If a player be desirous to obtain a lead of trumps from his partner, he can
intimate such desire by playing _an unnecessarily high card_ to a trick.
It must be distinctly understood that the play of an unnecessarily high
card means a demand on the partner to lead a trump. What, then, is an
unnecessarily high card?
If a player, second or fourth in hand, play, say a six, and on the second
round of the same suit play a {202} two, three, four, or five, he has
played an unnecessarily high card, and has called for trumps. If a player
third in hand win with the ace, return the king, and then play a small
card, he has intimated, by playing the ace, that he wishes his partner to
lead a trump, the ace being an unnecessarily high card.
The play by the second hand of a high, then a low, card may not indicate
that an _unnecessarily_ high card had been first played. For example,
second hand holds queen, knave, and two of a suit; the three is led, second
hand plays knave, and, on the return of the suit, plays the two. Some
unreasoning partners would at once jump at the conclusion that this was a
call for trumps, because a high, then a low, card was played by their
partner. If the second player wished to call for trumps, he would play his
queen, not the knave, under the above conditions.
Some partners are so dense in these matters that it is dangerous to play a
protecting card second hand for fear they may assume this to be a call for
trumps. If one holds knave, ten, and a small card, and the ten, which is
the correct card to play second hand, be put on, a bad partner will
conclude, when he sees the small card played in the next round, that his
partner must have asked for trumps, because a ten, then a small card had
been played. This erroneous conclusion is usually arrived at when the
partner is only superficially acquainted with the card that ought to be
played second hand.
The player who calls for trumps intimates to his partner that he is so
strong that if trumps are led to him he is prepared to undertake all
responsibility for the consequences. To ignore such a signal is
unjustifiable. {203}
It is a serious step to call for trumps, even with five trumps and two
honours, if the other suits are very weak. When, however, the player holds
one or two queens, with such other cards in those suits as to render it
probable that the queen may be trumped in the third round by one of the
adversaries, then a "call" may be allowable.
When calling for trumps, the card selected with which to call should, if
possible, be a middle card, so that, if necessary, the call may be
temporarily concealed. For example, suppose one holds the six, five, and
four of diamonds, and five or six trumps (clubs), and one is second player.
Original leader starts with the diamond suit; second player, wishing to
call, should play the five, not the six; third hand plays queen; partner
drops ten. Ace of diamonds is returned; partner drops knave, and thus shows
no more diamonds; original caller may now, with advantage, conceal his call
by playing the six. When the original caller obtains the lead, he may play
his four, thus allowing his partner to make a small trump, and, at the same
time, showing that the five which he originally played was a call.