"Yes, my child! Certainly, with all my heart! I thank you for the
suggestion! I have not had a game of whist since we left the city. Ah,
my child, we have had very stupid evenings here at home until you came
and brought some life into the house. Clarence, draw out the card table.
Cora, go and find the cards."

"Let me! Let me! Please let me!" exclaimed Rose, starting up with
childish eagerness. "Where are the cards, Cora, dear?"

"They are in the drawer of the card table. You need not stir to find
them, thank you, Mrs. Stillwater."

"No; here they are all ready," said Mr. Clarence, who had drawn the
table up before the fire and taken the pack of cards from the drawer.

The party of four sat down for the game.

"We must cut for partners," said Mr. Rockharrt, shuffling the cards and
then handing them to Mrs. Stillwater for the first cut.

"The highest and the two lowest to be partners?" inquired Rose, as she
lifted half the pack.

"Of course, that is the rule."

Each person cut in turn, and fortune favored Mrs. Stillwater to Mr.
Clarence, and Cora to Mr. Rockharrt. Then they cut for deal, and fortune
favored Mr. Rockharrt.

The cards were dealt around.

Rose Stillwater had an excellent hand, and she knew by the pleased looks
of her partner, Mr. Clarence, that he also had a good one; and by the
annoyed expression of Mr. Rockharrt's face that he had a bad one. Cora's
countenance was as the sphnix's; she was too sadly preoccupied to care
for this game.

However, Rose determined that she would play into the hand of her
antagonist and not into that of her partner.

Pursuing this policy, she watched Mr. Rockharrt's play, always returned
his lead, and when her attention was called to the error, she would
flush, exhibit a lovely childlike embarrassment, declare that she was no
whist player at all, and beg to be forgiven; and the very next moment
she would trump her partner's trick, or purposely commit some other
blunder that would be sure to give the trick to Mr. Rockharrt.

Mr. Clarence was the soul of good humor, but it was provoking to have
his own "splendid" hand so ruined by the bad play of his partner that
their antagonists, with such very poor hands, actually won the odd
trick.

In the next deal Rose got a "miserable" hand; so did her partner, as she
discovered by his looks, while Mr. Rockharrt must have had a magnificent
hand, to judge from his triumphant expression of countenance.

Rose could, therefo