an irrevocable block is caused by want of foresight on the part of the player. If it were allowable, as in most games of Solitaire, to move a card into a vacancy when one is made in the top row, there would be no difficulty in the game at all, but no such privilege is accorded here, therefore there is no way of removing a cross-block whether natural or made by wrong packing. The combinations on the board should be thoroughly well studied before any packing is attempted. When you have built an ace up, and its corresponding king down till they meet, place the king and its cards on the ace and the packet is then completed.

Colors Solitaire

One pack is used for this game, with which the player makes six rubbish heaps, packing on them as he pleases. As the two, three, four and five turn out, they are placed in a row above; but the two and four must be one color, three and five the other. Suits are not attended to, only colors hearts and diamonds being used promiscuously together, and spades and clubs. The first of the four base cards to make its appearance determines the color of the others. These bases are built upon in an upward direction, and the packets when completed show one, two, three, four as their respective top cards.

This game appears simplicity itself at first sight, but the player will find that great care must be taken in packing the rubbish heaps, or hopeless chockering will be the result, for no second turn is allowed. Nor is it permissible to move the cards from one heap to another; but it is as well to leave one or two vacant spaces, and not to make up all the rubbish heaps at once, for if kings, aces and twos are packed on the top of other cards there is little chance of being able to work them off.

Grabbage Solitaire

It is with some hesitation that we include the game of Grabbage in our collection of games of Solitaire.

A game that is all hurry and flurry; a game that requires the nails to be kept short, lest they should nip bits out of other people's fingers; a game of which the essence is that it should go at racing speed, can surely have nothing in common with the calm and serene amusement whose different forms we have been describing in the foregoing pages. Yet the principle is exactly the same, though the manner of carrying it out is so totally different; and as we have given Hasty Solitaire, of which Grabbage is only a fuller development, it seems but right that the rules of the larger game should not be omitted.

The proper number of players is four, and each must have his own pack. He may make four heaps in front of him, and place his cards on these heaps as he pleases; but all aces are at once put into the middle of the table, and built upon, without regard to suits, as quickly as possible, the player who adds the king taking that packet off the board. When two cards of the same significance are put on a packet simultaneously, the lowest has it; good players, therefore, keep their hands low, and slide their cards along. It is not advisable to use good packs for Grabbage, as there are frequent collisions, and the cards get sadly crumpled up and damaged. The usual plan is to play so many rounds; the first out wins the round.

The Missing Link

One pack only is required for this game. Shuffle it thoroughly, then cut, and from the middle take one card, which put aside without looking at it: this is the Missing Link. Lay out seven cards in a row, as shown in the illustration, and if there be an ace among them, take it out and put it above the foundation row, filling the vacancy from the pack; the other aces are treated in the same way as they turn up.

Now deal out the rest of the cards, packing on the seven foundations in any way you please, and building up the ace packets in their proper suits. It is unfortunate when it so happens that the seven foundations are all low cards, so as to compel you to pack higher ones upon them; but there is one loophole of escape from the difficulty.

If you can effect a vacancy in the foundation row by working cards off on to the ace packets, you may place any exposed card in the space; and this often allows an inconvenient king or queen to be removed from blocking cards below it. When all the pack is dealt out, you may then turn up the Missing Link, and if this affords the means of completing the ace packets, the game has succeeded; but it is the last hope, for there is no second turn.

Pairs Solitaire

This is not a very abstruse game, but will serve to while away an idle moment or two. Lay nine cards out in three rows, throw out the pairs, and fill the vacant spaces from the pack. When you come to a stop, you have the privilege of laying down one card, which often sets the game going again, and this you may repeat whenever a stop occurs; but should this card not find a pair, the game has failed.

Scotch Solitaire

Scotch Solitaire is played with one pack, which is laid out in eighteen packets, sixteen of them consisting of three cards each, the other two of two cards. Take out aces as they appear, and place them below. These aces are built up to the kings in alternate colors.

Upon the packets on the board you may pack in downward sequence, without attention to either suit or color, and you may shift the exposed cards about from one packet to another. You will want every privilege you can get, for only one turn is allowed, and it is not at all an easy game to complete. In the illustration there are two aces to be taken.

Colonel Solitaire

Shuffle two packs together, and lay out three rows of cards, twelve in each. Those in the lower row are the only ones that can be dealt with; take out any aces that may be in this row, and place them above the board, building upon them in suits. You may pack exposed cards on the board, also in suits, and in downward sequence.

As soon as a card is moved from a lower row, the one above it becomes exposed, and may be packed; and there is no limit as to packing, as in the game referred to above. But though cards may be carried to a higher row, they may not be brought down to a lower one; indeed, very strict players even object to moving the cards laterally, but this makes the game almost too difficult. Of course, all the time that you are packing and building, you are dealing the cards out on the rubbish-heap, but do not overlook any chance, for there is only one turn.

Still, it is sometimes good play not to be too hasty in packing the lower cards, if there is any chance of their being moved up, for when a vacancy can be made in the top row, any single exposed card may be placed in it. Towards the end of the deal, you had better be chary even in filling vacancies, for as there is no second turn, you have but one privilege; namely, you may gather the cards up, and turn the first. If you can place it (which you can do, if there is a vacancy in the top row), well and good, the game is alive; if you cannot, lay it down and look at the second card. Unless that can be used for packing, building or filling up, your efforts are in vain — the game has failed.

The Queen and Her Lad

One pack only is required for this game. The queen of hearts must be the commencing card, and the jack of hearts is put at the bottom of the pack; unless the Queen and her Lad meet, the game is a failure. As you lay out your cards (commencing, as has been said, with the queen), push out either one or two cards that are between two others of the same suit, or of the same signification; with this proviso, if two are pushed out, that they must be of the same suit or be pairs. When, however, you find in the process of readjusting your line that you have three or four pairs of cards contiguous to each other of the same suit or same quality, you may push them all out on playing a suitable card. For instance: if next to the queen of hearts you have three of clubs, following this two spades, two diamonds, two kings (see illustration), and your next card is a club, you may push out all six; but this cannot be done if the suits are intermingled. This is a very difficult game to bring to a successful issue: the Queen very seldom meets her Lad.

Hobbled Solitaire

The name of this game is certainly appropriate, for the player is sadly "hobbled" while he is laying out the board.

Shuffle two packs together, and commence by placing eleven cards in a row; take any kings or aces of the four suits that may be in this row, with their consecutive cards following suit.

The kings, as usual, are built in a downward, the aces in an upward direction. Fill the gaps from the pack and commence the second row; and now liberty ceases, and the restrictions begin. After the first row no cards are available for building, except the first and the last two, and these must be taken before they are laid down, for a card once placed is immovable. For instance, supposing the king of hearts is out; and the first card of the third row is the jack, if in commencing the fourth you turn the queen, you can place her on the king, but you cannot take the jack; it is only the card you are turning and have not laid down that may be used. When all the cards are out the strict law slackens, and an era of license begins. You may pack exposed cards on one another as you will, upwards or downwards, only following suit; and you may pack both ways, i.e., you may place a seven on an eight, and then an eight on the seven, and so on.

Of course, your principal aim will be to penetrate the columns, so as to set free imprisoned kings and aces and their followers, and if you can dispose of one entirely you can place any exposed card in the vacancy thus made.

When you cannot pack or build any more, gather up the cards, beginning at the left hand, and running each column down, so as to preserve the rotation. Lay them out again, once more using from the top column freely, but from the succeeding ones with the former restrictions. You may repeat the whole process a third time.

Matrimonial Solitaire

One pack is required for this game, from which, before commencing to play, you must take the king and queen of diamonds and the king and queen of clubs, placing the monarchs and their consorts side by side, as shown in the second illustration. Now begin to play out on the rubbish heaps, of which you may have three, packing them as you please. When the aces of diamonds and clubs turn out, place them on their respective kings, and build upon them in upward sequence. For the two queens the suits are changed, hearts going on the diamond, spades on the club, commencing with the jack, and working downwards. If the game succeeds, the packets of the diamond and club kings will be of their own suits, except the crowning queens, which will be respectively hearts and spades, while the diamond and club queens will have received the hearts and spades, ending with the kings. If the game be not accomplished in one turn, which it very seldom is, the three rubbish heaps may be gathered up, and played out again in one heap only.

Gateway Solitaire

This is a very puzzling game, and the attention has to be kept on the alert to watch the board and the various packets, some going upward, some downward; and it requires great judgment and a constant study of the cards to decide which direction it is best to proceed in.

The game is played with three packs well shuffled together. The player then proceeds to lay out the board, which consists of six rows of eight cards each. During this process any kings and aces that turn up are disposed of in the following way: The aces of the four suits are placed above the board; two sets of kings are laid horizontally on each side. This being arranged, the player examines the lowest row to see if he can place any cards on their proper suits. The player now plays the rest of his cards on a rubbish-heap, building at every opportunity. There is no packing on the board in this game, but if a vacancy can be made in the top row, any exposed card may be put up into it. The rubbish-heap may be turned once, but it is seldom, indeed, that a player can achieve the gateway of success.

Quadrille Solitaire

This game is known to have been played in France upwards of 100 years ago. One pack only is required, which must be thoroughly shuffled. Deal out the cards on a rubbish heap, and as the aces and deuces turn up place them on the board, as in the Diagram, to form the figure of a quadrille. These eight formations are to be built upon according to their suits, but in alternate numbers; thus, on the ace you place first a three, then five, seven and so on up to the king; while on the deuce even numbers are placed, ending with the queen. The rubbish heap may be turned twice. If all the cards are not used then you have lost again.

Cable Solitaire

This is a game with three packs, and an extremely difficult one, success being attained on an average about once in twenty times of playing; but then the pleasant feeling of complacency when that success is attained quite makes up for the nineteen previous disappointments. The packs must be well shuffled, but each by itself; they are three strands of the cable, which it is the object of the game to twine together. Lay out the first pack in five rows of ten cards each; there will be two cards over which must not be looked at, but laid aside for what fortune-tellers call "the surprise." Now take the second pack and continue the rows, thus making ten in all, and laying aside the last two cards as before.

You must now look out for any packing or building that it is possible to do; exposed cards on the board can be packed on one another according to suit, but always in a downward direction, while all the aces that can be freed must be taken out and built up to their respective kings. Exposed cards can be freely moved from one column to another, and whole sequences may be taken if there is a suitable card to place them upon. Thus, if the ten of hearts has been packed downwards, and in the course of the game the jack becomes exposed, the ten with its sequence can be placed upon it. It is also allowable to move a portion of a sequence if desirable, leaving the upper part stationary.

When all the preliminary packing is finished, take up the third pack and commence forming a rubbish-heap, using, of course, every card that is available, either for the board or for the ace packets. If a vacancy can be made in the top row, any exposed card can be placed in it, or a sequence can be moved up into it. The rubbish-heap may be turned once, and then the player's last hope is in "the surprise," which often contains cards that enable blocks to be removed, and the game is set going again. But if this does not prove to be the case, there is nothing for it but sorting the cards and laying them out again.

Fortune Telling Solitaire

This is a game for three or more players, and is a favorite with young ladies, as being supposed to afford them a glimpse of their future destiny. The four aces are laid in the middle of the board, their significations being: Hearts, loved; diamonds, courted; clubs, married; and spades, single blessedness. The cards are then dealt round, and the players place them, face downwards, on the table in front of them. The oldest hand turns the top card. If it is a deuce, it is placed upon its proper ace, and the player turns another, which is put, face upwards, above his own pack, as shown in the Diagram. The next player then turns a card; the aces are built upon in their right suits, but you may put cards on the exposed packs of any of your neighbors, so long as you do so in the descending sequence, without attending to suit. You may continue to play as long as you can place your cards; when the sequence breaks, the next player goes on.

When your first packet is finished, and you have only the exposed one in front of you, you turn that down, and go on as before. If you finish off all your cards on one of the ace packets, it shows what your fate will be; but if your cards work off on your neighbors' packets, the oracle is veiled, and your fortune remains untold.

Travelers' Solitaire

This is a short and easy solitaire. We like to intermix the simple with the complex. One pack only is required, which must be laid out in three rows of four packets (see Diagram), each containing four cards; these packets are to be face upwards. There will be four cards over, to be laid on one side for the present. Now will commence the journeys of the different cards, which are gradually to arrange themselves in their proper stations, from the ace (the first packet) to the queen (the twelfth).

In order to accomplish this, you must take one of the four cards that were laid aside, and put it at the bottom of the packet it belongs to. We will suppose that it is an ace; it, therefore, is placed underneath the first packet. But as there must never be more than four cards together, the top one, which, according to the illustration, is a six, becomes the traveler. As it slips into its place, it dislodges the nine of spades, which then sends the seven of clubs to seek its proper home. But No. 7 packet is headed by a king, and in this game there is no room for kings, so his majesty is thrown aside, and another of the four unknown cards taken to commence a fresh series of journeys. At the end of the game the packets should appear in order, all the aces together, all the twos, and so on, to the queens, the kings lying ignominiously in a discarded heap. It is in the power of the kings, however, to upset the arrangement. If two or three are on the tops of the packets, or in the four out cards, you are brought to a standstill, for, when these four cards are exhausted, there is no way of starting the others on their various journeys home.