[Illustration: FINAL TABLEAU.
Triumph of the Artful Agent and his lame Duck of a Daughter, Sybil
Slyboots, _alias_ Becky Sharp, afterwards the Merry Duchess of
Gooseberry.]
* * * * *
THE BOGEY, MAN!
(_RETORT OF A LADY-PLAYER WHO PLAYS "FOR LOVE."_)
["No game was ever yet invented which held the female mind in
thrall save by indirect means. Where would croquet have been,
so far as the Ladies were concerned, without its Curates, or
lawn-tennis without its 'Greek gods' ... If men played for
nothing, they would find it dull enough."--JAMES PAYN]
'Tis mighty well for Menfolk at Womankind to gibe,
And swear they do not care for games without some lure or bribe,
But e'en in JAMES PAYN's armour there seems some weakish joints;
He does not care for "glorious Whist" unless for "sixpenny points!"
Whist! Whist! Whist! It charms the Bogey, Man:
Whist! Whist! Whist! He'll play it when he can.
But "pointless Whist," as PAYN admits, is not at all his plan;
You must have "money on" to please the Bogey, Man!
Now, Ladies like to play "for love," a fault male hucksters blame,
But only sordid souls deny _that_ is the true "grand game.
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