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and when once a habit of the sort is associated with the idea of good luck, even the strongest minds have been found unready to shako off the superstition,l
Here, for instance, is an account given by one keen card-player of another who was as keen, or keener. ' He was very particular about cutting the cards; he always insisted on the pack being perfectly square before he would cut, and that they should be placed in a convenient position. There is an old adage that a slovenly cut is good for the dealer, but whether there is truth in the statement we know not. He was superstitious to a degree that was astonishing.' (It must be a rather startling superstition that would seem astonishing to a man who could gravely ask whether there is any truth in the preposterous adage just quoted.) ' We are not aware that any one bas ever attempted to solve the problem why so many great minds' (among card-players, fighting men, and men who have to work much at odds with fortune) ' are superstitious. This is not the time or place to attempt that solution. We record the fact.
It is to be noticed, indeed, that many who reject the idea that the ordinary superstitions have any real significance, are nevertheless unwilling to run directly counter to them. Thus, a man shall be altogether skeptical as to the evil effects which follow, according to a common superstition, from passing under a ladder; he may be perfectly satisfied that the proper reason for not passing under a ladder is the possibility of its failing, or of something falling from it: yet he will not pass under a ladder, even though it is well secured, and obviously carries nothing which can fall upon him. So with the old superstition, that a broken mirror brings seven years of sorrow, which, according to some, dates from the time when a mirror was so costly as to represent seven years' savings--there are those who despise the superstition who would yet be unwilling to tempt fate (as they put it) by willfully breaking even the most worthless old looking-glass. A story is not infrequently quoted in defense of such caution. Every one knows that sailors consider it unlucky for a ship to sail on a Friday. A person, anxious to destroy this superstition, had a ship's keel laid on a Friday, the ship launched on a Friday, her masts taken
He believed in dress having something to do with luck, and if the luck followed him, he would wear the same dress, whether it was adapted to the weather or not. He believed in cards and seats. He objected to any one making a remark about his luck. He had the strongest objection to our backing him, because of our bad luck, and we have often had to refrain from taking odds, because of this fad. He was distressed beyond measure if any one touched his counters. His constant, system of shuffling the cards was at times an annoyance.' This was a great card-player !
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