These lines appear to serve as roadways or guides to any stragglers that may have hung back for some reason known only to an io.

Eventually such technicality bred countertechnicality, as courts resorted to fine points of procedural doctrine to escape those confines of the record to which the appellant or appellee might try to hold them.

[H]e / … / Had tost his ball and flown his kite, and roll'd / His hoop to pleasure Edith, …

If you are a good way ahead, and particularly in the last hand but one, if you have a chance of winning a Rubicon, you should make a safe discard, with the view of dividing or winning the cards, in order to keep your adversary back. On the other hand, if the score is much against you, and you are under a Rubicon, you are justified in making a bold discard.