• '::9^^m!^:^{K^'^r 
 
 
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 m. 
 
 
 
 
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Ml^iM 
 
Home Games 
 
 BY 
 
 George Hapgood, Esq. 
 
 -.HOR OF '^Solitaire and Patience," &c. 
 
 NEWEST AND BEST WAYS 
 OF AMUSING A COMPANY 
 WITH GAMES OF CARDS, 
 PENCIL, CHARADES, GAMES 
 OF ACTION AND THOUGHT 
 
 Philadelphia 
 The Penn Publishing Company 
 
 1911 
 
.K 
 
 AV 
 
 ^ 
 
 A^'x^^ 
 
 Copyright 1911 by The Penn Publishing Company 
 
 ^ 
 
 (g.CI.A289470 
 

 Contents 
 
 
 Games for 
 
 Younger Children 
 
 
 Blind Man's BufF . 
 
 , 
 
 * . . . 
 
 24 
 
 Button, Button 
 
 , 
 
 . . . 
 
 84 
 
 Cobbler, The 
 
 , 
 
 ... 
 
 13 
 
 Duck Under Water 
 
 
 
 99 
 
 Fox, The . 
 
 
 . 
 
 166 
 
 Guess My Business 
 
 
 
 "S 
 
 How Oats and Beans 
 
 and 
 
 Barley Grow . 
 
 95 
 
 Hunter, The 
 
 , 
 
 • . * . 
 
 III 
 
 Jack Frost . 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 153 
 
 Lemon Pig, The . 
 
 . 
 
 
 181 
 
 London Bridge 
 
 . 
 
 • • 
 
 94 
 
 Look and Listen . 
 
 , 
 
 .... 
 
 87 
 
 Magic Bridge, The 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 165 
 
 Nuts in May 
 
 
 . 
 
 29 
 
 Picking Flowers . 
 
 
 . 
 
 163 
 
 Puss in the Corner 
 
 . 
 
 .... 
 
 23 
 
 Shakers, The 
 
 , 
 
 
 155 
 
 "Tit-tat-to," or Three in 
 
 a Row . 
 
 179 
 
 Trapper, The 
 
 
 . 
 
 12 
 
 Blindfolding Games 
 
 
 Bell Sheep, The . 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 . 26 
 
 Blindman's Bell . 
 
 
 
 
 . 138 
 
 Blind Man's Buff 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 Blind Man's Wand 
 
 
 
 
 32 
 
 Blowing Out the Car 
 
 die 
 
 
 
 . 26 
 
 Boston 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 31 
 
 Game of the Blind Postman, The 
 
 
 . 114 
 
 Old Blind Jack . 
 
 • 
 
 3 
 
 
 136 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Snapping Turtle, The 
 Tailing the Donkey 
 
 Actio7i Games 
 
 Blind Man's BufF 
 Cat and Mouse . 
 Caterpillar, The . 
 Chase the Whistle 
 Cobbler, The 
 Fox, The . 
 Going A- Fishing . 
 Hop-Over . 
 Hunt the Thimble 
 Industry 
 Jack Frost . 
 Magic Bridge, The 
 Mournful Numbers 
 Mulberry Bush, The 
 Oranges and Lemons 
 Pantomimes 
 Potato Race, The 
 Putting Out the Fire 
 Snapping Turtle, The 
 Tailing the Donkey 
 Tissue- Paper Race, The 
 Twirling the Platter 
 
 Picnic Games 
 
 Drop the Handkerchief 
 Flower Game for May Party 
 Hide and Seek 
 Nuts in May 
 Potato Race, The 
 Putting Out the Fire 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 Catch Games 
 
 Chitterbob ........ 40 
 
 Eccentric Cook, The . 
 
 
 
 
 . 78 
 
 Flower Merchant, The 
 
 
 
 
 . 127 
 
 Going to Jerusalem 
 
 
 
 
 • 41 
 
 Horned Ambassador, The 
 
 
 
 
 - 130 
 
 Malaga Raisins 
 
 
 
 
 . 124 
 
 Mouse in Master's Barn, The 
 
 
 
 
 . 124 
 
 Old Soldier, The 
 
 
 
 
 • "7 
 
 Priest of the Parish, The 
 
 
 
 
 • 35 
 
 Trades .... 
 
 
 
 
 . . 38 
 
 Gttessing Games 
 
 Acting Initials 67 
 
 Adjectives . 
 
 
 
 
 
 • 31 
 
 Chorus, The 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 65 
 
 CofFee-Pot, The . 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 66 
 
 Description 
 
 
 
 
 
 • 73 
 
 Draw Your Partner 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 88 
 
 Eye-Reading 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 68 
 
 Five Scents, The 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 73 
 
 Magic Music 
 
 
 
 
 
 33 
 
 Portrait Gallery, The . 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 148 
 
 Games Requiring Cards 
 
 Commerce . . . . . . . .1.^5 
 
 Happy Families . 
 
 
 
 
 172 
 
 Hinkum-Pinkum Featherduster 
 
 
 
 
 '74 
 
 Illustrated Proverbs 
 
 
 
 
 lOI 
 
 Match and Catch 
 
 
 
 
 106 
 
 Mixed Pickles . . . , 
 
 
 
 
 102 
 
 Old Maid's Birthday, The . 
 
 
 
 
 55 
 
 Old Maid or Old Bachelor . 
 
 
 
 
 54 
 
 Pig . ... 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 S3 
 
6 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Pumblechook 
 Ranter-Go-Round 
 Snap .... 
 Sovereigns of England, The 
 
 Games Reqn 
 Buried Names 
 Character 
 Chopped Poetry . 
 Cipher Telegram, The 
 Composite Stories 
 Definitions . 
 Description 
 Draw Your Partner 
 Dressmaker's Game, Th^ 
 Five Dots . 
 Flower Game, The 
 '' G '' Game, The 
 Game of Guessage, The 
 Game of Lists, The 
 Game of Numbers, The 
 Game of the Blind Postman, The 
 Heads, Bodies, and Tails 
 Letters and Telegrams . 
 Number Guessing — Trick 2 
 Pickled Portraits . 
 Progressive Conversation 
 Progressive Novelty Parrv, Th 
 Rhyming Answers 
 Riddles 
 
 Shut- Eye Pictures 
 Spelling Games 
 Suggestion . 
 ** Tit-tat-to,'* or Three in a Row 
 
 'dug Pencil and Paper 
 
 109 
 
 169 
 
 SI 
 
 107 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Transformation ..... 
 Twisted Trees ..... 
 
 Sexes of Equal Number 
 Draw Your Partner 
 Flower Game for May Party 
 Game of One Syllable, The , 
 Progressive Conversation 
 Thimbles and Neckties 
 
 Observation Games 
 Blind Man's Wand 
 Cat . 
 
 Chorus, The 
 Eye-Reading 
 Five Scents, The 
 Observation 
 
 Pig . . 
 
 Shadow Bluif 
 
 Sing to Your Neighbor 
 
 Snap 
 
 Up Jenkins 
 
 Requiring Strength and Skill 
 Cock Fighting ...... 
 
 London Bridge ...... 
 
 Tricks 
 Barnyard Chorus, The . 
 Button Contest, The . 
 Game of '* It," The . 
 He Can Do Little Who Can't Do .This 
 Lump of Sugar and the Magic Hats 
 Number Guessing — Trick i . 
 Number Guessing — Trick 2 
 Thought- Reading Tricks 
 
 133 
 
 140 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Involving Thought and Memory 
 
 Broken Quotations 
 
 Buried Names 
 
 Charades 
 
 Chopped Poetry . 
 
 CofFee-Pot 
 
 Composite Stories 
 
 Evasion 
 
 " G " Game, The 
 
 Game of Numbers, The 
 
 Garden Conversation 
 
 Happy Families . 
 
 Illustrated Proverbs 
 
 Loquacity . 
 
 Mournful Numbers 
 
 Nonsense . 
 
 Number Guessing — Trick i 
 
 Old Maid's Birthday, The 
 
 Pantomimes 
 
 Rhyming Answ^ers 
 
 Riddles 
 
 Sovereigns of England, The 
 
 Spelling Games . 
 
 Thoughts . 
 
 Transformation . 
 
 Acting Initials 
 Anti-Slang Party, An 
 Charades . 
 Chopped Poetry . 
 CofFee-Pot . 
 Definitions . 
 Game of Guessing, The 
 
 Instructive Games 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 How Old Are You ? 140 
 
 Illustrated Proverbs 
 
 
 
 
 lOI 
 
 Mind Your G's and T's 
 
 
 
 
 62 
 
 Modeling .... 
 
 
 
 
 152 
 
 Number Guessing — Trick I . 
 
 
 
 
 71 
 
 Number Guessing — Trick 2 . 
 
 
 
 
 72 
 
 Tipsy Letters 
 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 Suggestion .... 
 
 
 
 
 63 
 
 Prise Games 
 
 Blowing Bubbles . . . . . .91 
 
 Broken Quotations 
 
 
 
 
 167 
 
 Chopped Poetry . 
 
 
 
 
 116 
 
 Draw Your Partner 
 
 
 
 
 . 88 
 
 Flower Questions 
 
 
 
 
 . 144 
 
 Harpooning Peanuts 
 
 
 
 
 158 
 
 Laughing Philosopher, The . 
 
 
 
 
 . 129 
 
 Loquacity . . 
 
 
 
 
 . 142 
 
 Modeling .... 
 
 
 
 
 . 152 
 
 Old Blind Jack . 
 
 
 
 
 . 136 
 
 Portrait Gallery, The . 
 
 
 
 
 . 148 
 
 Progressive Novelty Party, The 
 
 
 
 
 . 151 
 
 Thimbles and Neckties 
 
 
 
 
 . 150 
 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 Across the Way . . . . . . .33 
 
 At Cross Purposes 
 
 
 
 . 128 
 
 Bell and Hammer 
 
 
 
 . 103 
 
 Blowing Bubbles .... 
 
 
 
 . 91 
 
 Change Seats, the King Has Come 
 
 
 
 98 
 
 Clapping and Hissing . 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 Evasion ..... 
 
 
 
 . 126 
 
 Feather Up .... 
 
 
 
 . 36 
 
 Ferocious '^ What-You-May-Call," The 
 
 
 . 179 
 
 Five Dots .... 
 
 
 
 
 . 44 
 
10 CONTENTS 
 
 
 
 Fly Away ........ 37 
 
 Following the Fashion . 
 
 
 
 . 83 
 
 Gossip ..... 
 
 
 
 • 34 
 
 Holding the Handkerchief . 
 
 
 
 112 
 
 Hant the Letter .... 
 
 
 
 • 139 
 
 Hunt the Slipper 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 Mismated Music 
 
 
 
 . 78 
 
 Ranter-Go-Round 
 
 
 
 169 
 
 Stage Coach, The 
 
 
 
 . 120 
 
 Table Football . 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 Topsy-Turvy Concert, The . 
 
 
 
 . 74 
 
 Wild Beast Shows The 
 
 
 
 . 123 
 
 Games Involving Forfeits 
 
 Anti-Slang Party, An . . . . . .159 
 
 "BuiFSays BafF" 
 
 
 
 . 81 
 
 Cat and Mouse . 
 
 
 
 97 
 
 Duck Under Water 
 
 
 
 99 
 
 Eccentric Cook, The 
 
 
 
 . 78 
 
 Evasion 
 
 
 
 . 126 
 
 Flour Merchant, The 
 
 
 
 . 127 
 
 Forfeits, and How to Dispose of Them 
 
 
 . 183-199 
 
 Game of the Blind Postman, The . 
 
 
 . 114 
 
 Game of One Syllable, The . 
 
 
 121 
 
 Game of Silence, The . 
 
 
 . 161 
 
 Gardener, The .... 
 
 
 . 100 
 
 Grand Mufti, The 
 
 
 39 
 
 Harpooning Peanuts 
 
 
 . . 158 
 
 He Can Do Little Who Can't Do This 
 
 
 79 
 
 Horned Ambassador, The 
 
 
 . 130 
 
 Hunter, The .... 
 
 
 . II I 
 
 Malaga Raisins .... 
 
 
 . 124 
 
 Mouse in Master's Barn, The 
 
 
 . 124 
 
 Sportsman, The .... 
 
 
 . 132 
 
 Thimbles and Neckties 
 
 . 
 
 • 
 
 
 . 150 
 
Home Games 
 
 LETTERS AND TELEGEAMS 
 
 The point of this game is that no writer knows 
 what has already been written by the preceding 
 players, so that the correspondence is likely to 
 be amusingly disconnected. It begins with the 
 letter. The first thing to write is the address and 
 
 "My dear ," choosing whomever you like, 
 
 but usually either a public person or some one 
 known, if possible, to every one present. The 
 paper is then folded over and passed on. The 
 next thing to write is the letter itself, which 
 should be limited to two minutes or some short 
 period, and should be the kind of letter that re- 
 quires a reply. The paper is folded and passed 
 on again, and the subscription, " Believe me yours 
 sincerely," or whatever adverb you choose, and 
 the signature are then added. The signature 
 should be that of another public person, or friend, 
 relation or acquaintance of the family. The paper 
 
 11 
 
12 HOME GAMES 
 
 is then folded again and passed on for a reply. 
 The reply is in the form of a ten word telegram. 
 It need have neither address nor signature. The 
 result may be something like this : 
 
 First player wrote : My dear Caruso. 
 
 Second player wrote : How can one tell the 
 difference between blue and green in a dark room ? 
 
 Third player wrote : As ever, your abject 
 servant. 
 
 Fourth player wrote : Fagan. 
 
 To which the telegram replies : 
 
 Don't lose hope. You're probably right. Try 
 again. 
 
 THE TEAPPEE 
 
 This game is exceedingly simple, but gives 
 much amusement to young children. Each per- 
 son is given the name of an animal, and a circle is 
 formed with a person in the middle, who is " it " ; 
 he calls the name of an animal three times, and 
 if the player having that name does not respond 
 by saying the name once, he or she becomes "it." 
 
 The amusement grows out of the varying 
 length, and diflficulty of pronouncing such names 
 as cat, hippopotamus, dog, elephant, and so forth. 
 
HOME GAMES 13 
 
 THE COBBLEE 
 
 An amusing game for small children. The 
 cobbler sits on a hassock in the middle of a ring 
 of players who join hands and dance around him. 
 On no account must they let go of hands. The 
 cobbler announces, " Now is the time to try on 
 your shoes," and immediately — but without leav- 
 ing his seat — makes a dash for somebody's feet. 
 The players in the ring endeavor by dancing back 
 and forth and from side to side and by circling 
 quickly around, to avoid being caaght. The first 
 one caught becomes the cobbler. 
 
 SING TO YOUE NEIGHBOE 
 
 The players divide as in " Clapping and hiss- 
 ing," but the players who occupy the chairs are 
 blindfolded. When all are ready the remaining 
 players quietly seat themselves in the vacant 
 chairs and, at an agreed signal, begin to sing. 
 They may sing in chorus, or each his own song, 
 with or without piano accompaniment. By try- 
 ing the several methods successively the players 
 can select that which seems best adapted to their 
 
14 
 
 HOME GAMES 
 
 own use. The object of the blind players is to 
 find out, entirely by the use of the ear, who it is 
 that is seated on their right. Those that guess 
 correctly are unbandaged, and their places are 
 taken by the players whose names they guessed. 
 The others continue blindfolded until they guess 
 rightly. One guess only is allowed each time. 
 
 THE CATERPILLAE 
 
 All but one of the players are seated in a circle, 
 the chairs facing inward. One chair 'is vacant. 
 The single unseated player stands within the cir- 
 cle. The standing player attempts to occupy the 
 vacant chair and the other players continually 
 interfere by moving from one chair to another so 
 that the locality of the vacant chair is always 
 shifting, now being on one side of the circle and 
 now on the other. It is a veritable " Will-o'-the- 
 Wisp." 
 
 THE SNAPPING TUETLE 
 
 An apple is hung from a string in the middle 
 of the room about the height of the blind man's 
 head. The blind man's hands are then tied, or he 
 
HOME GAMES 15 
 
 holds them strictly behind him, and he has to bite 
 the apple. 
 
 The same game can be played without blind- 
 folding, but in that case it requires two players 
 with their hands fixed behind them, each trying 
 to bite the apple. It is a favorite game for 
 Hallow-e'en, and an exceedingly interesting per- 
 formance for the spectators. 
 
 TABLE FOOTBALL 
 
 This is played by any number that the table 
 will accommodate. An egg from which the con- 
 tents have been blown is placed in the center of 
 the table, and a few inches from each end and 
 about ten inches apart two salt cellars are put to 
 act as goal-posts. A captain for each side is 
 chosen, and they in turn choose sides from the 
 company. The opposing sides then seat them- 
 selves at the table alternately, that is, so that no 
 two of the same side are sitting next each other. 
 The two captains occupy the end seats and act as 
 goal keepers at their respective goals. The object 
 is to blow the football egg between the opponent 
 goal-posts. Hands are not allowed above the 
 
16 HOME GAMES 
 
 edge of the table nor is any player except the 
 captain of either side allowed to rise from his 
 seat. 
 
 HUNT THE SLIPPER 
 
 The players sit in a circle on the floor, with their 
 knees a little gathered up. One stands in the 
 middle with a slipper, and the game is begun by 
 the handing by this one of the slipper to a player 
 in the circle, with the remark : 
 
 Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe, 
 Get it done by half-past two, 
 
 and then retiring from the circle for a few moments. 
 The player to whom it was handed at once passes 
 it on, so that when the owner of the slipper re- 
 turns and demands her property again it cannot 
 be found. With the hunt that then sets in the fun 
 begins ; the object of every player in the circle 
 being to keep the player in the middle from 
 getting hold of the slipper as it rapidly travels 
 under the knees of the players here and there in 
 the circle. Now and then, if the seeker is badly 
 mystiiied, the slipper may be tossed across the 
 
HOME GAMES 17 
 
 circle. The player in whose possession it is when 
 at last secured changes place with the one in the 
 middle. Other handy things will do quite as well 
 as a slipper, but something fairly large should be 
 chosen, or discovery may take too long ; and it 
 ought to be soft in texture, or there may be 
 bruises. 
 
 CHASE THE WHISTLE 
 
 This is partly a trick. A player who does not 
 know the game is put in the middle of the ring, 
 round which a whistle is moving in the way that 
 the slipper moves in " Hunt the Slipper." The 
 object of the player in the middle is to discover 
 the person who blew the whistle last. Meanwhile 
 some one skilfully fixes another whistle on a 
 string to the player's back, and, as opportunity 
 offers, some one in the circle blows this whistle, to 
 the bewilderment of the player in the ring. As it 
 must always be behind him when it is blown, 
 nothing but the twitching of the string is likely to 
 help him to discover the blower (and the trick) ; 
 and in a small circle where every one is moving 
 and laughing it takes some time to notice the 
 twitching at all. 
 
18 HOME GAMES 
 
 CLAPPING AND HISSING 
 
 This game is sometimes called " Clap In and 
 Clap Out," but the present title seems more ac- 
 curate. Half the players leave the room and the 
 other half arrange the chairs in a row so that each 
 person,when seated, has an empty chair on his right. 
 Each then chooses aloud the absent player whom 
 he wishes to occupy the vacant chair next his own. 
 When this has been done one of the players is 
 called into the room. He selects the chair which 
 he thinks likely to have been reserved for himself 
 and sits down. If he is right everybody claps, 
 and if wrong everybody hisses. In the latter case 
 he again goes from the room, but if he chose the 
 proper chair, he remains and takes part in the 
 game. One after another all of the outside players 
 are called in. 
 
 OEANGES AND LEMONS 
 
 This time-honored game begins by two of the 
 older or taller players — one being Oranges and 
 the other Lemons — taking places opposite each 
 other and joining their hands high, thus making 
 an arch for the rest to pass under in a long line. 
 
HOME GAMES 19 
 
 The procession then starts, each one holding the 
 one in front by the coat or dress. As the pro- 
 cession moves along, the two players forming the 
 arch repeat or chant these lines : 
 
 ^^ Oranges and lemons,^' 
 Say the bells of St. Clement^s. 
 '^ You ovye me five farthiugs,'' 
 Say the bells of St. Martin's. 
 '^ When will you pay meV^ 
 Say the bells of Old Bailey. 
 '' When I grow rich,'' 
 Say the bells of Shoreditch. 
 ^^ When will that be r' 
 Say the bells of Stepney. 
 *^I do not know,'' 
 Says the great bell of Bow. 
 Here comes a candle to light you to bed. 
 And here comes a chopper to chop off the 
 last man's head. 
 
 With these final words the arch-players lower 
 their arms and catch the head of the last of the 
 procession. In order that the arrival of the end 
 of the procession and the end of the verses shall 
 come together, the last line can be lengthened 
 like this : 
 
 And here comes a chopper to chop off the 
 last —last— last— last man's head. 
 
20 HOME GAMES 
 
 The captured player is then asked in a whisper 
 which he will be, oranges or lemons ? and if he 
 says oranges, is placed accordingly behind that 
 one of his capturers who is to have the oranges on 
 his side. The procession and the rhyme begin 
 again, and so on until all are caught and are 
 ranged on their respective sides. Then a hand- 
 kerchief is placed on the floor between the captains 
 of the oranges and the lemons, and both sides pull, 
 as in the " Tug of War," until one side is pulled 
 over the handkerchief. 
 
 TWIELING THE PLATTER 
 
 A wooden bread-platter or a plate, to serve as 
 trencher, is placed in the middle of the room. 
 The players sit round it in a large circle, each 
 choosing either a number by which to be known, 
 or the name of a town. The game is begun by 
 one player taking up the trencher, spinning it, 
 calling out a number or town belonging to 
 another, and hurrying back to his place. The one 
 called has to spring up and reach the trencher 
 before it falls, and, giving it a fresh spin, call some 
 one else. So it goes on. On paper there seems to 
 
HOME GAMES 21 
 
 be little in it, but in actual play the game is good 
 on account of the difficulty of quite realizing that 
 it is one's own borrowed name that has been 
 called. 
 
 GOING A-FISHING 
 
 This amusing game, with very slight variations, 
 is known under several names. Chairs are ar- 
 ranged in two rows, back to back. An older per- 
 son stands in front and tells a fishing story, bring- 
 ing in the name of each person playing. Each 
 person, when mentioned, must jump up and march 
 around the chairs. After a while all the guests 
 will be marching, each one holding the one in 
 front. One chair is removed while this is going 
 on, and when the story-teller calls out there is a 
 " bite," the line breaks, all run for the seats, and 
 the person left out must take his stand by the 
 story-teller until the word ''bite" is called out 
 again, when he can take his chances in the 
 scramble for a chair. If the chair can be re- 
 moved unobserved by the players, the sur- 
 prise of the, first unfortunate will be the more 
 amusing. 
 
22 
 
 homp: games 
 
 PEOGKESSIVE CONVERSATION 
 
 An equal number of young men and maidens 
 take part. The girls are seated and the men, but- 
 terfly-like, flit from flower to flower. Each per- 
 son is given a card containing a list of subjects, 
 which should be discussed in the order in which 
 they are given. Small colored pencils are at- 
 tached to the cards by ribbons of the same shade, 
 and the man and maiden holding matching colors 
 are partners for the first conversation. At the 
 touch of a bell by the hostess, the men seat them- 
 selves and each pair in the room discusses the first 
 subject mentioned on their cards. At the end of 
 fifteen or twenty minutes the bell rings again, 
 whereupon all the men rise, and, passing to the 
 left, each one seats himself at the left side of the 
 next young Avoman in the line and takes up the 
 second subject on the list for their mutual consid- 
 eration. When each couple have met and dis- 
 cussed every topic, a secret ballot is cast as to 
 which is the most interesting conversationalist — 
 the ladies voting for tne gentlemen and the gen- 
 tlemen for the ladies. The names ^.re printed or 
 the handwriting is disguised ; the papers are 
 
HOME GAMES 23 
 
 folded and thrown into a hat or basket. There 
 should be a lady's prize and one for the men. 
 
 TAILING THE DONKEY 
 
 A good-sized donkey, minus a tail, is cut from 
 brown paper or purchased at the toy store. This 
 is fixed on the wall or a screen on one side of the 
 room. The tail is cut separately, and a hat pin is 
 thrust through the end which, in a state of na- 
 ture, would be joined to the body. Each player 
 in turn is blindfolded and armed with the tail 
 and pin. He advances toward the donkey and 
 pins the tail where he thinks it belongs. The fun 
 lies in his mistakes as to locality. 
 
 PUSS IN THE COENER 
 
 This is one of those old and very simple games 
 which seem to have a perennial hold on succeed- 
 ing generations. Perhaps its popularity grows 
 out of the fact that children and adults can join 
 in it with apparently equal pleasure. All except 
 one of the players takes some nook or corner of 
 
24 HOME GAMES 
 
 the room. Puss stands in the middle. While 
 puss is looking away some one of the players 
 beckons to another to change places. This they 
 attempt by running into each other's corner so 
 quickly or slightly that puss is caught napping. 
 Puss's object is to dash into one of the corners 
 thus vacated before the runner can reach it. If 
 she succeeds, the player who has just left it or the 
 one who is just coming to it becomes puss. 
 Which of the two runners becomes puss is de- 
 termined easily according to whether or not 
 they have passed each other before puss takes 
 possession of the empty corner. 
 
 BLIND MAN'S BUFF 
 
 This is one of the best, oldest, and simplest of 
 games. One player is blindfolded, is turned 
 round two or three times to confuse his ideas as 
 to his position in the room, and is then told to 
 catch whom he can. If he catches some one, but 
 fails to identify the captive, he must go on again 
 as blind man ; but if he can tell who it is, that 
 person is blindfolded instead. The excitement of 
 the game may be increased by the blindfolding 
 
HOME GAMES 25 
 
 two players instead of one. They will occasion- 
 ally catch each other, much to their own confusion 
 and general amusement. 
 
 HUNT THE THIMBLE 
 
 All players except one leave the room. This 
 player hides the thimble, or other small object, 
 selected for the purpose (a coin is often used), in 
 some place in which it is in sight but difficult to 
 discover. It may be high or low, on floor or 
 table, or wherever the player may choose, so long 
 as it is visible to the eye. The other players then 
 return and begin the search. As each player 
 finds the thimble he or she sits down without an- 
 nouncing the discovery. It is better to keep up 
 the search somewhat after the discovery, to avoid 
 giving too much information to the other players. 
 When all have been seated, or the time allowed 
 for the search is up, the first one who sat 
 down must get the thimble. If he shall have 
 made a mistake the second to be seated must get 
 the thimble. The person who gets it takes the 
 next turn at hiding it. The game is not nearly 
 so easy as it appears from description. One may 
 
26 HOME GAMES 
 
 often be apparently gazing directly at the thimble 
 without seeing it. 
 
 BLOWING OUT THE CANDLE 
 
 A very funny blind game. A candle is lighted 
 and placed in position about the height of a per- 
 son's head. A player is then placed a few feet 
 from it, facing it, and, after being blindfolded 
 and turned round three times, is told to take so 
 many paces (however many it may be) and blow 
 the candle out. The fun comes with the misdi- 
 rected efforts of the blindfolded player. 
 
 THE BELL SHEEP 
 
 This is an amusing modification of Blind Man's 
 Buff. All the players, except one, are blind- 
 folded. A bell is so attached to the one free 
 player that it will ring easily with every hasty 
 movement of the wearer. The purpose of the 
 game is to capture the Bell Sheep, who then 
 changes places with his captor. It is advisable, 
 before beginning the play, to remove all danger- 
 ous furniture from the field of play. The players 
 
HOME GAMES 27 
 
 are continually "getting mixed up with each 
 other ^' to everybody's confusion and amusement. 
 
 SHADOW BLUFF 
 
 A sheet is stretched across the room. One 
 player stands on one side, and the rest, who re- 
 main on the other, pass one by one between the 
 sheet and the candle which throws their shadows 
 upon it. The aim of the single player is to put 
 right names to the shadows on the sheet, and the 
 aim of the others is, by performing antics, to keep 
 him from recognizing them. If it is not con- 
 venient to use both sides of a sheet, the single 
 player may sit on a hassock close to it with his 
 back to the other players, while they pass be- 
 tween the hassock and the candle, thus throwing 
 their shadows on the sheet. 
 
 UP JENKINS 
 
 The party divides as nearly as possible into two 
 equal sides, sitting opposite to each other at a long 
 table. Each side has a captain, the two captains 
 sitting at the ends of the table. All players then 
 place their hands open and palms down upon the 
 
28 HOME GAMES 
 
 table before them. A coin — a quarter of a dollar 
 is about the right size — is given to one side or 
 other, and passed from one player to his neighbor 
 by shuffling of hands without lifting them from 
 the table. To prevent the other side from locat- 
 ing the coin a general shuffling movement is kept 
 up. The captain of the opposition suddenly says 
 " Up Jenkins," whereupon all players close their 
 hands and hold them well above the table. Upon 
 the command from the oppor'ng captain " Down 
 Jenkins," all must instantly slap their hands palm 
 downward and open upon the table. The captain 
 of the opposition then commands some one of the 
 enemy to " Show up," whereupon the player in 
 question must lift his hands. If the coin was un- 
 der it, it passes to the other side to be shuffled 
 and hidden in the same way. If the guess was 
 not correct the coin remains Avith the original 
 holders until lost under the rules of the game. 
 
 The most amusing feature of the game is that 
 no attention whatever must be paid to the or- 
 ders of any player other than the captains, al- 
 though all players are allowed to give commands 
 — usually in the most emphatic tones — for the 
 purpose of misleading the enemy. Nor must any 
 attention be given even to the commands of the 
 
I 
 
 HOME GAMES 29 
 
 captains unless they are given in the exact lan- 
 guage of the game. If, for example, any player 
 either lifts or drops his hand when the opposite 
 captain merely commands " Up " or '' Down " 
 without having added the word "Jenkins," the 
 coin is forfeited to the enemy. It is exceedingly 
 difficult in the excitement of the game to avoid 
 such slips. 
 
 NUTS IN MAY 
 
 An excellent picnic game. The players stand 
 in two rows, facing each other and holding hands. 
 A line is drawn on the carpet (or ground; between 
 them. One row then step toward the other, 
 singing : 
 
 Here we come gathering nuts in May, nuts 
 
 in May, nuts in May, 
 Here we come gathering nuts in May, on a 
 
 cold and frosty morning. 
 
 They then fall back and the other row advance 
 to them, singing in reply : 
 
 Pray, who will you gather for nuts in May, 
 
 nuts in May, nuts in May *? 
 Pray, who will you gather for nuts in May, 
 
 on a cold and frosty morning ? 
 
30 HOME GAMES 
 
 The first row, after settling on the particular 
 player on the opposite side that they want, reply 
 thus: 
 
 We'll gather Phyllis for nuts in May, nuts 
 
 in May, nuts in May, 
 We'll gather Phyllis for nuts in May, on a 
 
 cold and frosty morning. 
 
 The other row then ask : 
 
 Pray, who will you send to fetch her away, 
 fetch her away, fetch her away ? 
 
 Pray, who will you send to fetch her away, 
 on a cold and frosty morning *? 
 
 The answer perhaps is : 
 
 We're sending Arthur to fetch her away, 
 fetch her away, fetch her away. 
 
 We're sending Arthur to fetch her away, 
 on a cold and frosty morning. 
 
 Arthur then steps up to the line on one side and 
 Phyllis on the other, and each tries to pull the 
 other over it. The one that loses has to join the 
 other row, and the singing begins again. 
 
HOME GAMES 31 
 
 ADJECTIVES 
 
 The company chooses one of its number as Grand 
 Guesser and sends hhn or her out of the room. 
 Each of those remaining selects an adjective 
 capable of being enacted or indicated by speech or 
 manner. The Guesser returns and asks questions 
 in turn of those in the room. The person making 
 answer must do so in such a way as to indicate 
 the adjective which he or she has already chosen. 
 For example ; the Guesser asks, " What day of the 
 week is this ? " The person addressed attempts to 
 answer by signs and gestures grotesquely resem- 
 bling the deaf and dumb alphabet, the adjective 
 indicated being ''Dumb." Or the answer may 
 be so conspicuously ungrammatical as to indicate 
 the adjective, " Ignorant." After the Guesser has 
 succeeded in correctly guessing three of the adjec- 
 tives, the office passes to another. 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 ^' Boston " is a lively game. Seat the company 
 around the room and give each a number. Blind- 
 fold one person and station him in the center of 
 
32 HOME GAMES 
 
 the room, whirling him aromid several times so 
 that he may successfully " lose his bearings." He 
 must then call any t^YO numbers included in the 
 number of players and the two persons representing 
 them must at once rise and change places. The 
 blindfolded person endeavors to capture one of the 
 fugitives during the flight and to identify the 
 captive by means of height, corpulence, hair, etc. 
 The person discovered in turn becomes "it." More 
 than two numbers may be called out at once, and 
 when the "• blind man " calls " Boston" every one 
 changes place. He may, by slipping into a vacant 
 seat during the confusion, find a substitute in the 
 person left standing when all the chairs are oc- 
 cupied. 
 
 <i 
 
 BLIND MAN'S WAND 
 
 One player is blindfolded and the others sit 
 about the room within convenient reach. The 
 blind man has a stick which he thrusts about until 
 he has touched one of the other players, who must 
 then take hold of the stick and answer three 
 questions put to him by the blind man. The 
 object of the game is to enable the blind man 
 to recognize the person whom he has tagged, 
 
HOME GAMES 33 
 
 merely by the sound of the voice. The speaker, 
 of course, disguises his or her voice as much as 
 possible. Sometimes it is agreed that the blind 
 man may require the holder of the stick to imitate 
 some bird or animal instead of merely answering 
 the questions. 
 
 MAGIC MUSIC 
 
 This is an exceedingly agreeable game, owing 
 in part to the fact that it is played with music. 
 One player leaves the room, and the others decide 
 upon some simple and easy act which he shall 
 perform when he returns. It may be straighten- 
 ing a sofa cushion or standing upon a chair or 
 taking a drink of water. He is called in and some 
 one at the piano guides his efforts by playing 
 louder as he approaches the object with which his 
 action is connected, or lower as he moves away 
 from it. 
 
 ACEOSS THE WAY 
 
 Sometimes called ''Judge and Jury." The 
 players form in two rows facing each other. 
 They should stand or sit sufficiently far from each 
 
34 HOME GAMES ^ 
 
 other to enable each easily to know who it is that 
 sits directly opposite to himself. One player does 
 not form with either side, but passes between the 
 two rows asking questions of such individuals as he 
 selects. He must address the person to whom he 
 speaks by name, but the answer must come, not 
 from the person addressed, but from the player 
 immediately opposite. If the player addressed 
 answers he changes place with the questioner. 
 If the player who should answer fails to do so 
 before the questioner can distinctly count ten, he 
 becomes the questioner and the questioner joins 
 the line. Zest is added to the game by barring 
 the use of certain words in the answer which are 
 very likely to come to the lips under such circum- 
 stances, such as " Yes," " No," " Black," or 
 ^' Green." The questions will be framed with a 
 view to causing the use of these words. The 
 player who uses them changes place with the 
 questioner. 
 
 GOSSIP 
 
 The players sit in a long line or ring. The first, 
 turning to the second, whispers very rapidly some 
 remark or a brief story. The second, who may 
 
HOME GAMES * 35 
 
 hear it distinctly, but probably does not, then 
 whispers it as exactly as he can to the third player ; 
 and so on until the line is finished. The last 
 player then whispers it to the first player ; and 
 the first player repeats his original remark to the 
 company, and follows it with the form in which 
 it has just reached him. 
 
 THE PKIEST OF THE PAEISH 
 
 A circle is formed, with one chair larger than 
 the others at the head of it. In this the player 
 chosen to be the priest sits. Each of the company, 
 including the priest, then chooses a color. One 
 will take blue, another pink, another yellow, and 
 so on, and these are known as Mr. Blue Cap, Mr. 
 Pink Cap, Mr. Yellow Cap, and so on. (There is 
 usually a Fool's Cap too.) The game is begun by 
 the priest saying, " The priest of the parish has 
 lost his considering cap. Who stole it ? Some 
 say this, some say that ; but I say [then he looks 
 round the company and perhaps fixes on the 
 member who chose black] Mr. Black Cap." Mr. 
 Black Cap must then say, " What, I, sir ? " " Yes, 
 you, sir," says the priest. " Not I, sir," says Mr. 
 Black Cap. " Who then, sir ? " asks the priest. 
 
36 ' HOME GAMES 
 
 it^T 
 
 And here Mr. Black Cap has the opportunity 
 passing the game on by fixing on another player. 
 Perhaps it is Mr. Yellow Cap. If so, Mr. Black 
 Cap will say, " Mr. Yellow Cap," and Mr. Yellow 
 Cap and Mr. Black Cap then carry on the same 
 dialogue : " What, I, sir ? " '' Yes, you, sir." " Not 
 I, sir." "Who then, sir?" Any mistake in the 
 order of words and the player has to take his 
 place at the bottom of the class, and all the others 
 move up one. So long as there are no mistakes 
 the dialogue is held between the players; but 
 after a mistake the priest takes it up again by 
 putting the original remark about the theft of his 
 cap. A player may, if he likes, charge the priest 
 himself with the theft, calling him by his color- 
 If the priest makes any mistake he goes to the 
 bottom too, and the players move up so that the 
 next top one becomes the new^ priest. The ques- 
 tions and answers should be given with very great 
 promptness or " snap." 
 
 FEATHEE UP 
 
 The players sit round a table and form sides, 
 one half against the other, and a little fluffy 
 feather is placed in the middle. The aim of each 
 
HOME GAMES 37 
 
 side is to blow the feather so that it settles in the 
 other camp, and to keep it from settling in their 
 own. In addition to the excitement of this game 
 it aif ords excellent exercise for the lungs. 
 
 FLY AWAY 
 
 A quiet little fireside game capable of affording 
 a good half hour's amusement. The chief player, 
 sitting where three or four others can comfortably 
 gather around her, places her index finger upon 
 her knee. Each of the other players places a 
 finger beside it. When all are ready the leader 
 begins as if to tell a story, but presently utters the 
 words " Fly away pig," or other object. If this 
 can be brought in as a part of the story so much 
 the better. The point of the game lies in obeying 
 or ignoring this command. If the object named 
 is capable of flying, all fingers must instantly be 
 lifted ; but if the object is one which cannot fly, 
 the order must be ignored. Sometimes the object 
 named may be one requiring a considerable exer- 
 cise of judgment as to which of the two classes it 
 belongs. " Fly away sparrow " or " Fly away 
 horse," would not cause much hesitation, but 
 
38 HOME GAMES 
 
 how about " Fly away balloon " or " Fly away 
 feather " ? The action must be prompt. 
 
 TKADES 
 
 In this game each player chooses the name of a 
 trade. A story is then told, in which the hero 
 calls at different shops and gives the first letter of 
 some purchase which he makes. The player 
 whose shop is mentioned must, before ten can be 
 counted, name a suitable article beginning with 
 the letter given. As, " I called at the blacksmith's 
 and bought an h." To which the blacksmith in 
 this play instantly responds, '' A hammer." 
 
 THE MULBEERY BUSH 
 
 This is a favorite form of an old and always 
 popular game. 
 
 The players join hands and go round and round 
 in a ring, singing : 
 
 Here we go round the mulberry bush, the 
 
 mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, 
 Here we go round tbe mulberry bush 
 On a fine and frosty morning. 
 
HOME GAMES 39 
 
 They then let go hands and sing : 
 
 This is the way we wash our clothes, wash 
 
 our clothes, wash our clothes. 
 This is the way we wash our clothes 
 On a fine and frosty morning, 
 
 and as they sing they pretend to be washing. 
 After the verse is done they join hands again and 
 dance round to the singing of the mulberry bush 
 chorus again, and so on after each verse. The 
 other verses are : 
 
 (2) This is the way we iron our clothes. 
 
 (3) This is the way we wash our face. 
 
 (4) This is the way we comb our hair. 
 
 (5) This is the way we go to school (very sadly). 
 
 (6) This is the way we learn our book. 
 
 (7) This is the way we sew our seams. 
 
 And lastly and very gaily : 
 
 (8) This is the way we come from school, 
 
 and then the chorus comes again, and the game is 
 done. 
 
 THE GKAND MUFTI 
 
 The player personating the Grand Mufti stands 
 in the middle or on a chair, and performs what- 
 
40 HOME GAMES 
 
 ever action he likes with his hands, arms, head, 
 and legs. With each movement he says, " Thus 
 does the Grand Mufti," or, " So does the Grand 
 Mufti." When it is "Thus does the Grand 
 Mufti " the other players must imitate his move- 
 ment ; but when it is " So does the Grand Mufti " 
 they must take no notice. Any mistakes may 
 lead to forfeits. 
 
 CHITTEEBOB 
 
 Another very simple little game which never- 
 theless develops lots of fun. There are several 
 ways of making use of the following rhyme, but 
 the best of them is to use it for competition. The 
 player who can repeat it correctly and distinctly 
 in the shortest time is the winner. If there is not 
 time or opportunity to commit it to memory it 
 may be read aloud by the players in succession, 
 some one acting as timekeeper. Experiment will 
 show that the undertaking is not altogether easy. 
 The rhyme is : 
 
 There was a man and his name was Cob 
 He had a wife and her name was Mob, 
 He had a dog and his name was Bob, 
 
HOME GAMES 41 
 
 She had a cat and her name was Ohitterbob. 
 
 ^' Bob/' says Cob; 
 
 '' Ohitterbob/' says Mob. 
 Bob was Cob's dog, 
 Mob's cat was Chitterbob, 
 
 Cob, Mob, Bob, and Chitterbob. 
 
 GOING TO JEEUSALEM 
 
 Some one sits at the piano, and a long row of 
 chairs is made down the middle of the room, 
 either back to *back, or back and front alternately. 
 There must be one chair fewer than the number 
 of players. When all is ready the music begins, 
 and the players march round the chairs in a long 
 line. Suddenly the music stops, and directly it 
 does so every one tries to sit down. As there is 
 one player too many some one must necessarily be 
 left without a chair. That player has therefore 
 to leave the game, another chair is taken away, 
 and the music begins again. So on to the end, a 
 chair and a player going after each round. The 
 winner of the game is the one who, when only 
 one chair is left, gets it. It is against the rules to 
 move the chairs. A piano, it ought to be pointed 
 out, is not absolutely necessary. Any form of 
 music will do ; or if there is no instrument some 
 
42 HOME GAMES 
 
 one might sing, or tap the fire-irons together, or 
 read aloud. But a piano is best, and the pianist 
 ought now and then to pretend to stop, because 
 this makes it more exciting for the players. 
 
 THE TISSUE-PAPEK EACE 
 
 Cut a sufficient number of pieces of tissue paper 
 into squares of three or four inches. As many 
 squares as there are players are placed in a line at 
 one end of the room, and at the other are placed 
 two books, or other objects, a foot or so apart. 
 At the word of command each competitor, who is 
 armed with a fan, starts to fan his square between 
 the goal-posts. For the sake of distinguishing 
 them it is better to mark the papers or have them 
 of different colors. A competitor may not fan 
 any other square except by accident. If desirable 
 the papers may be rolled into the form of a ball, 
 and w^U then be somewhat more easily directed in 
 their course. 
 
 THE POTATO EACE 
 
 This is a good game for a hall or landing. Two 
 baskets are needed, which are placed at one end 
 
HOME GAMES 43 
 
 of the hall about two yards apart, and then in a 
 line from each basket are placed potatoes, at 
 intervals of a yard or so all down the floor, an 
 equal number to each line. Any even number of 
 competitors can play, the race being run in heats, 
 ^ach competitor is armed with a long spoon, and 
 his task is to pick up all the potatoes on his line 
 and return them to the basket before his opponent 
 can. Each potato must be carried to the basket 
 in turn, and if dropped on the way must be picked 
 up again before another can be touched, and the 
 spoon only must be used. Any help from the 
 other hand or from the foot disqualifies. If 
 potatoes are not available, onions, apples or other 
 similar objects may be substituted. 
 
 PUTTING OUT THE FIRE 
 
 At a fire in the country, where there is no hose, 
 a line of men extends from the burning house to 
 the nearest pond, and buckets are continually be- 
 ing passed along this line. Hence the name by 
 which this excellent game is called here. It is 
 played thus. A large number of miscellaneous 
 and unbreakable articles — balls, boots, potatoes, 
 books, and so on — ^are divided into two exactly 
 
44 HOME GAMES 
 
 equal groups, and each group is placed in a clothes 
 basket. The company then forms into two equal 
 lines, and each chooses a captain. Each captain 
 stands by the basket at one end of his line, at the 
 other end being a chair and another player stand- 
 ing by that. At the word " Start," the articles 
 are handed one by one by the captain to the first 
 player in the line, and passed as quickly as pos- 
 sible without dropping to the player by the chair. 
 As they come to him he piles them on the chair 
 (without dropping any) until all are there, and 
 then returns them with equal speed until the 
 basket is filled again. The side which finishes 
 first is the winner. If an article is dropped it 
 must be picked up before any other of the articles 
 can pass the player who dropped it. 
 
 FIVE DOTS 
 
 . All children who like drawing like this game ; 
 but it is particularly good to play with a real 
 artist, if you have one among your friends. You 
 take a piece of paper and make five dots on it, 
 wherever you like — scattered about or close to- 
 gether (but not too close), but not in a straight 
 line. The other player's task is to fit in a draw- 
 
HOME GAMES 45 
 
 ing of a person with one of these dots at his head, 
 two at his hands, and two at his feet. The value 
 of the result does not depend upon the skill of the 
 artist. 
 
 HEADS, BODIES AND TAILS 
 
 For this game sheets of paper are handed round 
 and each player draws at the top of his sheet a 
 head. It does not matter in the least whether it 
 is a human being's or a fish's head, a quadruped's, 
 a bird's or an insect's. The paper is then turned 
 down, two little marks are made to show where 
 the neck and body should join, and the paper is 
 passed on for the body to be supplied. Here 
 again it does not matter what kind of body is 
 chosen. The paper is then folded again, marks 
 are made to show where the legs (or tail) ought 
 to begin, and the paper is passed on again. After 
 the legs are drawn the picture is finished. 
 
 SHUT-EYE PICTUEES 
 
 The usual thing to draw with shut eyes is a 
 pig, but any animal will do as well (or almost as 
 
46 HOME GAMES 
 
 well, for perhaps the pig's curly tail just puts him 
 in the first place). Why it should be so funny a 
 game it is difficult quite to explain, but people 
 laugh more loudly over it than over anything 
 else. We have known persons to keep a visitors' 
 book in which friends were invited to draw shut- 
 eye pigs. The drawings were signed, and the 
 date is added, making a unique sort of autograph 
 album. At any rate the " shut-eye pig " is an 
 amusing animal. , 
 
 PICKLED POETEAITS 
 
 Each player has a sheet of paper and a pencil. 
 Each draws a head of man or beast, making it as 
 funny as he can. He then folds it backward, 
 leaving in sight only two lines that show where 
 the neck is. The paper is then passed to his right 
 hand neighbor, who draws a body and arms, and 
 passes it on, leaving in sight only an indica- 
 tion of where the legs are to go. The third 
 person who gets it draws the legs and feet, and 
 the last one who gets it writes a name. It is 
 then unfolded and passed around for every one to 
 laugh at. 
 
HOME GAMES 47 
 
 BURIED NAMES 
 
 The first thing for the players to do is to decide 
 what kind of name they will bury. The best 
 way is to call out something in turn. Thus, if 
 there are four players they may decide to bury 
 the name of an author, a girl, a town, and aj'iver. 
 Each player writes these down and a fixed time 
 is given for burial, which consists in writing a 
 sentence that shall contain the name somewhere 
 spelt rightly but spread over two words, or three 
 if possible. At the end of the time the sentences 
 are read aloud in turn, while the others guess. 
 Of course, the whole game may be given up to 
 burying only one kind of name, but variety is 
 perhaps better. Examples are given : 
 
 A town : Clothes that are new have no need of 
 
 brushing. 
 A river : To see spoilt ham especially annoys me. 
 
 THE GAME OF LISTS 
 
 Paper is provided, and each player in turn calls 
 out something which the whole company write 
 down. Thus, suppose there are five players and 
 you decide to go round three times : the first may 
 
48 
 
 HOME GAMES 
 
 say a river ; the second, a doctor ; the third, a 
 complaint ; the fourth, a play ; the fifth, a street 
 in London ; the first again, a musical instrument ; 
 the second again, a cricketer ; and so on, until the 
 fifteen things are all written down. Each paper 
 will then have the same list of fifteen things upon 
 it. One of the company then opens a book at 
 random, and chooses, say, the first letter of the 
 third word in the first line. Perhaps it is T. 
 For a given time each player has to supply his 
 list with answers beginning with T. At the call 
 of time one of the papers may present this appear- 
 ance: 
 
 A river 
 
 A doctor 
 
 A complaint 
 
 A play 
 
 A street in London 
 
 A musical instrument 
 
 A cricketer . 
 
 A flower 
 
 A mineral . 
 
 A lake 
 
 A tree 
 
 A state in America 
 
 An author . 
 
 An artist 
 
 A preacher . 
 
 Tees 
 
 Mr. Treves 
 
 Tic Doloreux 
 
 Timon of Athens 
 
 Theobald's Eoad 
 
 Trombone 
 
 Tate 
 
 Trefoil 
 
 Tin 
 
 Tanganyika 
 
 Tulip 
 
 Texas 
 
 Trollope 
 
 Tadema 
 
 Talmage 
 
HOME GAMES 49 
 
 Each player in turn reads his list aloud, strikes 
 off those words that others also have, and puts a 
 mark against the rest. The player having the 
 largest number of names not appearing on any 
 other paper is the victor. 
 
 EIDDLES 
 
 At the top of the paper is written anything 
 that you can think of : ''A soldier," " A new 
 dress," " A fit of the blues," " A railway acci- 
 dent " — anything that suggests itself. The paper 
 is passed on and anything else is written, no mat- 
 ter what. It is passed on again and opened. 
 Suppose that the two things written on it are, 
 first, " A Member of Congress," and second, " A 
 pair of skates." The duty of the player is to treat 
 them as a riddle, and, asking the question either 
 as " Why is a member of Congress like a pair of 
 skates ? " or " What is the difference between a 
 member of Congress and a pair of skates ? " 
 (whichever way one prefers), to supply a reason- 
 able answer. This game, it will be seen, is suited 
 particularly to clever people. 
 
50 HOME GAMES 
 
 EHYMING ANSWEPwS 
 
 This is a game that needs a certain amount of 
 readiness and some skill with words. Each of 
 the party writes at the top of a piece of paper a 
 question of any kind whatever, such as " How old 
 was Cassar when he died ? " or " What is your 
 favorite color ? " The paper is folded over and 
 passed on, and the next player writes a word 
 — any word — such as '' electricity," " potato," 
 " courageously," " milk." The papers are then 
 passed on once more and opened, and the task of 
 each player is to write a rhyme in which the 
 question on his paper is answered and the word 
 on his paper is introduced. 
 
 COMPOSITE STORIES 
 
 Another folding-over and passing-on game is 
 " Composite Stories." Paper is passed round, and 
 for five minutes each player writes the opening of 
 a story Avith a title prefixed. The papers are 
 passed on, and each player reads through as much 
 of the story as has been written and for five min- 
 utes adds to it. And so on, until each player has 
 
HOME GAMES 51 
 
 written once on each paper. The papers are then 
 passed on once more, with the result that each 
 paper will be found to be lying before the player 
 who began it. The next and last five minutes are 
 then spent by each person in reading through the 
 story and bringing it to an end, sometimes a diifi- 
 cult enough task. If six persons are playing and 
 allowances of five minutes have been given, there 
 will be at the end of thirty-five minutes six com- 
 plete stories to read aloud. 
 
 SNAP 
 
 Snap cards may just as well be home-made as 
 bought. They may either be painted or made by 
 cutting shapes out of colored paper and sticking 
 them on to white cards. In either case they 
 should be made in sets of four just alike. A pack 
 of snap cards made from wall paper designs does 
 very well. 
 
 The game begins by the players taking their 
 cards one by one from their hands and in turn 
 laying them face upward in a pile on the table 
 before them. If a card is turned up similar to a 
 card already on view on the table, the player who 
 turns it up or the player who owns the similar 
 
52 HOME GAMES 
 
 card cries " Snap," and the cards of the loser then 
 on the table go to the player who says " Snap " 
 first. As it is sometimes difficult for the players 
 to distinguish which says " Snap " first, it is well 
 to have an umpire. In the case of an undoubted 
 dead-heat the game should go on as if nothing 
 had happened. The player who won adds the 
 cards to his own hand and continues the game. 
 "When a player has transferred all his cards from 
 his hand to the table he waits until his turn comes 
 and then takes them into his hand again. This is 
 a very exciting moment, because if in the mean- 
 time his top card v/ere snapped, then he would lose 
 everything. 
 
 In good " Snap " packs there are several sets of 
 cards which are intentionally made nearly but not 
 absolutely alike, and it is very common to say 
 '' Snap " by mistake when one of these turns up. 
 In that case the cards of the player who cried 
 " Snap " are placed in the middle of the table, 
 where they stay until some one turns up a card 
 exactly like the top one and " Snap Center " is 
 called, when both the center pack and the pack in 
 front of the turner-up belong to the player who 
 cried " Snap Center." It may of course be the 
 turner-up himself, but is very likely somebody 
 
 II 
 
HOME GAMES 53 
 
 else, because whereas under ordinary conditions 
 only the owners of similar cards may cry " Snap," 
 when there are cards in the middle too any one 
 may cry " Snap Center." 
 
 When a player has lost all his cards he is out of 
 the game until there are cards in the middle 
 again, when an opportunity comes of snap-center- 
 ing them and getting into play again. The game 
 goes on until one player has all the cards. 
 
 PIG 
 
 Pig is a rather noisy game, played with ordinary 
 cards unless you care to make a set of pig cards 
 to your own liking. You play the game with as 
 many sets of four cards as there are players. If 
 there are to be five players you retain twenty 
 cards in sets of four of a kind. The cards are 
 shuffled and dealt around, four to each player. 
 The first object of the game is for some player to 
 complete a set of four of a kind. Instead of 
 drawing from one's neighbor, as in Old Maid, the 
 card is handed out by the owner of the hand, he 
 making the selection, and the other player is com- 
 pelled to accept whatever is ofl'ered. Immedi- 
 ately upon completing his hand by obtaining a set 
 
54: HOME GAMES 
 
 of four of a kind, the player lays his cards on the 
 table, either quietly or violently, as he may choose. 
 The instant his action is observed all the other 
 hands must also be laid down. The last one to 
 put down his hand is " Pig." The game is played 
 for as many rounds as may have been agreed upon 
 in advance. The player who was last the fewest 
 number of times is the winner, or " Big Pig." 
 
 OLD MAID, OK OLD BACHELOR 
 
 This game can be played by any number, either 
 with a home-made pack or with ordinary playing- 
 cards from which, according to the choice of 
 games, three of the queens, or three of the kings, 
 have been taken away ; the remaining queen or 
 king being the old maid or old bachelor. For our 
 present purpose we will assume that the game is 
 Old Maid. The cards are then dealt and each 
 player first weeds out all pairs, such as two 
 knaves, two aces, two fives, and so on. All hav- 
 ing done this, the player who begins offers her 
 hand, with the cards face dowuAvard, to her 
 neighbor, and her neighbor takes one. She then 
 loolvs through her cards to see if it pairs with any 
 
HOME GAMES 55 
 
 that she already has, and, if it does, throws the 
 pair on the table. Having finished her examina- 
 tion she offers her cards in the same way to the 
 next player, and so it goes on. As the possessor 
 of the old maid card is, at the end, the loser of 
 the game, each one who gets it does all in her 
 power to induce the next player to take it. 
 
 THE OLD MAID'S BIRTHDAY 
 
 This game may quite as appropriately be con- 
 verted into " The Old Bachelor's Birthday " to 
 suit the taste of the players, or give variety. 
 While somewhat elaborate, it will be found to pay 
 for the trouble. The first thing required is a pack 
 of plain cards on which should be written the 
 names of articles of food and clothing, household 
 utensils, and other domestic and much advertised 
 things : such, for example, as a frock-coat, a round 
 of beef, a foot- warmer, a box of pills. A story, 
 somewhat on the lines of that which follows, must 
 then be prepared and copied into a note-book. 
 The company take their places and the cards are 
 handed round. These should be held face down- 
 ward. When all is ready one of the players reads 
 
56 HOME GAMES 
 
 the story, pausing at each blank for the player 
 whose turn comes next to fill it in by calling out 
 whatever is on his uppermost card. No matter 
 how often the game is played- (provided the cards 
 are reshufiied) the unexpected always happens, 
 and it is usually so absurd as to be quite too much 
 for a room all ready for laughter. The number 
 of blanks in the story should be equal to the num- 
 ber of cards, and in order that the story may run 
 on smoothly, it is well for the next player always 
 to glance at his top card just ahead of his turn, so 
 that he may bring it in readily without interrupt- 
 ing the story. The invention of the story gives 
 opportunity for very great variety, and it may be 
 made the more amusing by being written to fit 
 the particular company. In the absence of such 
 a personal narrative, however, the following will 
 be found serviceable. Local names, both of shops 
 and persons, can be substituted to advantage. 
 
 Now everybody, listen ! It was Miss Flitter's 
 birthday, and she awoke with a start and hurried 
 down to see what the postman had brought. He 
 had left five parcels and a letter. The letter was 
 from Miss Bitters. " Dear Miss Flitters," it began, 
 " I am so sorry to hear of your cold, and, in the 
 hope that it will do you good, I am sending you 
 
HOME GAMES 57 
 
 a . I always find it excellent, although 
 
 mother prefers .' We both wish you many 
 
 happy returns of the day." The other presents 
 
 were, from Miss Ditters a handsome , from 
 
 Miss Glitters a delicate , and from Miss 
 
 Hitters a particularly refined . " Dear 
 
 me ! " said Miss Flitters, " what a useful gift ! 
 Just exactly w^hat I wanted." 
 
 She then sat down to breakfast, which, this 
 
 being a special occasion, consisted of . " I 
 
 did my best to do it to a turn," said the cook, as 
 she laid it on the table with her own hands. 
 
 " Mary said as how you'd prefer a ; — , but, 
 
 bless your 'eart, Miss Flitters, I reckon as I know 
 your taste best." " You do indeed," said Miss 
 Flitters. " The thing is perfectly cooked, and it's 
 
 delicious. It reminds me of . To-day," 
 
 she added, " I'm giving a party, and want you to 
 serve a very charming meal. I Avill go to market 
 right after breakfast. What do you think we 
 shall need ? " " Well, ma'am," said the cook, 
 " you may please yourself about everything else, 
 but I just won't undertake to get up a first class 
 
 dinner without at least a pound of and 
 
 two quarts of ." " Quite right," assented 
 
 Miss Flitters. 
 
58 HOME GAMES 
 
 She then prepared to go out, and seeing that it 
 
 looked like rain, took a from the cupboard, 
 
 and on her head tied a . " Bless your 'eart, 
 
 mum," cried the cook, " you've forgot your smell- 
 ing salts. Suppose you was to feel faint — what 
 then ? But never mind," she added the next 
 instant, " this'll do just as well," and she handed 
 
 her a . Miss Flitters, a little embarrassed 
 
 at this, put out at such a pace that she ran plump 
 into the vicar. " I beg your pardon," she ex- 
 claimed, still more flustered, " I mistook you for 
 
 a ." " Yery natural mistake," responded 
 
 the vicar smiling. " May I come with you ? " 
 " Most certainly," responded Miss Flitters, greatly 
 pleased. 
 
 They went first to Buszard's for a pair of 
 
 , and selecting two particularly juicy ones, 
 
 proceeded to Marshall's for a . " Is this 
 
 for the complexion ? " asked the vicar, picking up 
 
 a from the counter. " La, sir," said Miss 
 
 Flitters, " how little you know of domestic life ! " 
 
 Then they went to Fuller's for a , and to 
 
 Jay's for a . ''It's too dear," said Miss 
 
 Flitters. " Give me a instead." At the 
 
 stores they inspected . " Haven't you any- 
 thing fresher ? " asked Miss Flitters ; " I'd as soon 
 
HOME GAMES 59 
 
 buy a ." None the less she bought two 
 
 and slipped them into her reticule, adding as a 
 
 little gift for the cook a . 
 
 The party began at six o'clock. The first to 
 come was Miss Kitters. " You don't mind my 
 bringing my work, I know, dear," she exclaimed ; 
 
 " I'm embroidering a for the natives of 
 
 Madagascar, and it must be done soon." Miss 
 Litters came next, and being rather short-sighted, 
 
 sat down on a . " Never mind," said Miss 
 
 Flitters. " Oh, I don't," she replied, " but it would 
 have been more comfortable if it had been a 
 
 ." Miss Mitters came just as the clock 
 
 struck. She was wearing a charming 
 
 trimmed with . " What perfect taste she 
 
 has ! " the others murmured. Miss Nitters fol- 
 lowed. Miss Nitters was the exact opposite of 
 Miss Mitters in all matters relating to dress. She 
 had no taste at all, and was wearing merely a 
 
 with pompons attached, and in place of 
 
 earrings a couple of . " So fast ! " whis- 
 pered Miss Litters. Miss Fitters, Miss Eitters, 
 and Miss Titters each brought a present. Miss 
 
 Pitters's present was a silver-plated . " So 
 
 useful for the toilet table," she said. Miss Eitters's 
 was a Japanese , a piece of exquisite work 
 
60 HOME GAMES 
 
 ma;iiship ; while Miss Titters produced from her 
 pocket a brown paper parcel which turned out to 
 
 contain a very choice , an heuioom in the 
 
 Titters family for centm^ies. "1 didn't know 
 
 whether to bring this or a ," she said ; " but 
 
 Father decided me. Father always knows best." 
 When all were assembled, the guests sat down 
 to supper. But here an awkward thing happened. 
 "If you please, mum," the cook was heard to 
 
 whisper in a loud voice, " the hasn't come. 
 
 Shall I get a instead ? " " Yes," said Miss 
 
 Flitters, " that will do very well. Don't you think 
 so. Miss Fitters ? " " I think," was the reply, " I 
 
 should prefer ." It was none the less an 
 
 excellent and generous repast. Opposite Miss 
 
 Flitters was a noble , flanked by a 
 
 and a . At the foot of the table was a dish 
 
 of . " I never tasted anything so delicious 
 
 in my life," said Miss Mitters, taking a large help- 
 ing of . " Oh I " said Miss Glitters, " you 
 
 should try the . It's yumps.'-' The first 
 
 course was followed by sweets, the most imposing 
 
 of which was a wonderful frosted with 
 
 Miss Flitters's name in pink sugar. " You must 
 all have a piece," said the hostess, " but I'm afraid 
 it's rather rich." 
 
HOME GAMES 61 
 
 After supper came games, " Blind Man's Buff " 
 and " Hunt the Slipper," but as no one cared to 
 
 lend a slipper, they used instead a , and it 
 
 did very well. At midnight the party broke up, 
 the guests saying that they never had spent a 
 pleasanter evening. As a protection against the 
 
 cold Miss Flitters gave them each a hot . 
 
 She then hurried to bed and dreamed all night 
 of . 
 
 THOUGHTS 
 The players sit in a row or circle, and one, 
 having thought of something — of any description 
 whatever — asks them in turn, '' What is my 
 thought like ? " Not having the faintest idea 
 what the thought is they reply at random. One 
 may say, " Like a dog " ; another, " Like a sauce- 
 pan " ; a third, " Like a wet day " ; a fourth, " Like 
 a pantomime." After collecting all the answers 
 the player announces what the thought was, and 
 then goes along the row again calling upon the 
 players to explain why it is like the thing named 
 by them. The merit of the game lies in these 
 explanations. Thus, perhaps the thing thought 
 of was a concertina. The first player, asked to 
 show why a concertina is like a dog, may reply, 
 
62 HOME GAMES 
 
 " Because when it is squeezed it howls." The next 
 may say, "It is like a heavy saucepan because it 
 is held in both hands." The third, " It is like a 
 wet day because one soon has enough of it." 
 
 MIND YOUK G'S AND T'S 
 
 The players sit in a row or circle, and one 
 stands up and puts the questions. The questions 
 may relate to almost any branch of knowledge ; 
 geography, astronomy, war, politics or literature. 
 Suppose it related to literature. The question 
 might be, "Who wrote the greatest English 
 novel ? Now mind your G's and T's ! " 
 
 The person to whom the question is addressed 
 must, within the time limit, or the count of ten, 
 answer by giving some writer of English fiction 
 whose name begins with a letter which is not 
 between G and T in the alphabet. Dickens or 
 Thackeray would be correct, while Hardy and 
 Kipling would not do. For variety's sake the rule 
 could later be reversed, and only such names as 
 come between G and T be received as correct. If 
 literature does not happen to suit the particular 
 company, physical geography presents a good 
 field. Such a question as " Which do you consider 
 
HOME GAMES 63 
 
 the most beautiful river in America ? " would be 
 fruitful of many answers. The fact that the 
 necessities of the case may compel the player to 
 commit himself to a ridiculous reply, as that he' 
 regards the Yahoo as the most beautiful of all 
 American rivers, adds zest to the game. 
 
 SUGGESTION 
 
 This is an exceedingly interesting game, and is 
 so simple that it can be entertainingly played 
 under conditions which would render most games 
 tedious or impossible — for example, on a railroad 
 train. It requires a pencil, paper, and reasonable 
 patience. The players each write the same word 
 at the head of their papers. Each then, working 
 alone and without consultation, follows his word 
 by way of suggestion (as hereafter explained), 
 through two other words to a third, writing down 
 the three words one after the other. When this 
 has been done by all of the players, the leader 
 collects the papers and gives out a list composed 
 of the last word upon each of the papers. Each 
 player then endeavors to establish a line of sug- 
 gestion, linking all of these words together. The 
 skill and enjoyment of the game arises from the 
 
64 HOME GAMES 
 
 V 
 
 quaintness and ingenuity with which different 
 minds work out this result. A moment's at- 
 tention to tlie following illustration will make 
 clear at once the method and value of the game. 
 
 Suppose there are three players, and they start 
 with the word '' Tree." Noav all words and all 
 objects to which we give our attention are ready 
 to suggest other words or objects, if we but 
 permitted our minds to register the results. 
 Sometimes the suggestion is based upon resem- 
 blance, sometimes upon conspicuous difference and 
 sometimes upon rhyme or sound relation. In this 
 game any link of suggestion may be used which 
 impresses itself upon the player's mind. To 
 player A, the word " Tree " suggests " Spring," 
 spring suggests ''Season "and season suggests 
 *' Pepper." 
 
 To player B, " Tree " by sound suggests " Treat," 
 treat suggests ''Ketreat" and retreat by its 
 significance, suggests " Coward." To player C, 
 " Tree " suggests " Lumber," lumber suggests 
 " Carpenter " and carpenter suggests " Hammer." 
 
 We have now, by a process of suggestion start- 
 ing from the same word, arrived at three such 
 dissimilar words as Pepper, Coward and Hammer. 
 The final and most interesting act in the game is 
 
HOME GAMES 65 
 
 to witness the different thought-steps by which 
 the several players reunite these three words — 
 words so unlike in meaning and yet, as it were, 
 descended from the same great-grandparent word, 
 "Tree." A reasonable time limit should be fixed 
 for the accomplishment, and the winner should 
 be the one who completes the chain with the 
 fewest links. A second prize — if prizes are given 
 — might go to the one whose list, although not the 
 shortest, in the judgment of the company exhibited 
 the greatest ingenuity. 
 
 The possibilities of the game seem to be only 
 limited by the variations of the human mind. 
 The following is a rather poor illustration of the 
 chain of suggestion which might connect the three 
 final words of our game. Coward, Cow, Hog, 
 Ham, Hammer, Blow, Cold, Freeze, Sneeze, 
 Pepper. The very slightness of the thread of 
 thought upon which the mind sometimes passes 
 from one idea to another adds to the quaintness 
 of the result. 
 
 THE CHOELTS 
 
 All but one of the players are seated as close to 
 each other as may be comfortable. One of them 
 
66 HOME GAMES 
 
 then goes out of the room until those remaining 
 have each chosen a word by which he or she is to 
 be known. The absent member is then called in. 
 Upon a given signal each player shouts his or her 
 name-word aloud. The result is a confusion of 
 tongues, out of which the guesser must, one after 
 another — the shouting being repeated as often as 
 may be required — identify the various players by 
 theu' selected words. 
 
 COFFEE-POT 
 
 One of the players leaves the room, while the 
 rest select some word having more than one 
 meaning, or several words identical in sound but 
 of wholly different significance. The guesser re- 
 turns to the room and puts any questions he may 
 choose to the players in turn. In answering his 
 questions the players always include in their an- 
 swer the idea of the selected word — but they sub- 
 stitute for its expression the word coffee-pot. Let 
 us suppose, for instance, that the word is rain, 
 reign, rein. The questions and answers may run 
 something like this : — " Are you feeling pretty 
 well to-day ? " " I always feel well when there is 
 no coffee-pot " (rain). " Have you been reading 
 
HOME GAMES 67 
 
 anything interesting lately ? " '' Yes, a very in- 
 teresting book on the present coflfee-pot " (reign). 
 " I hope your toothache is better." " Thank you, 
 I hope its coffee-pot will soon be over" (reign). 
 " Did you walk here this evening ? " " No ; we 
 came with the assistance of the coffee-pot " (rein). 
 The guesser is allowed to make three guesses 
 aloud, but after that he must meditate on the 
 word in silence or put questions to test his 
 theories. If the word is a verb and a past tense 
 or present tense has to be used in an answer, the 
 player says '' coffee-potted " or ''coffee-potting." 
 
 ACTING INITIALS 
 
 This game requires close attention and some 
 knowledge of literature and public men. Two 
 players go out. The others choose the name of a 
 well-known person, public or private, the letters 
 of whose name are the same in number as the 
 players left in the room. Thus, supposing there 
 are seven persons in the room, the name might be 
 Dickens. The letters are then distributed ; each 
 player, as soon as he knows which letter is his, 
 selecting some well-known living or historical 
 character beginning with the same letter, whom 
 
68 HOME GAMES 
 
 he has to describe or personate. To personate is 
 more fun than to describe. The players seat 
 themselves in the right order to spell the name, 
 and the other two are called in. When they are 
 ready the first player, D, is called on to describe 
 or impersonate his letter ; and so on in the right 
 order. 
 
 Suppose D, by his speech and actions, calls to 
 mind Lord Dundreary as played by his famous 
 impersonators. The guesser may infer that D is 
 the first letter of the name represented by the 
 company; and if the second player should de- 
 scribe the plays of Ibsen sufficiently well to bring 
 that author to mind, the two guessers would 
 begin to see light ahead in the direction of the 
 great English novelist. 
 
 EYE-EEADING 
 
 A dust sheet, or a screen made of newspapers, 
 is hung up and two holes a little larger than the 
 eyes and the proper distance apart are made in it. 
 Half the players retire to one side of the screen 
 and half stay on the other. One at a time, alter- 
 nating one side with the other, they peep through 
 
HOME GAMES 69 
 
 these holes. Those on the opposite side endeavor 
 to identify the peeper by the appearance of the 
 eyes. The game helps to form the excellent habit 
 of noting the color of other people's eyes. 
 
 THOUGHT-READING TRICKS 
 
 In all thought-reading games it is best that 
 only the two performers should know the secret. 
 Of these two, one goes out of the room and the 
 other stays in, after having first decided on the 
 particular trick which will be used. Perhaps the 
 company will then be asked to settle on a trade. 
 Let us say that they decide on a chemist. The 
 other player is then called in, and his companion 
 puts questions to him in this way :— " You have to 
 name the trade which we have thought of. Is it 
 a grocer ? " " No." " Is it a draper ? " " No." 
 "Is it a goldsmith?" ^'No." '^s it a fruit- 
 erer?" "No." '^s it a lawyer?" "No." 
 "Is it a chemist?" "Yes." This will look 
 rather mysterious to some of the company ; but 
 the thing is really simple enough. The questioner 
 merely arranged with his companion that the trade 
 thought of should follow a profession. 
 
10 HOME GAMES 
 
 Perhaps on the next occasion the company will 
 be asked to think of an article in the room. Let 
 us say that they fix on the clock. The questions 
 will then run something like this : — " You have to 
 name the article in this room which has been 
 thought of. Is it the piano?" ''No." ''Is it 
 the curtain-rod?" "No." "Is it the carpet?" 
 "No." "Is it the fireplace?" "No." "Is it 
 the sideboard ? " " No." " Is it the armchair ? " 
 " No." " Is it the clock ? " " Yes." This again 
 is bewildering ; but again the trick is very simple, 
 the questioner having arranged that the article 
 shall follow something that has four legs. 
 
 A third way is for an article to be touched and 
 for the thought-reader to be asked to name it. 
 "Is it this?" "Is it this?" "Is it this?" is 
 asked of one thing after another, the answer al- 
 ways being " No." " Is it that ? " " Yes." The 
 secret is that the article touched is always signi- 
 fied by " Is it that ? " But in this case, and in 
 that of the others already described, the effect of 
 mystification can be increased by arranging be- 
 forehand that the article in question shall not fol- 
 low the key phrase immediately, but, say, two 
 questions later. 
 
 A fourth way is for the questioner to begin 
 
HOME GAMES 71 
 
 each question in due order with a letter of the 
 French word for the article touched. Thus, if it 
 were the bell, he might say, " Come now, was it 
 the table?" "Zook, was it the armchair?" 
 " Or the piano ? " " Cbme now, was it this 
 book?" "^ow about this hearth-rug?" ^' En- 
 deavor to be quick, please. AVas it the clock?" 
 By this time " Cloche " has been spelled, so that 
 the next question is, " Was it the bell ? " " Yes." 
 
 NUMBEE GUESSING. TEIOK 1 
 
 Have any member of the company choose an 
 even number and secretly communicate it to all 
 the other players, except the guesser. Ask him 
 to multiply it by three, divide it in half, multiply 
 by three again, and then to tell hoAV many times 
 nine will go into it. Double the number which 
 he gives you as a reply to this question, and an- 
 nounce it as the original number. Example ; sup- 
 pose he took the number six. Multiplied by three 
 it is eighteen ; divided in half it is nine ; multiplied 
 again by three it is twenty-seven. He tells you 
 that nine will go into it three times. You double 
 the three and announce six as the original number. 
 
T2 HOME GAMES 
 
 NUMBEE GUESSING. TEICK 2 
 
 Have some one select a number and communicate 
 it secretly to the others. Ask him to double it, 
 add six to it, divide it in half, and take away the 
 number he first thought of. "When he has done 
 this, go through some apparently abstruse mental 
 calculations and announce that the original number 
 is three. Example ; assume that seven is the 
 original number. Doubled it is fourteen. Add 
 six, and you have twenty. Divide in halves and 
 it is ten. Subtract the original number, seven, 
 and three remains. 
 
 OBSEEYATION 
 
 The real name of this game may be something 
 else, but this title explains it. A small table is 
 covered with a variety of articles, to the extent 
 of some twenty or thirty. It is then covered with 
 a cloth and placed in the middle of the room. 
 The players stand round it and the cloth is re- 
 moved for a minute (or longer). During that time 
 the aim of each player is to note and remember as 
 many of the things as possible. The cloth is then 
 
 I 
 
 II 
 
HOME GAMES Y3 
 
 put on again and the players have five minutes in 
 which to write the fullest list they can of the ob- 
 jects seen. 
 
 DESCKIPTION 
 
 Several miscellaneous articles are placed on a 
 table, say a box of matches, a bag of marbles, or ball 
 of string, a large stone, a stick, a photograph, and 
 various coins Avith the date side turned down. 
 Each of the company is provided with a card on 
 which these articles are Avritten, and the object is 
 to guess as nearly as possible something about 
 each ; for instance, how many matches there are 
 in the box, how many marbles in the bag, the 
 length of the string, the weight of the stone, the 
 length of the stick, the age of the person in the 
 photograph, and the date of each coin. The right 
 answers are, of course, ascertained beforehand and 
 written on a card in the hostess's possession. 
 
 THE FIVE SCENTS 
 
 A more puzzling competition is to place a row 
 of five large bottles on the table, all numbered, at 
 the bottom of each of which is a small amount of 
 
74 HOME GAMES 
 
 liquid bearing a noticeable scent. Some may be 
 toilet scents, and others medicines or essences used 
 in cooking. A card numbered according to the 
 bottles is given to each player, and he is expected 
 to guess and write down each of the five scents. 
 He is not always able to do it. 
 
 THE TOPSY-TUKVY CONCEKT 
 
 As the whole value of this game depends upon 
 the surprise produced in the spectator, the prepara- 
 tions should be made with the utmost secrecy. 
 The performers, who should be of nearly the same 
 size, take their places behind a sheet stretched 
 across the room at the height of their chins. They 
 put stockings on their arms and boots on their 
 hands (or this may be done before they come into 
 the room), and stand looking over the sheet at the 
 company, with their hands and arms carefully 
 hidden. The concert begins by the singing of the 
 first verse of a song. Immediately the verse is 
 finished, the leader commands, " Over we go ! " 
 and the singers, with a grand bowing of heads, 
 as if turning somersaults, stoop down and thrust 
 up their arms, waving them about and producing 
 
HOME GAMES 75 
 
 the effect of a row of people standing on their 
 heads. The chorus is thus sung. Then they pull 
 down their arms and put up their heads again and 
 sing the next verse. 
 
 CHAKADES 
 
 " Charades " can be written in advance and care- 
 fully rehearsed, but in this book we are concerned 
 more nearly with those that are arranged a few 
 minutes (the fewer the better) before they are 
 performed. As a rule a word of two or three 
 syllables is chosen, the syllables are first acted, 
 then the whole word, and then the audience guess 
 what it was. Sometimes the word is brought in, 
 both in its complete form and in its syllables ; and 
 sometimes — and this is perhaps the better way — it 
 is acted. Thus, if the word were " Treason," one 
 way would be to make the acts themselves any- 
 thing that occurred to you, merely saying " Tree " 
 with some distinctness in the first; "Son" or 
 " Sun " in the second ; and " Treason " in the third. 
 The other and more interesting way would be to 
 make the first act relate to tree-felling or tree- 
 planting, the second to a son or the sun ; and the 
 third to some treasonable situation, such as, for 
 
Y6 HOME GAMES 
 
 example, the Gunpowder Plot or the killing of 
 Abraham Lincoln. On account of the time which 
 is occupied in preparing and acting it is better to 
 choose two-syllabled words — which, with the 
 whole word, make three scenes — than three- or 
 four-syllabled ones; although there are certain 
 four-syllabled words which split naturally into 
 two halves oi two syllables each. '' Parsimony,'' 
 for example, could be performed : Parsee, money, 
 parsimony. As a general rule the charades that 
 are arranged during the evening are better per- 
 formed in dumb show, with plenty of action, than 
 with any talking at all. Gestures are under the 
 circumstances so much easier than words and not 
 any less amusing. 
 
 PANTOMIMES 
 
 Very good fun can be had also from impromptu 
 pantomimes, where the performers enact some 
 story which every one knows, such as " Aladdin " 
 or " Eed Kiding Hood " or " Cinderella " ; or a 
 scene from history proper, or from village or family 
 history. The contrast between the splendor of 
 Cinderella's carriage in the story and the old per- 
 ambulator which has to serve in the charade onlv 
 
HOME GAMES 7Y 
 
 adds to the fun. Every one, being dumb, acts to 
 the utmost. It is sometimes more amusing if all 
 the parts are turned upside down and a boy plays 
 the heroine and a girl the hero. Where the scene 
 is too tremendous for any representation to be 
 given, it is best to meet the case frankly and use, 
 as they did in Shakespeare's day, written labels, 
 such as " This is Aladdin's Palace." 
 
 TIPSY LETTEES 
 
 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 tipsy spelling. For 
 instance, " butterfly " might be spelled thus, 
 " trelbyfut," and " Baltimore " thus " Moretilab." 
 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 
 
78 HOME GAMES ' 
 
 name of an animal. Or you might write " Pepper- 
 mint " thus, P t, and tell him it was the 
 
 name of a flavor. 
 
 MISMATED MUSIC 
 
 Much entertainment can be had from this most 
 ridiculous performance. It consists in very sol- 
 emnly singing the words of some nursery rhyme 
 or trivial ballad to the music of great dignity. 
 For example, " Mary had a Little Lamb " may be 
 quite effectively sung to the music of " The Battle 
 Cry of Freedom" — if you can keep your voices 
 steady and faces straight while you sing it. 
 
 THE ECCENTKIC COOK 
 
 The fun of this game depends on a fair propor- 
 tion of the players not being acquainted with it, 
 in which case they will be sure to lose small for- 
 tunes in forfeits before finding out the '' catch." 
 
 The leader begins, addressing the first player, 
 " I have a cook who doesn't like peas {p^s) ; what 
 will you give her for her dinner ? " The person 
 addressed, if acquainted with the secret, avoids 
 
HOME GAMES Y9 
 
 the letter jp in his answer, and, for example, says, 
 " I will give her some artichokes." • The question 
 is then asked of the second person, who, if unac- 
 quainted with the trick, is likely enough to offer 
 some delicacy which contains the letter^; e.g,^ 
 potatoes, asparagus, pork, apple-pie, pickled cab- 
 bage, prawns, etc., etc. When this occurs, the of- 
 fender is called upon to pay a forfeit, but the pre- 
 cise nature of his offense is not explained to him. 
 He is simply told, in answer to his expostulations, 
 that " the cook doesn't like^'^." When a sufficient 
 number of forfeits has been extracted, the secret 
 is revealed, and those who have not already 
 guessed it are aggravated by being reminded that 
 they were told over and over again that the cook 
 did not like p's^ and that if they Avould persist in 
 giving them to her, they must, of course, take the 
 consequences. 
 
 HE CAN DO LITTLE WHO CAN'T DO 
 THIS 
 
 This very simple little game holds a surprising 
 amount of amusement and can be played under 
 almost any condition and with but slight exer- 
 
80 HOME GAMES 
 
 tion. As a means of easing off from the more 
 violent games it fills a most useful niche. 
 
 The leader takes a stick (or poker) in his left 
 hand, thence transfers it to his right, and thumps 
 three times on the floor, saying, " He can do little 
 who can't do this." He then hands the stick to 
 another person, who, as he supposes, goes through 
 exactly the same performance, but, if he does not 
 know the game, is generally told, to his disgust, 
 that he has incurred a forfeit, his imitation not 
 having been exact. 
 
 The secret lies in the fact that the stick, when 
 passed on, is first received in the left hcmd, and 
 thence transferred to the right before going 
 through the thumping ceremony. An uninitiated 
 person almost always takes the stick in the right 
 hand at once. 
 
 THE BAENYAED CHOEUS 
 
 There is usually some one young man in the 
 company who is legitimate game for this innocent 
 trick. The leader states that he is about to give 
 each player privately the character of some do- 
 mestic animal, and that when he gives the signal 
 
HOME GAMES 81 
 
 — usually by dropping a handkerchief — each player 
 is to imitate the noise of his particular animal. He 
 advises that the louder this is done the finer ^vill be 
 the chorus. He then goes around the company and 
 whispers to each player. To all save the victim 
 he says, "Kemain perfectly silent." To the victim 
 he assigns the character of the useful but much 
 ridiculed donkey. This being done he gravely in- 
 quires, "Are you ready? Now then, all to- 
 gether ! " and drops the handkerchief. There en- 
 sues a solemn hush, amid which the voice of the 
 victim is uplifted in a mighty bray. 
 
 "BUFF SAYS BAFF" 
 
 This is a trial of gravity, any player failing to 
 keep his countenance while playing the principal 
 part incurring a forfeit. The rest of the company 
 of course do their best to excite his risible 
 muscles. 
 
 One of the players leaves the room armed with 
 the poker, and on reentering thumps the floor 
 three times. Another then asks him, "Whence 
 come you?" "From poor Buff, who is full of 
 grief." " What message did he send ? " The an- 
 swer to this is the following piece of doggerel, 
 
82 HOME GAMES 
 
 which must be delivered with imperturbable 
 gravity : 
 
 ^ ^ Buff said ^Baff/ 
 And gave me this staff, 
 And bade me uot laugh 
 Till I came to his house again/' 
 
 The rest of the company meanwhile do their 
 utmost, by absurd questions, etc., to upset the^ 
 player's gravity. If he remains proof, he con- 
 tinues : 
 
 ^' Buff says ' Baff ' to all his men, 
 And I say ' Baff ' to you again ; 
 But he neither laughs nor smiles. 
 In spite of all your cunning wiles, 
 But keeps his face with a very good grace, 
 And passes his staff to the very next pi ace. '^ 
 
 In the rare case of the player retaining his 
 gravity throughout these trying circumstances, he 
 is sometimes considered entitled to receive a for- 
 feit from those who have vainly tried to " break 
 him up." 
 
 DEFINITIONS 
 
 Each member of the party is provided with a 
 slip of card, on which lie is invited to write down 
 
HOME GAMES 83 
 
 a subject for definition. When all have done so, 
 the leader collects the cards, and reads out the 
 whole, when each person (furnished with pencil 
 and paper) is required to give his or her defini- 
 tion, original or otherwise, but the more fanciful 
 the better, of each of the subjects named. After 
 a proper interval, the papers are collected, and 
 the various definitions read aloud, much amuse- 
 ment being created by the very different views of 
 the same subject taken by different players. Thus 
 money may be defined as : 
 
 1. The root of all evil. 
 
 2. The only thing a man never has too much of. 
 
 3. The grease of the wheel of life. 
 
 4. Hard to get, hard to keep, and harder still 
 to part with. 
 
 Etc., Etc., Etc. 
 
 FOLLOWING THE FASHION 
 
 This is a modern version of the old " Game of 
 Contraries." The leader brings forward two hats ; 
 one he places on his own head, and hands the 
 other to one of the company, with whom he enters 
 into conversation. The person addressed must 
 
84 HOME GAMES 
 
 stand when the leader sits, and sit when he stands, 
 take off his hat when the leader puts on his, and 
 vice versa, A failure in any of these particulars 
 is punishable by a forfeit. The conversation may 
 be somewhat as follows : 
 
 Leader {standing and wearing his own hat). 
 Allow me to offer you a hat, sir. {Sits down) 
 
 Victim {standing ujp). I am much obliged to 
 you, but I already have one. 
 
 Leader. Scarcely so becoming as this one, I 
 think. But won't you try it on ? {Stands ttp^ 
 and Victim sits doion) Allow me to place it on 
 your head. 
 
 Victim. Not at present, thank you, though I 
 quite admit it is a very charming hat. 
 
 Leader {throwing himself into a chah\ and 
 fanning himself with his hat). Dear me, how 
 very hot the room is ! Pray don't rise on my 
 account. (Victim stands up^ hut omits to put on 
 his hat., whereby he incurs a forfeit^ and the leader 
 passes on to endeavor to entrap some other player.) 
 
 BUTTON, BUTTON 
 
 A children's guessing game. All except one 
 sit in a row or circle. The leader with a button 
 
HOME GAMES 85 
 
 between her palms, which are pressed close to- 
 gether, passes along the line. The other players 
 hold their hands likewise with palms pressed 
 close together, but permit the leader to pass her 
 closed hands between their palms. Into some one 
 pair of hands the leader drops the button, but 
 continues to pass on to the others as if the button 
 were still in her possession. When she thinks she 
 has gone far enough she stops, and asks, " Button, 
 Button, who's got the button ? " Then the seated 
 players guess which of their number has received 
 the button. The one who first gives the right 
 name becomes the leader. 
 
 COCK FIGHTING 
 
 This game is not so savage as its name im- 
 plies. Two boys of about equal size and strength 
 are selected for the combat. The ankles of each 
 are tied together with a cord or a strip of cloth, 
 and their wrists are bound with a handkerchief. 
 They are then seated upon the floor, their arms 
 hooked over their knees, and a stick of suitable 
 size passed between elbows and knees, so that 
 neither arms nor legs can be moved independently. 
 
 The couple are then placed upon the floor in 
 
86 HOME GAMES 
 
 the middle of the room, facing each other, with 
 toes just touching, and the combat begins. The 
 struggle is, with the aid of the toes and what- 
 ever power of motion may be left, to overturn the 
 opponent. Once turned over, the unfortunate 
 cock is as helpless as a turtle on its back. Fre- 
 quently the two go over at the same time, and the 
 struggle begins again. 
 
 DROP THE HANDKEECHIEF 
 
 The players stand in a circle facing inward, and 
 the leader passes around behind them with a 
 handkerchief in her hand. As she goes she re- 
 peats some appropriate rhyme or sings a nursery 
 song. Piano music is still better if available. 
 
 At a favorable moment she drops the handker- 
 chief behind one of the players who, immediately 
 upon discovering the handkerchief, must pick it 
 up and chase the leader. If, however, the leader 
 shall succeed in passing around the circle and tak- 
 ing possession of the place left vacant by the pur- 
 suing player, she is safe, and the other player has 
 to drop the handkerchief. Of course those in the 
 ring are continually on the lookout and ready to 
 pick the handkerchief up the instant it is dropped. 
 
HOME GAMES 87 
 
 LOOK AND LISTEN 
 This favorite game has been known by various 
 names but none seems so appropriate as "Look 
 and Listen." It is a children's game. One 
 player leaves the room while those remaining 
 hide some article within easy physical reach of 
 the finder. The absent child is then called in and 
 enters upon the search. As she approaches the 
 object sought she is told by some of the company 
 that she is " hot," and as she wanders in the wrong 
 direction she is informed that she is " cold." The 
 emphasis and manner in which this information is 
 imparted will guide her as to how very near or far 
 she may be from the article sought. When told 
 that she is " burning " she will understand that 
 her search is almost over. Instead of being 
 warned by speech the searcher is sometimes 
 guided by music ; the piano being played loudly 
 or softly as the searcher happens to be " hot " or 
 " cold." 
 
 CHAEACTEE 
 A recent variation of the character game is as 
 follows: Each guest is provided with a pencil 
 and a card bearing at the top the initials of some 
 
88 HOME GAMES 
 
 other guest. Below the initials are the usual 
 questions ; in this case, eight in number on the 
 usual topic — age, residence, occupation, tastes, etc. 
 The requirement is for each one to fill in the 
 answers to the questions with words beginning 
 with the initials at the top of the card. For 
 instance, ''M. E. S." are the initials. ''How old 
 are you ? " " Many earnest summers." " What is 
 your chief occupation ? " " Making endless 
 stitches." "- What are your recreations ? " " Mur- 
 der, eating and slander," etc. When all have an- 
 swered the questions the cards are collected and 
 redistributed, each person receiving his own 
 " character," which he is obliged to read aloud, 
 sometimes with an embarrassment enjoyed greatly 
 by the rest of the party. 
 
 DRAW YOUR PARTNER 
 Give each guest a name card, with the numbers 
 from one to six written upon it, a small pad of 
 paper and a pencil. The men are asked to select 
 partners for each number on their cards, and 
 when this is done, the host gives the signal for 
 the game to begin and announces the " partners " 
 may proceed to draw each other's faces upon the 
 pads of paper, each man depicting the charms of 
 
HOME GAMES 89 
 
 his vis-a-vis, and each woman doing likewise. At 
 the end of five minutes a bell gives the signal for 
 the men to seek their next partners, and the por- 
 traiture goes on. When all the partners have 
 been taken and all the portraits drawn, each portrait 
 being marked with the artist's initials and a num- 
 ber corresponding to the number the model oc- 
 cupies on each card, the collection is pinned to a 
 sheet or portiere, and the guests are invited to 
 guess whose likeness each drawing is meant to 
 represent. The one guessing the largest number 
 and the one who makes the best portrait are each 
 given a prize of a photograph. 
 
 A clever variation is to provide moulding clay 
 and ask each guest to mould a bust of his partner. 
 
 THE GAME OF GUESSAGE 
 
 Arrange a series of questions each of which may 
 be answered by a single word ending in ^' age." 
 Give out the questions, either already written or 
 to be written from dictation by each player. Then 
 fix a time limit and see how many can have all 
 the answers written opposite the proper question, 
 or who can have them all written first. "When 
 the time is up, the players will exchange papers, 
 
90 HOME GAMES 
 
 and the leader will read off the proper answers, 
 the holder of each paper ticking off the correct 
 guesses. Each paper should be signed by the 
 player who makes the guesses. The following 
 list is by way of illustration. 
 
 What is the age of a ship ? Voyage. 
 
 What is the age of a pocketbook ? Coinage. 
 
 What is the most musical age ? Bandage. 
 
 What age is necessary for a soldier ? Courage. 
 
 What is a railroad's age ? Mileage. 
 
 What is the earliest age to express ? Package. 
 
 What age is always a head ? Cabbage. 
 
 What's Uncle Sam's age ? Postage. 
 
 What age does the ostrich attain ? Plumage. 
 
 What age do single people never reach ? Mar-^ 
 riage. 
 
 What age does a lady prefer ? Manage. 
 
 What's the best age for a horse ? Carriage. 
 
 What is said to be a mean age ? Damage. 
 
 What age should a king have ? Homage. 
 
 What age is always before us ? Dotage. 
 
 FLOWEE GAME FOE MAY PAETY 
 
 In the country, or in any place where flowers 
 are plentiful, it is always fun to have a May 
 
HOME GAMES 91 
 
 party some time during the month. Have in 
 readiness duplicates of different flowers, two Jack- 
 in-the-pulpits, two bunches of dandelions, two of 
 marsh marigolds, two bunches of dogwood, two 
 each blue, yellow and white violets, or nosegays of 
 each, two bunches of buttercups, and so on, having 
 as many varieties as guests. As the young folk 
 arrive, let the boys draw from one basket which 
 holds a bunch of every kind of flower and the 
 girls from another basket holding duplicates. 
 When all have been supplied let each boy find his 
 partner. She will hold flowers that match blos- 
 soms he holds. After ten or fifteen minutes' con- 
 ference each couple names the flower and gives a 
 quotation concerning it, also the author of the 
 verse, or each couple must sing a verse of some 
 song referring to that special flower or make a 
 verse or little story about the bloom. With two 
 heads to plan, they can usually do some clever 
 work. 
 
 BLOWING BUBBLES 
 
 Provide a large table, covering it Avith a rubber 
 sheet so it may not be damaged by soapy water. 
 Blowing materials for each guest should include 
 
92 HOME GAMES 
 
 bowls of soapy water, allowing one for every two 
 players, who work in pairs, a clay pipe for each 
 with a few extras to allow for breakages, one or 
 two straws, a funnel and a ring made by twisting 
 a piece of thin wire around a bottle. With these 
 aids to clever blowing all sorts of tricks can be 
 devised. Of course, the soap suds is the first con- 
 sideration. A good soap bubble liquid is made by 
 allowing to each pint of water one gill of glycer- 
 in^ and an ounce of white Castile soap. This 
 should be thoroughly mixed and allowed to dis- 
 solve and settle. Then the liquid can be reduced 
 as required, using more w^ater. Among the tricks 
 that can be played with soap bubbles are the 
 following: Poached Egg — Pour a thin film of 
 the soapy solution upon a sheet of glass, dip a 
 straw and blow upon the glass a good sized 
 hemispherical bubble. Next, according to direc- 
 tions, a man blower takes a pull at his pipe or 
 cigarette while the straw is being redipped and 
 the second bubble blown within the first, the 
 second being inflated with smoke instead of air. 
 The result is a white, solid looking hemisphere with- 
 in an envelope glittering with all the colors of the 
 rainbow. Other tricks include blowing a bubble 
 in the air, then catching it with two rings of 
 
HOME GAMES 93 
 
 soaped wire, pulling the bubble over a flower by 
 placing the flower in a saucer containing some of 
 the soap solution. Over the flower place a funnel 
 and blow down the tube, meanwhile beginning to 
 gradually raise the funnel. As soon as a large 
 bubble is formed, disengage it from the funnel by 
 carefully turning the latter at right angles, mean- 
 time applying the finger to the opening of the 
 tube to prevent the escape of air. Prizes may be 
 provided for the best bubbles blown and for the 
 worst. 
 
 HIDE AND SEEK 
 
 This game is played from a base. One player 
 remains at the base with his eyes covered while 
 he counts the specified number — usually fifty or 
 one hundred — by fives, calling out five, ten, fif- 
 teen, twenty, etc. While he is counting the other 
 players hide themselves as securely as they can, 
 and, incidentally, as near as possible to th6 base. 
 When the count is completed, the player at the 
 base — known in the game as "It" — calls out, 
 " Ready," and sets forth in search of his compan- 
 ions. The effort of the hidden players is to reach 
 
94 HOME GAMES 
 
 the base ahead of '' It," and his effort is to discover 
 the other players, one after the other, and return 
 to the base in time to announce, " One, two, three, 
 
 for " (the discovered player) before the latter 
 
 can himself reach the base. If, however, the out- 
 side player, by stealth or swiftness, reaches the 
 base first and cries, '' One, two, three, I'm in free," 
 he is " not caught." If the player who is " It " 
 shall discover one of the hiders but shall call him ' 
 by the wrong name, it does not count as a catch. 
 When the player who is " It " has caught one of 
 the others, the two exchange places and the game 
 begins again. 
 
 LONDON BEIDGE 
 
 Another of the always popular games. Two of 
 the older players form an arch by standing op- 
 posite to each other with interlocked fingers and 
 uplifted hands. Beneath this arch, representing 
 London Bridge, all the other children pass with 
 bowed heads and hasty steps, each clutching the 
 garment of the one just ahead, and all nervously 
 anxious to get across the bridge before the inevi- 
 table disaster. While this procession is in motion 
 all sing the accompanying song : 
 
HOME GAMES 95 
 
 London bridge is falling down, 
 Falling down, falling down, 
 London bridge is falling down, 
 My fair lady ! 
 
 YouH^e stole my watch and kept my keys, 
 
 My fair lady ! 
 Off to prison you must go, 
 
 My fair lady ! 
 Take the key and lock her up. 
 
 My fair lady ! 
 
 With the conclusion of this .ominous verse the 
 bridge falls and somebody is caught. The pris- 
 oner is led at once to the spot representing the 
 prison and is given the alternative of being either 
 a swan or a goose— sometimes it's a rose, or a cab- 
 bage, or other more desirable choice — and, accord- 
 ing to the answer, is added to one or other of two 
 groups of prisoners. When all have been caught 
 these groups, forming in opposite lines, each 
 player holding on to the one in front, finish the 
 game with a " Tug of War." 
 
 HOW OATS AND BEANS AND BAELEY 
 GEOW 
 
 All but one of the children stand in a circle 
 with the remaining player in the center. Those 
 
96 HOME GAMES 
 
 in the circle dance around their companion sing- 
 ing the verses : 
 
 Oats and beans and barley O ! 
 
 Do you or I or any one know 
 
 How oats and beans and barley grow? 
 
 First the farmer sows his seed, 
 Then he stands and takes his ease, 
 Stamps his foot, and claps his hands. 
 And turns him round to view his- land. 
 
 Oats and beans and barley O ! 
 
 Waiting for a partner, waiting for a partner. 
 
 Open the ring and send one in. 
 
 Oats and beans and barley O ! 
 
 So now you're married you must obey, 
 You must be true to all you say, 
 You must be kind, you must be good, 
 And help your wife to chop the wood. 
 Oats and beans and barley O ! 
 
 With the beginning of the song the children 
 dance or sway their bodies in harmony with the air, 
 but at the fourth line, '' First the farmer sows his 
 seed," they stop dancing and imitate the motions 
 of sowing grain by the swinging of their hands. 
 Then, still singing, they stand for a moment, then 
 stamp their feet and clap their hands and, in ac- 
 
HOME GAMES 97 
 
 cordance with the words, turn quickly about. 
 With the beginning of the third verse they again 
 dance and clap their hands and, at the words, 
 " Open the ring and send one in," the child in the 
 center selects her partner from the circle and the 
 one chosen joins her in the center. These two 
 stand together while the final verse is being sung, 
 when the child who was first in the ring joins the 
 circle and the game begins again. 
 
 CAT AND MOUSE 
 
 All but two of the players join hands and form 
 a circle. Inside of this circle is the frightened 
 mouse, and outside is the hungry cat. Those 
 forming the circle dance around, occasionally rais- 
 ing their arms and giving the cat and mouse an 
 opportunity to see each other. The cat is always 
 seeking a chance to dash into the circle after his 
 prey, and the mouse is alwaj^s' ready to escape in 
 the opposite direction. Public sympathy is all 
 with the mouse, and her efforts to escape are 
 aided so far as may be possible without breaking 
 the circle. When the cat is in the circle, the 
 players lower their arms to keep him prisoner. 
 
98 HOME GAMES 
 
 The cat, realizing the situation, walks meekly 
 around crying " mew '' and even attempting to 
 purr reassuringly. Nevertheless he requires 
 watching. When he sees what seems to be a 
 weak place in the circle he suddenly changes his 
 tune and with a spitting and scratching which 
 may easily alarm some timid link in the chain, 
 endeavors to break out after the mouse. 
 
 When the cat gets out, of course, the mouse 
 gets in again. If the cat is so close in pursuit 
 that he enters the ring within reach of the fleeing 
 mouse, or if he actually catches the mouse out- 
 side of the ring, the mouse owes a forfeit. These 
 two players then give way to another pair. 
 
 CHANGE SEATS, THE KING HAS COME 
 
 This is another of those games which are in the 
 nature of experiments upon the human nerves. 
 All but one of the players are seated. This one 
 begins to tell a story into which he soon in- 
 terpolates the words " Change seats." To this 
 command no one should pay the least attention, 
 but when there is added the positive declaration 
 that " the King has come," all must change seats* 
 
HOME GAMES 99 
 
 In the confusion of the exchange the player in the 
 center endeavors to drop into one of the vacant 
 chairs. Of course somebody is left out, and be- 
 comes the story-teller. The speaker is very likely 
 to make various statements as to the King's move- 
 ments which some too hasty listener may mis- 
 understand as the proclamation of the sovereign's 
 arrival. If, upon such misunderstanding, he 
 abandons his chair, he may lose it. Nothing but 
 the direct statement that " the King has come " 
 justifies flight. 
 
 DUCK UNDEK WATEE 
 
 The children stand in two opposite rows, girls 
 opposite boys, if their numbers are equal. Each 
 couple hold hands after the manner of London 
 Bridge, or better still, hold a handkerchief be- 
 tween them as high as their heads. The couple 
 at the head of the line pass down through these 
 arches still holding the handkerchief between 
 them, and are immediately followed by the next 
 couple, and so on. The effort is to keep the march 
 in rapid motion without breaking the arches, or 
 letting go of the handkerchiefs held by the mov- 
 
100 HOME GAMES 
 
 ing couples. Any player Avho loses his hold has 
 to pay a forfeit. Music adds much to the interest 
 of the march. 
 
 THE GARDENER 
 
 The leader of this pretty little game is called 
 the Gardener. All the others gather about him 
 in chairs while he tells how he obtained his rare 
 flowers from the woods and marshes and planted 
 and tended them until he has made a beautiful 
 garden. Before doing this, however, he bestows 
 the name of one of his flowers upon each of the 
 players. Whenever, in the course of his story, 
 the gardener mentions the name of either of his 
 flowers the person bearing that name must 
 promptly rise from his chair, turn once around, 
 and sit down again. Any one failing in thus 
 honoring the flower whose name he has adopted 
 must pay a forfeit. The effort of the gardener is 
 to make his story so engrossing — perhaps by the 
 occasional introduction of an adventure of some 
 sort — that his hearers shall forget to respond to 
 their names. Whenever the gardener mentions a 
 bouquet, all mu^,t rise and exchange seats. At 
 this, the gardener attempts to appropriate one of 
 
HOME GAMES 101 
 
 the vacant chairs. If he succeeds the office of 
 gardener passes to the player who is left standing 
 when the exchange has been completed. If the 
 children are old enough to warrant the liberty, 
 the interest of the game may be increased by per- 
 mitting the gardener, when he chooses, to refer 
 to a flower by its botanical name, or by some 
 other popular name than that assigned the player. 
 
 ILLUSTEATED PKOYEKBS 
 
 Each card contains in one line at the top a given 
 proverb, e, ^., " Faint heart never won fair lady," 
 and in a medallion in the center is inscribed one 
 icord of the same proverb. Thus there will be in 
 the pack six cards, each inscribed with the above 
 proverb, and with one of the words Faint — Heart 
 — Never — Won— Fair— Lady— in addition. There 
 are twelve proverbs in the pack, the first card of 
 each bearing a comic illustration. The rules ap- 
 pended to the game are as follows : 
 
 The Twelve Proverbs, or a portion of them, are 
 shuffled and dealt out to the players in rotation. 
 The player on the left hand of the dealer com- 
 mences the play by asking any other player for a 
 
102 HOME GAMES 
 
 card of any proverb of which he holds one or more 
 in his hand. If he obtains it, he may continue 
 asking until he asks for a card which the player 
 asked does not hold ; the right of asking is then 
 transferred to him, and he in the same way con- 
 tinues to ask, till in like manner disqualified. 
 When any player has obtained all the cards of a 
 set forming the complete proverb, he turns them 
 down on the table. The player who first com- 
 pletes all the proverbs of which he holds cards at 
 the commencement of the game, or of which any 
 cards remain to him as the game progresses, wins. 
 No player is allowed to ask for a card of any 
 proverb of which he does not already hold one or 
 more words in his hand. 
 
 MIXED PICKLES 
 
 This is a game of the " Consequences " order, 
 the fun depending upon the combination of in- 
 congruous ideas. The pack consists of slips of 
 card of three different colors — red, white, and 
 blue. Each of the red cards contains the begin- 
 ning, each of the Avhite ones the middle, and each 
 of the blue ones the end, of a sentence. The 
 cards are turned up haphazard, but in the regular 
 
HOME GAMES 103 
 
 order as to color, namely : — red, white and blue, 
 successively. Thus we have, taking specimens at 
 random : 
 
 " Nothing is made by — hunting buffaloes — in a 
 tub." 
 
 " I'm the person for — jumping Jim Crow — in a 
 wherry." 
 
 " Nothing compares with — innocent amusement 
 — behind a hen-house." 
 
 /'Do you think it's right — taking time by the 
 forelock — under a bridge ? " 
 
 " Isn't it dreadful — kissing a weasel — to please 
 the children ? " 
 
 " Do not neglect— standing on your head — when 
 it's raining." 
 
 " There's no use in — drinking cold water — if no 
 one objects." 
 
 ''I'm always ready for — throwing brickbats— 
 these hard times." 
 
 BELL AND HAMMER 
 
 This is a German game in which a " White 
 Horse" plays a prominent part. The require- 
 ments are as follows : 
 
 1. Five cards, on which respectively are drawn 
 
104 HOME GAMES 
 
 figures of a White Horse, an Inn, a Bell, a Ham- 
 mer and a Bell and Hammer together. 
 
 2. Eight little ivory dice, marked on one side 
 only, six of them bearing the nmnbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 
 5, 6, and one with a bell and one with a hammer. 
 
 3. A dice-box. 
 
 4. A miniature auctioneer's hammer, for dis- 
 posing of the cards by auction. 
 
 5. A supply of counters. 
 
 Any number of persons may play. One of them 
 takes the office of Cashier. When the value of 
 the counters has been settled and the counters 
 themselves have been distributed, twelve of them 
 are deposited by each player in the pool. The 
 Cashier then disposes of the five cards by auction, 
 selling them separately and using his persuasive 
 powers to obtain the best prices possible. The 
 fund thus obtained also goes into the pool. The 
 White Horse is by far the most valuable card, 
 and therefore always fetches the highest price. 
 The Inn ranks next, but its value is somewhat un- 
 certain. The Bell and the Hammer generally 
 fe^tch about the same number of counters, being 
 regarded as equally valuable, and the card upon 
 which both Bell and Hammer are painted is reck- 
 oned at about half the value of one of the single 
 
HOME GAMES 105 
 
 figures. The bidders are not bound to limit them- 
 selves to the number of counters dealt out to them 
 at the beginning of the game ; should they exceed 
 it, they pay the remainder of the debt either at 
 once, in money, according to the agreed price of 
 the counters, or out of their winnings in the course 
 of the game. 
 
 Each person is at liberty to purchase one or more 
 cards, as he may think proper ; but the game is not 
 limited to those who have purchased cards. 
 
 The dice are thrown by the players alternately, 
 beginning with the holder of the White Horse, any 
 one being allowed to dispose of his throw to the 
 highest bidder. When all blanks are thrown, each 
 of the players pays one to the holder of the White 
 Horse, and the White Horse pays one to the Inn. 
 If, with the blanks, the Bell, or Hammer, or the 
 Bell and Hammer together is thrown, the possessor 
 of the card so thrown pays one to the White 
 Horse. 
 
 When numbers are thrown in conjunction with 
 the Bell, Hammer, or Bell and Hammer, the cash- 
 ier pays counters, to the amount of the numbers 
 thrown, to the holder of such card, from the pool ; 
 but if numbers are thrown unaccompanied, the 
 cashier then pays to the thrower. 
 
106 HOME GAMES 
 
 When the pool is nearly empty, there arises an 
 advantage to the Inn; for if a player throws a 
 figure greater than the quantity contained in the 
 pool, he must pay the difference to the Inn : thus, 
 supposing there are but three counters in the pool, 
 and the player throws eight, he is to pay five to 
 the Inn ; but if two is thrown, two are paid to 
 him from the pool, and so on till a figure is 
 thrown which clears the pool, and so concludes 
 the game. 
 
 If all blanks are thrown after the Inn begins to 
 receive, the players pay nothing, but the owner of 
 the White Horse pays one to the Inn ; and should 
 the Bell, etc., be thrown with all blanks, the 
 holder of that card pays one to the Inn ; but if 
 numbers accompany the Bell, etc., the holder of 
 that card must pay to the Inn the number thrown 
 above those remaining in the pool. 
 
 MATCH AND CATCH 
 
 This game is played with a pack of cards similar 
 in character to those used in Snap. They are dealt 
 face downward in the usual way, the first player 
 turning up one card, and the others following his 
 example in regular succession. The first person 
 
HOME GAMES 107 
 
 who turns up a card identical in subject with that 
 of the first player is said to match and catch; 
 that is, he matches that particular card and 
 thereby catches not only that card, but all cards 
 then exposed on the table. These he adds to his 
 own heap and, becoming the leader, turns up 
 another card for the other players to match if 
 possible. The player who succeeds in getting all 
 the cards into his own hand wins the game. 
 
 THE SOYEKEIGNS OF ENGLAND 
 
 This is one of those games which are sometimes 
 described as combining amusement with instruc- 
 tion. Lest this may prejudice some against a 
 really good game, we hasten to say that the 
 amount of instruction to be derived from it will 
 not be found burdensome. The game is played 
 with a pack of cards, on each of which is the rep- 
 resentation of one of the sovereigns of England, 
 each in appropriate costume, and with his or her 
 name and the date of accession to the throne 
 plainly inscribed beneath. An additional card, 
 known as the " Game Card," has, instead of a 
 portrait, a representation of the royal arms. If 
 such a deck is not easily accessible, one may be 
 
108 HOME GAMES 
 
 easily manufactured by writing the information 
 upon a set of blank cards and omitting the por- 
 traits. 
 
 Each player, of whom there may be any num- 
 ber above three, is provided with a given number 
 of counters. There are two 'Spools," known 'as 
 the " large " pool and the ''' Game " pool. Previ- 
 ous to every deal, each person puts one counter 
 in the large pool, and the dealer three in the 
 '' Game " pool. The cards are then shuffled and 
 dealt round face downward, the last being left 
 also face downward on the table. 
 
 The object of the game is twofold — (1) to hold 
 the Game Card, and (2) to hold in the player's 
 hand none but sovereigns in consecutive order. 
 
 The first player, i. e,, the one on the left of the 
 dealer, lays on the table, face downward, any 
 card of his hand he pleases, and takes in the single 
 card in its place. The second player then in like 
 manner discards one card, and takes in that which 
 was discarded by the last player. The game pro- 
 ceeds in like manner until one or other of the 
 players holds none but consecutive sovereigns, 
 when he shows his hand, and takes the large pool. 
 If he also chances to have the Game Card, he 
 takes the ''Game" pool in addition. If any 
 
HOME GAMES 109 
 
 player by mistake shows his hand as consisting of 
 consecutive sovereigns, and proves to be at fault 
 in his English history, he forfeits three counters 
 to the large pool. We should add, however, for 
 the encouragement of the overmodest that there 
 is really no excuse for such a disaster, inasmuch 
 as two or three printed lists of Kings and Queens 
 of England are supplied with the cards, and lie on 
 the table for ready reference. 
 
 PUMBLECHOOK 
 
 This is played with a pack of cards each of 
 which contains the figure of some bird or animal, 
 and beneath it a sentence of the multiplication 
 table. There are some forty or fifty of these 
 cards. Each of them is cut in two down the 
 center so that a portion of the figures is upon 
 one fragment and a portion upon the other, as fol- 
 lows : " 9 times 6 " — " 54," the multiplication ap- 
 pearing upon one half, and the result (54) upon 
 the other. 
 
 Each player is supplied with (say) two dozen 
 counters, and contributes three of them to form a 
 pool. The first halves of the cards, containing 
 the questions, are scattered in the center of the 
 
110 HOME GAMES 
 
 table, face downward; the remaining halves of 
 the cards are dealt to the players in rotation, each 
 player then taking up his cards and sorting them 
 into consecutive order, so as to see readily what 
 numbers he holds. The player to the left of the 
 dealer then draws one of the cards from the center 
 of the table, and reads aloud the question, e, g.^ 
 " five times five ? " upon it. The player holding 
 the answer (twenty-five) among his cards is enti- 
 tled to " take " the question card, and places the 
 two halves, forming a complete picture, as a 
 "trick," by his side. The winner of the trick 
 then draws a card from the center of the table, 
 and in like manner calls aloud the question upon 
 it ; and so the game continues until one of the 
 players has paired all his cards, and thereby be- 
 comes the winner of the pool. Any player 
 wrongfully claiming a card forfeits three counters 
 to the pool. The player who is second to the 
 winner saves or receives back his original stake. 
 
 CAT 
 
 The cat stands outside of the door of the room 
 within which the rest of the players are gathered. 
 One after the other the players approach the door 
 
HOME GAMES 111 
 
 and utter a " miaou," plaintive or defiant, as the 
 case may be. If the cat recognizes the voice and 
 gives the correct name he is permitted to enter 
 the room, while the player who has been discov- 
 ered becomes the cat. If the cat fails to identify 
 the feline voice he is vigorously hissed and pelted 
 with imaginary bootjacks, hair brushes, and so 
 forth — so far as such violence can be verbally be- 
 stowed. 
 
 THE HUNTER 
 
 The players, except the leader, who is called 
 the hunter, are seated about the room. Each is 
 given the name of some article of a hunter's out- 
 fit, such as "Cartridge," "Powder," "Knife," 
 " Belt," " Stock " and so forth. The hunter pre- 
 pares to set out upon a gunning expedition and, 
 one after the other, calls for his equipment. As 
 each article is named the player bearing the name 
 rises and forms in line behind the hunter, each 
 player holding on to the one in advance. When all 
 is ready the hunter sets out, followed of course by 
 the entire line. For a time he moves slowly 
 about the room, but presently at the sign of game 
 he becomes excited and increases his speed. Sud- 
 
112 HOME GAMES 
 
 denly he comes upon Ms game and exclaims 
 " Bang," whereupon the line instantly breaks up 
 and everybody attempts to reach a chair. As, 
 however, there is one fewer chairs than players, 
 somebody is left standing. This unfortunate in- 
 dividual must pay a forfeit. The hunter is not 
 changed throughout the game. 
 
 HOLDING THE HA^^DKEECHIEF 
 
 Groups of three or four players hold a hand- 
 kerchief spread out betAveen them. Another 
 player, who is not holding a handkerchief, issues 
 rapid commands such as " Hold tight, there," 
 " Drop it," " Hold fast, everybody," and such 
 variations of these orders as he may improvise. 
 His commands must, however, be perfectly defi- 
 nite, so that the players can have no doubt as to 
 their meaning. The duty of those holding the 
 handkerchiefs is to do exactly the opposite from 
 the command, dropping the handkerchief when 
 directed to hold it, and holding it tight when told 
 to let go. By increasing the speed and varying 
 the emphasis of his orders the leader will, sooner 
 or later, catch even the more careful players. 
 Each player who fails to disobey the commands 
 
HOME GAMES 113 
 
 of the leader drops out of the game, until only- 
 one remams. This one becomes the new leader- 
 
 INDUSTRY 
 
 This game increases in difficulty as it proceeds^ 
 but there is much amusement in the experiment. 
 The players are seated about the room. One of 
 them begins to hammer on his knee with his 
 right hand, after the manner of the cobbler. At 
 the same time he inquires aloud of ^his neighbor 
 to the left : " Why don't you work as 1 do ? " 
 " How do you work ? " inquires the neighbor. 
 "I work with one," is the reply. The second 
 player then begins to hammer on his knee with 
 his right hand, and addresses the same question 
 to his next neighbor to the left. So the question 
 and the occupation passes around the room until 
 everybody is hammering with his right hand on 
 his knee. Then the process is repeated except 
 that the answer is " I work with two " and the 
 players hammer with both hands upon both knees. 
 Then the answer is " With three," and the player 
 begins some motion with his right foot, meantime 
 keeping up the movement with both hands. 
 This process goes on until both hands, both feet 
 
114 HOi\lE GAMES 
 
 and the head are kept in motion. The winner is 
 the one who can keep this up the longest. 
 
 THE GAME OF THE BLIND POSTMAN 
 
 The game of the blind postman is one especially 
 adapted for a large party. It is played as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 The postman is selected by lot, while the post- 
 master-general either volunteers his services, or he 
 is elected by the company. The person on whom 
 the unwished-for honor of enacting postman falls 
 (it may be either a lady or a gentleman) is blind- 
 folded ; the remainder of the company meanwhile 
 seating themselves round the room. The number 
 of chairs is limited, so that there shall be one less 
 than the number of players. The postmaster- 
 general then writes the names of certain cities 
 and towns on slips of paper, giving one to each 
 person, so that they may remember by what name 
 they are to answer. Should there be but few 
 players, the names can be given orally. The 
 postman is placed in the center of the room, and 
 the postmaster-general takes up a position from 
 which he can address the entire company. He 
 commences the game by calling out " Philadel- 
 
HOME GAMES 115 
 
 phia to Boston " (or any other places which he 
 may select). The players bearing these names 
 must instantly rise, and endeavor to change seats 
 with each other ; while the postman tries to cap- 
 ture one of them before they accomplish the 
 change. Should he succeed he removes the band- 
 age from his eyes, and takes the chair which his 
 captive has vacated, while the latter is blindfolded 
 and becomes postman in turn. Forfeits are in- 
 curred by those who do not spring to their feet 
 and endeavor to change seats with the town or 
 city whose name is called in connection with their 
 own. Forfeits are also demanded of those who, 
 in their hurry to be in time, answ^er when their 
 name has not been called. The confusion caused 
 by these contretemjps places many chances in the 
 postman's favor, because he has the right to cap- 
 ture any player who attempts to cross the room. 
 The postmaster-general may hold his appointment 
 till the end of the game, but if he tires of his 
 honors he may resign. 
 
 GUESS MY BUSINESS 
 
 A very simple and excellent game for young 
 children. One player goes out. The others de- 
 
116 HOME GAMES 
 
 cide on some workman to represent, each pretend- 
 ing to do some different task belonging to his 
 employment. Thus, if they choose a carpenter, 
 one will plane, one will saw, one will hammer, 
 one will chisel, and so on. Their occupation has 
 then to be guessed. It is perhaps more interest- 
 ing if each player chooses a separate trade. 
 
 CHOPPED POETEY 
 
 This may be played in two ways, or alternately 
 in both. It consists in writing in a column the 
 two or three last words of some short poem, or 
 poems, distributing the lists among the players, 
 and having them compete in restoring the poems. 
 The one who first produces the completed poem 
 is the victor. If prizes are offered there might 
 well be a second and third prize for the second 
 and third of the successful players. Or the game 
 may be pla3^ed by writing the first half of each 
 line of the poem and requiring the players to sup- 
 ply the missing words. To render the game most 
 interesting the poems chosen should neither be 
 too familiar nor too unusual. Many of the more 
 familiar church hymns would do good service in 
 
HOME GAMES 117 
 
 this game, which possesses the literary merit of 
 tending to familiarize the players with the poems 
 of his language. With a very little trouble a 
 hostess could prepare a permanent set of cards 
 for this game covering the best of the short Eng- 
 lish poems. These would have a distinct educa- 
 tional value, for poems learned in this way would 
 probably be retained by the memory. 
 
 THE OLD SOLDIER 
 
 One of the party is appointed director, and 
 makes the following announcement : " A very 
 poor and deserving Old Soldier needs our assist- 
 ance. His clothes are worn out and his shoes are 
 soleless. I am going to appeal to you to contrib- 
 ute such articles of clothing as you can to make 
 him comfortable." Then beginning with the 
 player on his right hand, he adds, " And now, sir 
 (or miss), what will you please to bestow on my 
 poor Old Soldier ? " 
 
 [Each of the company is, in turn, to propose 
 to give him some article of dress. No two per- 
 sons can give the same article, and the words yes, 
 no, Hack, and white, are strictly forbidden to be 
 
118 HOME GAMES 
 
 1 
 
 used by any other than the director. For every j 
 act of forgetfulness a forfeit is incurred.] 
 
 The following examples will show the manner 
 in which the game should be conducted. 
 
 DiRECTOK. Well, Emily, what do you propose 
 giving our poor Old Soldier ? 
 
 Emily. I will give him a coat. ! 
 
 DiR. Of what color do you intend it ? 
 
 Emily. Scarlet, I presume, will be most ac- 
 ceptable, m, 
 
 DiR. Do you not think blue preferable ? ^' 
 
 Emily. Had I thought so, I should have 
 named that color. 
 
 DiR. Well, then, with what color shall the 
 coat be trimmed ? 
 
 Emily. With yellow, if you please. 
 
 DiR. White is the neatest ; do pray let it be 
 trimmed with white. 
 
 Emily. Since you are so partial to — ^that color, 
 let it be so. 
 
 Charles. A hair-breadth escape that, upon 
 my word. 
 
 DiR. Shall the buttons point out his regi- 
 ment? 
 
 Emily. I think it would be proper for them 
 to do so. 
 
» 
 
 I 
 
 HOME GAMES 119 
 
 Die. Did you say you approved of it ? 
 
 Emily. Yes ; surely you cannot hear. 
 
 Charles. Bravo ! Excellent ! A forfeit at 
 last. 
 
 Die. We have, at last, completed a coat for 
 the Old Soldier. I must now see w^ho else will 
 give something; Fanny, what can you furnish 
 him ? 
 
 Fanky. I will give him a pair of shoes. 
 
 Die. Of what color ? 
 
 Fanny. You provoking creature, you have 
 puzzled me already. Oh ! as to color, he may 
 have his choice; I dare say he will prefer the 
 color in common use. 
 
 Die. Perhaps, Edward, you will give a pair of 
 stockings ? 
 
 Edwaed. Certainly, I shall be very glad to 
 do so. 
 
 Die. Shall they be white, black or blue ? 
 
 Edwaed. Black is the most serviceable. 
 
 Die. Undoubtedly. And it's a pity you have 
 to pay a forfeit for saying so. 
 
 In this way the director appeals to each in turn, 
 increasing the emphasis of his requests and varying 
 his speech to take the players off their guard and 
 tempt them to use one or other of the fatal words. 
 
120 HOME GAMES 
 
 THE STAGE COACH 
 
 The dramatis personoQ must represent all the be- 
 longings of a Stage Coach, such as the horses, the 
 driver, the whip, the guard, his horn, the fat old 
 lady inside-passenger, the thin old gentleman ditto, 
 the highwayman ; every player taking the name 
 of one of these, or holding him or herself prepared 
 to acknowledge the ownership, and to act up to 
 it. The conductor of the game commences telling 
 a story about a stage coach, and, in the course of] 
 the narrative, which should be as thrilling as thej 
 narrator can make it, mention will naturally bej 
 made of the horses, the coach, the guard, the high-* 
 wayman, etc. Say that Jack represents the bold,! 
 horse-riding robber; when the story-teller men-l 
 tions the word '^ highwayman," Jack must rise! 
 from his chair, turn round once, and sit downj 
 again. William, who answers as ''guard," doe^ 
 the same when '' guard " is mentioned ; and , sc 
 does Tom, Bob, and Harry, let them be horses, orl 
 inside-passengers, or what they will. We give! 
 some idea of how the story should be Wound up : 
 " Well, just as they were bowling over Hangtown 
 Pike, and the Guard was blowing his Horn^ there 
 suddenly darted from a clump of trees a man on 
 
P HOME GAMES 121 
 
 horseback. It was goggle-eyed Dick, the High' 
 wayman, ' Your money, or your lives ! ' said he, 
 in a voice of thunder, whereon the Coachman 
 reined in his Horses^ and the Gioard^ dropping his 
 Ilorn^ took from the hind boot of the Coach a 
 horse-pistol and cocked it, while the Thin inside- 
 passenger and the Fat old lady shrieked in alarm, 
 the one to the Coachman to Whip his Horses^ the 
 other to the Guard either to blow the Highway- 
 marl's brains out, or knock him off his horse with 
 his Horn^ causing the Coach to trem ble so violently 
 that its Axle-tree gave way, and down it came, 
 burying the Ilighioayman in its ruins ; but not at 
 all hurting either the Thin or the Fat Passenger^ 
 or the Guards or the Coachman / the only damage 
 done being the breaking of the Coachman^ s Whi2y^ 
 and the smashing of the Guard'' s Horn, And all 
 damage being repaired, the safe arrival at its 
 destination was announced of the old Stage 
 Coach, "^^ 
 
 I 
 
 THE GAME OF ONE SYLLABLE 
 
 To conduct this game in a. proper manner, the 
 company should be seated in a circle, a lady and 
 gentleman alternately. A lady begins by propos- 
 
122 HOME GAMES 
 
 ing a question to her right-hand neighbor, to 
 which he must reply by a word of one syllable^ or 
 he incurs a forfeit for each extra syllable. 
 
 1st Lady. Permit me, sir, to ask if you love 
 music ? 
 
 1st Gent. Yes. {He then questions the lady 
 on his right.) Pray, madam, what wood do you 
 think the best for making loggerheads ? 
 
 2d Lady. Oak. Pray, sir, who thinks him- 
 self the best and cleverest man in the world ? 
 
 2d Gent. I. Tell me, Mary, do you like cold 
 weather ? 
 
 3d Lady. No. What kind of people do you 
 think prosper most in the world ? 
 
 3d Gent. Fools. Have you much of the flint 
 in your composition ? 
 
 4th Lady. None. Pray, sir, are you not 
 romantic ? 
 
 4th Gent. Yes. But which is the handsomer, 
 you or I ? 
 
 5th Lady. I. What sort of a girl do you 
 think I am ? 
 
 5th Gent. Mad. Do you like red or white fl{ 
 wine best ? 
 
 6th Lady. Eed. Now, Edward, are you fond 
 of sugar-plums ? 
 
HOME GAMES 123 
 
 6th Geistt. Eather. "There!" cry several 
 voices at once, " Edward has a forfeit abeady, for 
 he answered rather to the question, and it is a 
 word of more than one syllable?'^ 
 
 A forfeit is also incurred Avhenever the question 
 or answer once made is repeated. 
 
 In this manner the game is continued, until 
 enough forfeits are collected, or a fresh game is 
 started. 
 
 THE WILD BEAST SHOW 
 
 A screen must be placed at the end of the room ; 
 behind it is placed a mirror and a light. The 
 showman stands before the scene and offers to 
 exhibit his wild animals to any person who Avill 
 promise not to describe what he has seen, when he 
 comes out. Then the person who gives the prom- 
 ise and demands admittance is asked what animal 
 he wishes to see. On his naming one, the show- 
 man proceeds to describe it. The description 
 should be very witty, and should have some ap- 
 plication (either complimentary or satirical) to the 
 person who wishes to see the show. The person 
 is then admitted and is shown himself in the look- 
 ing-glass. 
 
124 HOME GAMES 
 
 THE MOUSE m MASTEK'S BAEN 
 
 Words and movements must be watched in this 
 game. The player begins by asking a confederate, 
 " Have you seen the Mouse in Master's Barn ? " 
 She replies, " Yes, I have seen the Mouse in 
 Master's Barn." " Do you know what the Mouse 
 does ? " " Yes, I know what the Mouse does.'' 
 " Can you eat what the Mouse eats ? " The con- 
 federate repeats the words, substituting, " Yes /'^ 
 for " Do you " in each sentence, and shuts her eyes 
 at each answer. The questioner then goes on to 
 another, who is not in the secret, and she probably 
 omits either the word yes, or to close her eyes. 
 Tliese two things form the secret of the game, 
 and, unless observe, a forfeit is the consequence. 
 
 MALAGA KAISmS 
 
 The game is very amusing, and is almost sure to 
 bring in a large numJier of forfeits for the director 
 to sell at the end of the evening. The catch is 
 caused by the director coughing^ or making a noise 
 with his throaty before he says the sentence, which 
 all the company must rej^eat after him, one at a 
 
HOME GAMES 125 
 
 time. Thus, the party having all seated themselves 
 in a circle, the director says, " H-e-m {here maMng 
 a noise in his throat)^ Malaga raisins are very good 
 raisins, but Valencias are better." The young 
 lady or gentleman sitting second is almost sure to 
 say, "Malaga raisins are very good raisins, but 
 Valencias are better." Of course incurring a 
 forfeit through not saying " H-e-m " {or making a 
 noise in the throat) like the director. So soon as 
 any one of the party has repeated the sentence, if 
 the little lady or gentleman leaves out the " Hem " 
 the director says, " Edward, or Fanny (or whoever 
 it may be), you have said wrong, — a forfeit ! " but 
 must not tell him how he has said wrong; and 
 then passes on to the next. The third, fourth, and 
 almost all the party, with the exception of those 
 who have played this game before, are almost sure 
 to leave out the " Hem," and thus incur a forfeit 
 each, as often as the game goes round ; it makes 
 the game more amusing even, if one or two of the 
 number do know the trick, as to those not in the . 
 secret it seems the more puzzling that others 
 should do it correctly and they not. And it is 
 very good fun to see the many ways each pro- 
 nounce the words ; thinking they have to pay a 
 forfeit through not pronouncing them properly. 
 
126 HOME GAMES 
 
 When it has passed round three or four times, and 
 a good many forfeits collected, then, and not be- 
 fore, the director can tell them in what way they 
 have incurred so many forfeits. 
 
 EVASION 
 
 This amusement is of an intellectual character, 
 and consists in a number of questions being ad- 
 dressed to the company, alternately, by the 
 director of the game, or by themselves to each 
 other ; to every one of which questions, evasive or 
 indirect answers must alioays he given^ and never 
 a direct alHrmative or negative, under a penalty 
 of a forfeit ; for instance : 
 
 DiEECTOE. I proclaim that no question from 
 this time be answered either in the affirmative or 
 negative. 
 
 Edwaed. Does your injunction extend to 
 every question that may be proposed from this 
 moment ? 
 
 DiEECTOE. Yes, to every question. 
 
 Edwaed. Then please to pay a forfeit for 
 your " yes." 
 
 DiEECTOE. Oh ! So you've played this game 
 before ? 
 
HOME GAMES 127 
 
 Edwakd. Perhaps I have. Is it necessary, as 
 in the Old Soldier, to avoid the words " yes " and 
 " no " ? 
 
 Director. Must not any answer including 
 either of those words be a direct answer ? 
 
 Edward. Certainly, unless used evasively. 
 
 Director. Then they are altogether pro- 
 hibited. By the way, that last answer of yours 
 was not evasive, and you're in for a forfeit. 
 
 And so the game goes on until enough forfeits 
 have been collected, or until the players desire a 
 change. 
 
 THE FLOUR MERCHANT 
 
 The one who personates the flour merchant will 
 try every way to dispose of his stock of flour, by 
 asking question after question of the others, who 
 must, in their answers, be careful not to use these 
 words— Jlour, /, yes, or 7io ; as they are forbidden, 
 and the one who is caught using them will have 
 to pay a forfeit. 
 
 The flour merchant must persevere in his en- 
 deavors to make the players use one of the inter- 
 dicted words. For instance : 
 
 " Do you wish any flour to-day ? " 
 
128 HOME GAMES 
 
 " There is none required." 
 
 " But you will soon want it ; let me persuade 
 you to take some." 
 
 " That is impossible." 
 
 " Why so ? It is the very best of flour ; just 
 look at it ; it is so very fine and white." 
 
 " The quality is a matter of indifference to me." 
 
 " But it will make such good, sweet bread. Dc 
 take some." 
 
 " You have had my answer." 
 
 " Have I ? I must have forgotten it. What] 
 was it ? " 
 
 " My answer was, decidedly not any." 
 
 " But, madam, consider ; it is a very reasonablej 
 price." 
 
 " I will not take any." 
 
 The flour merchant having succeeded in making 
 her say " I " proceeds to the next one. 
 
 AT CEOSS PUKPOSES 
 
 Four ansAvers are written upon a slip of paper 
 and given to one of the players. What the an- 
 swers are should not at first be known to the rest 
 of the company. One of the other players shall 
 then ask such questions as he or she shall invent, 
 
♦ 
 
 HOME GAMES 129 
 
 and the player with the slip of paper shall answer 
 him or her with one of the four written answers, 
 being confined to that source for his conversa- 
 tion. The amusement grows out of the misfit be- 
 tween the questions and answers. By way of il- 
 lustration, the answers may be as follows : 
 
 No. 1. Hot, sweet and strong. 
 
 No. 2. With pepper and vinegar. 
 
 No. 3. With my best love. 
 
 No. 4. No, indeed. 
 
 Jane inquires of Charles : 
 
 " What kind of a time did you have at the sea- 
 shore ? " 
 
 To which he replies : 
 
 "Hot, sweet and strong." 
 
 " How can I serve you ? " 
 
 "With pepper and salt." 
 
 A dozen sets of answers can be prepared in ad- 
 vance and distributed to different players to be 
 brought into use as soon as the first sets have ex- 
 hausted their possibilities. 
 
 THE LAUGHING PHILOSOPHER 
 
 The players sit in a circle with one in the mid- 
 dle for leader. The leader must be one who 
 
130 HOME CtAMES 
 
 laughs heartily and is very quick. He begins thi 
 game by throwing a plain white handkerchief up 
 in the air, as high as he can, and while it is in the 
 air every one must laugh, but the minute it 
 touches the floor there must be perfect silence. 
 The leader must catch those who are still laugh- 
 ing and send them from the ring. The game 
 goes on until every one is out of the circle. If 
 there should happen to be one who doesn't laugh 
 when the handkerchief is on the floor he surely 
 deserves a prize. 
 
 M 
 
 THE HORNED AMBASSADOR 
 
 This is a game which, if played with spirit, 
 creates much merriment. It is played in this 
 way : 
 
 A number of papers, twisted like a taper, are 
 all the materials necessary. The first player turns 
 to the person on his left hand, and, with a bow, 
 says, " Good-morning, Royal Ambassador, always 
 royal ; I, the Royal Ambassador, always royal, 
 come from his Royal Majesty (pointing to his 
 neighbor on his right, who must bow), always 
 royal, to tell you he has an eagle with a golden 
 beak." 
 
HOME GAMES 131 
 
 The second player must repeat this to his left- 
 hand neighbor exactly word for word as he hears 
 it, adding brazen claws. If he leaves out a word, 
 or makes any mistake, he must have one of the 
 papers twisted into his hair. Then he becomes a 
 one-horned ambassador, and must call himself so, 
 instead of royal. 
 
 For instance, No. 1 says : 
 
 " Good-morning, Eoyal Ambassador, always 
 royal ; I, the Eoyal Ambassador, always royal, 
 come from his Eoyal Majesty, always royal, to 
 tell you that he has an eagle with a golden beak." 
 
 No. 2, " Good-morning, Eoyal Ambassador, al- 
 ways royal; I, the Eoyal Ambassador, come 
 from " 
 
 Having left out always royal after his own name, 
 No. 2 is horned, and says, '' Good, etc. ; I, a One- 
 horned Ambassador, always one-horned, come 
 from his Eoyal," etc. 
 
 When his neighbor has gone on, he must add 
 diamond eyes to the eagle — each player must add 
 something to the eagle — and he must say he 
 comes from his One-horned Majesty, instead of 
 his Eoyal Majesty. 
 
 By this time a good many of the party will be 
 well horned ; and as every horn incurs a forfeit, 
 
132 HOME GAMES 
 
 the game may cease until they are redeemed. 
 Sometimes the ambassador becomes seven or 
 eight-horned before the game is over. 
 
 THE SPORTSMAN 
 
 The players take names of different birds and 
 beasts of the field, such as Hare, Rabbit, Fox, 
 Pheasant, Partridge, Boar, Stag, Wolf, Lion, etc. 
 
 One is appointed the Sportsman, and makes use 
 of certain sporting terms, implements, etc., con- 
 nected with the various departments of the chase, 
 to which, when named, the different heads of 
 game reply. Thus, when he says. The Gun^ all 
 the players cry, " Look out ! Look out ! " The 
 Greyhound^ the Hare says, "Run, run!" The 
 Terrier^ the Rabbit saj^s, " To earth ! To earth ! " 
 The Snare, the Wolf and the Fox say, " Not if I 
 know it ! " The Nets, the Lion and all the birds 
 exclaim, " Don't you wish you may get it ? " A 
 Thicket, the Boar says, " Mind my tusks ! " The 
 Staghound, the Stag says, " I have good legs ! " 
 The Horn, the Stag and the Fox say, " Be alive ! " 
 The Bag, all drop their heads on their chests as if 
 killed — with the exception of the Lion, the Stag, 
 
 I 
 
HOME GAMES 133 
 
 and the Boar, who exclahn, ''Who's afraid?" 
 Any one omitting to answer to their character cor- 
 rectly has to pay a forfeit. 
 
 TEANSFOEMATION 
 
 This is a most entrancing game for those 
 who enjoy the results of ingenuity. While it re- 
 quires some little power of invention, it rapidly 
 cultivates that quality in the player. It may be 
 played by any number of persons, who should be 
 supplied with paper and pencil and a book or 
 other substitute for a writing desk. If the party 
 is not too large it is best to gather around a large 
 table. All being ready the leader gives out two 
 words having the same number of letters, but of ^ 
 very different sound and meaning. The object of 
 the game is to transform the first word into the 
 second through the smallest number of intermedi- 
 ate words. The change must be produced by 
 dropping a single letter from the first word and 
 substituting another by means of which the letters 
 can be formed into a different word. This process 
 must be repeated until the first word has been 
 changed into the object word. The leader, before 
 giving the word " Start," should announce the limit 
 
 I 
 
131 HOME GAMES 
 
 within which the task is to be accomplished 
 which may reasonably be ten minutes. The win- 
 ner is the player who at the end of that time has 
 accomplished the transformation by the use of the 
 smallest number of intermediate words. If more 
 than one player has accomplished the result with 
 the same number of words the one who finished in 
 the shortest time is the winner. It is, therefore, 
 necessary to have a timekeeper to whom each 
 player shall report as soon as he or she has finished 
 his paper. The game can be better understood by 
 means of a few illustrations. 
 
 Suppose the leader directs the word " inch " to 
 be transformed into " worm." The " c " in " inch " 
 can be dropped and the letter " t " substituted. 
 We then form the word " hint " from the letters. 
 Next by .changing the '' i " in " hint " to " u " we 
 have " hunt," the " n " to " r " and it becomes 
 " hurt." The " u "to " a," and it is " hart." The 
 "t" to '^m," and it is '^ harm." The "h" to 
 " w," and we have " warm." Finally, changing 
 the " a " in " warm " to " o" and we have com- 
 pleted the transformation to " worm," using six 
 intermediate words in the process. 
 
 Much of the amusement of the game, however, 
 arises from the very different roads by which the 
 
 J 
 
HOME GAMES 135 
 
 players may make the same journey. For ex- 
 ample, instead of following the changes just given 
 another player might have transformed the " h " 
 in "inch" into ''o," and by forming the word 
 " coin," have set out by a very different, and in 
 this case, by a shorter route. In " coin " he would 
 change the " i " to " r " and produce " corn," the 
 " " to " w " and have " worn," the " n " to " m," 
 and so reach the object word, " worm," by means 
 of but three intermediate words. 
 
 So the word "lame" can be transformed into 
 " toad " through " made " and " date." " Sugar " 
 made into " bread " by way of " argue," " regal," 
 and " blear." 
 
 The " soup " may be removed and the " fish " 
 served by the employment of " push " and " ship." 
 " Lunch " becomes " to-day " through the words 
 "lurch," "larch," "roach," "hoary," "hardy" 
 and "tardy." 
 
 All words employed must be such as appear in 
 one or other of the recognized dictionaries. 
 
 \ 
 
 COMMEEOE 
 
 The guests are seated around a table, each having 
 a pile of fifty beans in front of him. The leader 
 
136 HOME GAMES 
 
 has two packs of playing cards, one of which is 
 used for an auction sale, one card at a time being 
 sold to the highest bidder, who pays for it in 
 beans. When all the cards of the first pack have 
 been sold, the players arrange their cards and 
 beans on the table ready for business. The auc- 
 tioneer then holds up the second pack and an- 
 nounces that he will call the cards off one at a 
 time, and as he does so, the player who has the 
 duplicate of tliat card must give it up to the auc- 
 tioneer. After each calling a little time is alloAved 
 to buy or sell the cards. The object of the game 
 is to hold the last card, which will, of course, be 
 the duplicate of the last card of the second deck. 
 The buying and selling is a blind appeal to the 
 Goddess of Chance, as you may be selling the 
 very card you wish to keep. The selling may 
 either be by the face of the cards, as bidding so 
 many beans for the king of clubs, or it may be for 
 the right to draw from the seller's hand, as in 
 " Old Maid," without knowing what card you are 
 getting. 
 
 OLD BLIND JACK 
 Cut a large face from yellow paper muslin, 
 making the nose, mouth and other features from 
 
HOME GAMES 137 
 
 cloth of a darker color. Omit one eye. The 
 more grotesque the face when complete, the 
 better. Baste it onto a sheet or screen hung at 
 one end of the room. To each member of the 
 party is given a muslin eye. to which a pin is 
 attached. The sheet is stretched across the door 
 and then, one at a time, the players are blind- 
 folded, turned around three times and sent off to 
 attach the eye wherever they think it belongs. 
 Varied and wonderful are their attempts and the 
 rooms ring with laughter. A prize is given to 
 the one locating the missing orb most accurately 
 and a consolation prize for the biggest failure. 
 The game presents even greater possibilities in 
 the way of absurdity than the game of '^ Tailing 
 the Donkey," which it somewhat resembles. 
 
 HOP-OYER 
 
 All the players stand in a ring, about two feet 
 apart from each other, except one, who takes the 
 place in the middle, holding a long, stout string, to 
 the other end of which is firmly tied a small book 
 wrapped in paper. The person in the center then 
 whirls the book around the circle, on the floor, 
 
138 HOME GAMES 
 
 holding by the string — each time coming nearer 
 the feet of the players forming the ring, who, as 
 it nears them, must jump over it. As the book inl 
 whirled very rapidly the jumping is most lively, 
 for if it touches the foot of any one, that person 
 must take his or her turn in the middle and try to 
 hit the feet of some one else whose owner is not 
 sufficiently alert. Sometimes one throws the line 
 so deftly that it winds around and around the 
 ankles of the person off guard — fairly entrapping 
 him or her. 
 
 BLINDMAN'S BELL 
 
 In this game all the players except one are 
 blindfolded. This one is called the guide and 
 has a small bell which he rings during the game. 
 All the blind men are led to one end of the room 
 by the guide. He then takes his position a little 
 distance from them and rings the bell, which is 
 the signal for the game to begin. The blind men 
 grope around wildly for their guide who rings the 
 bell all the time, but must move in different 
 places, so as to escape the blind men who are 
 hunting him. The blind men are only guided by 
 
HOME GAMES 139 
 
 the sound of the bell, and the guide must be very 
 quick to change his positions or he will be caught 
 by his pursuers. The first blind man who catches 
 the guide exchanges places with him, and the 
 game goes on as before. 
 
 HUNT THE LETTER 
 
 Players are invited to search for envelopes, ten 
 minutes being allowed for the purpose. The hunt 
 reveals about a dozen envelopes if the party is a 
 rather large one, six for a small company. No 
 player is allowed to open his envelope until the 
 conclusion of the game, when all open at once. 
 In each there is some comi<^ act or penalty which 
 the player holding it must perform to entertain 
 the company. Suggestions for these might be, 
 1, sing a song ; 2, waltz alone around the room ; 
 3, relate your favorite joke ; 4, ask your pet rid- 
 dle ; 5, smile your sweetest smile ; 6, paint a pic- 
 ture in the air with your forefinger ; 7, tell the 
 most inexplicable incident you ever heard ; 8, re- 
 , late a ghost story. The performance of this im- 
 promptu entertainment will pass a half hour very 
 amusingly. 
 
 I 
 
140 HOME GAMES 
 
 HOW OLD AKE YOU? 
 
 Here is a way to find any one's age : Ask the 
 person whose age you are to tell to take the num- 
 ber of the month in which he was born and multi- 
 ply it by two. January is counted as number one, 
 February is counted as number two, and so on 
 through the year. To this product he must add 
 five and multiply by fifty. To this last number 
 he must add his present age, and from the sum 
 subtract the number of days there are in a year, 
 or 365. All the Avork up to this point must be 
 done by the person without letting any one see 
 his figures : but now you ask him to tell you what 
 number he has found, and to that number you add 
 115. The result obtained by this last operation 
 contains the information wanted. Point off two 
 figures on the right and the number will be the 
 age sought, while the number on the left of the 
 point will give the month in which the person was 
 born. This trick never fails. 
 
 TWISTED TREES 
 
 Supply each player with a slip of paper upon 
 which the names of a large number of trees are 
 
HOME GAMES 141 
 
 arranged in a vertical row. The letters spelling 
 the various names are all there, but the words are 
 so badly misspelled as to be beyond recognition at 
 first sight. For example : R. O. C. M. Y. E. A. S., 
 when given proper attention, becomes sycamore, 
 and E. O. P. P. A. L. makes poplar. 
 
 THE DRESSMAKER'S GAME 
 
 Arrange a series of questions upon slips of 
 paper and distribute among the players. Require 
 each to write an answer which will directly sug- 
 gest the dressmaker's art. The following list will 
 serve in the absence of another. 
 
 1. What the farmer does to his sheep — Shears. 
 
 2. To pick one's way — Thread. 
 
 3. What is thrown away — Waist. 
 
 4. A sign of servitude — Yoke. 
 
 5. A berry — Thimble. 
 
 6. A blow— Cuff. 
 
 7. A company of musicians — Band. 
 
 8. Deep sea animal and part of his body — 
 Whalebone. 
 
 9. An exclamation — A-hem ! 
 10. A kind of music — Piping. 
 
142 HOME GAMES 
 
 11. Necessary to hang a picture, and part of 
 the human body — Hook and eye. 
 
 12. A piece of furniture and a measure — Cot- 
 ton. 
 
 13. Money and a derogatory adjective — Cash- 
 mere. 
 
 14. A grassy yard — Lawn. 
 
 15. Preposition and a fisherman's term — Over- 
 cast. 
 
 16. What the cook does to the turkey — Baste. 
 
 17. A part of an eatable animal — Mutton 
 leg. 
 
 18. Part of a door — Panels. 
 
 19. A negative — Knot. 
 
 20. A prejudice — Bias. 
 
 21. A king's followers — Train. 
 
 22. Used in a broker's business — Tape. 
 
 23. A portion of armor — Shield. 
 
 A similar game can be based upon the trade of 
 the carpenter, the shoemaker or the farmer. 
 
 LOQUACITY 
 
 This is a memory exercise. The leader begins 
 by repeating the first sentence, which is said by 
 
HOME GAMES 143 
 
 each player in turn. The leader in every case 
 adds the new line, copied by the other players in 
 succession. Any one making a mistake or omis- 
 sion drops out of the contest. As the ranks grow 
 thinner, the players are required to repeat the 
 sentences more rapidly, and no time for hesi- 
 tation is allowed. The one who makes no mis- 
 take is entitled to a prize. The sentences are as 
 follows : 
 
 1. One old ox opening oysters. 
 
 2. Two toads teetotally trying to trot to Trix- 
 burg. 
 
 3. Three tony tigers taking tea. 
 
 4. Four fishermen fishing for frogs. 
 
 5. Five fantastic Frenchmen fanning five faint- 
 ing females. 
 
 6. Six slippery snakes sliding slowly south- 
 ward. 
 
 7. Seven Severn salmon swallowing several 
 shrimps. 
 
 8. Eight egotistical Englishmen eating enor- 
 mously. 
 
 9. Nine nautical IS'orwegians nearing neigh- 
 boring Norway. 
 
 10. Ten tiny, toddling tots trying to train their 
 tongues to trill. 
 
144 HOME GAMES 
 
 FLO WEE QUESTIONS 
 
 The one who can guess the most correct answers 
 wins, and could be given a little growing plant as 
 prize. For example : 
 
 If I plant a lively boy, what sort of a plant will 
 come up ? 
 
 If a cow is planted, what kind of a flower will 
 come up ? 
 
 If a rich young bachelor is planted, what will 
 come up ? 
 
 If a baby is planted, what will come up ? 
 
 If a boat is planted, what might spring up ? 
 
 If I plant my foot, what will come up ? 
 
 Suppose I plant a theologian, what will come 
 up? 
 
 If a history is planted, what will come up ? 
 Jf a bee is planted, what will come up ? 
 
 And the replies would be : 
 
 A johnny -jump-up. 
 • A cowslip. 
 
 Perhaps a bleeding heart, or perhaps matri- 
 mony. 
 
 Infant's breath. 
 
 Leeks. 
 . Lady's slipper. 
 
 i 
 
HOME GAMES 145 
 
 Jack in the pulpit. 
 
 Dates. 
 
 A honeysuckle. 
 
 NONSENSE 
 '^ Nonsense " is a game which does not belie 
 itself, for it brings together an amusing jumble 
 that a roomful of young folk will find highly 
 diverting. It is played in this way : One person 
 begins to tell a story, stopping when the one in 
 charge rings a bell. The time given to each 
 narrator is not more than five minutes and pref- 
 erably less. The talking stops directly in the 
 middle of a sentence, and the second called upon 
 by the leader must continue the " nonsense." 
 Inasmuch as the individual continuing the tale has 
 no idea of what the beginner meant, a curious 
 hodgepodge results, and the story becomes funnier 
 as it goes through the minds of several persons. 
 Each present is to add her chatter, no excuses 
 being permitted. The sillier the tale the funnier^ 
 so that none need mind being ridiculous. 
 
 THE FLOWEK GAME 
 This is a beautiful and interesting elaboration 
 of the little game of " Flower Questions," and 
 
146 HOME GAMES ^ 
 
 may be made to furnish a very substantial share 
 of an evening's entertainment. 
 
 Pass to each of the guests a tiny flower pot, 
 which may be purchased at any of the department 
 stores or made at home from red paper a long 
 strip and a round, pasted together. 
 
 In these pots should be tucked a typewritten 
 list of descriptions that will fit certain av ell-known 
 flowers. Attached to the pot should be a pencil 
 on a string to enable -each player to fill the 
 list. Here is a list that may be extended as you 
 wish : 
 
 1. What the father said to his son in the 
 morning. 
 
 2. A bird that rises early and an implement 
 that makes the horse go. 
 
 3. A lover's farewell to his sweetheart. 
 
 4. Fragrant letters. 
 
 5. The color of a horse. 
 
 6. My first is made in a dairy and is measured 
 in a second. 
 
 7. My first wears my second on his head. 
 
 8. One end of the family pet. 
 
 9. A fair flower between two mountains. 
 
 10. A part of the day. 
 
 11. A dude and an animal. 
 
HOME GAMES 147 
 
 12. What Cinderella should have advertised 
 for. 
 
 13. A yellow stick. 
 
 14. An amiable man. 
 
 15. What an unmarried man often lacks. 
 
 16. A church official. 
 
 17. A tattered songster. 
 
 18. Something every person has. 
 
 19. Follows disappointment in love. 
 
 20. A fortune seeker. 
 
 The list of answers is, of course, kept by the 
 hostess, who verifies the answers, which in this 
 case should be : 
 
 1. 
 
 Johnny-jump-up. 
 
 11. 
 
 Dandelion. 
 
 2. 
 
 Larkspur. 
 
 12. 
 
 Lady's slipper. 
 
 3. 
 
 Forget-me-not. 
 
 13. 
 
 Golden rod. 
 
 4. 
 
 Sweet peas. 
 
 U. 
 
 Sweet William. 
 
 5. 
 
 Sorrel. 
 
 15. 
 
 Bachelor's button. 
 
 6. 
 
 Buttercup. 
 
 16. 
 
 Elder. 
 
 7. 
 
 Cock's comb. 
 
 17. 
 
 Kagged robin. 
 
 8. 
 
 Cat-tail. 
 
 18. 
 
 Tulips. 
 
 9. 
 
 Lily of the valley. 
 
 19. 
 
 Bleeding heart. 
 
 0. 
 
 Four o'clock. 
 
 20. 
 
 Marigold. 
 
 A prize can be awarded the ones who answer 
 all the questions correctly. 
 
148 HOME GAMES 
 
 THE PORTRAIT GALLERY 
 
 This requires a little prior preparation, but it 
 well repays the trouble it costs. 
 
 Ask each guest the day before the party to send 
 the first picture he or she had taken. These are 
 arranged on small tables about the rooms, the 
 fun consisting in accurately placing " who's who." 
 Grandfather taken when in dresses and curls, 
 or grandmother in her baby carriage or great- 
 grandmother's arms, is a bit puzzling for the new 
 generation to recognize. Prizes can be given the 
 successful guessers. . 
 
 THE GAME OF " IT " 
 
 If there is still any one who has not heard of 
 the game of " It," he is precisely the one who may 
 furnish fun for the rest and be mystified to their 
 heart's content. The question must be diplomat- 
 ically put, and when one ignorant of the game is 
 discovered it is well to wait a bit before selecting 
 him to be the first to leave the room. He is told 
 that they in his absence will choose an object 
 which he must discover upon his return by asking 
 
HOME GAMES 149 
 
 questions of each in succession, after the manner 
 of the well-known game of Twenty Questions. 
 The company arrange themselves in a semicircle, 
 and, should there be others remaining in the room 
 who are unacquainted with the trick, it is ex- 
 plained to them that the object to be guessed is 
 the left-hand neighbor of each person questioned 
 — always alluded to as '' It." It must be con- 
 fessed that the fun is rather at the expense of the 
 questioner. Another may be puzzled by the com- 
 pany's agreeing upon the right-hand, or opposite 
 neighbor, the person whom they spoke to last, or 
 their host or hostess. The fun is increased if the 
 company is arranged so that the questioner in- 
 terrogates a lady and gentleman alternately. 
 
 THE BUTTON CONTEST 
 
 Tables are arranged about the rooms ; on the 
 one marked No. 1 there are fifteen large agate 
 buttons for each person with thread and needles. 
 On the other tables there were bowls filled with 
 buttons. The person at the head table, who sews 
 on his or her fifteen buttons first, rings a bell and 
 progresses with the one who has sewed on the 
 next highest numb.er, first pulling off the buttons 
 
150 HOME GAMES 
 
 SO as to be ready for the newcomers. The buttons 
 must be sewed on as follows : Make a knot in the 
 thread, sew once into each hole, then fasten enough 
 to hold the button on. Break the thread each 
 time. Every person reaching the head table sews 
 on the fifteen buttons as the first did, the remain- 
 ing persons beginning over again and keeping the 
 score. Those at the other tables sew on just as 
 many buttons as possible, while the ones at the 
 head table are doing the requisite number. After 
 fifteen progressions the cards are collected and the 
 score counted ; prizes are awarded the most success- 
 ful contestants. This game becomes much more 
 amusing w^hen the gentlemen join in it. Their 
 efforts in the button sewing line are likely to con- 
 tribute greatly to the amusement of the rest of 
 the company. 
 
 THIMBLES AND NECKTIES 
 
 Ask each girl to bring several bright scraps of 
 silk sufficient to make a necktie. Ask each man 
 to bring a thimble, not costing over ten cents. 
 All the silk pieces are placed in a large basket and 
 passed, from which the girls select a bit to make 
 a tie ; the men produce the thimbles and thread 
 
 I 
 
HOME GAMES 151 
 
 all the needles. Envelopes are passed to the men 
 containing samples of the silk, and then they find 
 a partner by matching the sample with the pieces 
 of silk selected by the girls when the basket is 
 passed, xlfter the neckties are finished each man 
 puts the one made by his partner on, and she 
 keeps the thimble. If a man fails to thread a 
 needle he pays a forfeit. 
 
 It is also most amusing to provide bare bonnet 
 and hat forms, with ribbons and other materials, 
 and request each gentleman to trim a hat or bon- 
 net for his partner while she makes a necktie for 
 him. When finished the articles are worn by 
 those for whom they were made, and prizes may 
 be given for the best necktie and the prettiest hat. 
 
 THE PROGEESSIYE NOVELTY PARTY 
 
 At the head table let the players play tiddle-de- 
 winks, at the second, have written and laid on 
 table half of ten famous quotations, each being 
 numbered, and provide each player with a pencil 
 and blank card, on which numbers corresponding 
 to those on the quotations have been written. The 
 two players first finishing out the greatest number 
 correctly progress. At the third table the game 
 
152 HOME GAMES 
 
 should be euchre. At the fourth table request 
 each guest to transfer two or more eggs from the 
 table to a bowl by means of an after-dinner coflfee 
 spoon. Those at the fifth table are requested to 
 draw a sketch of a girl. The two guests drawing 
 the best sketch before the bell rings progress to 
 the next table. You can also have jackstraws, 
 jigsaw puzzles, fishpond, and needle threading. 
 The hostess should have score cards and punch 
 the cards of those who progress after the bell 
 rings. To the person having the greatest number 
 of punches is given a prize. 
 
 MODELING 
 
 There is nothing boisterous about modeling, but 
 it has the elements of good solid entertainment. 
 Cover the kitchen table with thick brown paper 
 fastened down with thumb tacks. In the center 
 place a basket filled with pictures of animals, fish, 
 birds, statues, anything you may wish to use for 
 models. Have the guests sit around the table. 
 Before they begin each draws a picture from the 
 basket without looking. This he must model 
 
HOME GAMES 153 
 
 within a given time. Each person is provided 
 with a lump of modeling clay, or putty, and a 
 small kitchen knife. The clay, or wax, may be 
 bought at any store where they keep artists' sup- 
 plies, but putty will do just as well and is cheaper. 
 Again, a single model may be used, or something 
 described, and each person told to work out his 
 own idea of it. A good deal of fun can be had 
 by requiring each guest' to produce a portrait bust 
 of his partner. Prizes are given for the most 
 original work, the most finished, and the worst. 
 It is surprising how well many people can do. 
 
 JACK FKOST 
 
 The leader need not describe the game before- 
 hand to the players, but all may form in a large 
 ring, and the children be divided into groups of 
 ten. To each ten an adult should be assigned who 
 can assist the little people should they need help 
 in understanding the game as it progresses. Let 
 each group face the center of the room where the 
 leader stands and place each number one at the 
 left end of each section. 
 
154 HOME GAMES 
 
 The leader claps her hands together and calls I 
 out, " Where is Jack Frost ? " A lad dressed (orj 
 not) to represent his icy kingship runs around the! 
 ring and swings a wand touching number one of j 
 each section on the right hand. Each number one! 
 turns to the left and says to number tw^o, " Jack] 
 Frost came this way." Number two asks, " WhatI 
 did he do ? " Number one replies, " He nipped 
 my right hand, oh ! " Immediately number one 
 shakes the right hand violently. Number two 
 turns to number three and says, " Jack Frost came 
 this way." Number three inquires, " What did he 
 do ? " Number two replies, '' He nipped my right 
 hand, oh ! " Number two begins to shake vio- 
 lently its frost-bitten hand and number one con- 
 tinues the shaking. This goes on the same way 
 until number ten is reached. By that time every- 
 body in the room is shaking a frosty right hand, 
 which must be kept still shaking while Jack Frost 
 again goes flying around the room and touches 
 the left hand of each number one. Then, as be- 
 fore, number two is told by number one that 
 Jack Frost came this way and that he nipped 
 his or her left hand. Then, by the same process, 
 word is carried by repeated questions and an- 
 swers and hand-shaking to number ten, until 
 
HOME GAMES 155 
 
 everybody in the room is shaking two frost-bitten 
 hands. 
 
 Jack Frost again flies around and nips the right 
 foot of each number one, and a right foot is added 
 to the shaking members. Then later a left foot ; 
 then two feet together, and the children are all 
 shaking their hands and hopping up and down 
 upon both feet. Then the right ear is nipped, and 
 the hand-shaking and jumping go on with the 
 head turned down upon the right shoulder. The 
 left ear falls a victim and the head turns upon the 
 left shoulder. The last round inquires, " Has Jack 
 Frost bitten you enough ? " The reply is affirma- 
 tive and the head jerks assent. It must be under- 
 stood that at no moment during the entire game 
 do the players cease from shaking each member 
 that has been nipped with frost. 
 
 THE SHAKEKS 
 
 This game is similar to " Jack Frost," but does 
 not require quite so much activity and so is better 
 adapted to small children. A ring is formed 
 including the entire company. The leader ex- 
 plains the game somewhat and begins singing, 
 
156 HOME GAMES 
 
 in 
 
 adapting the words to the descending music' 
 scale : 
 
 ^'I put my right hand in'' (toward the center of 
 
 ring), 
 *^ I put m3^ right hand out '' (turn body square about 
 
 and thrust arm out), 
 ^^ I give my right hand shake, shake, shake'' (suit J 
 
 action to words), 
 '' An<l I turn myself about" (turn square about to J 
 
 face center of ring). 
 
 Then the action song goes on : 
 
 " I put my left hand in, 
 I put my left hand out, 
 I give my left hand shake, shake, shake," etc. 
 
 Succeeding verses change as follows : 
 
 "I put my two hands in," then "my right 
 
 foot," " my left foot," " my two feet " (jumping), 
 
 one after the other. 
 
 This is a pleasant go-to-bed game for small 
 
 children. 
 
 GAEDEN CONVEESATION 
 
 Express the following sentences and ideas each 
 in the name of a single flower. With a little 
 
HOME GAMES 157 
 
 thought and patience the list may be increased 
 indefinitely. 
 
 I 1. A young man's farewell to his sweet 
 heart. 
 
 2. Her reply to him. 
 
 3. The gentler sex of the Friend persuasion. 
 . 4. Its own doctor. 
 
 5. My first is as sharp as needles, my second 
 is as soft as down. 
 
 6. My first is a country in Asia, my second is 
 the name of a prominent New York family. 
 
 7. My first is the name of a bird, my second 
 is worn by cavalrymen. 
 
 8. A church official. 
 
 9. A very precise lady. 
 
 10. A tattered songster. 
 
 11. My first is sly but cannot wear my second. 
 
 12. The color of a horse. 
 
 13. A craze in Holland in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury. 
 
 14. My first is an implement of war, my second 
 is a place where money is coined. 
 
 15. A disrespectful name for a physician. 
 
 16. Fragrant letters. 
 
 17. My first is a white wood, my second is the 
 name of a yellowish Rhenish wine. 
 
1.58 HOME GAMES 
 
 18. What the father said to the son in the 
 morning. 
 
 19. My first is a facial expression of pleasure, 
 my second a woodsman's means of livelihood. 
 
 20. An animal of the jungle is my first, my 
 second is the name of a tall, fair lady. 
 
 
 
 Answers 
 
 
 1. 
 
 2. 
 
 Forget-me-not. 
 Sweet William. 
 
 11. 
 
 12. 
 
 Foxglove. 
 Sorrel. 
 
 3. 
 4. 
 5. 
 
 Quaker Lady. 
 
 Self-heal. 
 
 Thistledown. 
 
 13. 
 14. 
 15. 
 
 , Tulip. 
 Spearmint. 
 Dock. 
 
 6. 
 
 China Aster. 
 
 16. 
 
 Sweet Peas. 
 
 7. 
 8. 
 9. 
 
 Larkspur. 
 
 Elder. 
 
 Primrose. 
 
 17. 
 
 "18. 
 19. 
 
 Hollyhock. 
 Johnny-jump-up. 
 Smilax. . 
 
 10. 
 
 Bagged Eobin. 
 
 20. 
 
 Tiger Lily. 
 
 HAEPOONING PEANUTS 
 
 Arrange a sufficient number of small tables to 
 accommodate the entire party. Upon each table 
 place a good sized glass, or china bowl half filled 
 with peanuts in their shells. Arm everybody 
 with hat-pins. When the leader gives the signal 
 to begin, each player sets about the task of captur- 
 
HOME GAMES 159 
 
 ing as many peanuts as possible before the signal 
 is given to stop. The only allowable means of 
 taking the nuts is by spearing them with a hat- 
 pin. Each player places his prizes in a conve- 
 nient pile and they are counted at the final signal. 
 The one having the largest number takes the 
 prize, and the one who has the smallest number 
 pays a forfeit. It may be played as a progressive 
 game by having two couples at each table and 
 counting their joint winnings, the couple having 
 the largest pile progressing to the higher table. 
 As the end approaches there is apt to be much 
 excitement. It is a game in which deliberation 
 often wins over haste. 
 
 I 
 
 AN ANTI-SLANG PARTY 
 
 This game has a special value of its own, in 
 calling the attention of the players to the dis- 
 torted use which is made of the English language 
 in hasty conversation. It is highly amusing. A 
 brief account of the game as played on one occa- 
 sion will serve as an explanation. 
 
 Two of the elder girls were appointed censors. 
 If any one forgot her " thee " and " thou '' in con- 
 versation, or made any blunder in the use of the 
 
160 HOME. GAMES 
 
 Friends' dialect, she was marked. No extrava- 
 gance of language was allowed. Every one was 
 expected to say exactly what she meant, no more 
 nor less ; and the nearer one could come to this 
 standard the more perfect her record. But as in 
 these days of large license in speech, perfection 
 would hardly be attainable, it was thought best 
 not to draw the lines too hard and fast, and pen- 
 alty was laid only upon the misuse of a few most 
 frequently abused expressions, of which a list had 
 been made, and hung in plain sight. These were 
 awful, beastly, splendid, nice, horrid, dreadful, 
 cute, tired. If these words were used at all they 
 must express no more than simple truth, one of 
 the best of the English dictionaries being the au- 
 thority. 
 
 THE CIPHER TELEGEAM 
 Have each plaj^er compose a telegram of ap- 
 proximately a dozen words, the exact length being 
 unimportant. When all have done this, the leader 
 gathers up the papers for further use. Taking 
 such as seem the most promising, he reads aloud 
 the initials of the words composing the telegram, 
 which the other players take down in capital let- 
 ters. The object of the game is to reconstruct 
 
HOME GAMES 101 
 
 the telegram from these initials. Practically this 
 is impossible, as it is also very improbable that any 
 two of the players, in their efforts to rewrite the 
 telegram, will produce the same results. A time 
 limit should be fixed within which the work must 
 be accomplished. When the time is up, the leader 
 gathers in the various papers and reads the results 
 aloud. The amusement will be found in the very 
 wide departure of the restored despatches from 
 the originals. By way of illustration, suppose the 
 original telegram read, " Sarah packing. Albert 
 off to Chicago." The initials would read, " S. P. A. 
 O. T. C." One reconstruction of this domestic 
 message might be, " Send pickles at once. Three 
 cans." The game brings out the quaintness of 
 the human mind in different individuals. 
 
 THE GAME OF SILENCE 
 
 This is the way to play the game of " Silence." 
 Numbers are drawn from a, basket and the person 
 drawing the highest is constituted '' judge." He 
 or she must then sit solemnly before a semicircle 
 of players and cry, "Silence!" Then everybody 
 must begin to talk as rapidly and foolishly as pos- 
 sible. The judge gravely observes them ; if the 
 
162 ho:me games 
 
 eloquence of one becomes exhausted, if the judge 
 laughs or even smiles, that person is denounced 
 and must pay a forfeit. A successor is then chosen, 
 the person failing to keep up with the others in 
 jibing being the first choice for the vacant judge- 
 ship. The judge has the right to detect the per- 
 son failing, and the others the right to call for- 
 feit if they detect the judge in either laugh or 
 smile. After such an interruption "Silence" is 
 again called, and the game proceeds as before. 
 Sometimes the judge cannot help smiling, but he 
 is instantly accused and replaced. This game 
 should not last more than fifteen minutes, as 
 it is apt to be • noisy ; but if the participants are 
 witty and good-natured, and try to make each 
 other laugh, it is very pleasant and amusing. 
 
 THE GAME OF NUMBERS 
 
 Yery interesting is the game of " Numbers." 
 Each participant writes a number on a scrap of 
 paper. All the papers are gathered, folded, 
 shaken into a basket and drawn or distributed. 
 Each player reads aloud the number received and 
 instantly gives some fact introducing the number 
 — as, for example, seven — '' the seven sleepers " ; 
 
I 
 
 HOME GAMES 163 
 
 there are seven days in the week, seven colors of 
 the rainbow, seven wonders of the world, seven 
 sciences, seven wise men, seven virtues. Twelve 
 — a dozen ; there are twelve months in the year ; 
 there were twelve apostles ;* twelve " Knights of 
 the Eound Table." Four— the Fourth of July ; 
 the four seasons ; the four sons of Aymou. Ten 
 — the Council of Ten. Two — it takes two to 
 make a bargain ; two is company, three's a crowd. 
 Fifty — jubilee ; " Better fifty years of Europe 
 than a cycle of Cathay." One hundred — Napo- 
 leon's one hundred days. Thirty — " Thirty days 
 hath September, April, June and November." 
 
 PICKING FLO WEES 
 
 A very sweet and simple child's game, some- 
 what resembling London Bridge. Two children 
 stand opposite to each other and raise their joined 
 hands. Those forming the ring pass under, while 
 all keep saying or singing, suiting the action to 
 the words they sing : 
 
 u We're looking about for a daffodil, 
 A daffodil, a daffodil. 
 We're looking about for a daffodil, 
 We've found one here." 
 
164 HOME GAMES 
 
 At the word " here " the raised arms come 
 down and inclose the head of the child who 
 happens at that moment to be passing underneatli 
 their hands. Then all sing : 
 
 ^ We find one here, we find one here ; 
 We're looking about for a daffodil, 
 And find one here.'' 
 
 " Daffodil " now takes the place of one of the 
 children who caught him or her, then calls out, 
 ''Buttercup." The children all understand that 
 buttercup, instead of daffodil, is the word, so they 
 make the lines : 
 
 " We're looking about for a buttercup, 
 A buttercup, a buttercup," etc. 
 
 The leader may hold a bouquet and give to each 
 child the flower chosen. 
 
 The next child, " Buttercup," being duly 
 '' found," takes the place of " Daffodil," and the 
 child who has held that place goes into the ring. 
 The newcomer calls out the name of some flower, 
 like bright bluebell, daisy flower or mignonette, 
 and substituting that word they sing as before. 
 Each child tries to be ready with the name of 
 
HOME GAMES 165 
 
 some favorite flower, and the game may close 
 when each child flower has been " found." 
 
 THE MAGIC BRIDGE 
 The magic bridge is another popular game. 
 The children join hands and form in a ring. If 
 the number is large there should be four " bridges " 
 at the quarter points of the ring, these being num- 
 bered one, two, three and four — one opposite three 
 and two opposite four. The bridges are formed 
 by two children who raise their joined hands for 
 the others to pass under. The pianist leads with 
 a bright, familiar air, and the children all follow 
 the tune, singing tra-la-la, tra-la-la, as they dance 
 and skip along keeping step to the music. They 
 go one or more times around in a circle, then the 
 leader indicates where a " bridge " is to be made. 
 Two children raise their joined hands, and the 
 two children standing opposite in the ring cross 
 the center of circle. All the others following 
 after pass under the " bridge." Then, turning to 
 right and left respectively, the two lines follow 
 the path of the circle as formed first, meet, join 
 hands again and a new circle is formed. Another 
 " bridge " appears as if by magic, and the children 
 
166 HOME GAMES 
 
 opposite it lead again through it, the while keep- 
 ing the merry measure with song and dance. 
 This is one of the prettiest of dancing games, 
 which is not necessary to " know how " to do. 
 They learn it as they go. 
 
 THE FOX 
 
 A game in which the children can run is always 
 a favorite. " Fox " is another ring play, so easy 
 that the smaller children can play it without help. 
 One of the children "fox" stays outside the ring 
 and slyly taps the shoulder of one of the children. 
 " Fox " runs to the left, the child to the right. 
 They meet, pass each other going at full speed 
 around the ring. The one who gets back to the 
 " den " (the place in the ring where the child was 
 standing) may hold that place, and the other must 
 be the fox and try a race with some other child. 
 
 MOURNFUL NUMBERS 
 
 This game is exceedingly simple in form, sur- 
 prisingly difficult in execution, and amusing in 
 result. It consists in one player after another 
 
HOME GAMES 167 
 
 undertaking to sing one or more verses of a 
 familiar ballad, interpolating a numeral after 
 every third or fourth word, or at such other 
 interval as may be decided upon in advance. The 
 numerals must be given in their natural order, 
 and without hesitation, but in a solemn or, at 
 least, a very serious tone of voice. While per- 
 forming this combination of music and mathe- 
 matics the player must suppress all signs of mirth, 
 other than that which may be necessary to a 
 proper rendition of the song. For example, the 
 song might be the familiar " Mary had a Little 
 Lamb," rendered as follows : 
 
 *^ Mary had a little (one) lamb, his fleece was (two) 
 white as snow, 
 And (three) everywhere that Mary went (four) 
 the lamb was sure (five) to go.'^ 
 
 The more rapidly the song proceeds the greater 
 the fun. 
 
 BEOKEN QUOTATIONS 
 
 A large number of familiar quotations should 
 be written upon separate slips of paper of uniform 
 size. These slips should then be torn in two or 
 
168 HOME GAMES 
 
 three pieces, leaving upon each fragment sufficient 
 of the ^vriting to suggest the full quotation to the 
 reader. These fragments are to be pinned to the 
 curtains, table-cloths, carpets or cushions, or hid- 
 den, not too safely, in the room — beneath books, 
 or in vases, or in such other places as may re- 
 quire a moderate search. The first duty of the 
 players when the game begins is to find as many 
 as possible of these slips. When all have been 
 found, the party is seated, and each player com- 
 pares his slips and ascertains the number of com- 
 plete quotations in his possession. These are de- 
 livered to the leader, who keeps a record of the 
 game. Beginning at any point designated by the 
 leader, the designated player calls for the remain- 
 der of any quotation, a part of which is already 
 in his hand. He must give the required quota- 
 tion accuratel}^ — of which the leader is the judge, 
 being probably aided by a convenient book of 
 quotations — and he must name the person upon 
 whom he calls for the missing fragment. If he 
 does not give the quotation with substantial ac- 
 curacy, the turn at once passes to his left-hand 
 neighbor. If, however, he succeeds in calling 
 upon the proper person and obtains the paper, he 
 has another turn, and so on until he makes a mis- 
 
HOME GAMES 169 
 
 take. The game may be made somewhat faster 
 in movement by allowing the player to call upon 
 two or three persons in successionj instead of 
 limiting his demand to a single individual. The 
 player who in the end has acquired the largest 
 number of complete quotations is the winner. If 
 prizes are offered, it may be well to have second 
 and third prizes for those who fall a little short of 
 the best. 
 
 KANTEE-GO-EOUND 
 
 This is an old English game, childishly simple, 
 but capable of producing no end of fun. Each 
 player has three counters, or " lives," for which 
 he pays an agreed price to the pool. An ordi- 
 nary pack of cards is used, one card being dealt 
 face downward to each person. The ace is the 
 card of lowest value and the king is the highest, 
 the cards between counting in the usual order. 
 The player who at the close of the game holds the 
 lowest card out loses a life. Each player, how- 
 ever, has the right (subject to a qualification to be 
 noted presently) to exchange his card for that of 
 his left-hand neighbor. If a player at the outset 
 has a fair average card, say anything above a five, 
 
170 HOME GAMES 
 
 he will generally ^' stand" upon the chance of 
 some other player being left with a smaller card. 
 But if his card is less than this, say a three or a 
 four, he exchanges it for that of his left-hand 
 neighbor, who has not the right to refuse, how- 
 ever good his card, unless he holds a king, when 
 he is entitled to say, " Bo ! " This alarming ex- 
 clamation intimates a refusal, and leaves his 
 neighbor with his low card not only still on his 
 hands, but (worse still) standing confessed as a 
 small card to the rest of the table. If the left- 
 hand player's original card chances to have been 
 lower than that which he receives in exchange — 
 if, for example, he has received a " three," and 
 given a '' two " in its place, he is safe for that 
 rounds and "stands." If not, he in turn ex- 
 changes with his left-hand neighbor, and so the 
 card travels round the circle until either a worse 
 card is given in exchange for it (when the original 
 holder of such carTi. naturally " stands ") or it 
 reaches the dealer. The dealer, being the last 
 player, has no one to exchange with ; but if he re- 
 ceives a card on which he does not choose to stand, 
 he is entitled to cut the pack, and turn up a card 
 from the center by way of substitute for his own, 
 subject to the important qualification, that if he is 
 
HOME GAMES 171 
 
 unlucky enough to cut a ''king" (though ordi- 
 narily the best card) he is the victim for that 
 round, and loses a life accordingly. It should be 
 mentioned that whenever any player hands in ex- 
 change an ace^ a two^ or a tliree^ he names the card 
 aloud, thereby giving a hint to holders of larger 
 cards (however small in themselves) that they 
 have no need to change. Thus, if the first player 
 has expressed a desire to exchange, and has re- 
 ceived an ace in place of his own card, the holders 
 of deuces may stand with perfect safety. If there 
 should chance to be two lowest cards of equal 
 value, the last player of the two is the victim. 
 
 It is surprising what vicissitudes of fortune this 
 game involves. Thus, a player who has lost two 
 lives in the first two rounds frequently survives to 
 the last, and possibly comes out the winner of the 
 poo], while another, who has not lost a life during 
 the early stages of the game, will at last lose all 
 three in rapid succession. 
 
 As each life is lost, the counter representing it 
 is placed in the pool ; and when a player has lost 
 all his lives, he is out of the game, unless, indeed, 
 he purchases a life from some player who has a 
 superfluity, or who chooses to sell his chance in 
 order to save his stake, or make a trifling profit. 
 
172 HOME GAMES 
 
 1 
 
 Of course, as the lives remaining grow fewer and 
 fewer they become more and more valuable. The 
 game is apt to reach a number of exciting cli- 
 maxes. 
 
 HAPPY FAMILIES 
 
 This requires a special pack of cards. There 
 are eleven families, being those of — 
 
 Bun the Baker. 
 Block the Barber. 
 Bones the Butcher. 
 Bung the Brewer. 
 Chips the Carpenter. 
 Dip the Dj^er. 
 Dose the Doctor. 
 Grits the Grocer. 
 Pots the Painter. 
 Scoot the Sweeper. 
 Tape the Tailor. 
 
 Each family consists, in this case, of FatherJ 
 Mother, Son, and Daughter. The game is playec 
 as follows: The cards are dealt in the usual way 
 and a pool is formed by each player contributing 
 an agreed number of counters. The player to the 
 
HOME GAMES 173 
 
 left of the dealer commences by asking any one 
 of the others for a character he is short of ; for 
 instance, if he holds in his hand one or more of 
 the characters, he endeavors to complete the 
 family. When he has done this, he places the set 
 face downward as a trick on the table. If he 
 asks for a character and the player called upon 
 has not the required card, the latter replies 
 politely, " Not at home." It then becomes his 
 turn to call for a card. A player obtaining from 
 another the character demanded thereby becomes 
 entitled to ask again, and so on, until he is met 
 with the announcement, " Not at home." A 
 player cannot ask for any character unless he 
 hold a member of the corresponding family in his 
 hand, and each player is bound to produce the 
 character asked for if he has itc The game pro- 
 ceeds in this manner until all the families are 
 completed, when the player who holds the great- 
 est number of tricks becomes entitled to half the 
 pool. 
 
 The game is then continued, as follows, by 
 those players who have taken on^ or more tricks : 
 The player who holds the greatest number of 
 tricks asks any player whom he believes to hold 
 it for a given family ; if such player does not 
 
174: HOME GAMES 
 
 hold it, the right of asking for a trick is trans- 
 ferred to him, and so the game goes on until one 
 of the players gets all the families into his hand, 
 when he becomes the winner, and thereby en- 
 titled to the remaining half of the pool. 
 
 HINKUM-PINKUM FEATHEKDUSTER ^ 
 
 This is a variation of the previous game, and is 
 played with ordinary cards. There are four 
 families, the " Hinkum-Pinkum Featherdusters " 
 (Diamonds) ; the " Lovers " (Hearts) ; the " Gar- 
 deners " (Spades), and the " Policeman Family " 
 (Clubs). The cards in each family are designated 
 as follows : 
 
 King — Mr. Hinkum-Pinkum Featherduster (or 
 " Lover," or " Gardener," etc.). 
 
 Queen — Mrs. Hinkum-Pinkum. 
 
 Jack — Jack Hinkum-Pinkum. 
 
 Ten — Ten servants of the Hinkum-Pinkums. 
 
 Nine — Nine children. 
 
 Four — The four-wheeled cart. 
 
 Three— Old Dog Tray. 
 
 Two— The Twins. 
 
 Ace — The Ointy-Tointy Baby. 
 
HOME GAMES 1Y5 
 
 The cards between the nine and four are 
 omitted. The game is played like the preceding 
 game, or like " Authors." A player must always 
 say ''Please" in asking for a card, and "Thank 
 you " before he touches one handed to him. If 
 he fails to say " thank you " any other player may 
 cry " Hinkum-Pinkum Featherduster " and claim 
 the card ; but he also must be careful to say 
 ^' thank you " before taking it. 
 
 A player who is out of cards becomes " a 
 ghost " and the players pretend he does not 
 exist. If, however, he can get some other player 
 who still holds cards to pay some attention to 
 him, as for example by answering a question, 
 or by doing something he suggests, — then, that 
 player must give up his cards to the " ghost," who 
 becomes an active player again. 
 
 SPELLING GAMES 
 
 It is surprising what a fund of amusement may 
 
 ' be derived from four or five alphabets, printed on 
 
 cardboard, and then cut up into, say, half-inch 
 
 squares, w4th a single letter on each. A double 
 
 supply of vowels will be found an advantage. 
 
 The most simple mode of using the alphabets is 
 
176 HOME GAMES 
 
 « 
 
 for one person to pick out the letters forming 
 some word, e.g.^ "nevertheless," and then hand 
 them, well shuffled together, to another player,^ | 
 who endeavors to discover what word they form. 
 
 Another game, known as "Word-making," is 
 played as follows : The players, each of whom is 
 supplied with paper and pencil, are divided equally 
 into two sides, and the leader having selected a 
 word, suppose " notwithstanding," each party sets 
 to work to see how many different words they 
 can make of the same letters. (Thus from the 
 word above suggested may be made " not, with, 
 stand, standing, gin, ton, to, wig, wit, his, twit, 
 tan, has, had, an, nod, tow, this, sat, that, sit, sin, 
 tin, wing, what, who, wish, win, wan, won," and 
 probably a host of others.) A scrutiny is then 
 taken, all words common to both parties being 
 struck out. The remainder are then compared, 
 and the victory is adjudged to that party which 
 has the greatest number. 
 
 Sometimes the division into sides is dispensed 
 with, and each player fights, like Hal o' the 
 Wynd, "for his own hand." 
 
 Another purpose for which the alphabets in 
 question are used is that of forming anagrams^ in 
 the composition of which they are a very great 
 
HOME GAMES 177 
 
 assistance. We are inclined to doubt whether 
 the results obtained in this game bear a fair pro- 
 portion to the labor involved ; though it is un- 
 questionable that once in a while an anagram is 
 produced that is curiously appropriate. We may 
 instance the following : 
 
 Horatio Nelson. Honor est a Mlo. 
 
 Telegraph. Great help. 
 
 Florence Nightingale. Flit on, cheering angel. 
 
 Radical Reform. Rare mad frolic. 
 
 Astronomers. Moon starers. 
 
 A fourth Spelling Game is played by each per- 
 son drawing, say, twenty letters haphazard, and 
 trying to form them into a sentence, the palm of 
 merit being awarded to the player who, at the 
 same time, produces the most coherent phrase, 
 and succeeds in using the greatest proportion of 
 the letters assigned him. 
 
 THE "G" GAME 
 
 Provide each player with a sheet of paper and 
 pencil, and dictate the following or a similar list, 
 without the answers. The object of the game is 
 
1T8 HOME GAMES 
 
 to supply the described words within a specified 
 time, say fifteen minutes. Tlie list may be indef- 
 initely prolonged by reference to a dictionary. 
 To begin with, use the folio wmg : 
 
 G and one letter means departure — Go. 
 
 G and two letters is the name of a rare ante-j 
 lope — Gnu. 
 
 G and three letters is the name of a mischievous 
 domestic animal — Goat. 
 
 G and four letters is the name of an excellent 
 fruit — Grape. 
 
 G and five letters is the name of a small bur- 
 rowing animal — Gopher. 
 
 The game may be interestingly played w^th a 
 small list by allowing each player, provided the 
 above answers are all given correctly, to add such 
 other w^ords as might have been specified under 
 each class. Thus he might add after the word 
 "Goat," also, "Good, Gnat and Gnaw." The 
 winner will be the one who presents the largest 
 list, including these additional words, at the call 
 of " Time," provided he has correctly answered 
 the original questions. If he has failed on either 
 of these, none of his extra words are to be 
 counted. If no one correctly answers the origi- 
 nal words, all extras are to be thrown out, and 
 
 11 
 
HOME GAMES 179 
 
 the person who gives the largest number of cor- 
 rect answers is the victor. 
 
 '^ TIT-TAT-TO," OE THEEE IN A KOW 
 
 This very old game affords much more amuse- 
 ment than would at first seem possible. Each 
 couple of players must have a sheet of paper and 
 pencil. They draw a square of reasonable size 
 upon the paper, and cross it at equal intervals 
 with two horizontal and two vertical lines. This 
 results in nine small squares. In one of these 
 small squares the players alternately make marks 
 — one making a cross and the other a straight 
 line or circle. The right to begin must be deter- 
 mined by lot. The object of the game is to be 
 the first to get three marks of one kind in a 
 straight line. The line may be either vertical, 
 horizontal, or diagonal. It is an excellent game 
 for very small children. 
 
 THE FEEOCIOUS "WHAT-YOU-MAY-CALL" 
 
 This creature is especially interesting to chil- 
 dren, those under twelve years of age or over 
 
ISO HOME GAMES 
 
 sixty being most amused by it. The exhibitor 
 begins with whatever sort of flourish in the way 
 of music or other noise may be available, as sug- 
 gesting the approach of the remarkable animal. 
 ''Ladies and Gentlemen, young and old, I am 
 about to have the pleasure of exhibiting to your 
 frightened gaze the celebrated ' What-You-May- 
 Call' He belongs to the family of Aunt-and- 
 Uncle Eaters. Xo, don't jump out of the window ! 
 He's just been fed, and it will be hours before he 
 has another appetite. Ah, here he comes." The 
 ingenuity of the exhibitor and the incidents of the 
 occasion will supply the fun until the animal is 
 brought into the room — properly chained or 
 guarded. It will then be in order to explain his 
 diet, mentioning among other foods, "cream puffs " 
 or "fudge," at the sound of which the animal 
 shows signs of sudden excitement. It may be 
 further explained that he is " arboreal " in his 
 habits, that is, he is found only in the shade of 
 grape arbors, and so forth. 
 
 He is manufactured as follows : 
 
 The performer, who should have black kid 
 gloves on, places on his head a conical paper cap, 
 worked up with the aid of the nursery paint-box 
 into a rough semblance of an animal's head. This 
 
HOME GAMES 181 
 
 being securely fastened on, he goes down on his 
 hands and knees — holding his head down so that 
 the cap protrudes forward like the beak of a bird 
 —and a shaggy rug of any sort is thrown over 
 him, and secured round his neck. He may be 
 ^'improved" by any accidental means at hand. 
 A red beard pendant from his paper jaw may 
 add much to the effect. 
 
 THE LEMON PIG 
 
 The body of the pig consists of a lemon. The 
 shape of this fruit renders it particularly well 
 adapted for this purpose, the crease or slioulder at 
 the small end of the lemon being just the right 
 shape to form the head and neck of the pig. 
 With three or four lemons to choose from, you 
 cannot fail to find at least one which will answer 
 the purpose exactly. The mouth and ears are 
 made by cutting the rind with a penknife, the 
 legs of short ends of lucifer matches, and the 
 eyes either of black pins, thrust in up to the 
 head, or of grape-seeds. He amuses the chil- 
 dren, and may subsequently be converted into 
 lemonade. 
 
182 HOME GAMES 
 
 THE LUMP or SUGAE AND THE MAGIC 
 HATS 
 
 The performer commences by borrowing two 
 hats, which he places, crown upward, upon the 
 table, drawing particular attention to the fact 
 that there is nothing whatever under either of 
 them. He next demands the loan of the family 
 sugar-bowl, and requests some one to select 
 from it a lump of sugar (preferably one of an 
 unusual and easily distinguished shape), at the 
 same time informing them that, by means of a 
 secret process, known only to himself, he will 
 undertake to swallow such lump of sugar before 
 their eyes, and yet, after a few minutes' interval, 
 bring it under either of the two hats they may 
 choose. The company, having been prepared to 
 expect some ingenious piece of sleight-of-hand, are 
 all on the qui vive to prevent any substitution of 
 another lump of sugar, or any pretense of swal- 
 lowing without actually doing so. However, the 
 performer does unmistakably take the identical 
 lump of sugar chosen and crusli it to pieces with 
 his teeth. After indulging in any amusing '' stage 
 business " which may occur to him, he asks 
 under which of the two hats he shall reproduce 
 
HOME GAMES 183 
 
 the sugar, and, the choice having been made, 
 places the chosen hat on his own head, and in that 
 way f ulhls his undertaking. 
 
 FOEFEITS 
 
 Interest may be added to almost any game by 
 prescribing forfeits to be imposed upon the losers. 
 The difficulty lies in suggesting penalties which 
 are of such a nature as to add to the general fund 
 of amusement, and which yet shall not be over- 
 burdensome or too embarrassing to the victims. 
 It is desirable, therefore, to supply an ample list 
 of penalties of a mirth provoking nature, to be 
 applied or omitted according to the taste of those in 
 charge of the games upon any particular occasion. 
 
 The forfeit itself may be anything ; a knife, a 
 small coin, a button, or a pin. It is in its redemp- 
 tion the fun begins. 
 
 The forfeits are generally cried, as it is called, 
 as follows : — One of the party is blindfolded, and 
 kneels down in front of the leader, who, holding 
 up each forfeited article in turn, says, " Here is a 
 pretty thing, a very pretty thing ! What shall be 
 done by the owner of this very pretty thing ? " 
 Or they are " cried " by this dialogue : 
 
II! 
 
 184 HOME GAMES 
 
 Leader (holding article over head of blind- 
 folded person). '' Heavy, heavy, what hangs 
 over ? " 
 
 Blikd. " Fine or superfine ? " (That is, " Does 
 it belong to a gentleman or a lady ? ") 
 
 Leader. " Fine " (if a man) or " superfine " 
 (if a lady). "What shall be done with the 
 owner? " 
 
 The person kneeling then declares what the 
 penalty shall be. This may be either invented 
 upon the spur of the moment, or borrowed from 
 traditional usage ; the ingenuity of many genera- 
 tions having been expended on this important _ 
 subject. The general object of the penances in^ 
 question is either to make the victim look mildly 
 ridiculous, to puzzle him with some apparently 
 impossible task, the solution of ^vhich lies in a 
 double entendre. 
 
 A list of such penalties is here added which, 
 while by no means new, will nevertheless still be 
 found exceedingly diverting in any ordinary gath- 
 ering of merrymakers. 
 
 1. To put one hand where the other hand can- 
 not p>ossihly touch it. — Grasp the right elbow with 
 the left hand. 
 
 2. To laugh in one corner^ cry in another^ 
 
HOME GAMES 185 
 
 dance in another and sing in another. — Not diffi- 
 cult, but exceedingly amusing. 
 
 3. To kiss the candlestick, — This is some- 
 times performed by inducing a young lady to 
 hold the candlestick, and then by mistake kissing 
 her. 
 
 4. To act the Knight of the Rueful Countenance. 
 — The victim takes a candle \\i hand, and having 
 selected a Squire, they perambulate the room 
 together, the Squire kissing the hand (or, if per- 
 mitted, the cheek) of each lady in succession, and 
 after each salute carefully wiping the Knight's 
 mouth with a handkerchief, the Knight looking 
 as cheerful as he may under the circumstances. 
 This forfeit is sometimes known as the " Trip to 
 Corinth." 
 
 5. The jotcrney to Rome. — The victim in this 
 case is supposed to be dispatched upon a mission 
 to the Eternal City, but before departure he is re- 
 quired to go to each person in the room in succes- 
 sion, and ask if he has anything to send to His 
 Holiness the Pope. Each entrusts him with 
 something, the more cumbrous the better. When 
 fully loaded, he completes his penance by carrying 
 every article named out of the room. 
 
 6. To sjpell Constantinople. — This is a mere 
 
186 HOME GAMES 
 
 trap to catch the unwary. The offender is re- 
 quired to spell Constantinople, He begins, and is 
 allowed to get safely as far as Constantly when 
 there is a general cry of " ?i^," meaning the next 
 syllable. If the victim knows the trick, he spells 
 calmly on and is free, but if he is not in the 
 secret, he naturally believes that he has made 
 some mistake, and begins again, only to be greeted 
 by the shout of '' no " once more at the same 
 point. If at all nervous, he will very probably 
 lose his head altogether, and get into a condition 
 of mental chaos at his (supposed) repeated 
 mistakes. 
 
 7. The three salutes. — The victim is required 
 to kneel to the prettiest, boAv to the wittiest, and 
 kiss the one he loves the best. This may either 
 be fulfilled literally, according to the gentleman's 
 own notion of the comparative merits of the 
 ladies present, or evaded, after the manner indi- 
 cated in the next forfeit. 
 
 8. To hiss the lady you love hest without any 
 one hnowing it, — This is performed by kissing 
 each lady in turn, the* favorite being thus effec- 
 tually concealed. 
 
 9. To kiss your own shadoio, — The uninitiated 
 understand this in a literal sense, but the better 
 
 I 
 
HOME GAMES 187 
 
 infornied victim places himself between a lady 
 and the light, and tenderly salutes her. 
 
 10. To sit %i][>on the fire. — This somewhat un- 
 pleasant penalty is usually evaded by writing " the 
 fire " on a small piece of paper, and sitting on it. 
 
 11. To leave the room with two legs^ and 
 come in vnth six, — This is performed by leaving 
 the room, and, on your return, bringing in a chair 
 with you. 
 
 12. To perform the egotist, — The victim is re- 
 quired to propose his own health in a flowery 
 speech, and to sing the musical honors as a solo. 
 
 13. To place three chairs in a tou\ tahe off 
 your shoes^ and jump over themu — It is not always 
 at once perceived that it is the shoes, and not the 
 chairs, that the victim is required to jump over. 
 
 14. To lite an inch off the poher. — This is a 
 penalty of a similar character, being performed by 
 holding the end of the poker about an inch from 
 the face, and making a bite at it. 
 
 15. To hlow a candle out hlindfold. — This is 
 an admirable penance. The victim, having been 
 shown the position of the candle, is securely blind- 
 folded, and after having been turned round once 
 or twice, is requested to go and blow it out. The 
 cautious manner in which the victim will en- 
 
188 HOME GAMES 
 
 deavor to blow out the clock on the mantelpiece, j 
 or to cool an old gentleman's bald head, while the J 
 candle is burning serenely a few feet behind him, I 
 must be seen to be appreciated. 
 
 16. To ask a question lohich cannot he answered 
 in the negative. — This forfeit, if the secret is not 
 known, will give the victim some trouble. The 
 mystic question is, '' What does y-e-s spell ? " ^| 
 
 17. The three questions. — The victim is re- 
 quired to leave the room. Three questions are 
 agreed on in his absence, and he is required to 
 say " Yes " or " No " to each, without knowing 
 what the questions are; the result being, fre- 
 quently, that he finds he has made some ignomin- 
 ious admission, has declined something that he 
 would be very glad to have, or accepted something 
 that he would much rather be without. 
 
 18. To kiss a hook inside and outside withottt 
 opening it. — This apparent impossibility is solved 
 by kissing the book first in the room, and then 
 taking it outside the door and kissing it again. 
 
 19. To take a person ttp-stairs., and hring him 
 down upon a feather. — This is an evasion of a 
 similar character. The heaviest person in the 
 room is generally selected as the person to be 
 taken up-stairs, in order to heighten the apparent 
 
HOME GAMES 189 
 
 difficulty ; which, however, is solved by bringing 
 the person a soft feather, which, being covered 
 with down, you may be truthfully said to have 
 brought him " down upon a feather." 
 
 20. To place a strmv (or other small article) 
 on the ground in such manner that no one present 
 canjuinjp over i?^.— This is done by placing it close 
 against the wall. 
 
 21. To act living statues, — The victim stands 
 on a chair and is posed by the members of the 
 company in succession, according to their various 
 (and sometimes decidedly original) conceptions of 
 Greek art. For example, a fat man standing on a 
 chair and brandishing the fire shovel at the lamp 
 makes an " Ajax defying the Lightning," which 
 is worth contemplating. 
 
 22. To shake a coin off the forehead, — This 
 may be made productive of much amusement. 
 The leader, having previously wetted a coin, 
 presses it firmly for several seconds against the 
 forehead of the victim. Then he withdraws his 
 thumb ; he also secretly brings away the coin, but 
 the victim invariably believes that he can feel it 
 still sticking to his forehead, and his head-shak- 
 ings and facial contortions, in order to get rid of 
 his imaginary burden, are frequently very ludi- 
 
190 HOME GAMES 
 
 11 
 
 crous. It is, of course, understood that he is not 
 allowed to touch his forehead with his hands. 
 
 23. The German hand, — This is a joint forfeil^ 
 for three or four players, each of whom is assigned 
 some imaginary instrument and required to per- 
 sonate a performer in a German band, imitating 
 not only the actions of the player, but the sound 
 of the instrument. 
 
 24. To imitate a donhey. — This will, of course, 
 depend on natural capacity. 
 
 The above list might be expanded to an almost 
 unlimited extent, but the specimens given will, we 
 trust, be sufficient to indicate to the reader the 
 various kinds of penalties which are generally re- 
 garded as appropriate, and to stimulate his imagi- 
 nation to the invention of new ones. 
 
 25. To mahe a declaration of love in verse. — 
 The gentleman condemned to this penalty must 
 place himself upon his knees before the lady who 
 is pointed out to him, or whom he loves the best, 
 and declare his passion for her in impromptu 
 verse. 
 
 Example 
 
 In spite of your coldness 
 
 I love you, my dear ; 
 If love is a crime. 
 
 See the guilty one here. 
 
HOME GAMES 191 
 
 26. To hecome the spirit of contradiction, — 
 Whatever tasks may be imposed by each member 
 of the company, the person condemned to act 
 under the influence of the spirit of contradiction 
 has, of course, to do precisely opposite to what she 
 is desired. 
 
 27. To make alphabetical compliments, — Make 
 a short speech in Avhich every word begins with 
 the same letter. For instance : — " I admire and 
 adore above anything Annie Austin's amiability 
 and activity. Am I absurdly ambitious, after an 
 absence absolutely abhorrent, abridging awhile 
 all attempts at avowal, anticipating an agreeable 
 answer ? " 
 
 28. To repeat the three hrave maids three 
 times, — " As I walked in the garden I saw three 
 brave maids, seated on three broad beds, braiding 
 broad braids. I said unto these three brave 
 maids, seated on three broad beds, braiding broad 
 braids, 'Braid broad braids, brave maids.' " 
 
 29. To repeat the following story without a 
 mistake, — "A tall girl named Short, long loved 
 a big Mr. Little ; while Little, little thinking of 
 Short, loved a little lass named Long. To make 
 a long story short. Little proposed to Long, and 
 Short longed to be even with Little's shortcom- 
 
192 HOME GAMES 
 
 ings. So Short, meeting Long, threatened to 
 marry Little before long, which caused Little in 
 a short time to marry Long." 
 
 30. To repeat Bob Rowley, — Kepeat the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 ^' Eobert Eowley rolled a round roll round ; 
 A round roll Eobert Eowley rolled round ; 
 Where is the round roll Eobert Eowley rolled 
 round"?'' 
 
 31. To stoop to Gonqxier. — Crawl round the 
 room on all fours forward. Your forfeit shall 
 then be laid upon the floor, and you must crawl 
 backward to it, without seeing where it is placed. 
 
 32. To dance the hlind quadrille, — This is 
 performed when a great number of forfeits are to 
 be disposed of. A quadrille (or portion of one) is 
 danced by eight of the company with their eyes 
 blindfolded, and as they are certain to become 
 completely bewildered during the figures, it 
 ahvays affords infinite -amusement to the spec- 
 tators. 
 
 33. To give poetic numbers. — Repeat a pas- 
 sage of poetry, counting the words aloud as you 
 proceed, thus: 
 
 "Full (one) many (two) a (three) flower (four) 
 
HOME GAMES 193 
 
 is (five) born (six) to (seven) blush (eight) unseen 
 (nine) and (ten) waste (eleven) its (twelve) sweet- 
 ness (thirteen) on (fourteen) the (fifteen) desert 
 (sixteen) air (seventeen) ! " This will prove a 
 great puzzle to many, and afford considerable 
 amusement. 
 
 34. To rejpeat " Bandy-legged Boracliio " witJi- 
 out stopping. — ^^ Bandy-legged Boracliio Mus- 
 tachio Whiskerjusticus the bold and brave Bom- 
 baretino of Bagdad helped Abomilique Bluebeard 
 Bashaw of Barbad Mandab to bed down a Bumble 
 Bee at Belsore." 
 
 35. To do the imitation. — If a gentleman, he 
 must put on a lady's bonnet, and imitate the voice 
 of the lady to whom it belongs ; if a lady, then 
 a gentleman's hat, etc. Sometimes these imita- 
 tions are very humorous. A sentence often used 
 by the person imitated should be chosen. 
 
 36. Stand m the cornier till some one prevails 
 on yon to come ont., though all your answers must 
 he ''iV^6>." — The dialogue may be something to 
 this effect : — ^' Will you come out of the corner ? " 
 "I^To." "Is it tiresome to you?" "No." "Shall 
 I pull you out ? " " No." " Will you stay an- 
 other instant ? " " No." This answer implies a 
 consent to quit the corner, so you are led out. 
 
194 homp: games 
 
 37. To ho]) on one foot twice round the room, 
 
 38. To he a statesman, — Ask the penitent what 
 county he would like to represent in the Legisla- 
 ture : when the selection is made, he is to spell its l| 
 name backward, without a mistake ; if he fail, he 
 knows not the requirements of his constituents, 
 and must lose his election. 
 
 39. Repeat five times rajndly^ " Villy Vite and 
 his Vlfe vent to Yinsor and Vest Vickham von 
 
 Vitsun Vednesday,'^^ 
 
 40. To ansioev a riddle or give a conundrum, 
 
 41. To say five flattering things to one of the 
 opposite sex loithoiit making use of the letter L 
 
 42. To say alond : 
 
 " I am a goose, as I confess, 
 So return my forfeit, you can't do less." 
 
 43. To kneel hefore the person holding the\ 
 pledges^ and say : 
 
 '^1 call myself a dunce, and in public own myj 
 
 shame, 
 For not rising up at once, when you called me by { 
 
 name ; 
 I'll try to be more careful, the next game that I 
 
 shall play, 
 So give me back my forfeit, for P ve nothing more 
 
 to say.'' 
 
 I 
 
HOME GAMES 195 
 
 44. To sing a medley. — Sing one line of four 
 different songs without pausing between them. 
 The lines should be chosen with a view to their 
 humor, rather than their harmony. 
 
 45. The egotist. — Propose your own health in 
 a complimentary speech. 
 
 46. To hiss nun-fashion. — Kissing through the 
 bars at a back of the chair. 
 
 47. To rejpeat six times loithoiit a mistake. — 
 A lump of rough, light, red leather, a red light, 
 rough leather lump. 
 
 48. To act the mute. — Every one present (unless 
 there are a great many, then name how many) is 
 at liberty to impose a task on this much-enduring 
 forfeit ; each of which he is to perform with the 
 utmost gravity, and without betraying any emo- 
 tion whatever, no matter how ridiculous the duty 
 may be. The company meanwhile will do their 
 best to make him either speak or laugh, neither of 
 which he must on any account do. 
 
 49. To enact the Grecian statue. — Stand on a 
 chair, while any of the company i[n^j pose you as 
 they think proper, and great ingenuity may be 
 displayed in inventing ridiculous postures. 
 
 50. Push your friend's head through a ring. — 
 This is managed by putting your finger through a 
 
196 HOME GAMES 
 
 ring, and pushing your friend's head with the tipl 
 of it. 
 
 51. Repeat the following without a hlunder : 
 
 '^ Oliver Ogilvie ogled an olive and oyster. 
 Did Oliver Ogilvie ogle an olive and oyster? 
 If Oliver Ogilvie ogled an olive and oyster, 
 Where is the olive and oyster Oliver Ogilvie 
 ogled r' 
 
 I 
 
 52. The dumh orator, {A double forfeit}) — 
 This is another ordeal by which two persons may 
 recover their forfeits. One of them is to speak 
 Avithout moving, and the other is to gesticulated 
 without speaking. No. 1 takes up a position in 
 the middle of the room, and No. 2 stands behind 
 No. 1, or, if the latter should be too tall, and 
 thereby conceal No. 2, he kneels. He is to beA 
 wrapped in a cloak or shawl, so that his arms be 
 confined. He will then recite a speech, which he 
 may have either committed to memory, or, if he 
 is gifted in that way, he may improvise it. No. 2 
 meanwhile gives the action which No. 1 Would 
 have used were he at liberty to do so. The more 
 ridiculous and broad caricature the action can be 
 made, the better, more particularly if the speech 
 should be of a stiltified character. It also pro- 
 
HOME GAMES 197 
 
 vokes a good laugh if the person gesticulating 
 wipes the speaker's nose, mouth, etc., with a pocket 
 handkerchief. 
 
 53. Hobsoiih choice. — The debtor is blindfolded 
 and seated on a chair. The operator, holding a 
 cork burnt at one end, asks him which end he 
 will have rubbed to his face. He may say 
 '' Neither," but the rejoinder will be ''' Hobson's 
 choice ; you must say which." The other, seeing 
 there is no alternative, either makes a choice or 
 says he doesn't care; but that will not do, he 
 must put his finger on the end he selects, and trust 
 to his luck as to whether his face is blackened or 
 not. This is a gentleman's forfeit only. 
 .-> 54. Stand in the middle of the rooon and draw 
 a line round you that you cannot get out of with- 
 out talcing your coat off, — Draw the line round 
 your coat. 
 
 55. To rejjeat three times without a mistake : 
 
 ^^ David Daldrom dreamt he drove a dragon. 
 Did David Daldrom dream he drove a dragon! 
 If David Daldrom dreamt he drove a dragon, 
 Where's the dragon David Daldrom dreamt he 
 drove!" 
 
 56. To act the part of a dumb servant, — To act 
 this, the one who owns the forfeit must (if a lady) 
 
198 HOME GAMES 
 
 
 apply to a gentleman for a place ; the gentleman 
 then asks her six questions, such as these : — How 
 do you wash ? — How do you sew ? — How do you 
 clean boots ? — How do you iron ? etc., etc. All 
 these questions must be answered by the lady 
 by dumb motions, which of course cause great 
 laughter. 
 
 If the forfeit is for a gentleman, he must apply 
 to a lady, and of course the lady varies her ques- 
 tions to make them applicable to the duties of a 
 man-servant. 
 
 57. To put a candle in such cc place that all i?i 
 the room hut yourself can see it. — This is done by 
 placing the candle on your head. M 
 
 58. Count twenty hadiward, ™ 
 
 59. To say " Quizzical Quiz^ kiss me quich " 
 six times in succession icithout drawing hreath. 
 
 60. To lay a sheet of neiospaper dovm and 
 place two persons on it in such a way that they 
 cannot touch each other with their hands. — This 
 must be done by putting the newspaper on the 
 floor, half inside the door, and half outside ; then, 
 if you put one person on the end of the newspaper 
 outside the door, and shut the door, and put the 
 other person on the inside half, they cannot touch 
 each other. 
 
HOME GAMES 199 
 
 Sometimes the performer is told to '' scramble 
 like an Qgg^''^ " develop like a film," or " grow like 
 a weed " — in which case he uses his own ingenuity 
 in accomplishing the required task. 
 
311-77-3 
 
mw 
 

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