The chapter opens with a soliloquy about how the club is burning, even though it's not in session yet. The narrator says that the rules have changed for the new members, who are supposed to read the first two lines of the poem instead of the first three lines. He also says that each card has a special way of being read, so that the correct card is read even before the first card. He says that this is why he's been playing so much, because he can't figure out which card is the correct one. He asks the narrator to teach him how to play the game so that he doesn't have to spend so much time with the other new members. He tells the narrator that he'll have to cut his nails if he gets weaker before the game starts. The chapter ends with the narrator asking the club president if he'd like to be taught the game. The club president says that he would like to teach the game to him, but that he can only play one hand at a time, so he needs to practice.