V

DOUBLES AND QUITS (FOR ONE WHIST PACK)

DEAL out twenty cards face upwards in four rows of five cards to the row. Examine them carefully to see whether two cards of the same denomination are next to each other (i) horizontally, (2) vertically, or (3) corner to corner; every pair contiguous in any of these ways is discarded into a separate heap at the side of the board.

Suppose the lay-out to fall as follows:

DOUBLES AND QUITS.
(The Original Lay-out.)

We have numbered the cards for easy reference. Cards 4 and 8 (being two nines, and contiguous at the corners) will pair, and are discarded; 6 and 7 (two sevens, touching horizontally) are discarded; also 13 and 14 (two fours). This is all that we can do for the present.

The shattered ranks of our little army must now be moved up, so that there shall be no gaps; but we must be careful to move the cards up strictly in numerical order. The new first row, therefore, will consist of 1, 2, 3, 5, 9; the second row of 10, 11, 12, 15, 16; and the third row (as far as it will go) of 17, 18, 19, 20.

We must now complete the four rows by dealing out fresh cards from "stock," after which our new array will present the following aspect:

DOUBLES AND QUITS.
(The Lay-out at the Second Round.)

Here the aces of hearts and clubs can be discarded, and also the deuces of spades and clubs; after which the ranks are closed up again, and fresh cards dealt as before.

These steps are continually repeated, until either all the cards go out (when "Doubles are Quits," and the game is won), or we are brought to a standstill, in which case the game has failed. It may occasionally happen that, even in the first arrangement of twenty cards, no pair will go out; if so, the cards must be gathered up and re-shuffled, and the game begun again.

Sometimes this game is called "Monte Carlo," and sometimes "Weddings."