Anscombe also disliked cards, I think because his ancestors too had played with counters, such as some that I have seen belonging to the Cocoa-Tree Club and other gambling places of a past generation, marked as high as a thousand guineas, which counters must next morning be redeemed in hard cash, whereby his family had been not a little impoverished.
"I fancy you will find they are high-fliers," he said when the pair had left to fetch a suitable table, for the night being very hot we were going to play on the stoep by the light of the hanging paraffin lamp and some candles.

I replied to the effect that I could not afford to lose large sums of money, especially to men who for aught I knew might then be engaged in marking the cards.
"I understand," he answered.

"Don't you bother about that, old fellow.

This is my affair, arranged for my special amusement.

I shan't grumble if the fun costs something, for I am sure there will be fun." "All right," I said, "only if we should happen to win money, it's yours, not mine." To myself I reflected, however, that with these two opponents we had about as much chance of winning as a snowflake has of resisting the atmosphere of the lower regions.
Presently they returned with the table, which had a green cloth over it that hung down half-way to the ground.