developed. That is, the habit acquired on the links of using
different clubs for the various shots. Now this cue--"

"Oh, that, of course, is an ordinary cue," I interrupted. "Never mind
that one; introduce me to the others."

"Pardon me, Sir, it only _looks_ like an ordinary cue. A steel tube has
been inserted down its interior--"

"Do I understand that billiard cues have also taken to hunger-striking?"

The shopman forced a polite but cheerless smile and continued, "This
makes the cue perfectly rigid and inflexible--"

"It has the same effect on the hunger-strikers, I am told."

"--and eminently suitable for its special purpose. We call it the
'Driver' cue--for driving off from baulk and for follow-throughs,
forcing strokes and all-round cannons."

"Ah, and what is the hammer-headed instrument for? It looks more like a
club than a cue."

"Yes, Sir. There is nothing in the rules to prevent the use of a club.
If I may point it out to you, Sir, there is here a special appeal to the
ladies, who are now coming into the game in ever increasing numbers. Up
to the present time most lady players have failed completely to bring
off a successful masse shot; but with the 'Hammer' cue used as a
club--over the shoulder (_so_)--"

"I see! You play it with a downward smashing blow, eh? An appeal to the
militant billiardette?"

"Precisely, Sir."

"And what is this for?" I pulled out of the case a cue with the point
flattened on one side, as if some one had begun to sharpen it like a
pencil and left off after the first big slash.

"That is called the 'Jumper,'" explained the young man, "and may be
roughly likened to the niblick in golf. Playing it with the flat side of
the point lying on the table (_so_) you can lift or jump a ball over any
obstacle, such as a cut in the cloth, or ash accidentally dropped from
your opponent's cigar. In Snooker it is a _sine qua non_.

"Here, again, is what we call the 'Potter'; it is telescopic. One hand
only is required when using the 'Potter.' You take aim as with a pistol,
the inner tube or cue being projected against the ball by means of
concealed springs which are worked by this trigger in the butt. The
sights are adjustable for long or short shots."

"And this fellow with the open nozzle?"

"That is our 'Patent Vacuum' cue, Sir, for screw-back shots. By means of
this miniature bellows in the butt a jet of air is pumped upon the ball,
through the open nozzle or tip, at whatever v