esale, till Mr. Toner
remarked that she had "quayte a libery"; in her hands the strapping
Serlizer was helpless as a child. Magnanimously, she allowed Ben to
shuffle and Serlizer to cut, then Ben again to deal.

The second game was more exciting. Mr. Maguffin, naturally quick and
possessing a memory cultivated by closely following the prelections of
his coloured Baptist religious instructors, rapidly seized the hitherto
unknown combinations, and astonished Tryphena with his bold independence
of action. The constable's mind worked more conservatively, as became
his rank and profession, and Serlizer was worse than useless to him,
but, by chance, they had magnificent hands. He piled up India in quick
marching time, as he hummed "The British Grenadiers," and accompanied it
with a drum beat of his right foot on the floor. Calcutta, Bombay, and
Madras, Indus, Ganges, and Godavery, Himalayas, Ghauts, and Vindhyas,
lay captured at his right hand. Ben won Ireland from him, but he
annexed England, Scotland, and Turkey. Once more Serlizer took Canada,
and, owing to Mr. Toner's imperfect shuffling, laid complete books of
Egypt, Australia, and Brazil upon the table. The stars fought against
Tryphena and Tryphosa, and, in spite of Mr. Maguffin's gallant struggle
against fate, the pensioner took the honours. Then Miss Newcome favoured
him with a friendly kick under the table, accompanied by the elegant
expression: "Bully for you, old man!" Next, the victorious damsel
shuffled, allowed Tryphena to cut, and dealt out the cards for the third
game. This time the deal was fair, and Mr. Rigby, glancing over his
partner's capacious hand, beheld there no prospect of continued good
fortune. Tryphena was on her mettle as a geographer, and Maguffin had
stowed away in his all-embracing memory the names of half the globe's
prominent features in city, river, and mountain. He wrested half India
and all Russia from the pensioner, captured the whole of the United
States, Canada, Mexico, and various states of South America. Almost the
entire continent of Europe succumbed to Tryphena. Tryphosa fought
doggedly, and encouraged Ben to continue the unequal contest, but the
constable and Serlizer yielded up card after card with the muteness of
despair. Mr. Maguffin was transported with joy, when his partner counted
up their united books, amounting to more than those of both the other
pairs put together.

"I'se larned moah joggrify this heah bressid night no