Checkmate

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 123, 27 May 1930, Page 20

Checkmate

By SYDNEY HORLER

! CHAPTER XVI. A Lesson in Baccarat. The phrase was puzzling—as puzzling as many other things about this woman. "I suppose you wonder what I mean?" the Comtesse continued. "I do—rather," was the reply. "You dear, sweet child! Let me explain, then. I daresay you have heard that gambling, such as goes on here— gambling, that is, on a big scale—is surrounded by superstition. For instance, it is considered frightfully lucky to sit in a chair next to a woman wearing pearls." "But how ridiculous!" commented Mary. "It sounds ridiculous, I know, and yet seasoned gamblers swear there is some truth in it. Is it not so, Jose?" "Le Comte de Lepiney, who is one of the greatest baccarat players in the world—if we are lucky we shall see him here to-night—is, so persuaded of the value of the superstition that he invariably brings with him a lady wearing a rope of extremely expensive pearls. One night last season he took £40,000 off the Greek Syndicate in this room. Mademoiselle Lejeune was sitting on his right hand. Her pearls were magnificent. 0 I was here, so I know what I am talking about." Santos spoke with such an authoritative note that he bordered on the dogmatic. Mary turned to the Comtesse. "I am sorry I am not wearing pearls, Comtesse—that is, if you intend to gamble." ' The woman stretched out a hand and placed it affectionately over Mary's. "Now I'm going to let you into the little secret that I have been saving up ever since luncheon," she said. It is Jose's idea, really, and I cannot pretend to take any credit for it. I intend to let you gamble to-night, Mary—that is the excitement I promised you." Mary's surprise was such that she could only stare in astonishment. "Me!" she exclaimed. "Why, I don't know the first thing about it! And I've never played anything more thrilling than threepence a hundred Bridge in mv life!" "Then you'll be widening your experience." "But it's so silly," Mary continued to protest. "I simply can't afford it—why I've only about eighteen shillings with me." The absurdity of coming to the Cannes Baccarat Room with the intention of gambling on a total sum of less than an English pound note made her throw back her head and laugh. The Comtesse waited until the peal of merriment was over and then she replied. "I shall provide the money, of course. Apart from giving you what I hoped would be pleasure, it is another popular superstition amongst gamblers that the first time anyone not acquainted with the game sits down at baccarat, he or she is almost certain to win." "Even if, like myself, one doesn't know the first thing about the game?" The Comtesse dismissed the remark with a snap of her shapely fingers. "Anyone with intelligence like yourself can pick up the rules of the game almost at once," she replied. "To begin with, six full packs of cards are used. Anything from three to eleven people

may play, with a cropier—that is, an official of the Casino —in charge. Counters, which are usually purchased before you start to play, are used. When the game starts, the croupier takes a number of cards from the top of the pack and passes them to the person sitting on his right who becomes the banker. This position the player holds until he loses, when the deal passes to the person next in position. You understand?" "Yes—please go on; this sounds thrilling." The Comtesse smiled across at Santos before continuing. "The general idea of the game is this: All the players, apart from the one holding the bank, are called punters. They all back their luck and the value of their cards against the banker. The latter puts down the sum he is prepared to stake, and the punters do the same, unless one of them desires to play against the entire stake of the banker. In this case he calls 'Banco.' "After the stakes have been made, the dealer deals a card to the punter on his right, then one to himself, then a third to the punter on his left, and, finally, another to himself. Court cards and tens

count nothing; all others have the value of their pips. "Each punter looks at his cards, and anyone having 8 or 9 turns his card up and announces it. This particular hand. is then at an end. The player having the highest stake plays for both punters, and if the card he turns up is better than that of the banker, the latter pays each punter the amount of his stake. If not, the banker wins all stakes and the game proceeds as before. As you see, it is quite simple." "Supposing no punter holds an 8 or 9?" "If no announcement is made, the banker deals another card to the player on his right, who, if his first card is, say, 6 or 7, will refuse it." "Because he is afraid he will total with both cards more than 9." "Exactly. He i 6 afraid to overrun that number. This second card is turned face upwards on the table. If his first card is, say, 5, he may decide to accept the second card. If he refuses, the card is offered to the second punter. "When both punters have come to a decision, the banker has to make up his mind whether he will draw a card himself or expose his original ones. After making his play he pays or receives, according to whether he has lost or won. Ties, I should explain, neither win nor lose, but go' over to the next deal." Although she had been listening intently, Mary had not failed to notice the , somewhat peculiar behaviour of Santos during the time that the Comtesse had been speaking. The man had been showing increasing signs of impatience. He was apparently anxious to be off; either that, or he was expecting to gee someone enter the room. He had placed his chair in such a position that he commanded a view of practically the entire room, and yet, so great was his anxietv, that he kept leaning forward in order, Mary supposed, to catch the first possible glimpse of the person in question. , For whom could the man be looking.' Was it the maid iSFadia, masquerading that night as a" woman of wealth and fashion? > . , _ •> The Comtesse took a thick roll of n-tes from her bag. . "Here is the equivalent ot nity pounds," she said. "Jose will get you counters for half this amount and the rest of the money you can hold in reserve." i.

"Do you really want me to play?" asked Mary. The proposal still seemed rather incredulous. The Comtesse stamped her foot. "Should I have taken all the trouble to explain the rules of the game to you if I hadn't?" she said impatiently. "Hurry up, Jose." The man left his seat with what appeared .to be reluctance. He was soon back. "We must be. quick," Mary heard him whisper .'to .the Comtesse. She wondered why the mannikin had become so excited. The reason was soon forthcoming. CHAPTER XVII ' The Mascot. The message seemed to communicate to the Comtesse an equal degree of excitement. Disregarding Mary, they both looked in the direction of the Baccarat Room. One glance was sufficient for the Comtesse. "Come quickly," she said to Mary over her shoulder, "you must start playing at once!" The words were spoken in such a strange manner that she would have liked to have asked a number of questions. But some intuitive sense kept her silent. She was puzzled but curious —very curious. The Comtesse had some purpose in her mind; what it was she was eager to discover. And the way to discover it was to remain quiet and to obey the instructions which she guessed would soon be given her. Very alert, she followed the pair as they walked across the room. In front of them was a tall, thin, elderly woman whose most noticeable feature, apart from her aristocratic bearing, was a wonderful rope of pearls which enhanced the still beautiful skin of her neck and shoulders.

Mary felt her arm squeezed. "You see," said the Comtesse tensely; "a woman with pearls! You must arrange to sit next to her. Don't miss any opportunity or I shall be angry." the speaker, "quite obviously was possessed by a passion which over-ruled for the moment every other consideration. Evidently the Comtesse herself was a creature swayed by what she described as a gambler's superstition. But for this fact and her previous determination to endeavour to discover what purpose her employer had in mind, Mary , might be remonstrated not only at the manner in which she had been addressed, but also because of the pain she had been caused by that ruthless squeeze of her arm. As it was she made no reply, She noticed that her companions were not the only persons who became interested in the woman with the pearls. The latter left a ripple of interest behind her as she strolled past the different tables. Once Mary caught a whisper. "Those pearls can't be real —no woman would be fool enough to run such a risk." And the reply: "My dear, the wearer is Lady Wentworth. She isn't the woman to be afraid of any risk." At the 20-louis table the woman under discussion stopped. The Comtesse, close behind, caught Mary's hand and held it ,

tightlv. "If "she plays here, stand directly behind her so that you can slip into the next chair. .Don't forget—it's very important." The voice had become harsh and brittle with anxiety. Before she could say anything in reply, Mary found herself being pushed forward into a chair. "Here are your counters, my dear," she heard the Comtesse say. Before her on the green cloth of the table were ranged a number of different-coloured plaques. Whenever she looked back, the hour which followed always seemed to her to have no more substantiality than the fabric of a dream. She lived in a world during that never-to-be-forgotten time that seemed utterly unreal and completely fantastic; it was as though another person's mind had entered her body. The most wonderful thing of all was that she was not confused—no, not even in that first pulsating moments when, sitting on the right of the croupier, she found herself holding the bank. She had the benefit of the whispered advice of the Comtesse, who was standing directly behind her chair, it was true; but; nevertheless, by some miraculous process, her brain became remarkably clear of its own volition, and she felt as composed as though this were merely a game of bridge instead of her first essay at nerve-testing baccarat. She had laughed at the superstition which the Comtesse had mentioned, but the woman on her right wearing the pearls had certainly brought her luck. Luck so amazing that the crowd 5 which gathered quickly forgot the usual decorum and broke into comments of astonishment. The counters, each representing 20 louis, with which she had started, rapidly changed, at first into a mound, then into a hill, and after that into a miniature mountain of plaques. (To be continued daily.)