Chapter II: Preface (2)

The same game may be played also with "The House that Jack Built," and there are other stories of a similar kind. Among these the most amusing for a large party would perhaps be the old rhyme of "John Ball."

First round.-- John Ball shot them all.
Second round.-- John Block made the stock,
But John Ball shot them all.
Third round.-- John Brammer made the rammer,
John Block made the stock,
But John Ball shot them all.
Fourth round.-- John Wyming made the priming,
John Brammer made the rammer,
John Block made the stock,
But John Ball shot them all.
Fifth round.-- John Scott made the shot....
Sixth round.-- John Crowder made the powder....
Seventh round.-- John Puzzle made the muzzle....
Eighth round.-- John Farrell made the barrel....
Ninth round.-- John Clint made the flint....
Tenth round.-- John Patch made the match....

In the tenth round, then, each player has to say--

John Patch made the match,
John Clint made the flint,
John Farrell made the barrel,
John Puzzle made the muzzle,
John Crowder made the powder,
John Scott made the shot,
John Wyming made the priming,
John Brammer made the rammer,
John Block made the stock,
But John Ball shot them all.

Chitterbob

There is also the old rhyme of "Chitterbob," but it is usual in repeating this to say it all at once, in one round, and not prolong the task. This is the rhyme:--

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,
She had a cat and her name was Chitterbob.
"Bob," says Cob;
"Chitterbob," says Mob.
Bob was Cob's dog,
Mob's cat was Chitterbob,
Cob, Mob, Bob, and Chitterbob.

In the old way of playing "Chitterbob" a paper horn used to be twisted into the player's hair for each mistake made in the recitation, and at the end these horns could be got rid of only by paying forfeits.

The Muffin Man

"The Muffin Man" is another variety. The players sit in a circle, and the game is begun by one of them turning to the next and asking, either in speech or in song--

Oh, do you know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man?
Oh, do you know the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane?

The reply is--

Oh, yes I know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, yes I know the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane.

Both players then repeat together--

Then two of us know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man,
Then two of us know the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane.

This done, the second player turns to the third and the same question and answer are given; but when it comes to the comment--

Then three of us know the muffin man,...

the first player also joins in. At the end therefore, if there are eight people playing, the whole company is singing--

Then eight of us know the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin
man,
Then eight of us know the muffin man who lives in Drury Lane.

Family Coach

In "Family Coach" each player takes the name of a part of a coach, as the axle, the door, the box, the reins, the whip, the wheels, the horn; or of some one connected with it, as the driver, the guard, the ostlers, the landlord, the bad-tempered passenger, the cheerful passenger, the passenger who made puns, the old lady with the bundle, and the horses--wheelers and leaders. One player then tells a story about the coach, bringing in as many of these people and things as he can, and as often. Whenever a person or thing represented by a player is mentioned, that player must stand up and turn round. But whenever the coach is mentioned the whole company must stand up and turn round. Otherwise, forfeits. A specimen story is here given as a hint as to the kind of thing needed:--

"There's the railway, of course," said _Mr. Burly_, "and
there's the motor wagonette, and you've all got bicycles; but
let's go to London in the old-fashioned way for once; let's
go in the _Family Coach_." These words delighted everybody.
"Oh, yes," they all cried, "let's go in the _Family Coach_."
It was therefore arranged, and _John the Coachman_ had orders
to get everything ready. This was no light matter, for the
_Family Coach_ had not been used for many years, and it would
need to be taken to the coachbuilder's at once and be
overhauled. So the next morning it lumbered off, and it did
not come back for a week; but when it did there was a change
indeed. The _wheels_ had been painted red, the _axles_ had
been tested, the _springs_ renewed, the inside re-lined, the
_roof_ freshly upholstered, and the whole made bright and
gay. At last the morning came, a clear, sunny day, and
punctually at nine _John_ rattled up to the door. The
_horses_ stood there pawing the ground, as if ready to gallop
all the way. _John_ had a new coat and hat, and Tim and
Peter, the _grooms_, were also in new livery. Every one was
ready. First came _Mr. Burly_ in a wonderful great overcoat,
and then _Mrs. Burly_ in furs. Then _Uncle Joshua_, then
_Aunt Penelope_, and then the three girls and two boys. How
they all found room I don't know, but they did. "Are we all
ready?" said _Mr. Burly_. "All ready," said _Uncle Joshua_.
So _Tim_ and _Peter_ sprang away from the _horses'_ heads,
crack went the _whip_, round went the _wheels_, _Uncle
Joshua_ blew the _horn_, and the old _Family Coach_ was
fairly on its journey.

It was a splendid ride. _John_ kept his _horses_ going at a
grand pace and hardly used the _whip_ at all, the _wheels_
ran smoothly over the road, and whenever we passed through a
village _Uncle Joshua_ blew the _horn_. We stopped at
Thornminster for lunch. _John_ brought us up to the inn door
in style, and the _landlord_ came out rubbing his hands and
helped _Mrs. Burly_ and _Aunt Penelope_ down with a flourish.
"Proud to see you, sir," he said to _Mr. Burly_. "It is
seldom enough that folks travel nowadays in an old _Family
Coach_. I wish there were more of them."

After lunch we went along in the same splendid way until
suddenly round a corner came a donkey-cart with the donkey
braying at the top of his voice. _John_ pulled the _horses_
well over to the side, but the braying was too much for them,
and they rolled into the ditch. In a moment the old _Family
Coach_ was overturned. _Mr. Burly_ was shot into the field
across the hedge, _Uncle Joshua_, grasping the _horn_, landed
in a pond, _John_ and _Aunt Penelope_, _Mrs. Burly_ and the
_grooms_ all stuck in the hedge. No one was hurt, but two of
the _wheels_ were broken to pieces and one _axle_ was bent,
and that was therefore the last of the old _Family Coach_. So
we never got to London in the old way after all.

If this story is not long enough, it can be lengthened. The words in italics are those to be distributed among the company, each player taking more than one if necessary. When the accident comes they might all fall down as they are mentioned. In the case of the wheels and the horses, these may either be taken all four by one player, or eight players may share them. Thus, when the wheels are mentioned, all four players who have taken the wheels would stand up and turn round, and four others when the horses were alluded to.

The Traveler, and the Bicyclist

"The Traveler" is a favorite variety of the "Family Coach." In this game a player with a ready tongue is chosen as traveler, and the others are given such names as landlord, bell-boy, clerk, waiter, chambermaid, electric light, elevator, bed, supper, paper, sitting-room, bedroom, steam-radiator, slippers, and so on. The traveler is then supposed to arrive and give his orders. "Can I have a room to-night? Good. And how soon will _supper_ be ready? Ask the _bell-boy_ to take my _satchels_ up to my _room_. Show me to my _room_ and send up the _papers_." And so on, each person named having to stand up or be booked for a forfeit.

This game lends itself to various new forms. One might be called "The Bicyclist" and run thus:--A player having been chosen as the bicyclist, the others take as many bicycling names (or two names each might add to the fun) as there are players. Thus--lamp, wick, oil, handle-bars, spokes, tires, chain, pump, nuts, bell, hedges, fields, sheep, roads, hill, dog. This settled, the bicyclist will begin his story, something in this style:--

It looked so fine this morning that I determined to go for a
long ride. So I got out the _pump_ and blew up the _tires_,
put the _monkey-wrench_ to a few _nuts_, filled the _lamp_,
trimmed the _wick_, polished up the _bell_ and the
_handle-bars_, and started off. The _roads_ were perfect. The
_fields_ were shining with dew, the _hedges_ were sweet with
honey-suckle, and I skimmed along like the wind until
suddenly, at the turn at the foot of Claymore _Hill_, I rode
bang into a flock of _sheep_ and came down with a smash. You
never saw such a ruin. The _lamp_ and _bell_ were lost
completely, the _handle-bars_ were twisted into corkscrews,
the _tires_ were cut to ribbons, the _spokes_ looked like
part of a spider's web, my hands and my knees were cut, and
the worst of it was that the shepherd's _dog_ mistook me for
an enemy and I had to beat him off with the _monkey-wrench_,
until the farmer heard the noise and came to the rescue.

During this story all the players named would, in the ordinary way, stand up for a moment when their adopted names were mentioned, except at the point when the accident occurs, and then every player bearing the name of a part of the bicycle--the handle-bars, spokes, tires, chain, air-pump, lamp, wick, bell, monkey-wrench, pump, nuts--should fall to the ground.

Drawing-Room Acrobatics

There are various feats which can be performed in a small room without injury to furniture. To lie flat on the floor on one's back and be lifted into an upright position by a pair of hands under the back of the head, keeping stiff all the time, is a favorite accomplishment. Another is to bend over and touch the floor with the tips of the fingers without bending the knees. Another is, keeping your feet behind a line, to see who, by stretching along the ground supported on the left hand only, can place a penny with the right hand the farthest distance and get back again to an upright position behind the line without moving the feet or using the right hand for a support. This done, the penny must be recovered in the same way.

Another feat is, keeping your feet together and one arm behind you, to see how far back from the wall it is possible to place your feet (remembering that you have to get into an upright position again) while you lean forward supported by the other hand laid flat against the wall.

Another is to keep the toes to a line, and kneel down and get up again without using the hands.

Another is to make a bridge of your body from chair to chair, resting the back of your neck on one and your heels on the other. This is done by beginning with three chairs, one under the back, and then when you are rigid enough having the third one removed.

Acrobatic Impossibilities

If you hold your hands across your chest in a straight line with the tips of the forefingers pressed together, it will be impossible for any one else, however strong, to hold by your arms and pull those finger-tips apart.

It is quite safe to stand a person against the wall with his heels touching it, and, laying a shilling on the floor a foot or so is front of him, to say it will be his if he can pick it up without moving his heels from the wall.

Another impossible thing is to stand sideways against the wall with your left cheek, left heel, and left leg touching it, and then raise the right leg.

The Trussed Fowls

In this contest two boys are first trussed. Trussing consists of firmly tying wrists and ankles, bringing the elbows down below the knees and slipping a stick along over one elbow, under both knees and over the other elbow, as in the picture. The game is, for the two fowls to be placed opposite each other with their feet just touching, and for each then to strive to roll the other over with his toes.

The Candle-Lighters

Another balancing game. Two boys face each other, each with a candle, one of which is lighted and the other not. Kneeling on the right knee only and keeping the left leg entirely off the ground, they have to make one candle light the other.

Hat and Cards

A tall hat is placed in the middle of the room and a pack of cards is dealt out to the players seated round it. The game is to throw the cards one by one into the hat.

Tug of War

This is properly an outdoor game, but in a big room indoors it is all right. The two sides should be even in numbers, at any rate in the first pull. In the middle of the rope a handkerchief is tied, and three chalk lines a yard apart are made on the floor. The sides then grasp the rope, the captain of each side, whose duty it is to encourage his men by cheering cries, having his hands about a yard and a half from the handkerchief. The rope is then trimmed by the umpire until the handkerchief comes exactly over the middle one of the three lines. On the word being given, each side has to try and pull the rope so that the handkerchief passes over the chalk line nearest it. The best of three decides the victory. For the sake of sport it is better, if one side is much weaker than the other, to add to it until the balance of strength is pretty even.

High Skip

The players stand in as wide a circle as the size of the room allows, with one player in the middle. He has a rope or heavy cord in his hand with some object, rather heavy but not hard, tied to it, such as a small cushion or a large bunch of rags. Stooping down, he begins swinging this around the circle. As it comes to them the players must jump over the cord. As the cushion is swung faster and faster it goes higher and is more difficult to jump over. The first one to miss takes the place of the person swinging the rope, who is not allowed to raise his hand higher than his knee.

Parlor Football

In this game goals are set up at each end of the room, the players are provided with fans, and the football is a blown hen's egg, which is wafted backward and forward along the floor.

Balloon

A string is stretched across the room at a height of about three or four feet. The players divide into sides and line up on each side of the string. The balloon is then thrown up, the game being to keep it in the air backward and forward over the string, so that if it falls it will fall in the other side's camp. It ought to be tapped with the back of the fingers and not hit hard.

Tissue-Paper Race

In this game tissue-paper is cut into pieces three or four inches square. 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 Japanese fire-screen or fan, starts to fan his square through 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.

Walking Spanish

This game should not be played unless there are some older, stronger players to prevent possible accidents, but it is very amusing. Each player in turn goes to the end of the room, takes a cane or umbrella, puts his head down on the handle, closes his eyes and, stooping over thus, whirls rapidly about six times, not moving the point of the cane from its original position. Then instantly he straightens up and tries to walk steadily the length of the room along a string laid down or line marked. The one who steps nearest to the line all the time is the winner.

Potato Race

This is a good game for a hall or landing. Two baskets are needed, which are placed at one end 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. Each 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.

Fire-Buckets

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 being 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 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 standing 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 possible 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.

Forfeits

In many of the games already described mention has been made of "Forfeits." They do not now play quite so important a part in an evening's entertainment as once they did, but they can still add to the interest of games. "Paying a forfeit" means giving up to the player who is collecting forfeits some personal article or other--a knife, a pencil, a handkerchief--which, at the end of the game, or later in the evening, has to be recovered by performing whatever penance is ordered. When the times comes for "crying the forfeits," as it is called, the player who has them sits in a chair, while another player, either blindfolded or hiding her eyes, kneels before her, the remaining players standing all around. The first player then holds up a forfeit, remarking, "I have a thing, and a very pretty thing. Pray what shall be done to the owner of this pretty thing?" To which the blindfolded one replies by asking, "Is it fine or superfine?" meaning, Does it belong to a boy (fine) or a girl (superfine)? The answer is either "It is fine," or "It is superfine," and the blindfolded one then announces what its owner must do to get possession of it again. Of stock penances there are a great number, most of which are tricks which, once known, are necessarily very tame afterward. In the case of those that follow, therefore, something definite and practical is required.

Frown for a minute.
Dance for a minute.
See how many you can count in a minute.
Say the alphabet backward.
Do the exact opposite of three things ordered by the company.
Crow like a cock.
Say "Gig whip" ten times very rapidly.
Say "Mixed biscuits" ten times very rapidly.
Say rapidly: "She stood on the steps of Burgess's Fish Sauce Shop
selling shell fish."
Say rapidly: "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper. A peck
of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck
of pickled pepper, where is the peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper
picked?"
Count fifty backward.
Repeat a nursery rhyme.
Hold your hands behind you, and, keeping them there, lie down
and get up again.
Hold your hands together and put them under your feet and over
your head.
Walk round the room balancing three books on your head without
using your hands.

Smile to the prettiest,
Bow to the wittiest,
And kiss the one you love the best.

Yawn until you make some one else yawn.
Push your friend's head through a ring. (Put your finger through
a ring and push your friend's head with the tip.)
Place a straw on the floor so that you can't jump over it. (Very
close to the wall.)
Put a chair on a table, take off your shoes and jump over them.
(Over your shoes.)
Leave the room with two legs and come in with six. (Bring in a
chair.)
Repeat five times without mistake, "A rat ran over the roof of
the house with a lump of raw liver in his mouth."
Repeat ten times rapidly, "Troy boat."
Ask a question to which "no" cannot be answered. (What does y-e-s
spell?)
Shake a dime off your forehead. (The coin is wet and some one
presses it firmly to the forehead of the one to pay the forfeit,
who must keep his eyes closed. The dime is taken away, but the
forfeit player still feels it there and tries to shake it off.)
Repeat a verse of poetry, counting the words aloud. Mary (one)
had (two) a (three) little (four) lamb (five).
Dance in one corner, cry in another, sing in another, and fall
dead in the fourth.

Two forfeits may be redeemed at once by blindfolding two players, handing them each a glass of water, and bidding them give the other a drink. This, however, can be a very damp business.

The old way of getting rid of a large number of forfeits was to tell their owners to hold a cats' concert, in which each sings a different song at the same time. Perhaps it would be less noisy and more interesting if they were told to personate a farm-yard.

Auctioning Prizes

A novel way of awarding prizes is to auction them. Each guest on arrival is given a small bag instead of a tally card. These bags are used to hold beans, five of which are given to all the players that progress at the end of each game. After the playing stops the prizes are auctioned. Of course the person who has the greatest number of beans can buy the best prizes; so that besides making a great deal of fun, the distribution is entirely fair.

DRAWING GAMES

Many persons, when a drawing game is suggested, ask to be excused on the ground of an inability to draw. But in none of the games that are described in this chapter is any real drawing power necessary. The object of each game being not to produce good drawings but to produce good fun, a bad drawing is much more likely to lead to laughter than a good one.

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 far apart, close together (but not too close), or even in a straight line. The other player's task is to fit in a drawing of a person with one of these dots at his head, two at his hands, and two at his feet, as in the examples on page 48.

Outlines or Wiggles

Another form of "Five Dots" is "Outlines." Instead of dots a line, straight, zigzag, or curved, is made at random on the paper. Papers are then exchanged and this line must be fitted naturally into a picture, as in the examples on page 49.

A good way to play Wiggles when there are a number of people to play, is to mark the same line for all the players, either by pressing down very hard with a hard pencil so that the line can be traced from one piece of paper to another, or with carbon copy paper between the sheets. Thus each person has the same line, and the one who uses his in the most fantastic and unexpected way is the winner. The only rule about making the line is that a circle shall not be made. The two ends must be left ready to add the rest of the design. It is well sometimes to limit the pictures to human faces, as this makes the grotesque unlikeness of the drawings all the more absurd.

Eyes-Shut Drawings

The usual thing to draw with shut eyes is a pig, but any animal will do as well (or almost as 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. There is one lady at least who keeps a visitor's book in which every one that stays at her house has to draw an eyes-shut pig. The drawings are signed, and the date is added. Such a guest book is now manufactured, bound in pig skin, or in cloth.

"Ghosts of My Friends"

While on the subject of novel albums the "Ghost of My Friends" might be mentioned. The "ghost" is the effect produced by writing one's signature with plenty of ink, and while the ink is still very wet, folding the paper down the middle of the name, lengthwise, and pressing the two sides firmly together. The result is a curious symmetrically-shaped figure. Some people prefer "ghosts" to ordinary signatures in a visitors' book.

The "Book of Butterflies" is on the same order. With the book come four tubes of paint. The paint is squeezed on the page, which is doubled and flattened. The effects are very beautiful, and surprisingly lifelike.

Another guest book is the "Hand-o-graph," in which the outline of the hand of each guest is kept. The "Thumb-o-graph" is on the same principle, except that in this case the imprint of the guest's thumb is preserved, made from an ink pad supplied with the book.

A remarkable collection can be made of ink-blot pictures. A drop of ink, either round as it naturally falls, or slightly lengthened with a pen, is dropped on paper which is then folded smartly together and rubbed flat. The most surprising designs are the result, some of which, aided a little by the pen, look like landscapes, figures and complicated geometric designs.

Drawing Tricks

Six drawing tricks are illustrated on this page. One (1) is the picture of a soldier and a dog leaving a room, drawn with three strokes of the pencil. Another (3) is a sailor, drawn with two squares, two circles, and two triangles. Another (5), Henry VIII, drawn with a square and nine straight lines. Another (6), invented for this book, an Esquimaux waiting to harpoon a seal, drawn with eleven circles and a straight line. The remaining figures are a cheerful pig and a despondent pig (4), and a cat (2), drawn with the utmost possible simplicity.

Composite Animals

In this game the first player writes the name of an animal at the top of the paper and folds it over. The next writes another, and so on until you have four, or even five. You then unfold the papers and draw animals containing some feature of each of those named.

Invented Animals

A variation of this game is for the players to draw and describe a new creature. On one occasion when this game was played every one went for names to the commoner advertisements. The best animal produced was the Hairy Coco, the description of which stated, among other things, that it was fourteen feet long and had fourteen long feet.

A good guessing contest is to supply every person with a slip of paper on which is written the name of an animal. He draws a picture of it and these pictures are all exhibited signed with the artist's name. The person who guesses correctly the subjects of the greatest number of them wins.

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.

Pictures to Order

Each player sits, pencil in hand, before a blank sheet of paper, his object being to make a picture containing things chosen by the company in turn. The first player then names the thing that he wants in the picture. Perhaps it is a tree. He therefore says, "Draw a tree," when all the players, himself included, draw a tree. Perhaps the next says, "Draw a boy climbing the tree"; the next, "Draw a balloon caught in the top branches"; the next, "Draw two little girls looking up at the balloon"; and so on, until the picture is full enough. The chief interest of this game resides in the difficulty of finding a place for everything that has to be put in the picture. A comparison of the drawings afterward is usually amusing.

Hieroglyphics, or Picture-Writing

As a change from ordinary letter-writing, "Hieroglyphics" are amusing and interesting to make. The best explanation is an example, such as is given on pages 52 and 53, the subject being two verses from a favorite nursery song.

Pictures and Titles

Each player draws on the upper half of the paper an historical scene, whether from history proper or from family history, and appends the title, writing it along the bottom of the paper and folding it over. The drawings are then passed on and each player writes above the artist's fold (or on another sheet of paper) what he thinks they are meant to represent, and folds the paper over what he has written. In the accompanying example the title at the bottom of the paper is what the draughtsman himself wrote; the others are the other players' guesses.

Various Descriptions by the Players

The Abbot of Christchurch, near Bournemouth, surveys the
scaffolding of the abbey.

The end of the Paris Exhibition.

An old man coming back to the home of his childhood, looks
across the river, where a duck is swimming, to the
dilapidated cathedral and town which represent the stately
piles he remembered.

The building of the Ark.

The Artist's Description

The Last Man surveying the ruins of the Crystal Palace.]

WRITING GAMES

Many of the games under this heading look harder than they really are. But the mere suggestion of a writing game is often enough to frighten away timid players who mistrust their powers of composition--although the result can be as funny when these powers are small as when they are considerable. The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.

Simple Acrostics

There are "Simple Acrostics" and "Double Acrostics." The simple ones are very simple. When the players are all ready a word is chosen by one of them, either from thought or by looking at a book and taking the first promising one that occurs. Perhaps it is "govern." Each player then puts the letters forming "govern" in a line down the paper, and the object of the game is to find, in a given time, words beginning with each of those letters. Thus, at the end of time, one player might have--

G ravy
O range
V iolet
E sther
R obin
N umbskull

The players then describe their words in turn, one letter going the round before the next is reached, and from these descriptions the words have to be guessed, either by any player who likes or by the players in turn. The player whose paper we have quoted might describe his words like this: G---- "Something that makes hot beef nice"; O---- "A fruit"; V---- "A flower"; E---- "A girl's name"; R---- "A bird"; and N---- "A name for a silly person." If any one else has the same word neither of you can score it, and it is therefore important to seek for the most unlikely words.

Another way of playing "Simple Acrostics" is to insist on each word being the same length. Thus "govern" might be filled in by one player thus:--

G rave
O ddly
V erse
E arth
R ebel
N inth

Double Acrostics

In "Double Acrostics" the game is played in precisely the same way, except that the letters of the word, after having been arranged in a line down the paper, are then arranged again in a line up the paper, so that the first letter is opposite the last, and the last opposite the first. Thus:--

G N
O R
V E
E V
R O
N G

The players have then to fill in words beginning and ending with the letters as thus arranged. One paper might come out thus:--

G rai N
O rde R
V ersatil E
E ... V
R apall O
N othin G

This word is rather a hard one on account of the E and V. As a rule, words of only three letters are not allowed in "Acrostics," nor are plurals. That is to say, if the word has to end in "S," one must not simply add "S" to an ordinary word, such as "grooms" for G----S, but find a word ending naturally in "S," such as "Genesis."

It is not necessary to invert the same word in order to get letters for the ends of the words. Two words of equal length can be chosen and arranged side by side. Thus (but this is almost too difficult an example):--

D K
I I
C P
K L
E I
N N
S G

"Acrostics" may be made more difficult and interesting by giving them a distinct character. Thus, it may be decided that all the words that are filled in must be geographical, or literary, or relating to flowers.

Fives

"Fives" is a game which is a test also of one's store of information. A letter is chosen, say T, and for a given time, ten minutes perhaps, the players write down as many names of animals beginning with T as they can think of. The first player then reads his list, marking those words that no one else has and crossing off all that are also on other players' papers. Then the names of vegetables (including flowers, trees, and fruit) are taken; then minerals; then persons; and then places. The player who has most marks wins the game.

A variety of this game is to take a long word, say "extraordinary," and within a given time to see how many smaller words can be made from it, such as tax, tin, tea, tear, tare, tray, din, dray, dairy, road, rat, raid, and so on.

Lists

"Lists" is a variety of "Fives." 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 say a river; the second, a doctor; the third, a complaint; the fourth, a play; the fifth, a State in the Union; the first again, a musical instrument; the second again, a poet; 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 appearance:--

A river Tees
A doctor. Mr. Treves
A complaint Tic Doloreux
A play Timon of Athens
A state in the Union Tennessee
A musical instrument Trombone
A poet Tennyson
A flower Trefoil
A mineral Tin
A lake Tanganyika
A tree Tulip
A country Turkey
An author Trollope
An artist Tadema
A preacher Talmage

Each player in turn reads his list aloud, strikes off those words that others also have, and puts a mark against the rest. The specimen list here given is too simple to be called a good one. Players should reject the first thing that comes into their thoughts, in favor of something less natural.

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 a river. 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 spelled 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:--

An author: I like to keep the y_ew in g_ood order.
A girl: The boy was cru_el, laz_y and obstinate.
A town: Clothes that are _new have n_o need of brushing.
A river: To see spoil_t ham es_pecially annoys me.

It is permissible to bury the name in the middle of one longer word, but it is better to spread it over two or three. Perhaps the best example of a buried English town is this: "The Queen of She_ba sings to ke_ep her spirits up." This is good, because the sentence is natural, because of the unusual number of words that are made use of in the burial, and because in reading it aloud the sound of the buried town is not suggested.

Letters and Telegrams

In this game you begin with the Letter. The first thing to write is the address and "My dear ----," choosing whomever you like, but usually, as in "Consequences," 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 requires 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. (These may be divided into two separate writings if you like.) The signature should be that of another public person, or friend, relation or acquaintance of the family. The paper is then passed on once more, and a reply to the letter, in the form of a telegram, is written. That is to say, you must say as much as you can in ten words. Example:--

THE LETTER

_The first player writes_:--My dear Buffalo Bill.
_The second player writes_:--Can you give me any information about
suitable songs for our village choir?
_The third player writes_:--Believe me yours slavishly.
_The fourth player writes_:--Kitchener of Khartoum.

THE REPLY TELEGRAM

_The fifth player writes_:--Be with you to-morrow. Have sheets
aired. Am bringing everything.

Telegrams

There is also the game of "Telegrams." In this the first thing to write is the name of the person sending the telegram. The paper is then passed on, and the name of the person to whom it is sent is written. The papers are then passed on again and opened, and the players in turn each say a letter of the alphabet, chosen at random, until there are ten. As these are spoken, each player writes them on the paper before him, leaving a space after it; so that when the ten are all written down his paper may look like this:--

From the DUKE OF YORK
To BARNUM AND BAILEY.

H ... A ... P ... N ...
W ... E ... K ... S ... F ...
T ...

A period of five minutes or more is then allowed in which to complete the telegram, the message having to be ten words long, and each word to begin, in the same order, with these letters. The players should, as far as possible, make the telegrams reasonable, if not possible. Thus, the form given above might, when finished, read like this:--

From the DUKE OF YORK
To BARNUM AND BAILEY.

Have Awning Prepared Next
Wednesday Evening Kindly Send Five
Tickets

In calling out the ten letters which are to be used in the telegram, it is well to avoid the unusual consonants and to have a vowel here and there.

An amusing variety is for all the players to compose telegrams on the same subject; the subject being given beforehand. Thus it might be decided that all the telegrams should be sent from President Roosevelt to Alice in Wonderland asking for her views on the tariff. Then having completed these messages, the answers may also be prepared, using the same letters. But, of course, as in all games, family matters work out more amusingly than public ones.

Initials

Paper is handed round, and each player thinks of some public person, or friend or acquaintance of the company, and writes in full his or her Christian name (or names) and surname. Then, for, say, five minutes, a character sketch of the person chosen has to be composed, each word of which begins with the initial letter of each of the person's names, repeated in their right order until the supply of thought gives out or time is up. Thus, suppose the person chosen is Frank Richard Stockton, the story writer. The character sketch might run:--

F ancifully R ecounts S trange F reakish R omantic S tories.
F inds R isibility S urely. F requently R aises S miles.

An occasional "and" and "of" may be dropped in if necessary. Where one of the names begins with a vowel (such as William _E_wart Gladstone) the character sketch can be made to run more easily.

It is sometimes more amusing to give every one the same names to work on; and in some houses the players are not allowed to choose names for themselves, but must pass the paper on. The characters of towns and nations may be written in the same way, using all the letters of the word as the initials.

Riddles

A more difficult game is "Riddles." 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 accident"--anything that suggests itself. The paper is passed on and anything else is written, no matter what. It is passed on again and opened. Suppose that the two things written on it are, first, "A school-teacher," 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 school-teacher like a pair of skates?" or "What is the difference between a school-teacher and a pair of skates?" (whichever way one prefers), to supply a reasonable answer. This game, it will be seen, is suited particularly to clever people.

Rhymed Replies

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 Caesar 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.

Missing Information

Every one is supplied with a piece of paper and pencils and tries to write down correct answers to questions about everyday things which we none of us know. A suggestive list is given but any one can add to it indefinitely.

1. How big do you think a postage-stamp is, in inches--a five
dollar bill?

2. Draw a picture of a clock's face with the hands pointing
to five minutes of twelve.

3. How tall do you think a man's silk hat is, a derby?

4. Draw the design in panels of the door to the room you are
in. (Of course without looking at it.)

5. How many holes are there in a high laced shoe--your own?

6. How many toes has a cat, a dog?

7. How many legs has a fly?

8. How does a cow lie down? A horse?

9. About how many petals has a common daisy? A wild rose? A
sun flower?

10. How high from the ground is a street-car?--a railway car?

The person who can answer most correctly the greatest number of questions is the winner.

Consequences

"Consequences" is always a favorite game when a party has reached its frivolous mood. The method of playing is this: Sheets of paper and pencils are handed round, and every one writes at the head (1) an adjective suitable to be applied to a man, such as "Handsome." This word is then folded over so that it cannot be read, and each paper is passed on to the next person. The name of a man (2) is then written, either some one you know, or a public person, such as the president or Mr. Carnegie. This in turn is folded over and the papers are passed on. The word "met" is understood to be inserted at this point. That is to say, the completed story will tell how Handsome Mr. Carnegie met some one. The next thing (3) is to put down an adjective suitable to apply to the woman whom he met, such as "Buxom," and then (4) the woman's name, again either some one you know, or a public person,--the papers being folded and passed on after every writing. The remaining items are these:--(5) The place where they met--say, on the pier. (6) What he said to her--say, "I hope your neuralgia is better." (7) What she said to him--say, "There's nothing like rain for the crops." (8) What the consequence was--say, "They were married." (9) What the world said--"All's well that ends well."

It must be remembered that unless there are very few players, when it is less fun, you do not get the chance of writing more than once, or at most twice, on the same sheet of paper, so that it is of no use to have a reasonable series of remarks in your mind. The specimen given above is an average one. In print nothing could be much less funny, but when the company has the spirit of "Consequences," even so tame a story as this might keep the room merry. The game is always full of the unexpected, and the people who meet each other are almost sure to be laughing-stocks. The results are often better if all the papers are handed to one player to read.

Consequences Extended

The form of "Consequences" above given is the ordinary one and the simplest. But in certain families the game has been altered and improved by other clauses. We give the fullest form of "Consequences" with which we are acquainted. As it stands it is rather too long; but players may like to add to the fun of the ordinary game by adopting a few of these additions:--

Adjective for a man.
The man.
What he was wearing.
What he was doing.
(Met)
Adjective for a woman.
The woman.
What she was wearing.
What she was doing.
The person he would much rather have met.
Where they met.
What he thought.
What he said.
What she thought.
What she said.
What he gave her.
What she did with it.
Where they went.
What they did.
What the consequence was.
What the world said.

Example:--

The honorable Theodore Roosevelt, who was dressed in a Moire
antique bath-towel and was eating walnuts, met coy Aunt
Priscilla in a Khaki tea-gown playing with her Noah's Ark,
when he would much rather have met Madame Tussaud. They met
at South Hampton. What he thought was, "Here's this woman
again," but he merely said, "That's a very chic costume of
yours." What she thought was, "I wonder if he's seen Peter
Pan," but she only said, "That's wet paint you're leaning
against." He gave her a piercing glance, and she swallowed
it. So they went to prison together and learned to ride the
bicycle, and the consequence was they caught influenza, and
the world said, "It's an ill wind that blows nobody good."

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 with 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 minutes adds to it. And so on, until each player has 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 difficult 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 complete stories to read aloud.

Another Story Game

A variety of the story game is for each player to write the name of a well-known person or friend of the family on the top of the paper, fold it over, and pass it on. This happens, say, five times, which means that when the papers are opened the names of five persons will be found on each. A story has then to be written introducing these people.

Improbable Stories

Another story game is one in which each player attempts to tell the most improbable or impossible story. In this case the papers are not passed on, but a certain amount of time is given for the stories to be written in.

The Newspaper

This is a rather elaborate but really very easy game to play. One player, who acts as editor, takes as many sheets of paper as there are players and writes at the head of each the title of a section of a newspaper. Thus on one he will write, Paris Correspondence; on another, English Correspondence; on another, Berlin Correspondence; on a fourth, Political News; on a fifth, Our Fashion Page; on a sixth, Reviews; on a seventh, Weather Report; and so on. Each player then, for a given time, writes on the subject allotted to him, more or less in the manner of the daily press, and at the end the result is read aloud by the editor.

The plan is easily adapted to family or village life. The heading may refer to domestic matters, such as Nursery Correspondence, Kitchen Gossip, Fashions for Gentlemen (an account of father's new suit), Garden News, Village Chatter, and so on. Or, instead of a newspaper, a popular magazine may be contributed, with illustrations.

Predicaments