"
"Your bid, Mr. Poppins, "said Miss Proudfoot, severely.
"First, I want to tell Wrenn how to play. You see, Wrenn,
here's the schedule. We play Avondale Schedule, you know."
"Oh yes," said Mr. Wrenn, timorously.... He had once heard of
Carbondale--in New Jersey or Pennsylvania or somewhere--but that
didn't seem to help much.
"Well, you see, you either make or go back," continued Tom.
"Plus and minus, you know. Joker is high, then right bower,
left, and ace. Then--uh--let's see; high bid takes the
cat--widdie, you know--and discards. Ten tricks. Follow suit
like whist, of course. I guess that's all--that ought to give
you the hang of it, anyway. I bid six on no trump."
As Tom Poppins finished these instructions, given in the
card-player's rapid don't-ask-me-any-more-fool-questions manner,
Mr. Wrenn felt that he was choking. He craned up his neck,
trying to ease his stiff collar. So, then, he was a failure, a
social outcast already.
So, then, he couldn't learn Five Hundred! And he had been very
proud of knowing one card from another perfectly, having played
a number of games of two-handed poker with Tim on the cattle-boat.
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