A Game at Cards. 243 



of cards called Marmora, in which three cards are placed 

 face downwards on the table in front of each player, and one 

 card is turned up as the trump. A pool having been formed, 

 the player on the left of the dealer is asked how much he 

 will ' go ' ; his chance of winning being that one of his 

 three cards, none of which he has as yet seen, will be of the 

 same suit and of higher value than the turned-up card. 

 Naturally, if a two or a three of, for instance, hearts has been 

 exposed, the player will feel justified in thinking that he has 

 among his three cards a heart which will beat it, and will 

 ' go the lot,' or a good part of it. Having declared the 

 amount of his bet, he will turn up his three cards, whether 

 he has to draw the money from the pool, or in the event of 

 his losing, to pay an equal amount into it. The next player 

 will then be asked how much he will ' go,' and so on. The 

 amount in the pool will naturally fluctuate greatly ; for it 

 may have to be frequently made up by general subscription, 

 or it may increase to a very high value by a rapid succession 

 of bold though unlucky declarations. My host's brother 

 and myself played the game in a way which even Cavendish 

 would have admired, and went ' the lot ' only when a two or 

 a three was turned up, which was frequently ; but fortune or 

 skill proved monotonously unkind. The strangers on the 

 contrary played with seemingly the most deplorable reck- 

 lessness, and went ' the lot ' even when a knave or a ten 

 was against them, and always won when the pool was big. 

 I did not continue this game long ; but quite long enough to 

 lose a considerable sum, as it was very ' warm ' while it 

 lasted. Although from the peculiar and remarkably skil- 

 ful manner in which the strangers manipulated the cards, I 

 thought I had reason to suspect that they had played with 

 what Mr Labouchere calls ' the advantages ; ' I payed up and 

 went away, vowing that I would have nothing further to do 

 with a gentleman who cultivated the acquaintance of such 

 highly-gifted card-players. Sometime afterwards, I was glad 

 to hear that Captain Goodwood's friends, not being satis- 



