Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-07-02

found out very little. But one thing no- tced. I found that the Chavalier's play when he had Blopper for his partner was vastly superior to his play when myself or any one else of like calibre was on his side This was little enough; but to my enlghted under standing 1t was sufficient to keep me on the alert and encourage me to persevere.
 was so much m hahitue of the card-room and so much in tho !labit, when was not playing myself of in"kn,: on at other peoples games, that my surveillance of the Chevalief and his supposed confcd rate did not attract their attention in the least. But watch as hard as might. I could find out nothing more.
 At last, after a wcaS Il 'd gone by-a week, however which swellcd The Chevalicr's gains very considerably, I nnticed-I was begin ming to think that Jones wrong, and that the two men simply understood each others play peculiarly well, when. at last, found out something, - It was d wet afternoon, and, according to custom. there whist for dinner. Wheth- er the weather had any influence, whatever was the reason, my senses seemed to be un- usually on the alert. I watched everything. It struck me, hut was not quite certain, that when the Chevalicr auh MT. Blopper cut tho two highest or the ;wn lowest, as the case may br. in cutting for partners, it was usual ly one ": tho pair that had handled the pack lHSl. W3S not ctr'alll OH tnlS HcluG Dut IL vas .'@r to mo that they drew each other inr p"rtner rather more often than should 1 expect.
 I watched their faces. Not look passed | hrtw,~,n them. Each was absorbed in the | study ut his own cards.
 Thou was. of course. no mirror in the room in which the cards could be reflected; and 1 ther" fresh pack for each rubber, so the I rir:S could not be marked.
 1 Nnt 1 grew more and more certain every | momrut that there was collision between the 1 two. If so, how did they communicate?
 looked at their legs. The Chevalier sat 1 upright in a stiff military attitude; Blopper sal in a heap. with his legs tucked under his | chair There was no communication under l t' t!,Nr. I at fault. Again I felt in- l e!ined to =, tho thing up, and leaning back in my char. crlsed to strain my eyes upon their ova:y movement, and allowed my att ! t1ntion to relax.
 Now I have always been noted for the acuteness of my sense of hearing. It is pain | fully acute; so much so that numberleSS little jarrlng sounds, which fall unheeded on an ordinary ear, are to me the source of posi- tive agony. As, then, lounged Tn my chair 1 ill Il sort of half-drcam heard little tap. The room of course was perfectly still, as the eXigencics of tho game required. hard | ly noticed the sound, but presently it came ! again. InlS tune II was UOuDleu-Cap, tap. l My attention was thoroughly aroused, and listened with all my might. Three
 times more I heard it-once single twice
 treble.
 What was it2 Merely the Chevalier drum
 ming on his cards with his f1nger-nais. But | in the course of my professional experience l had given much attention to telegraphing
 flag signalling, aud signalling of every kind /;
 and I felt convinced that these taps conveyed
 information from one to another with refer
 ence to the game.
 I moved in my chair so that could watch
 the Chevaliers left hand. Now that I knew
 what to expect never missed one of the
 signals. But I could not interpret them.
 Clearly they meant something, but I could
 not make out what.
 | Presently I noticed another thing. The Chevalier, when it was Blopper's turn to lead
 would raise his first finger the least bit in the
 world from his cards, or he would similarly
 raise the second finger or tho third, or the
 fourth. This movement was distinct from
 the taps, and probably conveyed some differ
 cnt meaning. I watched Blopper's leads,
 and found 1t out. I had already noticed
 that Bopper did the same thing when it was
 the Chevalier's lead.
 This was what I discovered. When the
 first finger was raised, the partner usually
 Tod a heart. The second finger called a dia-
 mond; the third, u club; and the fourth a
 spade.
 had scarcely made this discovery when ] the rubber came to an end, and had to post
 pone my further investigations. I said noth-
 ing to Jones about my success; for l was re-
 solved to elucidate the meanings of the taps before I gave my revelation to any one. l had conjecture in my mind as to their probable signihcance-a conj njecture which l ultimately found to be correct. During the next few days I made the most of my opportunities and got the taps com | pletc.
 A card has been played, say the three of di- , nmonds. One tap means, I hold the ace. | Two tans given slowly, denote the king; three denote tho queen. One tap, followed quickly
 by another, like d quavcr in music followed
 va srmi-quavcr, denotes the knave; one 3D. followed slowly by two little ones denotes
 the ten.
 So far so good. But was sure there were other signals in use between this precious ,nr. hv which they conveyed to each other ::"v ny they had of a suit. This was done ;N uvement of the cards in the hand; by
 's,>i:.S them up, that only the bIcks of a
 .,>r,.in number could be seeu. But could n,t discover the secret of this manoeuvre, dc xhat would. All that saw was that there was signal when three of 0 suit were
 hr!; doubtless because that it is the average number.
 However, I had now all that wanted.
 fled my discovery by one more patient .ri careful scrutiny, after which l tolt | ! He listened to me with close attention K nu hen slapped me on the back. 2 Perkins my boy" he was pleased to observe , 'you are not such fool as you look. What
 shall we do with themp"
 "Why, there's the difficulty, said Isubduins . my clation at this compliment The fact is ] that Ii seconded the Chevalier when Il, T was put up for the Club. I shall lool - rather foolish if the man is exposed" e True, said Jones thoughtfully. I thinl l tho best thing will be to let them know tha e we have found them out, and give them hint
 to Iut the place and travel in foreign parts. l. After some further delberation we decided [ | to pursue this course, and concocted our plal fl of action.
 e The next night Jones and met in the card a room, and invited the Chovalier and MT
 Blopper to join in rubber. Probably to aver d 1 suspicion, tho ,wo confederates seldom playet | together ill the first rubber although the,