Duck on a Rock

Duck on a Rock is a variation of Quoits which is excellent fun. One of the players, chosen by counting out, puts a stone (called in this game the "duck") about as big as his fist, on the top of a smooth rock and stands near it. All the other players have similar "ducks" and try to dislodge the one on the rock by throwing their stones, or ducks at it. As soon as each has thrown his duck he tries to watch his chance to run up to it and carry it back before the player standing by the rock can touch him. When some one knocks off the duck from the rock the "it" (the player by the rock) must put it back before he can tag any of the players. This is therefore, of course, the great time for a rush of all the players to recover their ducks and get back to their own territory before the "it" can tag them. If any player is touched by the "it" while attempting to rescue his duck he must become "it" and put his duck on the rock.

Bowling

Bowling is the best of sports but this usually needs too much apparatus for the average boy to have. Nine pins, however, can be arranged in a rough sort of a way, by setting up sticks and bowling at them with round apples. Your own ingenuity will devise ways to use the materials you find about you.

Hop-Scotch

Hop-scotch is a great favorite which scarcely needs a description, although there are various ways of marking the boards. The game is played by any number of persons, each of whom kicks a small stone from one part to another of the diagram by hopping about on one foot. The diagram is drawn on a smooth piece of ground with a pointed stick or on a pavement with a bit of chalk. The most usual figure is given here.

To begin, a player puts a pebble or bit of wood into the place marked 1, and then, hopping into it with his right foot, he kicks the counter outside the diagram. Then hopping out himself, he kicks it (with the foot on which he is hopping) into the part marked 2. He hops through 1 to 2, kicks the counter out again, and follows it out. This continues until he has kicked the counter in and out of every space in the diagram, without stepping on a line, or so casting the counter that it rests on a line. If this occurs he is put back a space, and it is the turn of the next player. Each one plays until he has made a fault, and when it is his turn again, he takes up the game where he left off. The one who first gets through the required figures is the winner.



There is literally no end to the variations of this game, either in the diagram used or in the rules. Sometimes when people become very skilful they play it backward, and sometimes at the end the player is required to place the pebble on his toe and kick it in the air, catching it in his hand.

Strength Tests

Various trials of strength are good for boys out of doors, provided rules are fixed and adhered to. Cane-spreeing is good sport, but should only be tried by boys pretty well matched in size and strength. A cane (or broom-stick) about three feet long is held by two boys facing each other, each with a hand on each end of the cane, the respective right hands being outside the lefts, that is, nearest to the end. Then one tries to get the cane away from the other. It sounds simple, but there are a great variety of strategic tricks to be learned by practice. No struggle should last more than two minutes by the watch, when the boys should stop and get breath. The feet are not used, but it is quite allowable to use your body, if you get down on the ground in a sort of wrestling.

Hare and Hounds

Hare and Hounds can be played either in the country or the city and is fine fun, although it should be begun with a short run. In the excitement of the chase boys are apt to forget, and over-strain themselves. The "hares" are two players who have a bag of small paper pieces which they scatter after them from time to time as they run. They are given a start of five or ten minutes and then all the others, who are the "hounds," start after them, tracing their course by the bits of paper. In the city the hares take a piece of chalk and mark an arrow on the wall thus ——> showing in which direction they have gone. Good stout shoes should be worn to run in, or you will blister your feet.

Dog-Stick

A game for city pavements or for smooth country roads has so many names that it is difficult to say which is its right one, but a common one is "dog-stick." It is played something like hockey, the aim being to get a ball or counter over your opponent's goal line. The ball in this case is not a ball but a piece of wood which you can make yourself, of an odd shape. It is like a flattened ball with a tail to it. With a club or stick you strike the tail so that the ball springs up in the air and then before it falls you strike it with your club toward your enemy's goal line. The players are divided into sides who try to defend their goal lines and to send back the ball to the other side. Make your own rules as experience teaches you is fair.

Other Games

The endless variations of leap-frog should not be forgotten in devising outdoor games: and tournaments of long or broad jumping and high jumping are good. Stilts and the games to be arranged with them are also another great resource. And the seasons bring, as regularly as flowers and snow, the round of tops, and kites and marbles. Of these last a very summary account is given here as most boys and regions have their own rules.

Marbles

The first thing to learn in "Marbles" is the way that the marble should be held. Of course one can have very good games by bowling the marble, as if it were a ball, or holding it between the thumb-nail and the second joint of the first finger and shooting it with the thumb from there; but these ways are wrong. The correct way is to hold it between the tip of the forefinger and the first joint of the thumb. Marbles are divided into "taws," or well-made strong marbles with which you shoot, and "clays," or the ordinary cheap colored marbles at which you aim and with which you pay your losses.

Ring Taw

Two or three boys with marbles could never have difficulty in hitting on a game to play with them, but the best regular game for several players is "Ring Taw." A chalk ring is made on as level a piece of ground as there is, and each player puts a clay on it at regular distances from each other. A line from which to shoot during the first round is then drawn two yards or so from the ring, and the game begins by the player who has won the right of leading off (a real advantage) knuckling down on the line and shooting at one of the marbles in the ring. If a player knocks a marble out of the ring, that marble is his and he has the right to shoot again from the place where his taw comes to a stand; but if in knocking a marble out of the ring his taw remains in it (or if his taw remains in it under any condition whatever), he has to put all the marbles he has won into the ring, in addition to one for a fine, and take up his taw and play no more till the next game. There is one exception to this rule: If only one marble is left in the ring, and if, in knocking it out, a player's taw remains in the ring, he does not suffer, because the game is then over. The other two rules are these: If a player succeeds in hitting the taw of another the owner of that taw not only must leave the game but hand over any marbles he has won. (In no case are taws parted with.) Also, if it happens that only two players are left, and one of these has his taw hit, that ends the game, for the player who hit it not only has the marble of the taw's owner but all the marbles left in the ring too.

"Ring Taw" can be played by as few as two players; but in this case they must each put several marbles in the ring.

To decide which player is to begin, it is customary for them all to aim at the ring from the knuckling-down line, and whichever one places his taw nearest to the middle of the ring has the right to lead.

Other Games

Other garden games for boys will be found in the Picnic section. We might mention also "Steps" (p. 4), "Tug of War" (p. 38), and "Potato Races" (p. 40).



PICNIC GAMES

A picnic may be either a complicated affair which has occupied you all the day before, or the most impromptu expedition which you arrange on the spur of the minute; and the last kind are often more fun. Any place out of doors will answer for a picnic, but if possible it should be near water. Anything will answer for a picnic lunch, but it is pleasant, if older people are with you, if you are allowed to have fires to do some outdoor cooking. This is always easier than it sounds and adds infinitely to the fun of the lunch. Bacon is one of the easiest things to cook outdoors, all that is needed being a forked stick which you can cut for yourselves. The strip of bacon is impaled on the forks and toasted over the fire, each person cooking his own slice and eating it on bread. Or with two larger forked sticks a steak can be deliciously broiled for the whole company, or chops can be cooked. It is the easiest and most delightful task to arrange a sort of cooking-hole of stones over which the coffee pot may be set and potatoes may be boiled over another similar hole. You will find that it is far better to have a number of very tiny little fires entirely separated from each other, than one big bonfire which is almost sure to grow unmanageable. It will be seen that it is far easier to take a big piece of bacon (to be sliced after reaching the picnic grounds) a loaf or two of bread and raw potatoes than to spend hours in making sandwiches and packing cake. Beside the things cooked out of doors always taste so much better. Great care should be taken to put out every spark of fire before going home, and to leave no scraps of paper, or egg-shells lying about. These should be burned or buried.

It, Touch Last, or Tag

For a short time "It" is a good warming game. It is the simplest of all games. The "It" runs after the others until he touches one. The one touched then becomes "It."

Touchwood

The name explains the game, which is played as "It" is played, except that you can be caught only when you are not touching wood. It is a good game where there are trees. It is, of course, not fair to carry a piece of wood.

Cross Tag

This is the ordinary "Tag," save that if, while the "It" is chasing one player, another runs across the trail between him and the pursued, the "It" has to abandon the player he was at first after and give chase to the one who has crossed.

A good variety of tag is "French Tag." The first one caught must join hands with the "It," the next one with him, etc., and so on in a long line all running together. Any one can catch an opponent, but the original "It" must touch him before he can take his place in the line.

The Little Dog

The players form a ring, leaving one outside, who passes round it singing, "I have a little dog and he won't bite you," and as he does so, touching each player in turn with a knotted pocket-handkerchief. "And he won't bite you," "And he won't bite you," he calls to one after the other, and then suddenly changes this to "But he will bite you." The player touched when this is said has to run after the toucher with all his might. When caught they change places.

Hunt the Squirrel

All the players except one join a ring. This one, with a knotted handkerchief in his hand, walks round the outside of the ring for a while, and then, dropping the handkerchief behind one of the players, runs off crying—

Hunt the squirrel through the wood. Now I've lost him—now I've found him! Hunt the squirrel through the wood.

The player behind whom the handkerchief was dropped must catch the squirrel before he can take up the empty place in the ring left by the pursuer. It is more fun if, in dropping the handkerchief, it can be done without the player discovering it for a little while.

The way in which old-fashioned country children play this game (called usually "Drop the handkerchief"), is a little different. As the one with the handkerchief walks around and around the outside of the ring all join in singing,

"A tisket! A tasket! A green and yellow basket! I sent a letter to my love And now I find I've lost it. I've lost it! I've lost it! And where do you think I found it? Up in the sky, ever so high With angels gathered 'round it."

As the words "I've lost it!" are repeated, the player outside must drop the handkerchief, but no one must look behind him until the verse is ended. Then the one who finds the handkerchief behind him must try to catch the first one, who in turn tries to slip into the empty place.

Gaps

The players form a ring: all except one, who is "It." This one runs round the ring and touches one of the players in the circle. They both set off running immediately in opposite directions, the object of each being to get first to the gap made in the circle by the player who was touched. The one who gets to the gap first remains in the circle, while the other becomes "It."

Twos and Threes, or Terza

A very good picnic game. All the players except two form a large ring, standing in twos, one behind another. Of the two who are over, one is the pursuer and the other the pursued; and the game is begun by the pursued taking up his position (if he can do so before the pursuer catches him) in front of one of the couples in the ring, thus making three. Directly he does this he is safe, and the last player in the little group at the back of him has to run. Whoever is caught becomes the pursuer, while the one that caught him becomes the pursued until, by standing in front of one of the couples, he transfers that office to another.

Hide and Seek

"Hide and Seek," which is perhaps the best out-of-door game without implements, needs no explanation. It is usual to give the player who hides a start of as much time as it takes the others to count a hundred in. Some boys, instead of counting from one to a hundred, divide the sum into ten tens, which are counted thus: 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1; 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1; and so on. These can be rattled through so quickly that your 100 is done and you have started out before, in the ordinary way, seventy would have been reached.

A customary arrangement to avoid taking the hiders too much by surprise is for the boy who stays at the base and counts a hundred to call out when he finishes

"Bushel of wheat! Bushel of rye! All that aren't ready call out 'I'!"

or simply

"One! Two! Three! Look out for me!"

I Spy

"I Spy" combines "Hide and Seek" and "Tag." One player stays in the base, covers his eyes and counts a hundred, while the others run off and hide. On finishing the hundred the player shouts "Coming!" and runs out to look for the others. Directly he catches sight of one of them (and they are not hidden so carefully as in "Hide and Seek"), he calls out his name and the place where he has seen him; as, for instance, "Harry! behind the summer-house!" If there is no mistake and the name is right (it is very often wrong, in which case the player does not move), Harry has to run out and try and catch the other before he reaches the base.

Another way is for as many players to seek as to hide. In this case it is agreed beforehand as to how many of the seekers must be caught by the hiders for the game to be won. If the number is given at four and four are caught, the same side have the privilege of hiding again; but if only three or a smaller number, then the seekers have won and it is they who hide next time.

Chevy, or Prisoner's Base

There is no better running game than this. You first pick sides and then mark off the two camps and take up your station there. The field is arranged thus:—

Place for Place for A's B's prisoners. prisoners. + +



-+ A's Camp. B's Camp.

The game is opened by several of the A side running out to some point immediately in front of the two camps. When ready they call "Chevy." As many of the B side then start out to pursue them, each calling his particular quarry by name. The object of each A man is either to get back before the B man who is after him can catch him, or to tempt the B man into ground so near the A camp that he may be caught. In this aim he is helped by the fact that directly his B pursuer called his name and started out another A man probably called out the name of the B man and started to cut him off. No one is allowed to be pursued by two players at once.

If caught, the A man has to go to the place reserved for B's prisoners. Directly he gets there he calls "Rescue"; an A man will then call "Prisoner," and rush out to relieve him; while a B runner is all ready to intercept this A rescuer if he can.

The game is good both for runners who can keep it up a long time and for those who can make short, sharp dashes. The first named decoy the enemy out in pursuit, and the others hold themselves ready to dash across in front of the enemy's camp and cut off any one who is across the line. The rule as to shouting the name of the man you have marked down should be kept.

If there is more than one prisoner they stand just touching hands, in a line which reaches as far as possible toward their own camp, so that the distance between the first prisoner and the rescuer may be shortened. Each new prisoner takes up his place at the back of this line, farthest from the camp. A prisoner is rescued by being touched.

If one side is much weaker than the other a time comes when it is nearly all taken prisoner, with none to rescue except by leaving the camp undefended. Directly a camp is left undefended one of the enemy steps in and "crowns" it and claims the game. More often than not, however, a game of "Chevy" is left undecided. It does not matter in the least, for in this game the fun is more in playing than in winning.

French and English

For this game the ground must be divided by a path or line into two territories—French and English. At the further side of each territory a number of flags—handkerchiefs will do—must be placed at intervals. The players are then divided into the two nations, and the game consists in each side trying to get the flags from the other side, to guard its own, and to catch the enemy when he is off his own ground. Once a player sets foot upon the enemy's territory he must go on, but he cannot be caught if he has a flag in his hands. If he is caught he becomes a prisoner (as in Chevy), and is only released by being touched by one of his own party. A player cannot redeem a prisoner and take a flag at the same time. The game ends when all the flags of one side have been taken.

Black Man

This is rather rough. A line is drawn at each end of the playing place and one player is told off to stand between these lines. The object of the others is to run across, from base to base, without being caught by him: being caught meaning not merely being touched, as in "It," but being really held and stopped. Each one that is caught has to stay in the middle to help catch the others, until no one is left to run across at all.

The player in the middle calls out to the crowd of players, "What'll you do when the black man comes?" and they answer,

"Run right through And never mind you."

This is the signal to begin each rush across from one line to the other.

Stagarino

"Stagarino" is similar to "Black Man," except that all the players who are caught, and whose business it is to catch the others, join hands. Those that run across have therefore to avoid them or to try and break through the wall of arms.

Red Rover

"Red Rover" is also similar to "Black Man," except that instead of all running at the same time, the "Rover" calls out:—

"Red Rover! Red Rover! Let (mentioning name) come over!"

at which the one named has to run from one base to the other. If he is caught, he must assist the "Rover" in catching the others.

Hop, Step, and Jump

This is a change from ordinary racing. The competitors, instead of running against each other, see which can cover the most distance in a hop, a step, and a jump, or, say, three hops, three steps, and three jumps. It needs an umpire to watch very carefully that the step begins exactly where the hop left off and the jump where the step finished.

Follow-My-Leader

This needs no explaining. It is nearly always good fun for a while, and particularly so if the leader has original ideas.



OUT FOR A WALK

On country walks, where there is much to see, one should not be in need of ways to make the time seem shorter. And new walks in the town, or walks where there are interesting shop-windows, are not dull. But the same walks again and again can be very tiring; and it is to help these that the methods which follow have been collected.

A good walking pastime for two is for one to drive the other. Hoops are a great help (see p. 169) and so are dolls' perambulators. But on many walks nothing of this kind is allowed, and one has to fall back on conversation. Telling stories in turns, or making up stories about passers-by, is useful, but it is not every one that is able to do this.

Roadside Whist

In the Channel Islands visitors riding about in large wagonettes pass the time by playing a game called "Roadside Whist." The people on the left seat of the carriage take the right side of the road, and those on the right seat take the left. The conductor teaches them the rules at the beginning of the drive. In our case it is better perhaps to make them for ourselves, to suit our own particular country. Let us suppose that—

If you see A baby in arms you score 1 A baby in a perambulator " 3 A white horse " 5 A ladder against a house " 2 A woman in a white apron " 1 A butcher's cart " 1 A street gate " 2 A postman " 5

Then there should be a few things for which marks have to be taken off. Let us suppose that—

If you see

A pug dog you lose 2 A piebald horse " 4 An open gate " 2 A flock of sheep " 3 A soldier " 10

No matter what the score is, whichever side sees a cat on a window-ledge wins the game.

Counting Dogs

In a town there are other varieties of roadside whist for two players or sides. Counting dogs is one. In this game one takes all the streets leading from the left, the other all from the right.

Guessing Horses' Tails

A good game (writes E. R.) while out for a walk is "when you see a horse coming, guess what color his tail is before he can reach you, and then, whoever guesses right, the horse belongs to him."

Shop-Windows

Except in very dull streets shop-windows can be always entertaining. It is interesting to suppose you have so much money—say five dollars—to spend, or, if you like, an unlimited sum, and choose what you would buy as you pass each shop, E. H. writes:—"One little girl used to suppose that she was the eldest of a large family whom she had to provide for, and was always on the lookout for things in the shops that would do for her younger brothers and sisters. For instance, if she decided that the family must have new winter clothes, she would first make up her mind how much she could afford and then price the things in the shop-windows. Sometimes she would set her heart on a particular cloak for the baby, but could not pretend to buy it till she had seen whether it would leave her enough money for the other children. If she could get all the children dressed fairly nicely for the sum at her disposal she had all the satisfaction of a successful day's shopping. Sometimes the clothes she wanted were too dear, and then she had to decide what was most necessary, what she could make at home, and so on."

Making Sentences

It is rather exciting for each player to take a side of the road where there are shops and see which can first complete a given sentence or word from the initial letters of the shopkeepers' names, Christian or surname. In fixing upon a sentence it is well to be careful not to have unusual letters, such as Q, or U, or J in it. If this is too difficult all the letters in the shopkeepers' names may be taken, or those in every other name.

Collecting Jones's

In Mrs. Meynell's book, The Children, one little girl on her walks collected Jones's—that is, shops with the name of Jones over them. If any one else cared for this amusement there would be no need to stick to Jones.

The Love Alphabet

In this game you go through the alphabet, applying adjectives to your love. "I love my love with an A because he [or she] is so admirable"; "I love my love with a B because she is so beautiful," and so on, keeping to each letter as long as possible. On pages 88 and 89 will be found more difficult varieties, less suitable, perhaps, to be played when walking.

The Cat Alphabet

Another alphabet game requires adjectives to be put before the word cat. You begin with A. "An artful cat," one player may say; and the next, "An avaricious cat." Perhaps "An awful cat," "An adhesive cat," "An arrogant cat," and "An attractive cat," will follow. A is kept up until no one can think of any more; or—if you play in that way—until no one can think of any more while ten is being counted. Then B: "A bushy cat," "A bruised cat," "A bellicose cat," "A bumptious cat," and so on.

Spelling

In this game the players each contribute a letter toward the spelling of a word, their object being never to be the one to complete it, but to force the next player to do so. Thus (with four players) the first player may say "p," and the next, thinking of "prim," may say "r," and the next, also thinking of "prim," may say "i." But the fourth player, running his thoughts quickly over possible words beginning with "pri," may light upon "prism" and say "s." This saves her, but puts the first player in danger, which is only averted by her thinking of "prison" and saying "o," in which case the next one is bound to be the loser.

The Grand Mogul

A favorite old game which can be played as well on a walk as indoors is "The Grand Mogul." "The Grand Mogul does not like E's," says one player; "what will you give him for dinner?" Each player answers in turn, but none of the dishes named must contain the letter E, or the player either stands out, or (indoors) pays a forfeit. Thus, the answers to the question may be "apricots," "mutton," or "soup," but not "apples," "beef," or "porridge." On a walk the letter E might be persevered with until every one failed, and then the other vowels might be tried.

Buz

This is a counting game in which, whenever the number 7 comes, or a multiple of 7, such as 14, 21, 28, 35, or a number with 7 in it, such as 17, 27, 37, the player whose turn it is must say "Buz." Otherwise, out-of-doors, he loses a round or two, or, indoors, he must pay a forfeit. When 70 comes you say "Buz" in the ordinary way, but for 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 78, and 79 you say "Buz 1," "Buz 2," and so on. For 77 you say "Buz Buz."

Rhyming Lights

In this game one player thinks of a word and gives the others a rhyme to it. Thus, she may think of "coal," and she would then say, "I've thought of a word that rhymes to pole." The others have to guess what the word is, yet not bluntly, as, "Is it mole?" but like this: "Is it a little animal that burrows?" "No," says the first player (who thus has a little guessing to do herself), "No, it is not mole." "Is it a small loaf of bread?" "No, it is not roll." "Is it something you eat bread and milk from?" "No, it is not bowl." "Is it something you burn?" "Yes, it is coal." The player who thought of "coal" then finds a word for the others to guess.

The Apprentice

The "Apprentice" is an old game for two or any number. One says, "I apprenticed my son to a [mentioning a tradesman or craftsman], and the first thing be sold [or made] was a [mentioning, by its initial only, something peculiar to the trade or craft]." The player who first guesses what the initial stands for then makes a similar remark. Thus, one player may say, "I apprenticed my son to a blacksmith, and the first thing he made was a D. K." (Door Knocker). Another, "I apprenticed my son to a grocer, and the first thing he sold was S. S." (Soft Soap). Another, "I apprenticed my son to a gardener, and the first thing he grew was a C. B." (Canterbury Bell). Another, "I apprenticed my son to a firework manufacturer, and the first thing he made was a G. R." (Golden Rain).

Towns and Products

This is a somewhat similar game bearing on geography. Suppose there are three players. One chooses a well-known place, say Boston, and begins, "I know a place where they sell boots," or whatever it may be beginning with B. The next player then knows what letter the place begins with and at once starts thinking of what place it is likely to be. Perhaps she settles on Birmingham, in which case she would say, to indicate that the second letter of the word was "I," "I know a place where they sell isinglass" (or icicles, or inglenooks). "No," says the first player, and the third therefore has to try. Perhaps she decides that the place is Brighton, in which case she will say, "I know a place where they sell rockets" (or rump-steak or raisins). "No," says the first player again, and then it being her turn she gives them another light on the right word by saying, "I know a place where they sell oranges" (or oil, or ocarinas), and so on, until the place is spelled through.

Other Games

Other games suitable to be played when walking are "P's and Q's" (p. 89), "Suggestions" (p. 91), "Clumps" (p. 93), "How, When, and Where" (p. 95), "Coffee-Pot" (p. 95), "Throwing Light" (p. 96), and "Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral" (p. 96).

Hoops

Iron hoops are the best, but it is a matter of taste whether a stick or a hook is used for them. If the stick is a stout one you get rid of the skidding noise made by the hook, and there is more satisfaction in beating a thing along than in, as it were, pushing it. It should be every one's aim to make the hoop do as much as possible with as little treatment as possible. After a very fast run it is equally interesting to see how slowly a hoop can be made to travel. To make it keep as straight a course as may be is very absorbing. Bought hoops can be strong, but to get exactly what one wants it is necessary to go to a blacksmith. A hoop standing as high as its owner, through which he can run to and fro as it rolls, is a possession which only a blacksmith or working-ironmonger can supply.

Two in Hoop Games

Hoop games are few in number, and, with the exception of "Posting," not very exciting. With a large hoop and a small hoop two players can learn to time the pace of a hoop very exactly and then bowl the little one through the big one as it rolls.

There is also a game called "Turnpikes," in which several players and one hoop take part. The turnpikes, of which there are as many as the players, less the one who begins with the hoop, are two stones an inch or so apart, through which the hoop has to be bowled without touching, the faster the better. If it touches, or misses, the player who has been bowling it gives the hoop to the turnpike holder, who then tries his fortune with it, keeping it until he fails at any of the stones.

Hoop Posting

A very good hoop game for several players is "Posting." The idea is that a distance is to be covered (as in the old posting days) as quickly as possible by relays of riders, and the first thing to do is to station four posts at various points along the route. Then, when they are ready, each with hoop-stick or hook, the player with the hoop starts and bowls it as fast as he can to the first post. Immediately it reaches him that post takes it on, without stopping the hoop for an instant, to the next, while the first one takes the place left by him; and so on, as often round the ring as you like. When there is a time-keeper and you post against time it is even better fun. The advantage of standing in a large circle is that the hoop need never be checked; but if the circle is impossible, you can go up and down a long line, with checks only at each end.



IN THE TRAIN Or DURING A WAIT AT A RAILWAY STATION

A long journey in a train—say from New York to Chicago—can, even if you have a window seat, be very tiring; but without a window it is sometimes almost unendurable. The hints which follow are mostly adapted for two players, but one or two will be found useful if you are alone with no one to play with.

The Value of a Map

A map of the country which the train passes through is an interesting thing to have on a long journey. It tells you the names of the hills and villages you see from the windows and you can very likely fix the exact moment that you cross from one county or state into another.

Railway Competitions

Two persons can have good competitions. They can agree beforehand that the game is to go to whichever of them sees the more horses, or cows, or sheep, or men driving, or bicyclists, or rabbits, between two given points, say one station and the next. It is not necessary to be at different windows; in fact a new kind of excitement comes in if both are at the same window or at windows on the same side, because then in addition to seeing the things there is the fun of not letting the other think you have seen them.

Railway Whist

This is a kind of "Roadside Whist," the rules for which will be found on page 163. As has been said there, most players will prefer to draw up their own scoring table; but the following things and figures may be found useful as a foundation:—

If you see— A church it counts 3 A field with sheep " 3 A field with cows " 2 A field with horses " 4 A field with rabbits " 3 A man " 1 A woman " 2 A stile " 4 An open gate " 5 A shut gate " 2 An ordinary dog " 2 A sheep dog " 6 A horse and cart " 5 A hay-wagon " 2 A pond " 4

If you see— A waving handkerchief you lose 6 A hay-stack " 1 A red barn " 5 A grocer's wagon " 1 Children on a gate " 10

Whichever side first sees a black sheep wins, no matter what the score is. Otherwise the scorer of the greatest number of marks is the winner. In "Railway Whist" it is necessary for the players to be on different sides of the train.

Station Observation

A variety of "Observation" (see page 104) can be played on journeys. While the train is stopping at a station every one looks out of the window and notices as many things as possible. When the train starts again each writes as many of these things as he can remember, and the one with the best list wins.

Games With a Watch

If you have a watch it is rather interesting to guess the exact time at which the train will reach the next station. The one who guesses nearest becomes the holder of the watch until the next guess is decided. Other things can be done with a watch, particularly if it has a second hand. Guessing the length of a minute is rather interesting, or timing the speed of the train by noting how long it takes to go between the telegraph-poles at the side of the line.

Hot-Hand

This is a primitive game, capital for cold weather, for it is well named. It is played by two people, one of whom spreads out his hands flat, palms up. The other puts his, palms down, within about three inches of the other's, and tries to strike them a smart blow. If the first player can withdraw his hands quickly enough so that they are not touched it is his turn to try and strike. As long as the player whose hands are palms down can strike the other's hands he can go on. This is an excellent game for cultivating quickness. The player whose hands are to be struck will find that he can succeed better in escaping the other's blows, if he watches his eyes rather than his hands.

This can be arranged among many players as a sort of tournament, trying out the players by couples until finally the two best contestants are left to struggle for the championship. This is a good game to play while getting your breath after skating—or at any time out of doors when you are obliged to be quiet, and there is danger of getting chilled.

Pencils and Paper

It is well to take a pencil and paper when you go on a long journey. If the train rocks a good deal it is interesting to see which can write a sentence most clearly. There is a way of balancing oneself on the edge of the seat and holding the paper on one's knees which makes for steadiness. It is never too shaky for "Noughts and Crosses."

Noughts and Crosses or Tit-tat-toe

"Noughts and Crosses" is playable anywhere; all that is needed is a piece of paper—a newspaper will do—and a pencil. The framework is first made. Thus:—

- - - - - -

One player chooses crosses and the other noughts, and the one who is to begin puts his mark—say, a cross—in one of the nine squares. The other puts a nought in another of the squares, and so it goes on until either three noughts or three crosses are in a straight line in any direction. Thus, this is the end of a game in which noughts played first and crosses won:

X - - - X O O - - - X O

But it often happens that the game is drawn, as in this example, in which noughts played first:—

X O - - - O O X - - - X X O

A blank book for "Noughts and Crosses," with the framework all ready, can now be obtained. It has places for the names of the players, and the date.

Paper French and English

"French and English," another game for two, belongs to the family of "Noughts and Crosses," and can be played anywhere and on any scrap of paper. You first decide which will be English and which French. Each player then takes one-half of the paper and covers it with, say, sixty dots. It does not matter how many, but there must be the same number on each side. Then in a corner each draws a cannon, or draws something that can be called a cannon for the purposes of the game. You then decide how many turns you will have. The game is played by placing the pencil on the cannon, shutting your eyes, and dashing the pencil across your enemy's side of the paper, straight or crooked, in any direction you like. Then you open your eyes, count how many dots the pencil line has passed through, and score them down. The player who, at the end of the number of turns settled upon, has gone through the greatest number of dots is the winner.

"Letters" and Words

A box of letters is an unfailing help to pass the time. A word will sometimes keep a player puzzling for hours, which is, of course, too long. "Pomegranate," "Orchestra," and "Scythe" are good examples of difficult words.

You can also take words and sentences seen on the journey, such as "Wait till the train stops," and "Pears' Soap," and see how many words they will make. A more difficult task is to make anagrams of advertisements. "Lipton's Teas," for instance, makes "Taste on, lips."

"Letters" With a Pencil

The word-making game has been adapted into a writing competition. Each of the company is handed a card which has been prepared for the purpose beforehand by having names of a dozen animals, or towns, or flowers, or birds, or whatever it may be, written on it in what might be called twisted spelling. For instance, "butterfly" might be spelled thus, "trelbyfut," and "Manchester" thus, "Tramschene." A certain amount of time is given, and the winner is the player who has found out most words therein.

A version of this game is to dot out all the letters of the word except the first and the last. You would put "Elephant" on the paper thus, E......t, and tell your companion it was the name of an animal. Or you might write "Peppermint" thus, P........t, and tell him it was the name of a sweet.

Hanging

This is a more difficult game, very suitable for a tiring journey. The two players sit side by side, and one of them dots out on a piece of paper the words of a proverb or well-known line of poetry. Thus, "I met a little cottage girl" would be set down in this way:—

. ... . ...... ....... ....

Underneath this line a small gallows is erected. Thus:—

- / /

The game is for the other player to discover the line. In order to do this he is permitted to ask his opponent for letters. Perhaps he will begin by asking, "May I have an 'a,'" because there are few sentences that do not contain an "a." His opponent will then put the first "a" in. Thus:—

. ... a ...... ....... ....

Then perhaps another "a" will be asked for, and the line will come out thus:—

. ... a ...... ....a.. ....

Then perhaps an "e":—

. .e. a ...... ....a.. ....

So far all has gone favorably with the guesser, and the gallows is still untouched. But perhaps he will now venture to ask for a consonant (which is much more risky than a vowel), and will say, "May I have an 's'?" As there is no "s" in the line the reply will be against it, and the opponent will at once append to the rope of the gallows a small head. Thus:—

- / / O

This means that the guesser has lost one out of a possible six points, the others being his body, his two arms and two legs. For each letter he asks for in vain he loses one of these, and when all have gone he has lost the game too. Sometimes, however, the quotation can be detected very quickly.

Other Games

Many games usually kept for the house can be played in the train. "Old Maid" (see p. 79) is a good train game; so is "Buz" (see p. 167). A "Fox and Geese" board, or a draughtboard, will help to pass the time.

Food

Food is a great help toward shortening a long journey. A little picnic every hour, if it is permitted, is something not too distant to look forward to, and it may take up ten minutes each time. A larger meal all at once may, of course, be more convenient, but, if not, the hourly picnic is worth trying.

Chinese Gambling

This is the simplest game possible but will while away endless hours. It is played with nothing but your hands, which are made to assume three positions: one with clenched fist; one spread out flat; and one with first and second finger spread apart like the blades of scissors. The first is called "the stone," the second "the paper" and the third "the scissors." Very rapidly both players strike their right hand (clenched) into the left palm three times, and then both at the same instant bring up the right hand in one of the three positions. The winner is determined by this formula: "Scissors cut paper. Stone breaks scissors. Paper wraps stone." That is if you have made your hand "the stone" and your companion "the paper," he wins. But if you had chosen "the scissors" you would have won. The winner must call out the formula that fits the case, "Scissors cut paper" for instance, and count is kept of the number of losses and gains. The one who comes out ahead after a half-hour's contest is the winner of that bout.



PLAYING ALONE, AND GAMES IN BED

Bricks

Among the best toys with which to play alone are bricks, soldiers, balls, battledore and shuttlecock, and dolls. No one needs any hints as how to play with them; but it might be remarked that ordinary bought bricks being rarely what they should be, it is better, if possible, to get a carpenter to make some of a more useful size, say four inches long, one and a half inches wide, and an inch thick. With a hundred of these you can do almost anything in the way of building, and if made of tough wood they ought to last forever.

Soldiers

A good game of soldiers is to see how many shots are required from a cannon to kill the whole regiment. The cannon can either be a spring cannon or a pop-gun, or a pea-shooter. Just at first it is almost impossible not to clear off two or three men with each shot, but later it becomes more difficult and exciting.

Ninepins

With a box of ninepins very much the same game can be played. In wet weather, in the hall, a box of large ninepins is invaluable.

Spanish Cup and Ball

A good quiet game to play alone is "Spanish Cup and Ball." A long stick has fastened to it a loop of wire standing out at right angles, thus. To this is attached by a long string a worsted, or a very light rubber ball. The game is to see how many times you can throw the ball up to the ceiling and catch it in the loop of wire as it falls.



Balancing

All kinds of balancing games are excellent when you are alone and tired of toys. There is no way to acquire proficiency in these but by practice, but practice is fascinating work. Try balancing at first a long pole (an old broom-stick handle will do) on the palm of your hand, then on your finger, then on your chin and forehead. The longer the pole, the easier to balance it. Remember one golden rule. Keep your eyes on the top of the pole.

Then try balancing a whole broom, or a chair. The practice of balancing is excellent for training yourself in quickness of eye and muscle.

Of course bricks and soldiers and ninepins, as well as balls (see p. 139), are more interesting when more than one person plays; but one can pass the time very well with them.

Bruce's Heart

Where toys become tedious, games have to be made up; and in making up games no outside help is needed. At the same time, some games which E. H. describes may perhaps supply a hint or two. "One little girl," she writes, "used to find endless joy in pretending to be Douglas bearing the heart of Bruce to the Holy Land. A long stick in the right hand represented his spear; a stone in the left hand was the casket containing Bruce's heart. If the grown-ups stopped to talk with some one they met, or if there was any other excuse for running on ahead, the little girl would rush forward waving her stick and encouraging her men (represented by a big dog), and, after hurling her stone as far forward as possible, and exclaiming, 'Lead on, brave heart,' she would cast her spear in the same direction in a last effort against the Moors, and then pretend to fall dead to the ground." This little girl had found the story of Bruce in Tales of a Grandfather, by Sir Walter Scott. Almost every book will yield people and events to play at.

The Hotel Camps

Another little girl whom E. H. knew "once spent a short time in a hotel, and while there divided the other people into camps according to the floor on which they had rooms. The designs in the windows on the various floors represented the badges or heraldic signs of each camp. For instance, one window (they were of colored glass) had a border with eagles, another had gryphons, another lions, and so on. If she met some one of another floor coming in or going out of the hotel, it represented the meeting of two rival bands. If she actually found herself in the elevator with them, it was a dangerous encounter, in which, if they got out first, she had driven them off the field, but if she got out first it was she who was in retreat. If two people of different floors were seen talking together, a truce had been declared, and so on."

Block City

The little book called A Child's Garden of Verses, by R. L. Stevenson, has several poems which describe how a lonely little boy used to play. Thus (in "Block City"):—

Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet a sea, There I'll establish a city for me, A kirk and a mill, and a palace beside, And a harbor as well where my vessels may ride.

Story-Books

And (in "The Land of Story-Books"):—

Now, with my little gun, I crawl All in the dark along the wall, And follow round the forest track Away behind the sofa back.

There, in the night, where none can spy, All in my hunter's camp I lie, And play at books that I have read Till it is time to go to bed.

The Bed Boat

That is ordinary play. There is also a poem describing play in bed:—

My bed is like a little boat; Nurse helps me in when I embark; She girds me in my sailor's coat And starts me in the dark.

Thinking Games for Bed

When more than one sleep in the same room, the time before sleep can be very interesting. Many games which have already been described are suitable for bed, such as "Telling Stories" (p. 99), "I Love my Love" (p. 88), "Spelling" (p. 166), "The Grand Mogul" (p. 166), "Rhyming Lights" (p. 167), "The Apprentice" (p. 167), "Towns and Products" (p. 168), "Suggestions" (p. 91), and "Clumps," adapted (p. 93).

Games by Rote

On this subject B. R. L. writes:—"We made a list, which was stuck on the wall with a different game for each night. One was 'I Love my Love with an A' (see p. 88), which we steadily made up all through the alphabet. Another was 'Initials,' in which you take turns in saying the initials of people you know, while the other guesses the names. Another was 'Twenty Questions,' in which one thinks of something that has to be guessed as quickly as possible, only 'yes' and 'no' being given as answers. One very girlish game was like this: suppose you had a little girl with golden hair and blue eyes, and she was going on a visit to London, what sort of frocks would you buy her?"

The Imaginary Family

E. H. recommends for girls the "Imaginary Family" game. This is her description of it:—"First you have to settle the names, ages, and characters of your family, and then you can carry on their adventures every night. One little girl who was devoted to books of travel, and who loved to pore over maps and charts, used to travel with her family every night in whatever country she happened to be interested in at the time. Thus she and a favorite son, Pharaoh, traveled for a long time in California, crossing every mountain-range by the proper passes, exploring every valley, tracing each river to its source, and so on. In the same way she traveled with her family is Central and South America, the Malay Peninsula, and the South Sea Islands. Another little girl who was very fond of adventure stories carried her family through all sorts of perils by land and sea. At one time they were shipwrecked and lived like the Swiss Family Robinson. At another time they were exploring Central Africa, and traveled about with three years' supplies in a gigantic caravan with fifty elephants. Yet another little girl had for her family any characters out of books that particularly fascinated her. Thus, when she was reading The Heroes, her family was reduced to one daughter, Medea, a rather terrible daughter, who needed a great deal of propitiating, and for whose sake all other children had to be given up. Later on, when the same child was reading Tales of a Grandfather, her family consisted of three sons, Wallace, Bruce, and Douglas. (It is rather a good thing, by the way, to have a very heroic family, especially if you are at all inclined to be afraid in the dark, as they help to keep one's courage up.) Two little girls, who lived in a clergyman's household, had an imaginary poor family they were interested in, and they planned about them every night,—how much the father earned, what their rent was, whether the mother oughtn't to take in washing, whether the eldest girl could be spared to go into service, and so on. When they weren't allowed to talk at night they carried the family history on independently and compared notes in the morning."

Making Plans

Making plans is always interesting, but particularly so just before Christmas, when presents have to be arranged for.

For Getting to Sleep

The favorite way is to imagine that you see a flock of sheep scrambling through a gap in the hedge, and to count them. A variety of this is a desert with a long train of camels very far off, coming slowly near, and then passing and gradually disappearing in the far distance. Counting a million is also a good way.

Games for Convalescents

A good thing to do in bed when getting better from an illness is to cut out pictures for scrapbooks. Any kind of cutting out can be done, as the scissors and paper are very light and do not, therefore, tire the arms. "Patience" (see page 76) is also a good bed game, because it needs very little thought.

Bed Soldiers

In A Child's Garden of Verses there is a poem called "The Land of Counterpane," which tells what a little boy did when he was ill, lying among the pillows with his toys:

And sometimes for an hour or so I watched my leaden soldiers go, With different uniforms and drills, Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets All up and down among the sheets, Or brought my trees and houses out And planted cities all about.

China Animals

Dolls are, of course, perfectly at home in bed when you are ill, but there is even more interest in a menagerie. On this subject it would be difficult to do better than quote from a letter from E. M. R., who has 590 china animals, mostly in families and all named. She began this magnificent collection with a family of monkeys.

The mother was called Sally, her eldest son Mungo, the next Pin-ceri, another, eating a nut, Jock, and the youngest, a sweet little girl monkey, Ness. I was soon given a family of three foxes, Reynard, Brushtail, and Whitepad, and from that time to the present my collection has been growing. I soon had enough to fill a shelf in a cabinet, and I turned my doll's-house into a boarding-school for the little animals with a big pig as headmaster. But when my collection rose to 400 animals, I had too many children to be all boarders at the school, so some had to be day-scholars, and the headmaster was changed to a green frog who swam beautifully, and who was assisted by two swans, a duck, a fish, two crocodiles, and a seal, who all swam. Another frog taught the children swimming by tying a piece of string round their bodies, and dangling them in the water from the edge of a basin.

The animals' abode was now changed, and they were put into a large cabinet containing six small shelves and one big one.

I called the big shelf a town, and the rest villages. The town was called Weybridge: the village where the birds lived, Airsbury; and that where the dogs were, Canistown. The rest had various other names. At this time an important addition was made to the collection, for a big lion was given me, which I immediately created king; then came a queen and four princesses, and shortly after a crown prince, another prince, and three more little princesses.

The royal family was allowed a village all to itself, which was called Kingston, and was given five servants, two nurses, a footman, a housemaid, and a cook.

As I had now two families of several of the kinds of animals, I determined that they should be married, so, nominating Sally's husband rector, I had several weddings. I built a church with some bricks I had, and formed a procession up the aisle, to the Wedding March, played on an American organ.

First came the bride and bridegroom, then the best man and the bridesmaids, and last the children of the animals who were to be married, two and two. When the ceremony was over, I marched them all back to their places on the shelf.

I now made eight laws, and copied them out in an exercise-book, together with the names of all the animals, the number of men, women, boys, and girls, and the number of married and single families.

I had had several little separate china animals given me, belonging to none of my families, so I made a law that if any family of their kind came to the collection they must adopt these little orphans.

I also made two acting companies, one of big animals, and one for the children, with a boar-hound called Sir Philip of Ravenswood for the manager of the first, and a little black and white kid, named Tim, for manager of the second, and at the Christmas of the same year that I formed the two companies I had two plays, the children acting "Hansel and Gretel," and the big animals "The Yeomen of the Guard."

Being now unable to get any fresh families of small animals, I started a collection of big china animals, and soon had thirty-five, among whom were a Jersey bull and cow, another brown bull and a brown and white cow, two beautiful horses, several dogs, two donkeys, and two goats.

These I kept apart from the small animals, in another cupboard; but I still kept the lion king over them as well, and gave them two big animals, a bloodhound and a St. Bernard, as governors over them.

Among the small animals I had a very learned-looking pig called Orsino, whom I made doctor, while an old bulldog, Dimboona, to whom I had been obliged to give two wooden legs, was Prime Minister. I also had a treasurer, a rent collector, a steward, and an under-steward. I also made a young boar-hound, called Panther, the son of Sir Philip, keeper of the stables, which consisted of ninety-two horses which I had made.

And this brings the narrative of the growth of my china animal collection up to the present time, when I have 555 small animals and 35 big ones, 590 in all.



AT THE SEASIDE

Low Tide

The first thing to do on reaching the seaside is to find out when it is low tide. In each twelve hours low tide comes twenty minutes later, and knowing this you can arrange your days accordingly. Nothing is so saddening as to run down the beach in the belief that the tide is going out and to find that it is coming in.

Paddling

To boys who wear knickerbockers the preparations for paddling are very simple; but girls are not so fortunate. Lewis Carroll (who wrote Alice in Wonderland) took their difficulties so seriously that whenever he went to the seaside to stay he used to have with him a packet of safety-pins for the use of any children that seemed to be in need of them. This piece of thoughtfulness on his part might determine you to carry them for yourselves.

A Cork Ship

Sailing a good boat in the sea is not the best fun, but there is a kind of boat which is very easily made as you sit on the beach, and which is useful to play with when wading, and afterward to throw stones at. You take a piece of cork for the hull. Cut a line down the middle underneath and wedge a strip of slate in for a keel to keep her steady. Fix a piece of driftwood for a mast, and thread a piece of paper on that for a sail.

Wet Clothes

When wading it is just as well not to get your clothes wet if you can help it. Clothes that are made wet with seawater, which probably has a little sand in it, are as uncomfortable as crumbs in bed. There is no reason why you should get them wet if you wade wisely. Sitting among the rocks, running through the water, and jumping the little crisping waves are the best ways to get soaked.

Rocks

Seaside places where there are rocks and a great stretch of sand are the best. Rocks make paddling twice as exciting, because of the interesting things in the little pools—the anemones, and seaweeds, and shells, and crabs, and shrimps, and perhaps little fish. Sometimes these pools are quite hot. To enjoy the rocks properly you want a net.

Sand Castles, and Other Sand Games

To make full use of the sands a spade is necessary and a pail important. The favorite thing to make is a castle and a moat, and although the water rarely is willing to stay in the moat it is well to pour some in. The castle may also have a wall round it and all kinds of other buildings within the wall. Abbeys are also made, and great houses with carefully arranged gardens, and villages, and churches. Railways with towns and stations here and there along the line are easily made, and there is the fun of being the train when the line is finished. The train is a good thing to be, because the same person is usually engineer and conductor as well. Collisions are interesting now and then. The disadvantage of a railway on crowded sands is that passers-by injure the line and sometimes destroy, by a movement of the foot, a whole terminus; it is therefore better at small watering-places that few people have yet discovered. If an active game is wanted as well as mere digging and building, a sand fort is the best thing to make, because then it has to be held and besieged, and perhaps captured. In all sand operations stones are useful to mark boundaries.

Burying one another in the sand is good at the time, but gritty afterward.

Seaweed

Seaweed and shells make good collections, but there is no use in carrying live fish home in pails. The fun is in catching the fish, not is keeping it; and some landladies dislike having the bath-room used as an aquarium. On wet days seaweed can be stuck on cards or in a book. The best way to get it to spread out and not crease on a card, is to float the little pieces in a basin and slip the card underneath them in the water. When the seaweed has settled on it, take the card out and leave it to dry. The seaweed will then be found to be stuck, except perhaps in places here and there, which can be made sure by inserting a little touch of gum. It is the smaller, colored kinds of seaweed that one treats in this way; and it is well to leave them for a day in the sun before washing and preparing, as this brings out their color. The ordinary large kind of seaweed is useful as a barometer. A piece hung by the door will tell when rain is coming by growing moist and soft.

Shell Work

A good use for little shells is to cover small boxes with them. The shells are arranged in a simple pattern and fastened on with glue. If the shells are not empty and clean, boil them, and scrub them with an old tooth-brush.

Good Seaside Friends

So many interesting things are to be seen at the seaside that there is no need to be always at play. Fishermen will come in with their boats, which need pulling up; or a net that has been dropped near the shore will be drawn in from the beach, and you can perhaps help. If the town is not merely a watering-place but also a seaport, it is, of course, better, because then there will be the life of the harbor to watch. To be friends with a lighthouse man is almost as good a thing as can happen; and if there is both a lighthouse and a shipbuilder's you could hardly be more fortunate.



IN THE COUNTRY

This chapter has been written more for readers who live in a town and visit the country only during the holidays than for those whose home is always there. Regular country dwellers do not need to be told many of the things that follow; but none the less there may be a few to find them useful. The principal special attractions of the country are—

In the spring Birds' nests. " June Bee-swarming and hay-making. " July Sheep-washing and shearing. " August Early windfalls and harvest. " September Blackberries, nuts, hops, mushrooms, and squirrels.

Making Friends

The most important thing to do when staying at a farmhouse is to make friends with the principal people. The principal people are those in charge of the chickens and ducks, the cows and the horses. The way to make friends is to be as little trouble as possible.

Exploration

On reaching the farm, it is well to make a journey of discovery, in order to learn where everything is. The more one knows about the things in store—the size of the barn, the height of the haystacks, the number of horses, the name of the watch-dog, the position and character of the pond, and so forth—the simpler will it be, on going to bed, to make plans for the visit.

Finding Hens' Eggs

The farmer's wife usually has charge of the chickens and ducks, but very often it is her daughter or a servant. No matter who it is, as soon as she is convinced that you will be careful and thorough she will let you hunt for eggs. This is very exciting, because hens have a way of laying in nests in the wood and all kinds of odd places, hoping that no one will find them and they will thus be able to sit and hatch out their chickens. The hay in the stable is a favorite spot, and under the wood-pile, and among the long grass. Sometimes one overlooks a nest for nearly a week and then finds three or four eggs in it, one of them quite warm. This is a great discovery. Just at first it is easy to be taken in by the china nest-eggs, and to run indoors in triumph with one in your hand. But the farmer's wife will laugh and send you back with it, and the mistake is not likely to be made again. After a while one gets to know the hens personally, and to know the noise which means that they have just laid. Sometimes, if a hen is going to lay just as you come to her nest, she will run off clucking and screaming and lay the egg on the ground.

Ducks' Eggs

Ducks' eggs, which are rather larger than hens' eggs, and pale green in color, are often more difficult to find. They have to be hunted for in the grass by the pond.

Feeding the Chickens

The farmer's wife also lets her visitors feed the chickens if they are gentle with them and thoughtful. It needs quite a little thought, because if you throw down the grain without thinking, many of the weaker and less greedy ones will get nothing, and many of the stronger and greedier ones will get too much. After a few handfuls you can see which are the weaklings, and after that you can favor them accordingly. A greedy hen is so very greedy that she will always, whatever you do, get more than her share; but it is possible to snub her a little. The very little chickens and ducklings do not have grain, but soft food, which is put in a saucer and placed inside the coop. It is after they have finished eating that they can most easily be picked up, but one must be very careful not to squeeze them.

The Dairy

If the farmer's wife makes her own butter there will be an opportunity to help her. Perhaps she will let you use the skimmer. Turning the churn is not much fun except just when the butter forms.

Bee-Swarming

Bees swarm on hot days in the early summer, usually in a tree, but sometimes in a room, if the window is open, and often in a bush, quite close to the ground. When they swarm in a tree you would think a black snow-storm was raging all around it. Every moment the cluster of bees grows larger and larger, until, after half an hour or so, it is quiet. Then the swarm has to be taken. This is the most interesting part, but you must be careful not to be too near in case an accident occurs and the bees become enraged and sting you.

If the farmer has the new wooden hives with a glass covering he will very likely let you peep in and see the bees at work. Before doing this you certainly ought to read something about their exceedingly wonderful ways. One of the best books is Sir John Lubbock's (Lord Avebury's) Ants, Bees, and Wasps, but most encyclopaedias contain very interesting articles on the subject.

The Cows

The man who looks after the cows is a very valuable friend. He may even let you try to milk, which only specially gifted children ever succeed in doing at all well; and he will teach you the cows' names (in some farms these are painted up over each stall—Primrose, Lightfoot, Sweetlips, Clover, and so on); and perhaps he will give you the task of fetching them from the meadow at milking time.

Sheep

In a general way sheep are not very interesting, especially in low-lying farms. But though sheep, as a rule, are dull, there are two occasions when they are not—at sheep-washing and sheep-shearing. The washers stand up to their knees, or even their waists, in the brook, in oilskin clothes, and seizing the struggling sheep one by one by the wool, plunge them into the water. Shearing is a finer art; but the sheep is hardly less uncomfortable. He has to be thrown into various positions (on his back for one, and with his head between the shearer's knees for another), while the shears clip-clop all over him. The wool is not taken off in scraps, as our hair is at the barber's, but the whole fleece is removed in one huge piece.

The Blacksmith

It may be that while you are at the farm the day will come for having the horses shod, and you may go with them to the blacksmith. The blacksmith is of course a very important person to be friends with; and people are very fortunate if their lodgings in the country are close to a smithy. Some blacksmiths permit their friends to stand right inside the smithy, instead of just at the door, where strangers have to stay. Perhaps the blacksmith will ask you to blow his bellows while he is making a horseshoe, and it may happen that if he has not much work on hand he will make you a hoop that will be far cheaper and stronger than a bought one (see p. 169). In hot weather the flies are so troublesome to horses which are being shod, and make them so restless, that some one has to stand beside them and brush the flies away with a green branch. This job might fall to you.

Birds'-Nesting

One of the advantages of being in the country in spring is that that is the time when birds build. In May the weather is not yet sufficiently warm to make sitting about out-of-doors very comfortable, but birds'-nesting can make up for that. It is of no use to say in this book, "Don't take the eggs," because it is possible only for one person here and there to be satisfied with merely finding a nest and then passing on to find another. But it is a pity for any one who is not a serious collector to take more than one egg. For your purposes one is enough, and the loss of a single egg rarely causes a bird to desert her nest. Of course if you know for certain that the nest is deserted, it is right to take all. You can find out by visiting it two or three times, and if the eggs remain cold or wet and there is no sign of the bird you may safely feel that she has abandoned them. Birds have so many natural enemies to fear that it is hard that we should harm them too.

Blowing Eggs

For blowing eggs a brass or glass blow-pipe is the proper thing, using only one hole, which is made at the side with a little drill. But for your purpose a hole at each end made with a pin is simpler and equally good. In blowing you must be careful not to hold the egg so tightly in the fingers that its sides crush in. Before making the holes it is well to put the egg in a basin of water. If it sinks it is fresh and can be blown easily; but if it floats it is set—that is to say, the young bird has begun to form—and blowing will be difficult. In such cases it is wise, if you are using a blow-pipe, to make a largish hole and put a little water in and leave the egg to lie for a day or so; then blowing it will be not much trouble. But if you have no blow-pipe the best thing to do is to make one good-sized hole in the less interesting side of the egg, and empty it with a bent pin. Then, when it is empty, you can put it in the egg box with the broken side underneath. Country boys often thread birds' eggs on a string which hangs from the ceiling, but the ordinary way is to put them in cotton-wool in a box with cardboard compartments. Making this box is a good country occupation for wet weather.

Butterflies

Butterfly-hunting begins when birds'-nesting is done and the weather is hot. Here again it is not the purpose of this book to go into particulars: the subject is too large. It is enough to say that the needful things are a large net of soft green gauze, a killing-bottle with a glass stopper, a cork-lined box with a supply of pins in which to carry the butterflies after they are dead, and setting boards for use at home. The good collector is very careful in transferring the butterfly from the net to the bottle, lest its wings are rubbed or broken; and before taking it out of the bottle and putting it in the box you should be quite certain that it is dead. The way to get the butterfly into the bottle is to drive it into a corner of the net and hold it there, and then slip the bottle inside, remove the stopper, and shake the butterfly into it. The stopper should be off as short a time as possible. For handbooks for a butterfly collector see the "Reading" section.

Collecting Flowers

A quieter pastime, but a very interesting one, and also one that, unlike egg-collecting and butterfly-collecting, goes on all the year round, is collecting flowers. For this purpose tin cases are made, with straps to hold them from the shoulders, in which to keep the plants cool and fresh; but there is no need to wait for the possession of one of these. An ordinary box or basket will, if you have not very far to walk, serve equally well. You will also need a press, which can be simply a couple of boards about a foot long and six inches wide, with a good supply of blotting-paper between. The flowers are pressed by spreading them very carefully, to show their beauty to best advantage, between the blotting-paper, and then piling a few books on the boards. The weight need not be very heavy and the blotting-paper should frequently be renewed. You will soon learn how long the pressing need continue, but it is of the highest importance that the flowers are thoroughly dried before you mount them in your album or on separate sheets of paper. The simplest form of mounting is to glue little strips of paper here and there across the stems. A botanical collection is more valuable if the roots of the plants are also included; and this will make it necessary for you to have a long trowel. For the collector of flowers a handbook is compulsory. Such a book as Alice Lounsberry's The Wild Flower Book for Young People gives many details of the growth and nature of plants, told with a story that makes the book unusually interesting, and will arouse your enthusiasm to gather wild flowers and see how large a collection of them you can make.

It is interesting, if you have any skill in painting, to make water-color copies of all the flowers that you find; another good occupation for wet days in the country.

Nuts and Blackberries

In nutting you want a hooked stick with which to pull down the branches. For blackberries a hooked stick is not so important, but it is well to have leather gloves. The blackberries ought to be dry when they are picked. Rain takes their flavor away; so you should wait until the sun comes again and restores it. One thing that you quickly notice is that all blackberries are not after the same pattern. There are different kinds, just as there are different kinds of strawberry and raspberry. Some are hard and very closely built; some are loosely built, with large cells which squash between the fingers; some come between these two varieties; and there are still others. For eating on the spot the softer ones are the best, but for cooking and for jam the harder ones are equally good.

In picking blackberries you soon find that it is better to have the sun at your back, because if it shines through the bush into your eyes you cannot distinguish clearly between the shades of blackness. An open basket full of blackberries is a radiant sight. Each of the little cells has a point of light, and thousands of these together are as gay as jewels.

No one need starve on the open road in September, for there is food on every hedge—two good courses. Nuts are there as the standby, the backbone of the meal, and after come blackberries, as pudding or dessert. To pick the two for an hour, and then, resting beneath a tree, to eat until all are gone—that is no bad way to have lunch. If you take advice in this matter, you will not crack the nuts with your teeth but between stones.

Ponds and Sailing Boats

Near the farm is certain to be either a pond or a stream. If it is a clean and high pond, not in a hollow surrounded by trees, it will be good to sail boats on. Sailing boats on inland water is much better than on the sea, because, with a pond, directly the boat is fairly started on its voyage you can run round the other side and meet it. Even with a very poor pond it is still possible to have a very good time. In buying or making a boat, be sure that the lead along the keel is heavy enough. So little do toy-shop people think of these things that they very often put no lead at all on their boats, and more often than not put too little. Once a boat is properly weighted in this way you are certain to have fun in sailing her, but otherwise it will be useless to try. In boat-sailing it is well to have a long stick with a hook at the end with which to draw the ship to land. For suggestions as to making a useful and simple sailing-boat see p. 295.

Little Boats on a Stream

Sailing boats in a stream is little good, because there is no steadiness of wind, but ordinary boats will float along in the current splendidly. It is interesting to launch one and follow its adventures from the bank. Sometimes it will be caught in a weed; sometimes an eddy will sweep it into a back water; sometimes, in shooting the rapids, it will be overturned. But a long stick can always put things right. Or one of you will go down the stream to a given point and the other will send down messengers—pieces of wood, walnut boats (see p. 298), paper boats (see p. 285), or whatever it may be.

A Stream's Fascination

But there is no absolute need for you to have boats in order to enjoy a stream. There are so many other things to do, not the least interesting being to make a dam and stop or divert the course of the water. And when tired of playing it is very good to sit quite still on the bank and watch things happening: perhaps a water-rat will swim along suspecting nothing, and then, seeing you make a movement, will dive and disappear, and suddenly come into view ever so far away on the other bank. Perhaps a kingfisher will flash by or settle on a branch overhanging the water. Kingfishers grow more rare every year, owing to the merciless and unthinking zeal with which they are shot; and maybe before long there will be no more to be seen anywhere.

Solitary Watchfulness

Indeed, to keep absolutely quiet and watch things happening is for many people one of the most delightful occupations which the country holds. When there is no one else to play with it is as good a way of spending the time as can be found.

Mice and Moles

In a wood or in any place where there are old leaves, as in a dry ditch, you will usually get through the ear the first tidings of any moving thing. For instance, you will hear a field-mouse rustling long before you can see its queer pointed nose pushing its way through the dead leaves. Or it may be a mole blundering blindly along. If by any chance a mole is caught in a trap while you are in the country, be sure to examine its little hands and feel the softness of its fur. Perhaps the farm boy will skin it for you.

Snakes

Sometimes the rustling is a snake on his way to a sunny spot where he can bask and sleep. Very slender brown speckled snakes, or blind-worms, are quite harmless, and so are the large grass-snakes, which are something like a mackerel in lines and markings. The adder, however, which is yellowish brown in color with brown markings and a "V" on his head, is dangerous and should be avoided.

Ants

On p. 205 is given the title of a book about bees. Hardly less wonderful are ants, concerning whom there is much curious information in the same work, the reading of which makes it ten times more interesting to watch an ant-hill than it was before. One sometimes has to remember that it is as serious for ants to have their camp stirred up by a walking-stick as it would be for New York if Vesuvius were tossed on top of it.

Swallows and Hawks

In the flight of birds there is nothing to compare for beauty and speed with the swift, or for power and cleverness with the hawk. On moist evenings, when the swifts fly low and level, backward and forward, with a quaint little musical squeak, like a mouse's, they remind one of fish that dart through the water of clear streams under bridges. The hawk, even in a high wind, can remain, by tilting his body at the needed angle, perfectly still in the air, while his steady wide eyes search the ground far below him for mice or little birds. Then, when he sees something, his body suddenly seems to be made of lead and he drops like a stone on his prey. A hawk can climb the sky by leaning with outspread wings against the breeze and cork-screwing up in a beautiful spiral.

Squirrels

The time to see squirrels is September and October, when the beech nuts and hazel nuts are ripe. In the pictures he sits up, with his tail resting on his back, holding nuts in his little forepaws; but one does not often see him like this in real life. He is either scampering over the ground with his tail spread out behind him or chattering among the branches and scrambling from one to another. The squirrel is not seen at his best when he goes nutting. His beautiful swift movements are checked by the thickness of the hazels. In a beech grove he has more liberty to run and leap. Sometimes you will see twenty at once all nibbling the beech nuts on the ground. On hearing you they make for a tree trunk, and, rushing up it for a yard or two, stop suddenly, absolutely still, with fearful eyes, and ears intently and intensely cocked. If you stand equally still the squirrel will stay there, motionless, like a piece of the tree, for a minute or so, and then, in a very bad temper, disappear from view on the other side of the trunk, and probably, though you run round the tree quickly several times and search every branch with your eyes, never come into sight again. It is a good thing to sit under a tree some distance from the beech trees, making as little movement as possible; and by and by you will cease to be considered as anything but a regular part of the landscape and the squirrels may come quite close to you.

A Country Diary

If you are fond of writing you might find a good deal of interest in keeping a country diary: that is to say, a small note-book in which you set down evening by evening all things seen during the day that seemed to be sufficiently out of the way to be worth recording.

A Camera in the Country

Nothing is said in this book about amateur photography, because to own a camera is still the exception rather than the rule, and if once we began to say anything practical about photography we should have to say very much more than the scheme of the volume permits. But we might urge any reader who has a camera to use it in the country in taking pictures of animal life and old buildings. Old-fashioned farmhouses and cottages are disappearing so rapidly that we ought to keep as many records of them as possible, and well-chosen photographs of animals are not only beautiful pictures, but are also very useful. Mr. Kearton's work in this way, which may be studied in With Nature and a Camera, is extremely valuable.

Country Books

In the "Reading" chapter will be found the titles of several books which describe life in the country, and tell you all about the habits of animals, birds, and insects.