WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
WHAT SHALL WE
DO NOW?
Over Five Hundred Games and Pastimes
A BOOK OF SUGGESTIONS FOR
CHILDREN'S GAMES AND
EMPLOYMENTS
B * ' ' ' I
DOROTHY CANFIELDF'-
AND OTHERS
NEW YORK
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
F5
Copyright, 1907, 1922, by
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
All rights reserved
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PREFACE
THIS book has been made in the hope that the question
which forms its title, ''What shall we do now?" may
come to be put less frequently. It is so easy for chil-
dren to ask it, so hard for grown-up persons with many other
matters to think about to reply to it satisfactorily.
In the following pages, which have something to say concern-
ing most of the situations in which children find themselves, at
home or in the country, out of doors or in, alone or in company,
a variety of answers will be found. No subject can be said to be
exhausted; but the book is perhaps large enough. Everything
which it contains has been indexed so clearly that a reader ought
to be able to find what he wants in a moment.
In this new edition an appendix of holiday games has "been
added, including games especially suitable for parties or picnics
on New Year's Day, Lincoln's 'Birthday, St. Valentine's Day,
Washington's Birthday , Easter, April Fool's Day, May Day,
Fourth of July, Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
There are, of course, many fortunate girls and boys who do
not require any help whatever, who always know what to do now,
and do it. For them some sections of this book may have little
value. It is for that greater number of less resourceful children
who whenever time is before them really are in need of counsel
and hints, that it has been prepared.
CONTENTS
t GAMES FOR A PARTY ..... 1
DRAWING GAMES ...... 45
WRITING GAMES ...... 57
TABLE AND CARD GAMES . . . .73
THINKING, GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES . . 85
EAINY-DAY GAMES . . . . , ill
OUTDOOR GAMES FOR GIRLS .... 127
OUTDOOR GAMES FOR BOYS . . . .137
PICNIC GAMES ...... 149
OUT FOR A WALK ...... 161
IN THE TRAIN ...... 171
PLAYING ALONE, AND GAMES IN BED . , . 183
AT THE SEASIDE ...... 195
IN THE COUNTRY ...... 201
DOLLS' HOUSES . . . . . .217
DOLLS' HOUSES AND DOLLS OF CARDBOARD AND PAPER . 235
PLAYHOUSES OF OTHER LANDS .... 263
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS AND THINGS TO MAKE . . 271
CANDY-MAKING ...... 305
GARDENING ....... 313
PETS ........ 337
BEADING ....... 367
APPENDIX OF HOLIDAY GAMES .... 389
INDEX 407
Vll
ILLUSTRATIONS
FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
A Pueblo Settlement Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
The Library and Furniture from " The House that Glue Built " . . . . 244
An Esquimau Sled (_ 9RA
Indian Costumes J ZDO
ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT
PAQB
A Trussed Fowl 37
Five Dots 48
Outlines 49
Drawing Tricks 51
Picture- Writing 52-53
The Last Man Surveying the Ruins of the Crystal Palace 56
Patience Card 76
The Dancing Dwarf , . -. 106
Bean- Bag Board 114
Rope Ring 115
The Overhand Knot 117
Half-Hitch 118
Figure of Eight 118
Common Bend 118
Sailor's Knot 118
Running Noose 119
Crossed Running Noose 119
Bowline Knot 119
Dogshank 120
Shuffle-Board 121
Balancing Tricks 123
x ILLUSTRATIONS
PA6B
The Glass Maker 125
Electric Dancers 126
Daisy Chain 135
Ivy Chain 135
Hop-Scotch 144
Prisoner's Base 156
Tit-tat-toe 176-177
Hanging 179-180
Chinese Gambling 181
Spanish Cup 186
Cardboard Box Beds ' 223
Bead Chair 223
A Doll's Apartments 227
Cork Arm-Chair 228
Chestnut Chair 229
Fancy Table 230
Match-Box Bedstead 231
Match-Box Washstand 233
Towel Rack 233
Clothes Basket 234
Cardboard Dolls' House 239
Appearance of House When Complete 240
Dog Kennel 241
Kitchen Table 246
Kitchen Range 247
Kitchen Chair 247
Screen 248
Various Pots and Pans 248
Dining-Room Table and Cloth 249
Sideboard 250
Sofa 251
Arm-Chair 251
Wooden Bedstead 252
Wardrobe 253
Dressing Table 254
Washstand 255
Rocking-Chair 256
Towel Rack 256
Chair 256
Child's High Chair 257
Child's Cot 257
ILLUSTRATIONS xi
PAGE
Walking Paper Dolls 259
Paper Mother and Child, with Clothes for Each 260
A Paper Girl with Six Changes 261
Shadows on the Wall 280
A Cocked Hat 284
Paper Boats ... 285
Paper Darts 286
Paper Mats 286
Paper Boxes 287
A Dancing Man 289
Hand Dragons 290
A Kite 293
Flying a Kite 294
Toy Boats 296-297
A Skipjack 300
A Water-Cutter . . . 300
GAMES FOR A PARTY
GAMES FOR A PARTY
Blind Man's Buff
MAN'S BUFF" 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, yet cannot tell who it is, he
must go on again as blind man ; but if he can tell who it is,
that person is blindfolded instead. Where there is a fireplace,
or where the furniture has sharp corners, it is rather a good
thing for some one not playing to be on the lookout to protect
the blind man. Sometimes there are two blind men, who add
to the fun by occasionally catching each other. But this is
rather dangerous. There is also a game called " Jinglers "
where every one is blind except one player with a bell, whom
it is their object to catch. But this is more dangerous still.
A good variety of " Blind Man's Buff " is the silent one.
Directly the man is blindfolded, and before he begins to seek,
all the players take up positions in corners, on chairs, or wher-
ever they think most prudent, and there they must stop with-
out making a sound. The task for the blind man is thus not
catching the others, but, on finding them, deciding upon who
they are. As chuckling or giggling is more likely to tell him
than his sense of touch, it is tremendously important to make
no noise if you can help it. Sometimes this game is played
(without any standing on chairs) by a blind man armed with
two spoons, with which he feels the features of those whom he
runs against. In this case it is practically impossible to avoid
4 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
laughing. The sensation produced by the bowls of two spoons
being passed over the face in the attempt to recognize its
owner is overwhelming.
French Blind Man's Buff
In French " Blind Man's Buff " the hands of the blind man
are tied behind his back and his eyes are left uncovered. He
has therefore to back on to the players before he can catch
them, which increases his difficulties.
Blind Man's Wand
Here the blind man has a stick, one end of which is grasped
by the other players in turn. The blind man puts three ques-
tions to each player, and his aim is to recognize by the voice
who it is that replies. The aim of the players, therefore, is to
disguise their voices as much as possible. Sometimes, instead
of merely asking questions, the blind man instructs the holder
of the wand to imitate some animal a cock or a donkey, for
example.
Steps
The player who is blindfolded is first placed in the middle.
The others walk from him to various positions all around, care-
fully measuring the number of steps (long or short) which take
them there. The blind man is then told how many steps will
bring him to a certain player, and he has to guess the direction
toward him, and the length of step. This player, if found, be-
comes blind man.
Still Pond ! No More Moving
The player who is blindfolded is placed in the middle and
all the other players touch him. He counts out loud as rapidly
as possible up to ten, during which time the players rush as
far away from him as possible. Directly he reaches ten he
GAMES FOR A PARTY 5
ttries out " Still Pond ! No more moving 1 " and the players
must stand perfectly still. He then says "you may have three
steps," or any number beyond three which he wishes to give.
The players save these steps until he comes dangerously near
them and then try and use them to the best possible advan-
tage, to escape. It is not a step if one foot remains in the
same place. After a player is caught and identified by the
one who is " it " he in turn is blindfolded.
Shadow Buff
A sheet is stretched across the room. One player stands
on one side, and the rest, who remain 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 convenient to use both sides of a sheet, the single
player may sit on a hassock close to it with his back to the
others, while they pass between his hassock and the candle.
The Donkey's Tail
A good-sized donkey without a tail is cut out of brown
paper and fixed on a screen or on a sheet hung across the
room. The tail is cut out separately and a hat-pin is put
through that end of it which comes nearest the body. Each
player in turn then holds the tail by the pin, shuts his eyes
honestly, and, advancing to the donkey, pins the tail in what
he believes to be the right place. The fun lies in his mistake.
The Blind Feeding the Blind
This is boisterous and rather messy, but it has many
supporters. Two players are blindfolded and seated on the
floor opposite one another. They are each given a dessert-
spoonful of sugar or flour and are told to feed each other.
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
It is well to put a sheet on the floor and to tie a towel or
apron round the necks of the players. The fun belongs chiefly
to the spectators.
Deer Stalking
This is a game in which only two players take part, but
it is exciting to watch. Both " Deer " and " Stalker " are
blindfolded. They are then placed at opposite ends of a large
table, and at a given moment begin to move round it. The
stalker's business is, of course, to catch the deer, and the deer's
to avoid it ; but neither must run out into the room. Ab-
solute silence should be kept both by the audience and players,
and if felt slippers can be worn by the deer and its stalker,
so much the better.
Blowing Out the Candle
A very funny blind game. A candle is lighted and
placed in position about the height of a person'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.
Apple-Snapping
Another amusing blind game to watch is apple-snapping.
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 holds them strictly behind him, and he has
to bite the apple.
The same game can be played without blindfolding, but
in that case it requires two players with their hands fixed be-
hind them, each trying to bite the apple.
GAMES FOR A PARTY 7
Bag and Stick
A good blind game for a Christmas party is " Bag and
Stick." A fair-sized paper bag is filled with candy and hung
from a string in the middle of the room. A player is then
blindfolded, turned round three times, given a stick, and told
he may have one, two, or three shots at the bag, whichever it
may be. If he misses it, another one tries, and so on ; but if
he hits it the bag breaks, the candy covers the floor, and the
party scramble for it.
Puss in the Corner
Each player save one takes a corner. The other, who is
the puss, stands in the middle. The game begins by one cor-
ner player beckoning to another to change places. Their ob-
ject is to get safely into each other's corner before the cat can.
Puss's aim is to find a corner unprotected. If she does so, the
player who has just left it, or the player who was hoping to
be in it, becomes puss, according to whether or not they have
crossed on their journey.
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 this one handing 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 returns and demands her prop-
erty 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 seeing the slip-
8 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
per, from getting hold of it, or from knowing where it is, as
it rapidly travels under the knees of the players here and there
in the circle. Now and then, if the seeker is badly mystified,
the slipper may be, tossed across the 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.
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 dis-
cover the person who blew the whistle last. Meanwhile some
one skilfully fixes another whistle on a string to the player's
back, and that is the whistle which is really blown. As it must
always be behind him when it is blown, nothing but the twitch
ing of the string is likely to help him to discover the blower
(and the trick) ; and in a small circle where every one is mov-
ing and laughing it takes some time to notice the twitching
at all.
He Can Do Little Who Can't Do This
This is partly a trick. The leader takes a cane in his left
hand, thumps on the floor several times, and passes it to a
player saying, " He can do little who can't do this." The
player tries to imitate him exactly, but if he takes the cane in
his right hand he is wrong, the leader says, " You can do lit-
tle, you can't do this," and hands the cane to the next player.
The game goes on until every one has guessed that it is not
the thumps which are to be imitated, but the holding the cane
in the left hand.
GAMES FOR A PARTY 9
Thimble
This is a very good game. All the company leave the
room save one. He stays behind with a thimble, which he
has to place in some position, where, though it is in sight, it
will be difficult to discover. It may be high or low, on the
floor or on the mantelpiece, but it must be visible. The com-
pany then return and begin to look for it. As the players find
it they sit down, but it is more fun to do this very craftily and
not at once, lest a hint be given as to the article's whereabouts.
When every one has found it, or when a long enough time has
been passed in looking for it, the thimble is hidden again,
this time by the player who found it first. The game sounds
easy, but it can be very difficult and very exciting, every one
at the beginning of each search wishing to be first, and at the
end wishing not to be last. Players often stand right over
the thimble, staring directly at it, and still do not see it.
Magic Music
One player goes out. The others then hide something for
him to find, or decide upon some simple action for him to per-
form, such as standing on a chair. When he is called in, one
of the company seats herself at the piano and directs his
movements by the tone of the music. If he is far from the
object hidden the music is very low ; as he gets nearer and
nearer it becomes louder and louder.
Hot and Cold
The same game is played under the name of " Hot and
Cold." In this case the player is directed by words ; as he
gets nearer and nearer the object he becomes " warm," " hot,"
" very hot," " burning " ; when quite off the scent he is
"cold."
10 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
The Jolly Miller
The one who shall be " it " is decided upon by counting
out (see page 134), and he takes his place in the middle of
the room. The others, arm in arm, walk around him in
couples, singing,
There was a jolly miller who lived by himself.
As the wheel went around he made his wealth ;
One hand on the hopper and the other on the bag :
As the wheel went around he made his grab.
At " Grab," every one must change partners, and the one in
the middle tries to be quick enough to get one himself. If he
does, the one left alone must take his place in the middle and
be the "Jolly Miller."
Going to Jerusalem
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. 3ud-
denly 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 one may sing, 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.
GAMES FOR A PARTY 11
Stir the Mash
This is another variety of " Going to Jerusalem." The
chairs are placed against the wall in a row, one fewer f ,han the
players. One of the players sits down in the middle of the
room with a stick and pretends to be stirring a bowl of mash
with it, while the others march round crying, "Stir the mash,
stir the mash." Suddenly the player with the stick knocks
three times on the floor, which is the signal for running for
the chairs, and, leaping up, runs for them too. The one who
does not get a chair has to stir the mash next.
Caterpillar
A circle of chairs is made, and all the players but one sit
on them. This player stands in the middle and his chair is
left empty. The game consists in his efforts to sit down in
the empty chair and the others' attempts to stop him by con-
tinually moving one way or the other, so that the empty chair
may this moment be on one side of the ring and the next on
the other.
Honey-Pots
This is a game for several little players and two stronger
ones. The little ones are the honey-pots, and the others the
honey-seller and honey-buyer. The honey-pots sit in a row
with their knees gathered up and their hands locked together
under them. The honey-buyer comes to look at them, asking
the honey-seller how much they are and how much they
weigh ; and these two take hold of the pots by the arms, one
on each side, and weigh them by swinging them up and down
(that is why the hands have to be tightly locked under the
knees). Then the buyer says he will have them, and the
seller and he carry them to the other end of the room to-
gether. Once there the seller returns, but quickly comes run-
12 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
ning back in alarm because he has missed his own little girl
(or boy), and he fancies she must be in one of the honey-pots.
The buyer assures him that he is mistaken, and tells him to
taste them and see for himself that they are only honey. So
the seller goes from one to the other, placing his hand on
their heads and pretending to taste honey, until at last, com-
ing to the one he has marked down, he exclaims, " Dear
me, this tastes just like my little girl." At these words the
little girl in question jumps up and runs away, and all the
other honey-pots run away too.
Nuts in May
The players stand in two rows, facing each other and
holding hands. A line is drawn on the carpet (or ground) be-
tween 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 ?
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 Bend 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
GAMES FOR A PARTY 13
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.
Old Soldier
All the players, except one, stand in a line. The other,
who is the old soldier, then totters up to the end player, say-
ing
Here comes an old soldier from Botany Bay ;
Pray, what have you got to give him to-day ?
The player must then say what she will give him, but in do-
ing so must not use the words "yes," " no," " black," " white" or
" scarlet." The old soldier's object is to try and coax one of
these words out of her, and he may ask any question he likes
in order to do so. A mistake usually means a forfeit.
My Lady's Clothes
A color-barred game for girls is " My Lady's Clothes "
or " Dressing the Lady." The players first decide on what
colors shall be forbidden, perhaps blue, black, and pink.
The first one then asks the next, " How shall my lady be
dressed for the ball ? " and the answer must contain no men-
tion of these colors. This question goes round the ring, no
article being allowed to be mentioned twice.
Here I Bake
One player stands in the middle. The others join hands
and surround her, their aim being to prevent her from getting
out of the ring. She then passes round the ring touching the
hands, at the first hands saying " Here I bake," at the second
" Here I brew," at the third " Here I make my wedding-cake,"
and at the next " And here I mean to break through."
With these last words she makes a dash to carry out the threat.
If she succeeds, the player whose hand gave way first takes
1 4 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
her place in the middle. Otherwise she must persevere until
the ring is broken.
The Cobbler
The cobbler sits in the middle on a stool or hassock, and
the others join hands and dance round him. " Now then,
customers," says the cobbler, " let me try on your shoes," and
at the same time but without leaving his seat makes a dash
for some one's feet. The aim of the others is to avoid being
caught. Whoever is caught becomes cobbler.
Cushion
The name of this game dates from the period when stiff
cylinder-shaped horsehair sofa-cushions were commoner than
they are now. One of these is placed in the middle of the
room and the players join hands and dance round it, the ob-
ject of each one being to make one of his neighbors knock
the cushion over and to avoid knocking it over himself. Who-
ever does knock it down leaves the ring, until at last there are
only two striving with each other. A hearth-brush, if it can
be persuaded to stand up, makes a good substitute for a
cushion. It also makes the game more difficult, being so very
sensitive to touch.
The Day's Shopping
The players sit in a ring, and the game is begun by one
saying to the next, "I've just come back from shopping."
" Yes," is the reply, " and what have you bought ? " The
first speaker has then to name some article which, without
leaving her seat, she can touch, such as a pair of boots, a
necktie, a watch-chain, a bracelet. Having done so, the next
player takes up the character of the shopper, and so on round
the ring. ISTo article must, however, be named twice, which
GAMES FOR A PART\ 15
means that when the game has gone on for a round or two the
answers become very difficult to find.
Clap In, Clap Out
Half the players go out, and the others stay in and ar-
range the chairs in a line so that there is an empty one next
to every person. Each then chooses which of the others he
will have to occupy the adjoining chair, and when this is set-
tled some one tells the outside party that they can begin.
One of them then comes in and takes the chair for which he
thinks it most likely that he has been chosen. If he is right,
everybody claps and he stays there. But if wrong, everybody
hisses and he has to go out again. Another player then
comes in, and so on until all the chairs are filled.
Neighbors
An extension of this game is " Neighbors." In " Neigh-
bors " half the company are blindfolded, and are seated with
an empty chair on the right hand of each. At a given signal
all the other players occupy these empty chairs, as myste-
riously as they can, and straightway begin to sing, either all
to a tune played on the piano or independently. 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.
Oranges and Lemons, or London Bridge is Falling Down
This pleasant old 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
16 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
line. The procession then starts, each one holding the one in
front by the coat or dress. As the procession moves along,
the two players forming the arch repeat or chant these
lines :
"Oranges and lemons,"
Say the bells of St. Clement's.
" You owe me five farthings,"
Say the bells of St. Martin's.
11 When will you pay me? "
Say the bells of Old Bailey.
"When I grow rich,"
Say the bells of Shoreditch.
"When will that be?"
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.
Another shorter verse which is often sung is,
London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down. My fair lady.
In this case the two players who make the arch with their
arms can choose any eatables they like " ice cream " and
" oysters." The players who are caught are asked which they
prefer and their places are back of the one representing their
choice. 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
GAMES FOR A PARTY 17
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 handkerchief is placed on the
floor between the captains of the oranges and the lemons, and
both sides pull, as in the " Tug of War " (page 38), until one
side is pulled over the handkerchief.
General Post
The players sit round the room in a large circle, and,
after appointing a postmaster to write down their names and
call out the changes, choose each a town. One player is then
blindfolded and placed in the middle. The game begins when
the postmaster calls out the first journey, thus, " The post is
going from Putney to Hongkong." The player who has
chosen Putney and the player who has chosen Hongkong
must then change places without being caught by the blind
man, or without letting him get into either of their chairs
first. Otherwise the player who is caught, or who ought to be
in that chair, becomes the blind man. Every now and then
"'General Post" is called, when all the players have to
change seats at the same time ; and this gives the blind man
an excellent chance.
Spin the Platter
A tin plate, to serve as platter, 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 plate, 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 plate before i
falls, and, giving it a fresh spin, call some one else. So it
goes on. On paper there seems to be little in it, but in
18 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
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.
Kitchen Utensils
This is a variety of " Spin the platter." The players sit
in E. ring and choose each the name of some kitchen utensil or
something used in cooking, such as meat-chopper or raisins.
One player then goes in the middle with a bunched-up hand-
kerchief, and this he throws at some one, at the same time
trying to say the name of that some one's kitchen utensil
three times before that some one can say it once. If, as very
often happens, the player at whom the handkerchief is thrown
is so completely bewildered as to have lost the power of
speech or memory until it is too late, he must change places
with the one in the middle.
Up Jenkins
The players sit on opposite sides of a table, or in two op-
posite rows of chairs with a cloth spread over their laps. A
quarter or dime or other small object is then passed about
among the hands of one of the sides under the table or
cloth. At the word " Up Jenkins ! " called by the other side
all these hands tightly clenched must be at once placed in
view on the table or the cloth. The first player on the other
side then carefully scans the faces of his opponents to see if
any one bears an expression which seems to betray his posses-
sion of the quarter, and, having made up his mind, reaches
over and touches the hand in which he hopes the quarter is,
saying, " Tip it." The hand is then opened. If the guess is
right the guessing side take the quarter and hide it. If
wrong, the same side hide it again, and the second player on
the guessing side tries his luck at discovering its where-
abouts. A score is decided on before the game begins, and
GAMES FOR A PARTY 19
the winning side is that which make the fewest number of
wrong guesses.
Another way to play " Up Jenkins " is to have the
players, equally divided, sit opposite each other at a table.
A quarter is then passed along under the table by one
side or team. At the command " Up Jenkins," given by the
captain of the other side, chosen beforehand, all the players
on the side having the coin must lift their hands above the
table ; and at the command " Down Jenkins," also given by
the captain, all the hands must be brought down flat on the
table. The greater the bang with which this is done, the less
chance of detecting the sound of the metal striking the
table. The captain then orders the players to raise their
hands one by one, his object being to leave the coin in the
last hand. If he succeeds, his side takes the coin ; if he fails,
the other side score the number of hands still left on the
table, and again hide the coin. Another person then be-
comes captain. If the coin can be " spotted " in a certain
hand, either by sight or sound, before a hand has been re-
moved, it has to be forfeited, and the side that wins it adds
double the number of hands of the other side to their score.
If it is " spotted " and is not in that hand, the side still re-
tains the coin, and also score double the number of hands. If
anybody obeys any one else but the captain, in raising, lower-
ing or removing his hands, his side loses the coin, no matter
who holds it, but neither side scores.
Hunt the Ring
All the players but one form a circle, with their hands
on a piece of string on which a ring has been threaded. The
other player stands in the middle of the circle. The ring is
then hurried up and down the string from end to end, the ob-
20 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
ject being to keep its whereabouts hidden from the other
player.
Lady Queen Anne
In this game, which is usually played by girls, one player
hides her eyes, while the others, who are sitting in a row, pass
a ball from one to another until it is settled who shall keep it.
This done, they all hide their hands in their laps, as if each
one had it ; and the other player is called, her aim being to
discover in whose hands the ball is hidden. She examines
the faces of the others very closely until she makes up her
mind which one probably has the ball, and then addresses that
one thus
Lady Queen Anne, she sits iu the sun,
As fair as a lily, as brown as a bun,
She sends you three letters and prays you'll read one.
To this the player replies
I cannot read one unless I read all ;
and the seeker answers
Then pray, Miss [whatever the name is], deliver the ball.
If the ball really is with this player, the seeker and she change
places, but otherwise the seeker hides her eyes again and the
ball changes hands (or not). And so on until it is found.
Another way is for sides to be taken, one consisting ol
Queen Anne and her maids and the other of gipsies. The
gipsies have the ball first, and, having hidden it, they advance
in a line toward Queen Anne, each holding up her skirts as if
the ball were there, singing
Lady Queen Anne, she sits in the sun,
As fair as a lily, as brown as a bun.
King John has sent you letters three,
And begs you'll read one unto me.
GAMES FOR A PARTY 21
Lady Queen Anne and her maids reply
We cannot read one unless we read all,
So pray, Miss [whatever the name of the player chosen may be], deliver the ball.
If they have hit upon the right player she goes over to Queen
Anne's side. But if not, the gipsies sing
The ball is mine, it is not thine,
So you, proud Queen, sit still on your throne,
While we poor gipsies go and come.
They then turn round and hide the ball again.
The Feather
A very exhausting game. 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 side is to
blow the feather so that it settles in the other camp, and to
keep it from settling in their own.
The same game can be played with a marble on a table
from which the table-cloth has been removed. In this case
you all sink your faces to the level of the table.
Russian Scandal, or " 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 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 re-
peats his original remark to the company, and follows it with
the form in which it has just reached him.
Advertisements
All the players sit in a ring, except one, who stands in the
middle holding a soft cushion. This he throws at any one of
the players and begins to count ten. The person at whom the
22 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
cushion was thrown must call out the words of a well-known
advertisement before ten is reached. If he fails he must pay
a forfeit.
Judge and Jury
The players, or jury, form up in two rows facing each other.
Tne judge sits at one end, or passes between the two lines, and
asks his questions. These may be of any description. Perhaps
he will say, " Miss A, do you think it will rain to-morrow ? "
Now although the judge addresses Miss A and looks at her, it is
not she who must answer but the player opposite to her. And
he in his answer is not allowed to say either "Yes,"" No,"
"Black," "White," or "Gray." If the player who was ad-
dressed answers she becomes judge and the judge takes her seat;
or if the opposite player does not answer before the judge has
counted ten he becomes judge and the judge takes his seat.
Cross Questions
The players sit in a circle, and the game begins by one
player turning to the next and asking a question. Perhaps it
will be, " Did you get very wet this evening ? " The answer
may be, "Fortunately I had a mackintosh." The second
player then asks the third, and so on round the circle until it
comes to the first player's turn to be asked a question by the
last one. Perhaps this question will be, " I hope your cousin
is better ? " All these questions and answers have to be very
carefully remembered, because on the circle being complete
each player in turn has to repeat the question which was put
to her and the answer which she received to the question
which she herself put. Thus in the present instance the first
player would announce that the question was, " I hope your
cousin is better ? " and the answer, " Fortunately I had a
mackintosh." Another variety of cross question is played as
follows. The company is divided into two parts, and stand
GAMES FOR A PARTY 23
facing each other. A leader is chosen for each side, one to give
the questions and one to give the answers. One goes down his
side giving to each player in a whisper some serious question
which he must ask of his opposite in the other line. The other
leader whispers to each of his players an absurd answer.
Then the play begins. The first in line asks his opponent his
question and receives the absurd answer three times. If either
of them smile he is put out of the game. The person who can
keep a straight face to the last, wins the prize. After the
whole line has asked and answered the first set of questions,
the first couple become the leaders, and propound two other sets
of questions and answers. And so on until only two are left.
Ruth and Jacob
One player has his eyes blinded and stands in a circle made
by the other players. They dance silently around him until he
points at one, who must then enter the circle and try to avoid
being caught by the blind man. The pursuer calls out from time
to time " Kuth ! " to which the pursued must always answer at
once " Jacob!" at the same time trying to dodge quickly enough
to escape the other's immediate rush to the spot. After the
"Ruth " is caught, the "Jacob "must guess who it is and if
he guesses right, the " Ruth " is blindfolded and becomes the
" Jacob," and the game begins anew.
Fly Away!
The player who is chosen as leader sits down and places
the first finger of her right hand on her knee. The others
crowd round her and also place the first finger of their right
hands on her knee, close to hers. The game is for the leader
to raise her finger suddenly, saying, " Fly away [something]."
If that something is not capable of flight the other fingers
must not move, but if it can fly they must rise also. Thus,
" Fly away, thrush ! " " Fly away, pigeon ! " " Fly away, but-
24 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
terfly ! " should cause all the fingers to spring up. But of
" Fly away, omnibus ! " " Fly away, cat ! " " Fly away, pig ! "
no notice should be taken. The game is, of course, to catch
players napping.
Hold Fast ! Let Go !
This is a very confusing game of contraries for five play-
ers. Four of them hold each the corner of a handkerchief.
The other, who stands by to give orders, then shouts either
" Let go ! " or " Hold fast ! " When " Let go ! " is called, the
handkerchief must be held as firmly as ever ; but when " Hold
fast ! " it must be dropped. The commands should be given
quickly and now and then repeated to add to the anxiety of
the other players.
The Sergeant
In this game one player represents a sergeant and the
others are soldiers whom he is drilling. When he makes an
action and says " Do this " the others have to imitate him ;
but if he says " Do that " they must take no notice.
Simon Says Thumbs Up
The players sit about on the floor or on chairs, each hold-
ing out on his knee his clenched fist with the thumb sticking
straight up. One player calls out " Simon says thumbs down."
All the thumbs must be instantly reversed. Then he tries to
confuse them by alternating between up and down for some
time until they all get into the way of expecting the change,
and then he gives the same order twice in succession. Those
who make a mistake pay a forfeit. If he calls out simply
" Thumbs up " or " Thumbs down " no attention must be paid
to this order as a forfeit is taken.
The orders are sometimes varied by the command " Simon
says wig-wag ! " when all the thumbs must be waggled to
and fro.
GAMES FOR A PARTY 25
The Grand Mufti
A somewhat similar game of contraries is " The Grand
Mufti." The player personating the Grand Mufti stands in
the middle or on a chair, and performs whatever action he
likes with his hands, arms, head, and legs. With each move-
ment 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 movement ; but when it is " So
does the Grand Mufti " they must take no notice. Any mis-
takes may lead to forfeits.
The Mandarins
There is no contrariness about " The Mandarins." The
players sit in a circle, and the game is begun by one of them
remarking to the next, " My ship has come home from China."
The answer is " Yes, and what has it brought ? " The first
player replies, " A fan," and begins to fan herself with her
right hand. All the players must copy her. The second
player then turns to the third (all still fanning) and remarks,
" My ship has come home from China." " Yes, and what has
it brought ? " " Two fans." All the players then fan them-
selves with both hands. The third player, to the fourth (all
still fanning), " My ship has come home from China." " Yes,
and what has it brought ? " " Three fans." All the players
then add a nodding head to their other movements. And so
on, until when " Nine fans " is reached, heads, eyes, mouth,
hands, feet and body are all moving. The answers and move-
ments of this game may be varied. Thus the second answer
to the question " And what has it brought " might be " A
bicycle," when the feet of all the players would have to move
as if working pedals ; the third answer could be a " snuff-
box," which should set all the players sneezing ; and so on.
A typewriter, a piano, a barrel-organ, a football, would vary
the game.
26 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW *
Buff
This test of self-control is rather a favorite ; but it is not
so much a game as a means of distributing forfeits. The
players sit in a circle. One then stands up and, holding out a
stick, repeats these lines
Buff says Buff to all his men,
And I say Buff to you again.
Buff never laughs, Buff never smiles,
In spite of all your cunning wiles,
But carries his face
With a very good grace,
And passes his stick to the very next place.
This must be said without laughing or smiling. Each player
in turn holds the stick and repeats the verses, those that
laugh or smile having, when it is over, to pay a forfeit.
The Ditto Game
This is another game in which laughter is forbidden.
The players sit close together in a silent circle. Whatever
the leader does the others have to do, but without smile or
sound. Perhaps the leader will begin by pulling the next
player's hair, and pass on to pat her cheek, or prod her sides,
or pinch her nose.
Statues
Another trial of composure. The players choose what
positions they will and become as still and as silent as statues.
One player is judge. It is his business to try and make the
statues laugh. All who laugh pay forfeits ; but the one who
keeps his face grave longest becomes " Judge."
Laughter
" Laughter " is just the opposite. The company sit in a
circle and the game is begun by one throwing a handkerchief
into the air. Immediately this is done every one must begin
GAMES FOR A PARTY 27
to laugh and continue to laugh until the handkerchief touches
the ground. They must then stop or leave the circle. Grad-
ually all will leave but one, who must then perform by him-
self, if he is willing.
The Concerted Sneeze
One third of the company agree to say " Hish " all to-
gether at a given signal, another third agree to say " Hash,"
and the rest agree to say " Hosh." The word of command is
then given, and the result is the sound as of a tremendous
sneeze.
Bingo
In " Bingo " the players begin by joining hands and
marching round, singing
There was a farmer had a dog
His name was Bobby Bingo O.
B, I, N, G, O,
B, I, N, G, O,
B, I, N, G, O,
And Bingo was his name O !
The players then loose hands, the girls go inside the ring and
stand there, and the boys run round them singing the rhyme
again. Then the boys go inside and the girls run round them
and sing it. And then hands are taken once more and all
go round in the original circle singing it a fourth time. If
no boys are playing, the girls should arrange, before the game
begins, which shall personate them.
Robin's Alive
A good game for the fireside is " Kobin 's Alive." There
are so few children nowadays who have fireplaces that this can
be modified so that it is a good evening game for any quiet
group of children. Some one lights a piece of twisted paper
28 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
or a stick of wood, twirls it rapidly in the air to keep it burn-
ing and says, as fast as he can,
Robin 's alive, and alive he shall be
If he dies in my hand you may back-saddle me,
and at once passes the paper on to the next player who in turn
recites the verse. The one in whose hand it finally goes out
is " back-saddled " in this way. He lies down on the floor
and the others pile cushions and chairs and books on him
while he repeats,
Rocks and stones and the old horse's bones
All this and more you may pile upon me.
The Mulberry Bush
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 the mulberry bush
On a fine and frosty morning.
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.
GAMES FOR A PARTY 29
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.
Looby, Looby
This is another of the old country games in which the
players all have to do the same things. They first join hands
and dance round, singing
Here we dance Looby, looby,
Here we dance Looby light,
Here we dance Looby, looby,
All on a Saturday night.
Then, letting go of hands and standing still, they sing *
Pnt your right hands in,
Put your right hands out,
Shake them and shake them a little,
And turn yourselves about,
and at the same time they do what the song directs. Then
the dance and chorus again, and then the next verse, and so
on. This is the order
(2) Put your left hands in.
(3) Put your right feet in.
(4) Put your left feet in.
(5) Put your noddles in.
And finally
Put your bodies in,
Put your bodies out,
Shake them and shake them a little,
And turn yourselves about.
Orchestra
An ear-splitting game that is always great fun. The
players stand in rows before the leader or " conductor," who
sings a verse from any well-known nonsense or other song.
3 o WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
Then he says, pointing to one of the players, " and the first
violin played this simple melody," whereupon the two sing
the verse over again, the player imitating with his arms the
movements of a violin player, and with his voice the sound of
a squeaking fiddle. Then the conductor says, pointing to
another player, "and the big trombone played this simple
melody." Then the three sing together, the second player
imitating the sound of a trombone and the appearance of a
trombone player. This is continued until every one is playing
on an imaginary instrument, the conductor, of course, being
the only one who sings the words of the song.
A Good Fat Hen
A nonsensical game, useful in leading to forfeits. The
company sit in a row, and one of the end players begins by
saying, " A good fat ten." Each of the others in turn must
then say, " A good fat hen." The first player then says,
"Two ducks and a good fat hen," and the words pass down
the line. Then " Three squawking wild geese, two ducks, and
a good fat hen." And so on until the end is reached, in the
following order
Fourth round. Prefix : Four plump partridges.
Fifth round. " Five pouting pigeons.
Sixth round. Six long-legged cranes.
Seventh round. " Seven green parrots.
Eighth round. " Eight screeching owls.
Ninth round. " Nine ugly turkey-buzzards.
Tenth round. " Ten bald eagles.
The sentence has now reached a very difficult length : " Ten
bald eagles, nine ugly turkey-buzzards, eight screeching owls,
seven green parrots, six long-legged cranes, five pouting pig-
eons, four plump partridges, three squawking wild geese, two
ducks and a good fat hen." Any one making a mistake may
be made to pay a forfeit.
GAMES FOR A PARTY 31
John Ball
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 per
haps 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 :
32 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
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 yon 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 com-
ment
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.
GAMES FOR A PARTY
33
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
34 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
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 Thorn-
minster for lunch. John brought us up to the inu door in style, and the land-
lord 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 com-
pany, 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
GAMES FOR A PARTY 35
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 or-
dinary 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
3 6 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
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 up-
right 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 in 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
GAMES FOR A PARTY
37
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 con-
sists of firmly tying wrists and ankles, bringing the elbows
down below the knees and slipping a stick along over one el-
A TRUSSED FOWL
bow, 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.
38 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW *?
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 en-
tirely off the ground, they have to make one candle light the
other.
Hat and Cards
A tali nat 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 in-
doors it is all right. The two sides should be even in num-
bers, 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 cap-
tain 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
GAMES FOR A PARTY 39
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 Jap-
anese 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 com-
petitor 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
4 o WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW *
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 po-
tatoes on his line and return them to the basket before Lis op-
ponent 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 th , foot dis-
qualifies.
Fire-Buckets
At a fire in the country, where there is no hos-, a line of
men extends from the burning house to the nearest por,d, and
buckets are continually being passed along this li&8. Hence
the name by which this excellent game is called here. It is
played thus. A large number of miscellaneous and unbreaka-
ble 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
GAMES FOR A PARTY 41
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 time 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 ask-
ing, " 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 an-
nounces what its owner must do to get possession of it again.
Of stock penances there are a great number, most of which
42 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
are tricks which, once known, are necessarily very tame after-
ward. 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
shellfish."
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-a
spell?)
GAMES FOR A PARTY 43
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 per-
son who has the greatest number of beans can buy the best
prizes ; so that besides making a great deal of fun, the distri-
bution is entirely fair.
DRAWING GAMES
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 ob-
ject 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 per-
son has the same line, and the one who uses his in the most
47
48
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
FIVE Dora
DRAWING GAMES
49
OUTLINES
50 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW *
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
DRAWING GAMES
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
*.
DBA WING TRICKS
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 an-
other, and so on until you have four, or even five. You then
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
The and the pussy-Skweat
-reen
They UK
Wrapped up in. a
The V^k looked up
II a small
of
^ f'Yl ^^^^^^^
O lovely lltf'-y O yf-y my love
w-* a beau*
\J*Z
UR
DRAWING GAMES
53
or a
They C-yf-ed away /
wKere the S
9iongwehave
P
-ned
ilK a at tKe end of fits
Kts
WtlK aQat tfie end of (\is>
54 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
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 advertise-
ments. 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 mat-
ter 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 be-
gin, 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.
DRAWING GAMES 55
He therefore says, " Draw a tree," when all the players, him-
self 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 look-
ing up at the balloon " ; and so on, until the picture is full
enough. The chief interest of this game resides in the diffi-
culty 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, " Hieroglypu-
ics " are amusing and interesting to make. The best ex-
planation 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 accom-
panying example the title at the bottom of the paper is what
the draughtsman himself wrote; the others are the other
players' guesses.
56 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
Various Descriptions by the Players
The Abbot of Christchnrch, 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 repre-
sent 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
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 al-
though 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
Robin
N umbskull
The players then describe their words in turn, one letter going
the round before the next is reached, and from these descrip-
tions 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
59
60 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
" Something that makes hot beef nice " ; O " A fruit " ;
Y "A flower"; E "A girl's name"; K "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 hav-
ing been arranged in a line down the paper, are then arranged
again in a line up the paper, so that the first letter is op.
posite 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 eraatil E
E . . . V
R apall O
N othin Q
WRITING GAMES 61
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 " ex-
traordinary," and within a given time to see how many smaller
62 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
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 com-
pany 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 mu-
sical instrument; the second again, a poet; and soon, until
the fifteen things are all written down. Each paper will then
have the same list of fifteen things upon it. One of the com-
pany 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 an-
swers 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 Taderna
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
WRITING GAMES 63
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 sen-
tences 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 yew; in good, order.
A girl : The boy was cruel, lazy and obstinate.
A town : Clothes that are new have no need of brushing.
A river : To see spoil* ham especially 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 Sheba sings to keep 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 be-
cause 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 whom-
ever you like, but usually, as in " Consequences," either a pub
64 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
lie person or some one known, if possible, to every one pres-
ent. 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 per-
son, 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 LETTEB
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 :
WRITING GAMES 65
H
. A . . .
p
. . N .
W. .
. E. . .
K.
. . S. . .
T - .
.
From the DUKE OF YORK
To BARNUM AND BAILEY.
F.
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, wnen 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 tele-
gram, 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 tele-
grams on the same subject ; the subject being given before-
hand. Thus it might be decided that all the telegrams should
be sent from President Roosevelt to Alice in Wonderland ask-
ing 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 sur-
66 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
name. 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 oraantic S tories. F inds
R isibility S urely. Frequently R aisea S miles.
An occasional " and " and " of " may be dropped in if neces-
sary. Where one of the names begins with a vowel (such as
William ^vvart 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 al-
lowed 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, ask-
ing 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.
WRITING GAMES 67
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 " elec-
tricity," " 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 every-
day 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 point-
ing 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?
68 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
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 com-
pany has the spirit of " Consequences," even so tame a story
WRITING GAMES 69
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 bet-
ter 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 Prisoilla in a Khaki tea-gown
70 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
playing with her Noah's Ark, when he would much rather have met Madame
Tuasaud. 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, u 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,
" Ifc '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 bring-
ing 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 com-
plete 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 hap-
pens, 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
WRITING GAMES 71
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 eas} r 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, Keviews ; 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 Cor-
respondence, Kitchen Gossip, Fashions for Gentlemen (an ac-
count 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
This is a good game for a company of ingenious people,
and it will be found that almost every one is ingenious when
confronted with a difficult situation and given time to think
out a solution. Everyone is given paper and pencil (or this is
not necessary since the solutions may be oral). Then one
player starts the game by suggesting some predicament and
asking the company " What would you do in such a case ? "
Five minutes are given for reflection, and fifteen if the an-
swers are to be written. Then each in turn must say how he
would have extricated himself from the scrape.
A few suitable subjects are given here. If you found
72 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
yourself in a strange city, where you did n't know a soul, with
no money and nothing you could pawn, what would you do ?
If you should wake up in the night and see a burglar just
entering the room, what would you do ?
If you should look out of your school-room door and see
smoke and fire in the hall, what would you do ?
If you should be in a foreign country, not able to speak
the language and wanted to order a room and breakfast, what
would you do ?
TABLE AND CARD GAMES
TABLE AND CARD GAMES
Card Games and Others
CARD games proper, such as Bezique and Cribbage and
Whist, do not come into the scope of this book. Nor
do games such as Chess, Draughts, Halma and Back-
gammon. It is not that they are not good games, but that,
having to be bought, their rules do not need enumerating
again. The description of a few very old and favorite
games with cards, and one or two new ones, is, however,
given, because they can be made at home.
Letter Games
On page 178 will be found the simplest letter game.
Letters can be used for a round game by one player making a
word, shuffling it, and throwing it face upward into the
middle of the table. The winner is the player who first sees
what it spells.
Distribute a box of letters among the players, dealing
them face downward. In turn each player takes up a letter
at random and puts it face upward in the middle of the
table. The object of the game is to make words out of these
letters. Directly a player sees a word he calls it out, and
taking the letters places them in front of him, where they
remain until the end of the game, when each player counts
his words and the owner of the greatest number is the
winner. If, however, a word has been chosen which, by the
addition of another letter or so from the middle of the table,
can be transformed into a longer word, the player who thinks
of this longer word takes the shorter word from the other
player and places it before himself. Thus, A might see the
75
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
word " seat " among the letters, and calling it out, place it
before him ; and then B, noticing another " t," might call
out " state," and adding it to A's word, take that to himself.
If, however, A then detected an " e" in the middle and called
out " estate " the word would be his again. These losses and
reconquests form the chief fun of the game. An " s " at the
end of a word, forming a plural, is not allowed.
Patience, or Thirteens
Many games of " Patience " can be played as well with
numbered cards as with ordinary playing cards. It does not
matter much what size they are, but for convenience, in play-
ing on a small table, they may as well be about an inch wide
and two inches long, with the number at the top. Thus :
12
A " Patience " set consists of four packs of cards each
containing four sets of thirteen cards numbered from 1 to 13.
These can be made at home perfectly well, and a little bag to
hold each pack should also be made. The simplest game is to
arrange the four sets in their right order. One player
empties her four bags into a basket, shakes them up, and calls
TABLE AND CARD GAMES 77
them out as she picks them out (at random). The others, who
have the cards spread before them, then arrange them in four
rows as well as may be, until a 1 is called and there is a
chance to begin packing the others upon it. With
inexperienced players five rows are sometimes allowed. We
do not give other games of " Patience," for two reasons. One
is that it is not exactly a children's game, and the other, that
it is one of the games which can be properly taught only by
personal instruction. Varieties of "Patience" are very
numerous, and good books can be had on the subject.
Snap
There can be no real need to describe "Snap," but
perhaps it may be useful to have the rules in print here in
case of any dispute. A pack of " Snap " cards is dealt round,
any number being able to play ; and the game begins by the
players taking their cards one by one from their hands and in
turn laying them face upward 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 card cries " Snap," and the cards 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 the cards gathers up also into his hand all the cards
which were before him 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 his
top card were 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 }
78 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
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 Centre " is called, when both the centre pack
and the pack in front of the turner-up belong to the player
who cried " Snap Centre." It may of course be the turner-up
himself, but is very likely somebody 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 Centre." (In some houses any one may
cry " Snap " all through the game, but that is not the best
way.)
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-centring them and getting into
play again. The game goes on until one player has all the
cards.
Grab
In " Grab," a very rowdy variety of " Snap," a cork is
placed in the middle of the table. The rules are the same as
in " Snap," except that, instead of saying " Snap," you snatch
for the cork ; in the case of " Snap Centre," snatching and
saying " Centre " too.
Snap Cards
" Snap " cards may just as well be home-made as bought.
They either can be painted, in which case you must be careful
that the sets of four articles are just alike, or you can cut out
shapes of different colored paper and stick them on. A
bundle of wall-paper patterns is splendid material for a pack.
The only advantage that bought "Snap" cards have over
home-made ones is that they slip better.
TABLE AND CARD GAMES 79
Old Maid
This game can be played by any number, either with a
home-made pack or with ordinary playing cards from which
three of the queens have been taken away ; the remaining
queen being the 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 having done this, the player
who begins offers her hand, with the cards face downward^
to her neighbor, and her neighbor takes one. She then looks
through her cards to see if it pairs with any that she already
has, and, if it does, throws the pair on the table. Having fin-
ished her examination 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. As the cards get fewer and fewer the excitement
grows and grows.
" Old Bachelor " is played in the same way, except that
three of the kings are then thrown out
Pig
" Pig " is a very noisy game. It is played with ordinary
cards, unless you like to make a " Pig " set, which would be
very easy. Having discovered how many persons want to
play, you treat the pack accordingly. For instance, if five
want to play you throw out all cards except five sets of four ;
if six, or three, you throw out all cards except six sets of four
or three sets of four. Thus, if five were playing, the cards
might consist of four aces, four twos, four threes, four fours,
and four fives ; or, if you began at the other end, four kings,
four queens, four knaves, four tens and four nines. The cards
are shuffled and dealt round, four each, and the game is for
each player to complete a set of four. You do not. as in
8o WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
" Old Maid," select one from the cards that are offered, face>
downward, but each player hands whatever card he likes to
the next player, who is bound to accept it. Directly a player
has a set of four complete he lays the cards on the table,
either very stealthily or with a bang, whichever he likes.
Immediately a set is laid on the table (or directly the other
players notice it) all other cards have to be laid there, too.
The player who is last in laying them down is Pig. The
game is played for as many rounds as you like, the player
who was last the fewest times being the winner. The word
Pig alters with each round. The last player to lay down his
cards in the second round is not merely Pig, but Little Pig ;
in the third, Big Pig ; in the fourth, Mother (or Father) Pig ;
in the fifth, Grandmother (or Grandfather) Pig ; in the sixth,
Ancestral Pig ; in the seventh, Venerable Pig ; in the eighth,
Primeval Pig ; in the ninth, Crackling.
Prophecies and Characteristics
This is a memory game and a very amusing one. It is
played with two packs of cards of any sort. One pack is laid
in a heap, face down, in the middle of the table. The other
pack is distributed to the players, who lay them face upward
in rows ; each person should not have more than twelve cards
since it is practically impossible to remember more than that
number. Any one can begin by giving either a prophecy or
a characteristic thus : " Who will inherit a fortune inside
a year ? " or " Who will be the first in the room to wear false
teeth ? " at the same time turning up a card from the centre
pile. Whoever has the card matching this, takes it, lays it
face down on his card repeating the prophecy, " I will be the
first to wear false teeth." The next in turn gives a charac
teristic, " Who has the worst temper ? " or " Who has the
most unselfish disposition ? " This process continues around,
TABLE AND CARD GAMES 81
until all the centre cards are matched. Then the memory
test comes in. Every player in turn tries to remember and
repeat all the prophecies and characteristics which have fallen
to his share, giving them aloud in rapid succession. He is
allowed for deliberation on any one only the time while ten
is being counted. The one who remembers the greatest num-
ber is the winner.
The Old Maid's Birthday
This game is utterly foolish, but it can lead to shouts of
laughter. It has been founded on an old-fashioned card game
called " Mr. Punch." 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, some-
what on the lines of that which follows, must then be pre-
pared and copied into a note-book. The company take their
places and the cards are handed round. These should be held
face downward. When all is ready one of the players reads
the story, pausing at each blank for the player whose turn
comes next to fill it in by calling out whatever is on his up-
permost card. No matter how often the game is played (pro-
vided the cards are re-shuffled) the unexpected always hap-
pens, 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 number 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 before his turn,
so as to bring it out readily and naturally. The following
story, which makes provision for nearly fifty cards, should be
found serviceable until a better and more personal one is
written. It will add to the amusement if the player who
82 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
reads it substitutes the names of real shops and, if he likes,
real people :
Attention. It was Miss Flitters's birthday, and she woke with a start
and hurried down to see what the postman had brought. There were five par-
cels and a letter. The letter was from Miss Bitters. "Dear Miss Flitters," it
ran, "I am so sorry to hear of your cold, and in the hope that it will do you
good, I am sending you 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 deli-
cate , and from Miss Hitters a particularly refined . " Dear me ! " said
Miss Flitters, " what a useful gift ! just exactly what I wanted." She then sat
down to breakfast, which, this being a special day, 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 know your tastes best." " You do, indeed," said Miss Flitters.
" The thing is perfectly cooked. It 's delicious. It reminds me of . To-
day," she added, " I am giving a party, and I want you to let us have a very
charming meal. I will get the things directly after breakfast. What do you
think we shall need?" "Well, ma'am," said the cook, "you may please
yourself about everything else, but we 've done without a for so long, that
I must have one." " Quite right," said her mistress.
She then prepared for going 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 smelling salts. Suppose you was
to feel faint what then? Never mind," she added, " this '11 do just as well "
handing her a . Miss Flitters hunied off at such a pace that she ran
right into the minister. " I beg your pardon," she exclaimed, "I mistook you
f or a . J May I come with you ? ' ' asked the minister. ' ' Most certainly, ' *
said Miss Flitters.
They went first to Buszard's for a , and selected two particularly juicy
ones. Then to Marshall and Snelgrove's for a . "Is this for the com-
plexion?" asked the minister, 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 Flit-
ters. * ' Give me a instead. ' ' At the stores they inspected . ' ' Haven 't
you anything fresher? " asked Miss Flitters : " I 'd as soon 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 em-
TABLE AND CARD GAMES 83
broidering 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 ." Misa Mitters came just as
the clock struck. She was wearing a charming trimmed with .
"What perfect taste she has ! " the others murmured. Miss Nitters followed.
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 ! " whispered Miss
Litters. Miss Fitters, Miss Ritters, and Miss Titters each brought a present.
Miss Pitters's present was a silver-plated . " So useful for the toilet table,"
she said. Miss Ritters's was a Japanese , a piece of exquisite workmanship ;
while Miss Titters produced from her pocket a brown paper parcel which turned
out to contain a very choice , an heirloom in the Titters family for centuries.
" I did n'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 has n'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 no-
ble , 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 helping of . "Oh !" said Miss Glitters, "you should try
the . It's yumps." The first course was followed by sweets, the most im-
posing 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. ' '
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. Asa protection against the cold Miss Flitters gave
them each a hot . She then hurried to bed and dreamed all night of .
THINKING, GUESSING, AND ACTING
GAMES
THINKING, GUESSING, AND ACTING
GAMES
The Ship Alphabet
THE players sit in a long row, as if in a class at school.
The one that acts as schoolmaster asks sharply, be-
ginning at one end, "The name of the letter?"
u A," says the player. The schoolmaster turns to the next
player, "the name of the ship?" and straightway begins to
count ten very quickly and sternly. " Andromeda," is per-
haps rapped out before he reaches that number. " The name
of the captain ? " " Alfred." " The name of the cargo ? "
"Armor." "The port she comes from?" "Amsterdam."
"The place she is bound for?" "Antananarivo." "The
next letter ? " " B," and so on. If the schoolmaster is very
strict and abrupt with his questions and counting, he can 1
drive every idea from the mind of the person he points at. If
he counts ten before an answer comes, he passes on to the next,
and the next, and the next, until the answer is given. The
one who gives it moves up above those that failed. The
game should be played rapidly.
A variation on this is " When my ship comes in." This
is played with a handkerchief knotted into a ball. Any letter
of the alphabet is chosen ; say B. One player throws the
handkerchief to another, crying out, " When my ship comes
in it will be laden with. ." The player who catches
the handkerchief must supply a cargo, beginning with B be-
fore ten is counted, bees, butterflies, belts, etc. If he fails to
do this he gives a forfeit. When one letter is exhausted an-
other is chosen and the game starts over.
87
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
I Love My Love
This is not played now as once it was. In the old way
the players sat in a line and went steadily through the alpha-
bet, each one taking a letter in order. This was the form :
" I love my love with an A, because he is [a favorable ad-
jective beginning with A], I hate him with an A because he
is [an unfavorable adjective beginning with A]. He took me
to the sign of the [an inn sign beginning with A], and treated
me to [two eatables or an eatable and drinkable beginning with
A], His name is [a man's name beginning with A], and he
comes from [a town or country beginning with A]." Then B,
and so on.
A and B might run thus :
I love my love with an A because be is adorable. I bate him with an A
because he is apish. He took me to the sign of the Alderman and treated me
to arrowroot and ale. His name is Arnold, and he comes from Ayrshire.
I love my love with a B because he is brisk. I hate him with a B because
he is bookish. He took me to the sign of the Beetle and treated me to biscuits
and bovril. His name is Brian, and he comes from Boston.
There is no reason why men should always be chosen.
For the sake of variety the love may as well have a woman's
name and a woman's qualities. In that case the inn might
perhaps go and some such sentence as this take its place : -
I love my love with an A because she is amiable. I hate her with an A
because she is awesome. We went to Uncle Alexander's, and had apricots and
Apollicaris. Her name is Audrey, and she comes from Annapolis.
As finding seven words beginning with one letter is rather
a heavy task for each player, the words might be taken in turn,
as in the case of the " Ship " game mentioned above.
For a shorter way of playing " I Love my Love " tne fol-
GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 89
lowing form is used : "I love my love with an A because he
or she is [favorable adjective]. I will send him or her
to [some place] and feed him or her on [something to
eat]. I will give him or her an [some article, the use for
which must be mentioned after it], and a bunch of [some
flower] for a nosegay." Thus :
I love my love with an A because he is artistic. I will send him to Aus-
tralia, and feed him on asparagus. I will give him an alpenstock to climb with,
and a bunch of asters for a nosegay.
My Thought
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 saucepan " ; a third, " Like
a wet day " ; a fourth, " Like a comic opera. " After collect-
ing 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, per-
haps the thing thought of was a concertina. The first player,
asked to show why a concertina is like a dog, may reply,
" 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 " ; and the fourth, " It is like a comic opera because it is
full of tunes."
P's and Q's
Another old game of this kind is "P's and Q's.' 1 The
players sit in a circle and one stands up and asks them each a
question in turn. The question takes this form, " The King
of England [or France, or Germany, or Africa, or Russia, or
9 o
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
India, whatever country it may be] has gone forth with all
his men. Tell me where he has gone, but mind your P's and
Q's." The player who is addressed must then reply, naming,
in whatever country is mentioned, some town that does not
begin with P or Q or with any letter before P in the alphabet.
Thus, if the question refers to England, he may say " Salis-
bury " but not " Bristol," " Eedruth " but not " Oxford " ; or
to France, " Toulon " but not " Lyons," " Versailles " but not
" Dieppe."
The game is capable of improvement or, at least, of va-
riety. For instance, instead of P's and Q's, the questioner
may say, " Mind your K's and L's," or instead of ruling out all
letters before P, all letters after Q may be stopped. And one
need not confine the game to geography, but may adapt it to
include animals, or eatables, or books.
The Elements
The players sit in a circle, and the game is begun by one
of them throwing a rolled-up handkerchief to another and at
the same time calling out the name of one of the four elements
air, water, earth, or fire. If " Air " is called, the player to
whom the handkerchief is thrown must at once mention some
creature that flies. Having done so she throws the handker-
chief to some one else, calling perhaps " Earth," whereupon
that player must mention an animal that inhabits the earth.
And so on. The same animal must not be mentioned twice,
and when " Fire " is called, the player to whom the handker-
chief is thrown must keep silence until she throws it on again.
Sometimes each player, after throwing the handkerchief and
calling the element, counts ten as the limit of time in which
the answer must be given. If it is longer in coming, or if
something is mentioned which has been mentioned before,
then a forfeit follows.
GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 91
Suggestions
This is a game which people either dislike or like very
much. The players sit round the fire or table, and one of
them begins by naming an article of any kind whatever, such
as watering-pot. The word " watering-pot " will immediately
suggest something to the next player say " gardener." He
therefore says " gardener." The next is perhaps reminded by
the word " gardener " of a bunch of violets she saw the gar-
dener carrying that morning, and she therefore says " violets " ;
the next at once recollects finding violets when she was in the
country last spring, and she therefore says " Vermont." Thus
the game goes on for, say, ten rounds, by which time, as we
have seen already, the minds of the players have been carried
miles away from the original watering-pot which set them at
work. It is now necessary to trace the series of suggestions
back to watering-pot again. This is done by the last player
mentioning, not the last thing that he thought of, but the
thing which suggested that to him. (Thus, the player next him
may have said, in the last round, "an apple-core," which may
have suggested to him " Tom Sawyer." He would not, how-
ever, when the task of retracing begins, say " Tom Sawyer,"
because to repeat your own words is too easy, but " an apple-
core " and the next player, going backward, in his turn would
repeat the word which suggested " an apple-core " to him.)
The second part of the game, retracing the suggestions, is
naturally more difficult than the first.
In this game two things are very important. One is, that
silence should be maintained ; the other, that the word you
give should be suggested to you only by the previous player's
remark. Also it is more fun to be quite honest about it, and
really say what was first suggested, instead of making a
choice.
92 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
Quotation Games
This is a game which requires some poetical knowledge.
The players sit in a circle and one begins by repeating a line
of poetry. The next caps it by repeating whatever line comes
next to it in the poem from which it is taken. The poem
may either be continued or the game may deal only in coup-
lets or four-lined stanzas. In another quotation game the first
player repeats a line of poetry and the next follows it with
another line of poetry which begins with the last letter of the
previous quotation. Thus, if the first player says
It was the schooner Hesperus
That sailed the wintry sea,
the next might cap it with
A man's a man for a* that,
and the next with
The quality of mercy is not strained.
Two Rhyming Games
Rhyming games require more taxing of brains than most
players care for. The ordinary rhyming game, without using
paper, is for one player to make a remark in an easy metre,
and for the next to add a line completing the couplet. Thus
in one game that was played one player said
It is a sin to steal a pin,
Mnch more to steal an apple.
And the next finished it by adding
And people who are tempted to,
With Satan ought to grapple.
But this was showing more skill than there is real need for.
GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 93
An easier rhyming game is that in which the rhyme has
to come at the beginning of the line. The players are seated
in a circle and one begins by asking the next a question of
any nature whatever, or by making any casual remark, the
first word of the answer to which must rhyme with the last
word of the question. The game is then started, each player
in turn adding a remark to that made by the one before him,
always observing the rhyming rule. Thus, the original ques-
tion may be, " Do you like mince pies f " The next player
may reply, " Wise people always do." The next, " You, I
suppose, agree with that f " The next, " Flat you may knock
me if I don't" The next, " Worft you change the subject,
-please f " And the next : " as-i\y ; let 's talk of books."
Telling Stories
This is another of those fireside games that need more
readiness of mind than many persons think a game should ask
for. The first player begins an original story, stopping im-
mediately (even in the middle of a sentence) when the player
ivho is appointed time-keeper says " Next." The next player
takes it up ; and so forth until the end comes, either at the
end of the first round or whatever round seems best.
Another way is for each player to contribute only a single
word ; but this is rarely successful, because every one is not at
the same pitch of attention. Except on the part of the person
who is narrating there ought to be absolute silence.
Clumps
The com pan y> according to the number of persons, divides
up into two or three or even four groups, or clumps, in differ-
ent parts of the room, seated closely in circles. As many
players as there are clumps then go out and decide on some
extremely out-of-the-way thing which the clumps have to
guess. In one game, for example, the mine was thought of
94 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW *
from which the iron was taken to lay the first railroad rails
in America. That is the kind of far-fetched and ingenious
thing. When it is decided upon, the players return to the
room and take their places, one in the midst of each clump.
Questions are then put to them the answers to which must be
either " Yes " or " No," and the clump that discovers the thing
first is the winner.
Other Yes and No Games
The same game can be played without such keen rivalry,
one player sitting in the midst of a great circle and answering
questions in turn. There is also a game called " Man and
Object," in which two players go out and decide upon a man
(or woman) and something inanimate or not human with
which he is associated or which he is known to have used,
such as " Washington and his hatchet," " Whittington and his
cat," " A druid and his mistletoe-knife." They then return and
each player asks them each a question in turn until the prob-
lem is solved.
The same game is sometimes turned inside out, the players
that remain in the room deciding upon some one whom the
player that has gone out has to personate and discover. In
this case it is he who puts the questions. As he is supposed
for the time being actually to be the thing thought of, he
ought to frame his questions accordingly : " Am I living ? "
" Have I been dead long ? " " Am I a man ? " and so forth.
My Right-Hand Neighbor
This is a catch game and useless except when one of the
company knows nothing about it. That player is sent out of
the room, and after a due interval is called in again and told
to guess what the other players have thought of. He may
ask any questions he pleases that can be answered by " Yes "
or " No." The thing thought of is each player's right-hand
GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 95
neighbor, who is of course so different in every case as to lead
in time to the total bewilderment of the guesser.
How, When, and Where
One player leaves the room, while the others decide on
some word, the name of a thing for choice (such as tale, tail),
which has one pronunciation but two or three different mean-
ings and perhaps spellings. They then sit in a circle or line
and the other player is called in, his object being, by means
of questions put in turn to each player, to discover what the
word is. His questions must take the form, " How do you
like it ? " " When do you like it ? " and " Where do you like
it ? " Let us suppose that " tale " is the word thought of.
" How do you like it ? " he will ask the first of the circle.
The answer may be, " I like it amusing " (tale). " How do
you like it ? " he may ask the next. " I like it active " (tail).
To the next, "When do you like it?" " I like it at night"
(tale). To the next, " Where do you like it ? " " At the
end " (tail). To the next, " Where do you like it ? " " In an
armchair " (tale). And so on until he guesses the word.
Coffee-Pot
A similar game is called " Coffee-Pot " or " Tea-Pot."
In this case also the company think of a word with more than
one meaning, but instead of answering questions about it they
make a pretense of introducing it into their answers by put-
ting the word " coffee-pot " in its place. As the player who
is guessing is at liberty to put any kind of question he likes
it is well to choose a word that will go easily into ordinary
conversation. Let us suppose, for instance, that the word is
rain, reign, rein. The questions and answers may run some-
thing like this : " Are you feeling pretty well to-day ? "
"I always feel well when there is no coffee-pot " (rain).
"Have you been reading anything interesting lately?"
96 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW V
" Yes, a very interesting bock on the present coffee-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."
Throwing Light
This is much like " How, When, and Where," except that
instead of asking questions the player, or players, that went
out sit still and listen to the others talking to each other con-
cerning the selected word's various meanings. Thus, if it is
" Spring," the first may remark, " It makes our drives so much
more comfortable " ; the next, " I am always happier then than
at any other time " ; the next, " To drink there is to know
what drinking really is " ; and so on.
Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral.
This is also a similar game to " How, When, and Where,"
except that the player who goes out of the room has, on his
return, to guess something belonging to one of these three
groups. His first question therefore is, " Is it animal ? " Per-
haps it is not. " Is it vegetable ? " " No." He knows then
that it is mineral, and after that to find out what it is is only
a matter of time.
Proverbs
One or two players go out. The others sit in line and
choose a proverb having as many words as there are players.
Thus, if there were eight players, " They love too much who
die for love " would do ; or if more than eight, two short prov-
GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 97
erbs might be chosen. Each player having made certain what
his word is, the others are called in. It is their duty to find
out what proverb has been fixed upon, and the means of doing
so is to ask each player in turn a question on any subject what-
ever, the answer to which must contain that player's word in
the proverb. If the first round of questions does not reveal
'he proverb, they go round again and again.
Shouting Proverbs
In this game, instead of answering questions one by one,
when the guesser or guessers come in the players at a given
signal shout the words which belong to them at the top of
their voice and all together. The guessers have to separate
the proverb from the din.
Acting Proverbs
This is a very simple acting game. The players should di-
vide themselves into actors and audience. The actors decide
upon a proverb, and in silence represent it to the audience as
dramatically as possible. Such proverbs as " Too many cooks
spoil the broth," and "A bad workman quarrels with his
tools," would be very easy almost too easy if any stress is
laid upon guessing. But, of course, although the guessing is
understood to be part of the fun, the acting is the thing.
Acting Initials
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 he has to describe or personate. To per
98 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
senate is more fun than to describe. The players seat them
selves 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.
Acting Verbs, or Dumb Crambo
In this game the company divides into two. One half
goes out, and the one that remains decides upon a verb which
the others shall act in dumb show. A messenger is then
despatched to tell the actors what the chosen word rhymes to.
Thus, if " weigh " were the verb fixed upon, the messenger
might announce that it rhymes to "day." It is then well for
the actors to go through the alphabet for verbs bay, bray,
lay, neigh, pay, prey, pray, play, stay, say ; and act them in
order. When the word is wrong the spectators hiss, but when
right they clap. If the word chosen has two syllables, as
" obey," notice ought to be given.
Guessing Employments
A very simple game. One player goes out. The others
decide on some workman to represent, each pretending 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 interesting if each
player chooses a separate trade.
Stool of Repentance
One player goes out. The others then say in turn some-
thing personal about him such as, " He has a pleasant voice " ;
" His eye is piercing " ; " He would look better if he wore a
lower collar." Those remarks are written down by one of the
party, and the player is called in and placed on a chair in the
GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 99
middle. The recorder then reads the remarks that he has col-
lected, and the player in the middle has to name the persons
who made them.
Eyes
A sheet, or a screen made of newspapers, is hung up, and
two holes, a little larger than eyes and the same distance apart,
are made in it. Half the players retire to one side of it, and
half stay on the other. They then look through the holes in
turn, while those on the opposite side try to name the owner
of the eyes. The game sounds tame, but the difficulty of rec-
ognition and the false guesses made soon lead to laughter.
Making Obeisance
This is a trick. Those in the company who have never
played the game go out of the room. One of the inside play-
ers, who is to represent the potentate, then mounts a chair and
is covered with a sheet which reaches to the ground. At the
point where it touches a shoe is placed, the toe of which is just
visible. In the potentate's hand is a sponge full of water.
One of the players outside is then invited in ; he is told to
kneel down and kiss the toe ; the potentate on the chair leans
forward a little to bring his sponge immediately over the sub-
ject's head ; and a shower-bath follows. Then another subject
is admitted, but after a while there, is enough water on the
floor to make them suspicious.
Mesmerism
Another trick. The players who are to be mesmerized
among them being the one or two who do not know the game
stand in a row, each holding a dinner-plate in the left hand.
The mesmerizer, who also has a dinner-plate, faces them, and
impresses on them very seriously the importance, if they really
want to be mesmerized, of doing exactly what he does and not
ioo WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ^
moving their eyes from him in any direction. He then holds
the plate flat, rubs the first finger of his right hand on the
bottom of it, and makes an invisible cross on his forehead, on
each cheek, and on the tip of his nose. That is all. The trick
lies in the fact that the plates of the players who do not know
the game have been held in the flame of a candle until they
are well blacked. This means that when the mesmerism is
over they each have black marks on their faces, and know
nothing about it until they are led to a looking-glass.
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 ar-
ranged 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. " " Is it a fruiterer ? " " No."
"Is 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 ar-
ranged with his companion that the trade thought of should
follow a profession.
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 fire-
place?" "No." "Is it the sideboard?" "No." "Is it
GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 101
the armchair ? " " No." " Is it the clock ? r) "< Yes." This
again is bewildering ; but again the trick is very simple, the
questioner having arranged that the article shall follow some-
thing 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 always being " No." " Is it that ? " " Yes."
The secret is that the article touched is always signified 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 beforehand that the article in question shall not
follow the key phrase immediately, but, say, two questions
later.
A fourth way is for the questioner to begin 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, " <7ome now,
was it the table ? " " Zook, was it the armchair ? " " Or
the piano ? " " (7ome now, was it this book ? " " How about
this hearth-rug ? " " JSndeavor to be quick, please. Was it
the clock ? " By this time " Cloche " has been spelled, so
that the next question is, " Was it the bell ? " " Yes."
In another form of " Thought-reading " the two players
who know the secret remain in the room long enough for the
trick to be made sure. One stands in a corner and the other
calls loudly, " Ebenezer, do you hear ? " (Ebenezer is the
usual name, but a more attractive one would do.) Ebenezer
says nothing, but listens attentively to hear who among the
company speaks first The other player repeats the question
and still there is no answer. Soon after that some one will
perhaps make a remark, and then Ebenezer, having got what
he was waiting for, says, " Yes, I hear." " Then leave the
room," says the other player, and Ebenezer goes out. The
102 WttAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
other player 'then makes a great show of choosing some one
to touch, but ends by touching the person who spoke first
after the game began. This done, Ebenezer is called in to say
who was touched, and every one is puzzled by his knowledge.
To Guess Any Number Thought of
With these thought-reading tricks may be put one or two
arithmetical puzzles. Here is a way to find out the number
that a person has thought of. Tell him to think of any num-
ber, odd or even. (Let us suppose that bethinks of 7.) Then
tell him to double it (14), add 6 to it (20), halve it (10), and
multiply it by 4 (40). Then ask him how many that makes.
He will say 40. You divide this in your mind by 2 (20),
subtract 6 (14), divide by 2 again (7), and astonish him by
saying that the number of which he thought was 7.
To Guess Any Even Number Thought of
In this case you insist on the number chosen being an
even number. Let us suppose it is 8. Tell him to multiply
by 3 (24), halve it (12), multiply by 3 again (36), and then to
tell you how many times 9 will go into the result. He will
say 4. Double this in your mind and tell him that he thought
of 8.
To Guess the Result of a Sum
Another trick. Tell the person to think of a number, to
double it, add 6 to it, halve it and take away the number first
thought of. When this has been done you tell him that 3
remains. If these directions are followed 3 must always
remain. Let us take 7 and 1 as examples. Thus 7 doubled is
14 ; add 6 and it is 20 ; halved, it is 10 ; and if the number
first thought of 7 is subtracted, 3 remains. Again, 1
doubled is 2 ; 6 added makes 8 ; 8 halved is 4, and 1 from 4
leaves 3.
GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 103
A more bewildering puzzle is this. Tell as many persons
as like to, to think of some number less than 1,000, in which
the last figure is smaller than the first. Thus 998 might be
thought of, but not 999, and not 347. The amount being
chosen and written down, you tell each person to reverse the
digits ; so that the units come under the hundreds, the tens
under the tens, and the hundreds under the units. Then tell
them to subtract, to reverse again, and add ; remarking to
each one that you know what the answer will be. It will
always be 1089. Let us suppose that three players choose
numbers, one being 998, one 500, and one 321. Fach sets
them on paper, reverses the figures, and subtracts. Thus :
998 500 321
005 123
099 495 198
The figures are then reversed and added. Thus :
099 495 198
990 594 891
1089 1089 1089
Guessing Competitions
Guessing competitions, which are of American invention,
can be an interesting change from ordinary games. In some
the company are all asked to contribute, as in " Book Teas,"
where a punning symbolic title of a book is worn by each
guest, and a prize is given to the person who guesses most,
and to the person whose title is considered the best. Thus, a
person wearing a card having the letter R represented Mid-
dlemarch, and a person with catkins in his buttonhole, RazeWs
Annual. But simpler devices are just as interesting.
In other guessing competitions the preparations are the
104 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
affair of the household which gives the party. It is with
these that we are concerned here. Giving prizes certainly
adds to the interest of them.
Guessing Quantities
Several articles of number are placed on a table, say a
box of matches, a bag of beans, a reel of cotton or ball of
string, a large stone, a stick, a photograph, and various coins
with the date side turned down. Each of the company is
provided with a card on which these articles are written, 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 beans 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 writ-
ten on a card in the hostess's possession.
Observation
The real name of this game may be something else, but
" Observation " 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 removed
for a minute (or longer). During that time the aim of each
player is to note and remember as many of the things as pos-
sible. The cloth is then put on again and the players have
five minutes in which to write the fullest list they can of the
objects seen.
Scents
A more puzzling competition is to place a row of large
bottles on the table, all numbered, at the bottom of each of
GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 105
which is a small amount of 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 the game is to guess as many of
the scents as possible.
The Topsy-Turvy Concert
The performers in this concert, 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 then 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 singers,
stooping down so that their heads disappear from view, thrust
up their arms and wave them about, the effect being that 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.
The Dancing Dwarf
This is a very amusing illusion and easy to arrange. All
the players but two are sent out of the room and these stand
behind a table. One stands close to the table, his arms in
front of him so that the fingers rest on the table. Boots, or
stockings and shoes, are put on their arms and a long dark
cloak is thrown over the shoulders of the first player cover-
ing the one behind him. The one behind furnishes the arms
by thrusting his out in front. The little feet resting on the
table show from the folds of the cloak and give the appear-
ance of a dwarf. The players are then called back and the
dwarf, whose face should be disguised, performs any feat that
io6 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
they ask for he sings a song, or makes a speech or prophe-
sies the future of any one who desires it, always ending with
a wild dance performed by the arms and hands of the other
THE DANCING DWARF
person. The light should be turned down somewhat and the
audience should be straight in front of the table to keep the
illusion at its best.
Charades
" Charades " can be written in advance and carefully re-
hearsed, 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
GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 107
whole word, and then the audience guess what it was. Some-
times the word is brought in, both in its complete form and
in its syllables ; and sometimes and this is perhaps the bet-
ter way it is acted. Thus, if the word were " Treason,"
one way would be to make the acts themselves anything that
occurred to you, merely saying " Tree " with some distinct-
ness 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, or, say, a performance by Mr. Tree ; the second to
a son or the sun ; and the third to some treasonable situation,
such as, for example, the Gunpowder Plot. On account of
the time which is occupied in preparing and acting it is better
to choose two-syllabled words which, with the whole world,
make three scenes than three- or four-syllabled ones; al-
though there are certain four-syllabled words which split
naturally into two halves of two syllables each. "Parsi-
mony," for example, could be performed : Parsee, money,
parsimony. As a general rule the charades that are arranged
during the evening are better performed in dumb show, with
plenty of action, than with any talking at all. Under the cir-
cumstances gestures are so much easier than words and not
any less amusing.
Dumb Performances
Yery good fun can be had also from impromptu panto-
mimes, where the performers enact some story which every
one knows, such as " Aladdin " or " Ked Hiding 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 perambulator
which has to serve in the charade only adds to the fun.
Every one, being dumb, acts to the utmost. It is sometimes
io8 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
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."
Dressing Up
It is, of course, much more fun to dress up ; but dressing
up is not so important that a charade is spoiled without it.
If, on the day of your party, you know that charades will play
a part in it, it is wise to put in a convenient room a number
of things suitable to dress up in. Then at the last minute
there need be no furious running up-stairs to pull things out
of closets and boxes, and the unpleasantness will be
avoided which sometimes follows when you have taken some-
body's best clothes for a rather violent performance.
Almost the best garment there is for dressing-up purposes
is a fur coat. While priceless for Red Eiding Hood's wolf it
will make also most of the other animals in the Zoo. A sol-
dier's uniform is a great possession, and a real policeman's
helmet has made the success of many charades. Most kinds
of hat can, however, easily be made on the morning of a party
out of brown paper. Epaulettes and cockades are also easily
made of the same material. Powder or flour for white hair,
some corks for moustaches and beards (you hold them in the
candle for a minute and wait till they are cool enough to
use), and a packet of safety-pins should be in handy places.
Cherry tooth-paste makes serviceable rouge.
Tableaux Vivants
" Tableaux Vivants " are a change from acting, but they
need, if done at all well, a great deal ^f preparation and re-
hearsal, and are therefore perhaps beM T left to older people.
GUESSING, AND ACTING GAMES 109
But quickly-arranged groups representing (not too seriously)
scenes in American history might be good fun.
Remarks on Acting
The drawback to all charades and dressing up at a party
is that they make away with so much valuable time of the
players who are out of the room, and unsettle those who are
left in. It should be the first duty of every one taking part
in acting at parties to decide quickly on the subject or word,
and to perform it quickly. Many and many a party has been
spoiled by the slowness of the actors outside. Historical or
family scenes with no dressing up and some action are per-
haps better than much dressing up and absolute stillness. In
"Canute and the Waves," for example, it is better that the in-
coming tide should be represented by a boy rolling slowly
over the carpet than that there should be nothing but fixed
eyes and stern faces.
RAINY-DAY GAMES
RAINY-DAY GAMES
THIS is a chapter written to meet the needs of
eral children shut up together in bad weather. The
chapter on " Indoor Occupation and Things to Make ''
gives suggestions for a single child, but here are a few sug-
gestions for several occupations for a group of children, which
do not mean the destruction of the furniture.
Any one of the games given in the chapter " In the
Train " is suitable for rainy days.
There are of course many games treated elsewhere in
this book which can be played on rainy days indoors. Many
of the parlor and outdoor games are equally suitable for in-
doors. All the card games and back-gammon, checkers, etc.,
are invaluable resorts in case of a long dreary day, but there
are a few other recreations which, in some families are saved
for such occasions.
Bean-Bags
One of these is the old fashioned game of bean-bag. One
rainy morning can be spent in making the outfit. The girls
can be occupied in making the cloth bags, from six to ten
inches square, partly filled with beans : and the boys in mak-
ing the board which is shown in the illustration.
It should be about three feet square of any sort of boards
and propped up at one side so that it forms an inclined plane.
Five holes are cut in it, about seven inches square, all but the
centre one which is only five inches square. The players stand
off from six to twelve feet according as their skill increases
with practice and try to throw the bags through the holes.
There are various rules for playing the game which you can
"3
1 14 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
arrange to suit yourself, or to make a change. One way is
have the bags in sets of six, each six being of one color, dif-
ferent from the others. The players stand in a line and all
throw at once, trying to get their six bags in the holes as soon
BEAN-BAG BOARD
as possible. When they have thrown their bags they rush up
to the board, gather up those which have gone wild and run
back to the firing line. The one who gets his six bags in first
wins the game. A bag thrown through the small centre hole
counts as two.
Another way to play it is to throw in turn, each throw,
ing all his six bags one after another. The one who gets most
in is the winner.
Ring- Toss
Ring-toss is another game in which skill can be acquired
only through practice and it is very good for rainy-days. It
is really indoor quoits, and is a favorite game for shipboard.
Any one with a little patience and care can make the rings
RAINY-DAY GAMES 115
which are of rope fastened together with slanting seam,
wound with string so that there is no bulging, overlapping
hump at one side.
A stake is nailed upright to a board (the stake can be a
section of an old broom handle, or a smooth, small, straight
ROPE RING
peeled branch of a tree) and the outfit for the game is com-
plete. It is played with the same rules as quoits (see "Outdoor
Games for Boys "), and a very considerable degree of skill can
be obtained by practice. As in pitching quoits, the rings
should be thrown with a little level twist to make them whirl
about.
Ring-the-Nail
A variation of this can be played with common large nails
and brass curtain rings. Eight nails are driven into a board
in a circle, leaving about an inch sticking up. In the centre,
one is driven, standing about three inches tall. Small rings,
curtain rings, for instance, are thrown toward this. Each
time they encircle one of the lower nails is counted five, and
the centre nail ten.
u6 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
Soap-Bubbles
A soap-bubble race is easy to arrange and very good fun.
An old shawl or blanket is laid on a table or the floor, goals
are made at each end of it with piles of books, leaving an
opening between, and each person is provided with a pipe for
blowing bubbles. One bowl of soap-bubbles is enough for the
company (see page 279 on the best way to make lasting soap-bub-
bles). The game is to see who can most quickly blow a bubble,
deposit it on the woolen cloth at one end and blow it through
the goal at the other. Of course you try to direct your puffs
so that you will not only blow your own bubble along but will
force your opponent's back.
Another way is to stretch a cord across the room and di-
vide into two sides, standing three feet from the cord. At
a given signal dip your pipes in the bowl of soap-suds, blow a
bubble, and try to blow it over the cord. The side which suc-
ceeds in landing most bubbles in the enemy's territory wins.
Jack-Stones
A game which is good, quiet fun for a rainy day is Jack-
stones. Although not played much nowadays it is very in-
teresting and is to indoors what " mumble-the-peg " is to out-
doors. It is played usually with small pieces of iron with six
little feet : but it can also be played with small pebbles all of
a size. All kinds of exercises can be used, many of which you
can invent yourself but a few of the commonest are given
below. 1. The five stones are thrown up and caught on the
back of the hand. 2. Four of the stones are held in the hand
while one is thrown up. They must then be laid on the table,
or floor, in time to catch the stone before it comes down. It
is then thrown up again, and the four stones are picked up
either one at a time or all together, and the stone caught again.
Nearly all the exercises are variations of this. One stone
RAINY-DAY GAMES 117
is thrown up and different things must be done quickly with
the others before it falls again.
Tying Knots
Another occupation for rainy days that will interest sev-
eral children (as well as one) is puzzling out the construction
of some of the simplest sailor's knots. This is a useful and a
very desirable accomplishment. Often several together can
solve a difficult knot better than one, and after some pro-
ficiency^ acquired it is interesting to have a competition to see
who can tie them most quickly and perfectly. Every one is
supplied with a piece of clothes-line (the best rope for this pur-
pose) and some one calls out " Kunning Noose," or " Figure of
Eight." Every one must then make this as quickly as pos-
sible.
It is impossible to give directions in words about tying
knots. The best way is to get clear illustrations and then
work over them until you have mastered the intricacies. A
few simple knots are shown here, but there are many books
which give an almost endless variety.
Fia. 1. OVERHAND KNOT
ii8 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
FIG. 2. HALF-HITCH
FIG. 3. FIGUEK OF EIGHT
FIG. 4. COMMON BEND
FIG. 5. SAILOR'S KNOT
RAINY DAY-GAMES 119
Fia. 6. RUNNING NOOSE
Fio. 7. CROSSED RUNNING NOOSE
FIG. 8. BOWLINE KNOT
120
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
FIG. 9. DOGSHANK
Illustrating
A competitive game which is easy to manage is hit-or-
miss illustrating. Any old magazine (the more the better)
will furnish the material. Figures, furniture, landscape, ma-
chines anything and everything is cut out from the ad-
vertisement or illustrations, and put in a box or basket in the
middle of the table. Every one is given a piece of paper and
a proverb is selected for illustrating. Twenty minutes is al-
lowed to choose suitable pictures, to paste them on to sheets
of paper and to add, with pencil, accessories that are neces-
sary : and then results are compared. The variety and excel-
lence of these patchwork pictures are surprising. This can
be played during convalescence. It is not necessary to se-
lect a proverb for illustrating. Any suggestive title will do.
A few that have been found fruitful of varied and spirited
pictures are given here.
A trying moment.
Companions in misery.
This is my busy day.
" I did n't know it was loaded."
His proudest moment.
The unhappy experimenter.
The best of friends.
A great scare.
Fine weather for ducks.
" Won't you have some? "
" Don't we make a pretty picture ? "
Too busy to stop.
No harm done.
"I did n't mean to do it."
Stage-struck.
A great success.
"See you later."
A temporary quarrel.
A narrow escape.
A happy family.
The peace-maker.
A happy mother.
RAINY-DAY GAMES
121
Shuffle-Board
A game which is often played on shipboard can be modi-
fied for an indoor, rainy day game very easily. This is shuffle-
board, all the outfit for which you can easily make yourself.
If you can have a long table that scratching will not injure
your board is all ready, but you can easily procure a common,
smooth-finished piece of plank, two feet wide, if possible, and
8
6
10
four feet long. On one end mark a diagram like the preced-
ing, about ten inches by eight inches. Mark a line at the
other end of the board about four inches from the edge, put
your counters on the line and you are ready to play. The
counters may be checkers (or any round pieces of wood) or
twenty-five cent pieces, or large flat buttons, although discs
of lead are the best because the heaviest. Your pusher should
122 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
be a little tool made especially, like the illustration, about a
foot long, and anybody with a jack-knife can whittle a satis-
factory " shovel " as it is called.
But if an impromptu game is desired, your counters may be
pushed off with a common ruler, with a long lead-pencil, or
even snapped with the finger nail, though this is apt to hurt.
Each player has six counters which he plays by three's, thus .
one person begins by shoving off three of his counters toward
the board on the end, trying to make them fall on the places
that count the highest. The next player then shoots three of his
counters, trying not only to place his own men well but to dis-
lodge his adversary's men if they are in good places. After
all have played in turn, the first player shoots his other three
counters and so on till all have played again. At the close of
each round the board is inspected and each person is credited
with the sum of the numbers on which his men rest. The
game is continued thus, until some one has reached the limit
set, which may be a hundred, or fifty, or any other number ac-
cording to the skill of the players.
The counters of each player may be distinguished from
the others by any distinctive sign marked on them. They
must not be pushed along but struck a sharp blow with your
shovel. The head of your shovel must not pass the line
marked for the counters. Counters which rest on, or touch a
line do not count. A very considerable degree of skill can be
attained in this game and it is a never failing resource on dull
days.
A rainy day is a good time to practice various tricks and
puzzles so as to perfect yourself in performing them.
Balancing Tricks
There are a number of balancing tricks which are easy an J
ingenious. The secret of most such tricks is in keeping the
RAINY-DAY GAMES
123
centre of gravity low, and when this idea is once mastered you
can invent tricks to suit yourself. For instance a tea-cup can
be balanced on the point of a pencil thus : put a cork through
the handle of the cup (it should be just large enough to be
pushed in firmly) and stick a fork into it, with two prongs on
FIG. 1
FIG. 2
FIG. 4
FIG. 3
each side of the handle, and with the handle under the bottom
of the cup. (Fig. 1.) The centre of gravity is thus made low,
and if you experiment a little and have a little skill, and a
steady hand you can balance the whole on a pencil's point.
Or you can balance a coin edgeway on a needle's point.
The needle is stuck firmly into the cork of a bottle, and the coin
124 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
is fixed in a slit cut in a cork, in which two forks are stuck.
(Fig. 2.)
The simplest of these tricks is to balance a pencil on the
tip of your finger by sticking two pen-knives in it, one on each
side. (Fig. 3.)
A cork with two forks stuck in it can be made to balance
almost anywhere on the neck of a bottle from which the con-
tents are being poured for instance. (See fig. 4.)
Amusing toys can be constructed on this principle.
Tumbling dolls are made of light wood or cork, glued to the
flat side of a half bullet. No matter how often they are knocked
flat, they rise again at once.
The Dancing Egg
Another good trick that needs a little practice is to make
an egg dance. Boil an egg hard, keeping it in an upright
position (between cups set in the water or in some other
way). Then turn a plate bottom side up and put the egg on
it. Turn the plate around, more and more quickly, always
holding it flat and level, and the egg will rise on its end and
stand quite straight while it spins about.
The Dancing Pea
A pea can be made to dance on a column of air as you
sometimes see a rubber ball rising and falling in a fountain
of water. Take a piece of a clay pipe about three inches long,
and make one end into a little rounded cup, by cutting the
clay carefully with a knife or file. Then run two small pins
cross-wise through a big, round pea, put the end of one pin in
the pipe and hold the pipe in an upright position over your
mouth. Blow gently through the pipe and the pea will dance
up and down.
RAINY-DAY GAMES 125
The Glass-Maker
Another trick to play with pins is the glass-making pin.
Cut an ordinary rubber band in two, and stick a bent pin
through the middle of this. Now hold an end of the elastic
in each hand and whirl it rapidly around, stretching it a
little. The revolving pin will at once assume the appearance
THE GLASS-MAKER
of a tiny glass vase, or tumbler, and the shape can be varied at
will. It is best to have a strong ray of light on the pin and
the rest of the room darkened.
Electricity
Various tricks can be played by means of the electricity
in paper. Ordinary sealing wax, rubbed briskly on a coat-
sleeve until it is warm will attract bits of tissue paper, or any
other soft paper. A variation on jack-straws can be played
by means of this trick. Tiny scraps of tissue paper, each
numbered, are piled in the centre of the table and each player
by means of a piece of sealing wax tries to draw out the great-
est number in the shortest time. This is a fascinating game
and arranged impromptu in a very short time. The pieces of
paper need not be of tissue paper, as any very thin paper will
do. They should be about a quarter of an inch wide by an
inch long and numbered up to twenty. They must be re-
moved from the centre pile and put in piles before the players
without touching with the fingers. It will be found that
shaking them off the sealing wax is often harder than making
126 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
them stick to it. Of course an effort should be made to secure
those pieces of paper which have the largest numbers on them,
as a few of these count more than many of the others.
Electric dancers are easy to make. Cut little figures out
of tissue paper and lay them on the table. Put on each side
of them two books and lay a sheet of glass over them about
an inch and a half above them. Rub the glass briskly with a
flannel cloth and they will jump up and dowri.
ELECTRIC DANCERS
A rubber comb rubbed with a silk handkerchief will at-
tract small bits of paper, feathers or wool. Various games and
tricks can be devised by this means, such as " bringing the
dead to life," i. 0., raising paper figures to an upright position
from a grave made of books, or a box.
OUTDOOR GAMES FOR GIRLS
O
OUTDOOR GAMES FOR GIRLS
UTDOOK games for girls and outdoor games for
boys are very often the same, although they are sep-
arated here for the sake of convenience.
Battledore and Shuttlecock
" Battledore and Shuttlecock " is equally good for one
player or for two. The only game to be played is to see how
long the shuttlecock can be kept in the air. If you are alone
the best way is to set yourself a number, say a hundred, and
persevere until you reach it. This can be varied by striving
to reach, say, thirty, by first hitting the ball each time as hard
as possible, and then hitting it very gently so that it hardly
rises at all.
Jumping Rope
Ordinary skipping is good enough fun for most of us, but
for those who are not satisfied with it there is skipping ex-
traordinary, one feat of which is now and then to send the
rope round twice before you touch the ground again. To do
this, as it cannot be done with a mere rope, you must make a
new rope of whipcord, in the middle of which you place a
small chain about a foot long. This chain gives the weight
necessary for whirling the rope very swiftly through the air.
Tom Tiddler's Ground
The player who is first going to be Tom Tiddler stands or
sits inside the part of the garden (or room) marked off for him,
pretending to be asleep. The others venture on his ground,
crying, " Here we are on Tom Tiddler's ground, picking up
gold and silver." As Tom still sleeps they grow bolder and
129
130 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
bolder until he suddenly awakens and dashes for them. The
one that is caught becomes Tom Tiddler. Tom may not cross
the boundary-line.
Old Stone
Another " Tom Tiddler's Ground." One player crouches
down pretending to be a stone. The others run round about
her, gradually, as she shows no sign of life, getting nearer
and more bold. The stone suddenly leaps up and begins to
chase them, and the one caught is the old stone.
Hen and Chickens
Even more exciting than " Tom Tiddler's Ground " is
" Hen and Chickens." In this game one player represents a
fox and sits on the ground looking sly and hungry. The oth-
ers, who are the hen and chickens, form a procession, holding
each other's skirts or coats by both hands, and march past the
fox, saying in turn
Chickany, chickany, crany crow,
I went to the well to wash my toe,
And when I came back a chicken was dead.
Then they leave go of each other and stand round the fox, and
the leader, the hen, says, " What are you doing, old fox ? "
The fox replies, " Making a fire " ; and the conversation goes
on like this :
The Hen : What for?
The Fox : To boil some water.
The Hen : What is the water for ?
The Fox : To scald a chicken.
The Hen : Where will yon get it?
The Fox : Out of yonr flock.
With these words the fox springs up and the hen and chickens
run in all directions. The chicken that is caught becomes the
new fox, and the old fox is the new hen, the leader of the
procession.
OUTDOOR GAMES FOR GIRLS 13!
The same game is played by Essex children with an old
woman in place of the fox, and with different words. In this
case the hen and chickens make a procession in front of a
player who personates an old weeping woman. As they
march by, the hen sings
Chickens, come clock, come clock, come clock,
Chickens, come clock, come clock, come clock,
The hawks are away and the crows are asleep,
It's time that my chickens had something to eat.
Then they leave go of each other and stand round the old
weeping woman, and between her and the hen the following
conversation is held :
The Hen : What are you crying for, my poor old woman ?
The Old Woman : Because I 've lost my needle.
The Hen : What do you want a needle for ?
The Old Woman : To sew a bag with.
The Hen : What do you want a bag for ?
The Old Woman : To put salt tn.
The Hen : What do you want salt for ?
The Old Woman : To scour a saucepan.
The Hen : What do you want a saucepan for ?
The Old Woman : To boil one of your chickens in.
The old woman then leaps up and tries to catch a chicken,
and the hen tries to stop her.
Other Garden Games
Many of the games described in other parts of this book
are good also for the ,garden ; such as " Still Pond ! No More
Moving!" (p. 4), "Puss in the Corner" (p. 7), "Honey-pots"
(p. 11), " Nuts in May " (p. 12), " Here I Bake " (p. 13), " Lady
Queen Anne " (p. 20), " The Mulberry Bush " (p. 28), and
" Looby, Looby " (p. 29).
Witches
" Witches " is a home-made game played thus, according
to the description of E. H. : " One player is made witch. A
132 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
good spot is chosen for home, and here the others wait until
the witch has had time to hide. The idea is that the country
round is preyed upon by the witch, home being the only place
where she has no power. The rest of the children have to
explore the witch's country without being caught by her. It
must be a point of honor to leave no suspicious place unex
amined. The child chosen for witch need not be a particularly
fast runner, but she must be clever and a good dodger. Any
one that the witch succeeds in touching is at once turned to
stone and may not stir except as she is moved about by the
witch, who chooses a spot to stand her victim in as far re-
moved from home as possible. The stone can be released only
by some other child finding her and dragging her safely home,
where the spell ceases to act. But until actually home the
victim remains stone, so that if the rescuer is surprised by the
witch and lets go her hold, the stone has to stand where she
is left and is so recovered by the witch. The witch must not,
of course, guard her prisoners too closely. She ought to try
and intercept the rescuers on their way home, rather than
spring upon them in the act of finding the stone. But each
time the stone is recovered the witch may place her in a more
inaccessible spot, so that it becomes more and more dangerous
to release her. Sometimes at the end of the game all the
children are turned to stone in different parts of the garden,
but sometimes, of course, a swift runner will outstrip the witch
and drag the victim safely home. A clever witch acts the
part too appearing and disappearing suddenly, prowling
about in a crouching attitude, making gestures of hate and
rage, and so on."
The Ballad Game
Another home-made game is described by E. H. thus :
" The game is taken from the player's favorite ballads. In our
OUTDOOR GAMES FOR GIRLS 133
play the eldest of the four players, who was also the best or-
ganizer, represented the cruel father. The youngest little girl
was the fair damsel. The other two represented the wicked
lover and the faithful knight, the part of the faithful knight
being taken by the fleetest of the party to balance the combi-
nation of the father and the wicked lover. The game begins
by the fair damsel being imprisoned in the coach-house because
she refuses to marry the wicked lover. (Of course any shed
would do.) Here she waits until her knight comes to rescue
her, and they escape together, pursued by the other two. If
the lovers succeed in getting away the story has a happy end-
ing ; but the more dramatic ending is the tragic one, when
the faithful knight is overtaken, and after killing the cruel
father and the wicked lover, himself dies of his wounds, the
fair damsel slaying herself with his sword over his dead
body.
" The interest of this game is greatly increased by having
retainers. These are armies of sticks which are planted at
particular corners. There must be some mark by which your
own retainers can be distinguished from the enemy's. For in-
stance, the faithful knight may have peeled sticks and the
others unpeeled. If, when charging round the house, you
come across a troop of the enemy's retainers, you cannot go
on until you have thrown them all down, as they are set to
guard the pass. So, if the lovers are escaping and they find
their way blocked by the father's retainers (the father and the
wicked lover may have separate sets of retainers, in which case
the war is always bitterest between the two rivals, as the
father's retainers are sometimes spared for the damsel's sake),
they have to lose time by first overcoming the retainers and
that gives time to their pursuers to come up. But if they are
so far in advance that they can stop to set up their own re-
tainers in the place of the enemy, it serves to give them
134 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
further time to make good their escape, as the others have to
wait to overthrow the knight's sticks in their turn. In no case
are you allowed to take away your enemy's sticks. If the lovers
are overtaken, the rivals have to fight, and meanwhile the
father once more carries off and imprisons the damsel."
Counting-Out Rhymes
To decide who is to begin a game there are various count-
ing-out rhymes. All the players stand in a circle, surround-
ing the one who counts. At each pause in the rhyme (which
occurs wherever a stroke has been placed in the versions which
follow) this one touches the players in turn until the end is
reached. The player to whom t he last number comes is to be-
gin. This is one rhyme :
Eeua-a, | deen-a, | dine-a, | dost, |
Cat'll-a, | ween-a, | wine-a, | wust, |
Spin, | spoil, | must | be | done, |
Twiddlum, | twaddlum, | twenty-one. }
O- | U- | T | spells | out. |
Others :
Intery, | mintery, | cutery | corn, |
Apple | seed | and | apple | thorn ; |
Wine, | brier, | limber | lock, J
Five | geese | in | a | flock ; |
Sit and sing | by a spring |
O- | U- | T | and | in | again. |
One-ery, | two-ery, |
Ziccary | zan ; |
Hollowbone, | crack-a-bone, j
Ninery, | ten ; |
Spittery | spot, |
Must | be | done, |
Twiddledum, | twaddledum,
Twenty-one.
OUTDOOR GAMES FOR GIRLS 135
Ring | around | a ring-pot, |
One spot | two spot | three spot | san |
Bob- tailed | winnie-wack | tittero | tan |
Ham | Scram |
Fortune | man |
Singum | sangnm | Buck ! |
Daisy Chains
The old way of making a daisy chain is to split one stalk
and thread the next through it up to the head, as in this draw-
DAISY CHAIN
ing. That is for out-of-doors. If you are using the chain for
decorations indoors, it is perhaps better to cut off the stalks
and thread the heads on cotton ; but there seems to be no great
need to use daisies in this way at all.
An ivy chain is made by passing the stalk of one leaf
through the point of another and then bending it round and
IVY CHAIN
putting it through the point of its own leaf, the hole thus
made being used for the stalk of the next, and so on, as in
this drawing.
136 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
Flower Show
A flower-show competition is an excellent garden game.
A handkerchief on sticks forms the tent. Underneath this is
a bed of sand in which the flowers, singly or in groups, can
be fixed. Some one can easily be persuaded to come out of
the house to act as judge.
Garden Shop
Shop in the garden or out-of-doors is played with various
things that resemble articles of food. Thus you can get ex-
cellent coffee from sorrel, and capital little bundles of rhubarb
can be made by taking a rhubarb leaf and cutting the ribs
into stalks. Small stones make very good imitation potatoes,
and the heads of marguerite daisies on a plate will easily pass
for poached eggs.
Flower Symbols
In this place a word might be said about some of the
curious things to be found in flowers and plants. If you cut
the stalk of a brake fern low down, in September, you find a
spreading oak tree. The pansy contains a picture of a man
in a pulpit. A poppy is easily transformed into an old woman
in a red gown. The snap-dragon, when its sides are pinched,
can be made to yawn. The mallow contains a minute cheese.
By blowing the fluff on a dandelion that has run to seed you
can tell (more or less correctly) the time of day. An ear of
barley will run up your sleeve if the pointed end is laid just
within it ; and an apple's seeds make exquisite little mice.
Summer Houses
If the garden has no summer-house or tent a very good
one can be made with a clothes-horse and a rug.
OUTDOOR GAMES FOR BOYS
OUTDOOR GAMES FOR BOYS
THIS book is written for children who need help
in amusing themselves. It is natural that there
should be some difficulty about thinking of games
for indoors, or when there is a problem of a large company to
amuse ; but it is hard to imagine any healthy boy, turned
loose out of doors, who cannot take care of his own entertain-
ment. The number of things to do is without limit and the
boy so uninventive as to be at a loss with all outdoors before
him must be in a sad way. Hence there has been no effort
made in this chapter to make an exhaustive list of outdoor
games, only those being given which are suggestive, that is,
which can be infinitely varied according to your ingenuity ;
which are, so to speak, the first of a series.
Also, the rules of regular games are not given here (such
as baseball, football, hocky, etc.). There are plenty of small
manuals, given away with the outfits for these games, which
print in much more detail than would be possible here, their
principles. More than that, most boys absorb a general
knowledge of these games through their pores, and need a
book only to settle some small, knotty, disputed point of
ruling.
One of the best things to have when out of doors is a
ball. There is no end to the uses one can make of it.
Ball Games
The simplest thing to do with a ball is to catch it ; and
the quicker one is in learning to catch well the better base-
ball player one will become. Ordinary catching in a ring is
good, but the practice is better if you try to throw the ball
each time so that the player to whom you throw it shall not
140 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
need to move his feet in order to catch it. This teaches
straight throwing too. Long and high throwing and catch-
ing, and hard throwing and catching (standing as close to-
gether as you dare), are important. There is also dodge-
catching, where you pretend to throw to one player and
really throw to another and thus take him unawares. All
these games can be varied and made more difficult by using
only one hand, right or left, for catching.
Ball Games Alone
A boy with a ball need never be very lonely. When tired
of catching it in the ordinary way he can practice throwing the
ball straight into the air until, without his moving from his
place, it falls absolutely on him each time. He can throw it
up and catch it behind him, and if he has two others (or
stones will do) he can strive for the juggler's accomplishment
of keeping three things in the air at once. Every boy should
practice throwing with his left hand (or, if he is already left-
handed, with his right) : a very useful accomplishment. If it
is a solid india-rubber ball and there is a blank wall, he can
make it rebound at different angles, one good way being, in
throwing it, to let it first hit the ground close to the wall's
foot. He may also pledge himself to catch it first with the
right hand and then with the left for a hundred times ; or to
bat it up a hundred times with a tennis racket or a flat bit of
board. An interesting game for one is to mark out a golf
course round the garden, making a little hole at intervals of
half a dozen yards or so, and see how many strokes are needed
in going round and getting into each hole on the way.
Races
All kinds of races are easy to arrange and these can be re-
peated from day to day as your proficiency increases. Here
are a few.
OUTDOOR GAMES FOR BOYS 141
The Spanish race, sometimes called the Wheelbarrow
race, is played by forming the boys into two lines, one standing
back of the other, and the front row on their hands and
knees. At a signal to begin, each boy on the back row takes
hold of the ankles of the boy in front of him and lifts his
knees off the ground. The boy in front walking on his hands,
and the boy behind trundling him along, make the greatest
haste possible. The pair who first reach the goal are the
winners.
Kaces may be run, hopping on the right foot, or on the
left, or with both together, or with first a hop and then a
jump. It is well to appoint one of the boys umpire during
these odd races, to see that they are run fairly and none of
the rules agreed upon are broken.
A sack race is fun. Each boy is tied into a gunny
sack and shuffles his way to the goal. A substitute for this is
the three-legged race, run by two boys. They stand side by
side, and the right leg of one is tied to the left leg of the
other and so with three legs between them they must some-
how get to the goal.
Hands and knees races, backward races (run with your
back to the goal), races with burdens on your back, or balanc-
ing a pole across your hand or on the tip of your
finger there is no limit to the ones you can invent.
But the best ones, after all, are the plain old trials of
speed. There is no more fun than a good running race, and a
walking race is next to it. Bicycle races are apt to be
dangerous and a course that is very wide should always be
selected.
Quoits
Quoits is a game not played as much as it should be by
American boys. It is easy to arrange, for although there is
142 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
an outfit sold in the toy shops, a home-made one is just as
good. It consists of a collection of horseshoes and a stake
driven in the ground certainly not a difficult appa-
ratus to assemble. The stake should not project more than an
inch above the ground and the players, according to the
grown-up rules, should stand about fifteen yards away from
the stake (which is usually called " the hub" ). But for boys
the distance from the hub can be determined by your skill.
You may increase it as you improve with practice. Every
player has a certain number of quoits (horseshoes) and stand-
ing at a fixed distance from the hub he tries to pitch them so
that they will go as near as possible to the hub. Some very
good players can cast a quoit so that it falls about the hub.
This is called a " ringer " and counts ten, but it is a rare shot.
Every one pitches his quoits and then all go to the hub and
reckon up the score. The one whose quoits lie nearest to the
hub counts one point for each quoit, but each quoit entitled
to count must be nearer the hub than any of the opponents'
quoits. This continues until the score is complete. People
usually play for eleven. This game can be played with flat
stones instead of horseshoes and with any rules that you
choose to make.
Duck on a Rock
Duck on a Kock is a variation of Quoits which is excel-
lent fun. One of the players, chosen by counting out, puts a
stone (called in this game the " duck ") about as big as his fist,
on the top of a smooth rock and stands near it. All the
other players have similar "ducks" and try to dislodge the
one on the rock by throwing their stones, or ducks at it. As
soon as each has thrown his duck he tries to watch his chance
to run up to it and carry it back before the player standing
by the rock can touch him. When some one knocks off the
OUTDOOR GAMES FOR BOYS 143
duck from the rock the " it " (the player by the rock) must
put it back before he can tag any of the players. This is
therefore, of course, the great time for a rush of all the
players to recover their ducks and get back to their own ter-
ritory before the " it " can tag them. If any player is
touched by the " it " while attempting to rescue his duck he
must become " it " and put his duck on the rock.
Bowling
Bowling is the best of sports but this usually needs too
much apparatus for the average boy to have. Nine pins,
however, can be arranged in a rough sort of a way, by setting
up sticks and bowling at them with round apples. Your own
ingenuity will devise ways to use the materials you find
about you.
Hop-Scotch
Hop-scotch is a great favorite which scarcely needs a de-
scription, although there are various ways of marking the
boards. The game is played by any number of persons, each
of whom kicks a small stone from one part to another of the
diagram by hopping about on one foot. The diagram is
drawn on a smooth piece of ground with a pointed stick or on
a pavement with a bit of chalk. The most usual figure is
given here.
To begin, a player puts a pebble or bit of wood into
the place marked 1, and then, hopping into it with his right
foot, he kicks the counter outside the diagram. Then hopping
out himself, he kicks it (with the foot on which he is hopping)
into the part marked 2. He hops through 1 to 2, kicks the
counter out again, and follows it out. This continues until he
has kicked the counter in and out of every space in the dia-
gram, without stepping on a line, or so casting the counter
144
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
that it rests on a line. If this occurs he is put back a space,
and it is the turn of the next player. Each one plays until he
has made a fault, and when it is his turn again, he takes up
the game where he left off. The one who first gets through
the required figures is the winner.
8
There is literally no end to the variations of this game,
either in the diagram used or in the rules. Sometimes when
people become very skilful they play it backward, and some-
times at the end the player is required to place the pebble on
his toe and kick it in the air, catching it in his hand.
Strength Tests
Various trials of strength are good for boys out of doors,
provided rules are fixed and adhered to. Cane-spreeing is good
sport, but should only be tried by boys pretty well matched in
OUTDOOR GAMES FOR BOYS 145
size and strength. A cane (or broom-stick) about three feet
long is held by two boys facing each other, each with a hand
on each end of the cane, the respective right hands being out-
side the lefts, that is, nearest to the end. Then one tries to get
the cane away from the other. It sounds simple, but there are a
great variety of strategic tricks to be learned by practice. No
struggle should last more than two minutes by the watch, when
the boys should stop and get breath. The feet are not used,
but it is quite allowable to use your body, if you get down on
the ground in a sort of wrestling.
Hare and Hounds
Hare and Hounds can be played either in the country or
the city and is fine fun, although it should be begun with a
short run. In the excitement of the chase boys are apt to for-
get, and over- strain themselves. The " hares " are two players
who have a bag of small paper pieces which they scatter after
them from time to time as they run. They are given a
start of five or ten minutes and then all the others, who
are the " hounds," start after them, tracing their course by
the bits of paper. In the city the hares take a piece of
chalk and mark an arrow on the wall thus ^> showing in
ivhich direction they have gone. Good stout shoes should
be worn to run in, or you will blister your feet.
Dog-Stick
A game for city payments or for smooth country roads
has so many names that it is difficult to say which is its right
one, but a common one is " dog-stick." It is played something
like hockey, the aim being to get a ball or counter over your
opponent's goal line. The ball in this case is not a ball but a
piece of wood which you can make yourself, of an odd shape.
It is like a flattened ball with a tail to it. With a club or stick
you strike the tail so that the ball springs up in the air and
146 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
then before it falls you strike it with your club toward your
enemy's goal line. The players are divided into sides who
try to defend their goal lines and to send back the ball to the
other side. Make your own rules as experience teaches you is
fair.
Other Games
The endless variations of leap-frog should not be forgot-
ten in devising outdoor games: and tournaments of long or
broad jumping and high jumping are good. Stilts and the
games to be arranged with them are also another great re-
source. And the seasons bring, as regularly as flowers and
snow, the round of tops, and kites and marbles. Of these last
a very summary account is given here as most boys and regions
have their own rules.
Marbles
The first thing to learn in " Marbles " is the way that the
marble should be held. Of course one can have very good
games by bowling the marble, as if it were a ball, or holding
it between the thumb-nail and the second joint of the first
finger and shooting it with the thumb from there ; but these
ways are wrong. The correct way is to hold it between the
tip of the forefinger and the first joint of the thumb. Mar-
bles are divided into "taws," or well-made strong marbles
with which you shoot, and " clays," or the ordinary cheap
colored marbles at which you aim and with which you pay
your losses.
Ring Taw
Two or three boys with marbles could never have diffi-
culty in hitting on a game to play with them, but the best reg-
ular game for several players is " Ring Taw." A chalk ring
is made on as level a piece of ground as there is, and each
OUTDOOR GAMES FOR BOYS 147
player puts a clay on it at regular distances from each other.
A line from which to shoot during the first round is then
drawn two yards or so from the ring, and the game begins by
the player who has won the right of leading off (a real advan-
tage) knuckling down on the line and shooting at one of the
marbles in the ring. If a player knocks a marble out of the
ring, that marble is his and he has the right to shoot again
from the place where his taw comes to a stand ; but if in
knocking a marble out of the ring his taw remains in it (or if
his taw remains in it under any condition whatever), he has to
put all the marbles he has won into the ring, in addition to one
for a fine, and take up his taw and play no more till the next
game. There is one exception to this rule : If only one
marble is left in the ring, and if, in knocking it out, a player's
taw remains in the ring, he does not suffer, because the game
is then over. The other two rules are these : If a player suc-
ceeds in hitting the taw of another the owner of that taw not
only must leave the game but hand over any marbles he has
won. (In no case are taws parted with.) Also, if it happens
that only two players are left, and one of these has his taw hit,
that ends the game, for the player who hit it not only has the
marble of the taw's owner but all the marbles left in the
ring too.
" Ring Taw " can be played by as few as two players ; but
in this case they must each put several marbles in the ring.
To decide which player is to begin, it is customary for them
all to aim at the ring from the knuckling-down line, and
whichever one places his taw nearest to the middle of the ring
has the right to lead.
Other Games
Other garden games for boys will be found in the Picnic
section. We might mention also " Steps " (p. 4), " Tug of
War " (p. 38), and " Potato Races " (p. 40).
PICNIC GAMES
PICNIC GAMES
A PICNIC may be either a complicated affair which has
occupied you all the day before, or the most im-
promptu expedition which you arrange on the spur of
the minute ; and the last kind are often more fun. Any place
out of doors will answer for a picnic, but if possible it should
be near water. Anything will answer for a picnic lunch, but
it is pleasant, if older people are with you, if you are al-
lowed to have fires to do some outdoor cooking. This is al-
ways easier than it sounds and adds infinitely to the fun of the
lunch. Bacon is one of the easiest things to cook outdoors, all
that is needed being a forked stick which you can cut for your-
selves. The strip of bacon is impaled on the forks and toasted
over the fire, each person cooking his own slice and eating it
on bread. Or with two larger forked sticks a steak can be de-
liciously broiled for the whole company, or chops can be
cooked. It is the easiest and most delightful task to arrange
a sort of cooking-hole of stones over which the coffee pot may
be set and potatoes may be boiled over another similar hole.
You will find that it is far better to have a number of very
tiny little fires entirely separated from each other, than one big
bonfire which is almost sure to grow unmanageable. It will be
seen that it is far easier to take a big piece of bacon (to be
sliced after reaching the picnic grounds) a loaf or two of bread
and raw potatoes than to spend hours in making sandwiches
and packing cake. Beside the things cooked out of doors al-
152 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
ways taste so much better. Great care should be taken to put
out every spark of fire before going home, and to leave no
scraps of paper, or egg-shells lying about. These should be
burned or buried.
It, Touch Last, or Tag
For a short time " It " is a good warming game. It is the
simplest of all games. The " It " runs after the others until
he touches one. The one touched then becomes " It."
Touchwood
The name explains the game, which is played as " It " is
played, except that you can be caught only when you are not
touching wood. It is a good game where there are trees. It
is, of course, not fair to carry a piece of wood.
Cross Tag
This is the ordinary " Tag," save that if, while the " It "
is chasing one player, another runs across the trail between
him and the pursued, the " It " has to abandon the player he
was at first after and give chase to the one who has crossed.
A good variety of tag is " French Tag." The first one
caught must join hands with the " It," the next one with him,
etc., and so on in a long line all running together. Any one
can catch an opponent, but the original "It" must touch
him before he can take his place in the line.
The Little Dog
The players form a ring, leaving one outside, who passes
round it singing, " I have a little dog and he won't bite you,"
and as he does so, touching each player in turn with a knotted
pocket-handkerchief. " And he won't bite you," " And he
PICNIC GAMES 153
won't bite you," he calls to one after the other, and then sud-
denly changes this to " But he will bite you" The player
touched when this is said has to run after the toucher with all
his might. When caught they change places.
Hunt the Squirrel
All the players except one join a ring. This one, with a
knotted handkerchief in his hand, walks round the outside of
the ring for a while, and then, dropping the handkerchief be-
hind one of the players, runs off crying
Hunt the squirrel through the wood.
Now I 've lost him now I 've found him !
Hunt the squirrel through the wood.
The player behind whom the handkerchief was dropped must
catch the squirrel before he can take up the empty place in
the ring left by the pursuer. It is more fun if, in dropping
the handkerchief, it can be done without the player discover-
ing it for a little while.
The way in which old-fashioned country children play
this game (called usually " Drop the handkerchief "), is a little
different. As the one with the handkerchief walks around
and around the outside of the ring all join in singing,
"Atisket! A tasket !
A green and yellow basket !
I sent a letter to my love
And now I find I 've lost it.
I Ve lost it ! I 've lost it !
And where do you think I found it ?
Up in the sky, ever so high
With angels gathered 'round it."
As the words " I've lost it ! " are repeated, the player out-
side must drop the handkerchief, but no one must look behind
him until the verse is ended. Then the one who finds the
154 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
handkerchief behind him must try to catch the first one, who
in turn tries to slip into the empty place.
Gaps
The players form a ring : all except one, who is " It." This
one runs round the ring and touches one of the players in the
circle. They both set off running immediately in opposite
directions, the object of each being to get first to the gap
made in the circle by the player who was touched. The one
who gets to the gap first remains in the circle, while the other
becomes " It."
Twos and Threes, or Terza
A very good picnic game. All the players except two
form a large ring, standing in twos, one behind another. Of
the two who are over, one is the pursuer and the other the
pursued ; and the game is begun by the pursued taking up his
position (if he can do so before the pursuer catches him)
in front of one of the couples in the ring, thus making three.
Directly he does this he is safe, and the last player in the little
group at the back of him has to run. Whoever is caught be-
comes the pursuer, while the one that caught him becomes
the pursued until, by standing in front of one of the couples,
he transfers that office to another.
Hide and Seek
" Hide and Seek," which is perhaps the best out-of-door
game without implements, needs no explanation. It is usual
to give the player who hides a start of as much time as it
takes the others to count a hundred in. Some boys, instead of
counting from one to a hundred, divide the sum into ten tens,
which are counted thus : 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1 ; 1, 2, 3, 1, 2,
3, 1, 2, 3, 1 ; and so on. These can be rattled through so
PICNIC GAMES 155
quickly that your 100 is done and you have started out before,
in the ordinary way, seventy would have been reached.
A customary arrangement to avoid taking the hiders too
much by surprise is for the boy who stays at the base and
counts a hundred to call out when he finishes
or simply
Bushel of wheat ! Bushel of rye !
All that are n't ready call out ' I ' ! "
"One! Two! Three!
Look out for me ! "
I Spy
" I Spy " combines " Hide and Seek " and " Tag." One
player stays in the base, covers his eyes and counts a hundred,
while the others run off and hide. On finishing the hundred
the player shouts " Coming ! " and runs out to look for the
others. Directly he catches sight of one of them (and they
are not hidden so carefully as in " Hide and Seek "), he calls
out his name and the place where he has seen him ; as, for in-
stance, " Harry ! behind the summer-house ! " If there is no
mistake and the name is right (it is very often wrong, in which
case the player does not move), Harry has to run out and try
and catch the other before he reaches the base.
Another way is for as many players to seek as to hide.
In this case it is agreed beforehand as to how many of the
seekers must be caught by the hiders for the game to be won.
If the number is given at four and four are caught, the same
side have the privilege of hiding again ; but if only three or
a smaller number, then the seekers have won and it is they
who hide next time.
1 5 6
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
Chevy, or Prisoner's Base
There is no better running game than this. Y ou first
pick sides and then mark off the two camps and take up your
station there. The field is arranged thus :
Place for
A's
prisoners.
Place for
B's
prisoners.
A's Camp.
B's Camp.
PICNIC GAMES 157
The game is opened by several of the A side running out
to some point immediately in front of the two camps. When
ready they call " Chevy." As many of the B side then start
out to pursue them, each calling his particular quarry by name.
The object of each A man is either to get back before the B
man who is after him can catch him, or to tempt the B man
into ground so near the A camp that he may be caught. In
this aim he is helped by the fact that directly his B pursuer
called his name and started out another A man probably called
out the name of the B man and started to cut him off. No one
is allowed to be pursued by two players at once.
If caught, the A man has to go to the place reserved for
B's prisoners. Directly he gets there he calls " Rescue " ; an A
man will then call " Prisoner," and rush out to relieve him ;
while a B runner is all ready to intercept this A rescuer if he can.
The game is good both for runners who can keep it up a
long time and for those who can make short, sharp dashes.
The first named decoy the enemy out in pursuit, and the
others hold themselves ready to dash across in front of the
enemy's camp and cut off any one who is across the line. The
rule as to shouting the name of the man you have marked
down should be kept.
If there is more than one prisoner they stand just touch-
ing hands, in a line which reaches as far as possible toward
their own camp, so that the distance between the first prisoner
and the rescuer may be shortened. Each new prisoner takes
up his place at the back of this line, farthest from the camp.
A prisoner is rescued by being touched.
If one side is much weaker than the other a time comes
when it is nearly all taken prisoner, with none to rescue ex-
cept by leaving the camp undefended. Directly a camp is left
undefended one of the enemy steps in and " crowns " it and
claims the game. More often than not, however, a game of
158 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
' l Chevy" is left undecided. It does not matter in the least,
for in this game the fun is more in playing than in winning.
French and English
For this game the ground must be divided by a path or
line into two territories French and English. At the further
side of each territory a number of flags handkerchiefs will
do must be placed at intervals. The players are then divided
into the two nations, and the game consists in each side trying
to get the flags from the other side, to guard its own, and to
catch the enemy when he is off his own ground. Once a player
sets foot upon the enemy's territory he must go on, but he can-
not be caught if he has a flag in his hands. If he is caught he
becomes a prisoner (as in Chevy), and is only released by being
touched by one of his own party. A player cannot redeem a
prisoner and take a flag at the same time. The game ends
when all the flags of one side have been taken.
Black Man
This is rather rough. A line is drawn at each end of the
playing place and one player is told off to stand between these
lines. The object of the others is to run across, from base to
base, without being caught by him : being caught meaning not
merely being touched, as in " It," but being really held and
stopped. Each one that is caught has to stay in the middle
to help catch the others, until no one is left to run across at all.
The player in the middle calls out to the crowd of players,
" What'll you do when the black man comes ? " and they
answer,
" Run righb through
And never mind you."
This is the signal to begin each rush across from one line
to the other.
PICNIC GAMES 159
Stagarino
" Stagarino " is similar to " Black Man," except that all
the players who are caught, and whose business it is to catch
the others, join hands. Those that run across have therefore
to avoid them or to try and break through the wall of arms.
Red Rover
"Bed Rover " is also similar to " Black Man," except that
instead of all running at the same time, the " Rover " calls
out :
" Red Rover ! Red Rover !
Let (mentioning name) come over ! "
at which the one named has to run from one base to the other.
If he is caught, he must assist the " Rover " in catching the
others.
Hop, Step, and Jump
This is a change from ordinary racing. The competitors,
instead of running against each other, see which can cover the
most distance in a hop, a step, and a jump, or, say, three hops,
three steps, and three jumps. It needs an umpire to watch
very carefully that the step begins exactly where the hop left
off and the jump where the step finished.
Folio w-My-Leader
This needs no explaining. It is nearly always good fun
for a while, and particularly so if the leader has original ideas.
OUT FOR A WALK
OUT FOR A WALK
ON country walks, where there is much to see, one
should not be in need of ways to make the time seem
shorter. And new walks in the town, or walks
where there are interesting shop-windows, are not dull. But
the same walks again and again can be very tiring ; and it is
to help these that the methods which follow have been
collected.
A good walking pastime for two is for one to drive the
other. Hoops are a great help (see p. 169) and so are dolls'
perambulators. But on many walks nothing of this kind is
allowed, and one has to fall back on conversation. Telling
stories in turns, or making up stories about passers-by, is use-
ful, but it is not every one that is able to do this.
Roadside Whist
In the Channel Islands visitors riding about in large
wagonettes pass the time by playing a game called " Roadside
Whist." The people on the left seat of the carriage take the
right side of the road, and those on the right seat take the left.
The conductor teaches them the rules at the beginning of the
drive. In our case it is better perhaps to make them for our-
selves, to suit our own particular country. Let us suppose
that
If you see
A baby in arms you score
A baby in a perambulator "
A white horse
A ladder against a house
A woman in a white apron
A butcher's cart
A street gate
A postman
163
164 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
Then there should be a few things for which marks have
to be taken off. Let us suppose that
If you see
A pug dog you lose 2
A piebald horse
An open gate
A flock of sheep
A soldier "
4
2
3
10
No matter what the score is, whichever side sees a cat on
a window-ledge wins the game.
Counting Dogs
In a town there are other varieties of roadside whist for
two players or sides. Counting dogs is one. In this game
one takes all the streets leading from the left, the other all
from the right.
Guessing Horses' Tails
A good game (writes E. R.) while out for a walk is " when
you see a horse coming, guess what color his tail is before he
can reach you, and then, whoever guesses right, the horse be-
longs to him."
Shop- Windows
Except in very dull streets shop-windows can be always
entertaining. It is interesting to suppose you have so much
money say five dollars to spend, or, if you like, an un-
limited sum, and choose what you would buy as you pass each
shop. E. H. writes: "One little girl used to suppose that
she was the eldest of a large family whom she had to provide
for, and was always on the lookout for things in the shops
that would do for her younger brothers and sisters. For in-
stance, if she decided that the family must have new winter
clothes, she would first make up her mind how much she could
afford and then price the things in the shop-windows. Some-
OUT FOR A WALK 165
times she would set her heart on a particular cloak for the
baby, but could not pretend to buy it till she had seen whether
it would leave her enough money for the other children. If
she could get all the children dressed fairly nicely for the sum
at her disposal she had all the satisfaction of a successful day's
shopping. Sometimes the clothes she wanted were too dear,
and then she had to decide what was most necessary, what
she could make at home, and so on."
Making Sentences
It is rather exciting for each player to take a side of the
road where there are shops and see which can first complete a
given sentence or word from the initial letters of the shop-
keepers' names, Christian or surname. In fixing upon a sen-
tence it is well to be careful not to have unusual letters, such
as Q, or U, or J in it. If this is too difficult all the letters in
the shopkeepers' names may be taken, or those in every other
name.
Collecting Jones's
In Mrs. Meynell's book, The Children, one little girl on
her walks collected Jones's that is, shops with the name of
Jones over them. If any one else cared for this amusement
there would be no need to stick to Jones.
The Love Alphabet
In this game you go through the alphabet, applying ad-
jectives to your love. " I love my love with an A because he
[or she] is so admirable " ; "I love my love with a B because
she is so beautiful," and so on, keeping to each letter as long
as possible. On pages 88 and 89 will be found more difficult
varieties, less suitable, perhaps, to be played when walking.
i66 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
The Cat Alphabet
Another alphabet game requires adjectives to be put be-
fore the word cat. You begin with A. " An artful cat," one
player may say ; and the next, " An avaricious cat." Perhaps
" An awful cat," " An adhesive cat," " An arrogant cat," and
" An attractive cat," will follow. A is kept up until no one
can think of any more ; or if you play in that way until
no one can think of any more while ten is being counted.
Then B : " A bushy cat," " A bruised cat," " A bellicose cat,"
" A bumptious cat," and so on.
Spelling
In this game the players each contribute a letter toward
the spelling of a word, their object being never to be the one
to complete it, but to force the next player to do so. Thus
(with four players) the first player may say " p," and the next,
thinking of " prim," may say " r," and the next, also thinking
of " prim," may say " i." But the fourth player, running his
thoughts quickly over possible words beginning with " pri,"
may light upon " prism " and say " s." This saves her, but
puts the first player in danger, which is only averted by her
thinking of " prison " and saying " o," in which case the next
one is bound to be the loser.
The Grand Mogul
A favorite old game which can be played as well on a
walk as indoors is " The Grand Mogul." " The Grand Mogul
does not like E's," says one player ; " what will you give him
for dinner ? " Each player answers in turn, but none of the
dishes named must contain the letter E, or the player either
stands out, or (indoors) pays a forfeit. Thus, the answers to
the question may be " apricots," " mutton," or " soup," but
not " apples," " beef," or " porridge." On a walk the letter
OUT FOR A WALK 167
E might be persevered with until every one failed, and then
the other vowels might be tried.
Buz
This is a counting game in which, whenever the number
7 comes, or a multiple of 7, such as 14, 21, 28, 35, or a number
with 7 in it, such as 17, 27, 37, the player whose turn it is
must say " Buz." Otherwise, out-of-doors, he loses a round or
two, or, indoors, he must pay a forfeit. When 70 comes you
say " Buz " in the ordinary way, but for 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76^
78, and 79 you say " Buz 1," " Buz 2," and so on. For 77 you
say " Buz Buz."
Rhyming Lights
In this game one player thinks of a word and gives the
others a rhyme to it. Thus, she may think of " coal," and she
would then say, " I Ve thought of a word that rhymes to pole."
The others have to guess what the word is, yet not bluntly,
as, " Is it mole ? " but like this : " Is it a little animal that bur-
rows ? " " No," says the first player (who thus has a little
guessing to do herself), " No, it is not mole." " Is it a small
loaf of bread ? " " No, it is not roll." " Is it something you
eat bread and milk from ? " " No, it is not bowl." " Is it
something you burn ? " " Yes, it is coal." The player who
thought of " coal " then finds a word for the others to guess.
The Apprentice
The " Apprentice " is an old game for two or any num-
ber. One says, " I apprenticed my son to a [mentioning a
tradesman or craftsman], and the first thing he sold [or made]
was a [mentioning, by its initial only, something peculiar to
the trade or craft]. The player who first guesses what the
initial stands for then makes a similar remark. Thus, one
player may say, " I apprenticed my son to a blacksmith, and
168 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
the first thing he made was a D. K." (Door Knocker),
Another, " I apprenticed my son to a grocer, and the first
thing he sold was S. S." (Soft Soap). Another, u I appren-
ticed my son to a gardener, and the first thing he grew was a
C. B." (Canterbury Bell). Another, " I apprenticed my son
to a firework manufacturer, and the first thing he made was a
G. K." (Golden Kain).
Towns and Products
This is a somewhat similar game bearing on geography.
Suppose there are three players. One chooses a well-known
place, say Boston, and begins, "I know a place where they
sell boots," or whatever it may be beginning with B. The
next player then knows what letter the place begins with and
at once starts thinking of what place it is likely to be. Per-
haps she settles on Birmingham, in which case she would say,
to indicate that the second letter of the word was " I," " I
know a place where they sell isinglass " (or icicles, or ingle-
nooks). " No," says the first player, and the third therefore
has to try. Perhaps she decides that the place is Brighton, in
which case she will say, " I know a place where they sell rock-
ets " (or rump-steak or raisins). " No," says the first player
again, and then it being her turn she gives them another light
on the right word by saying, " I know a place where they sell
oranges " (or oil, or ocarinas), and so on, until the place is
spelled through.
Other Games
Other games suitable to be played when walking are " P's
and Q's " (p. 89), " Suggestions " (p. 91), " Clumps " (p. 93),
"How, When, and Where" (p. 95), "Coffee-Pot" (p. 95),
" Throwing Light" (p. 96), and " Animal, Vegetable, and Min-
eral " (p. 96).
OUT FOR A WALK 169
Hoops
Iron hoops are the best, but it is a matter of taste whether
a stick or a hook is used for them. If the stick is a stout one
you get rid of the skidding noise made by the hook, and
there is more satisfaction in beating a thing along than in,
as it were, pushing it. It should be every one's aim to make
the hoop do as much as possible with as little treatment as
possible. After a very fast run it is equally interesting to see
how slowly a hoop can be made to travel. To make it keep
as straight a course as may be is very absorbing. Bought
hoops can be strong, but to get exactly what one wants it is
necessary to go to a blacksmith. A hoop standing as high as
its owner, through which he can run to and fro as it rolls, is a
possession which only a blacksmith or working-ironmonger
can supply.
Two in Hoop Games
Hoop games are few in number, and, with the exception
of " Posting," not very exciting. With a large hoop and a
small hoop two players can learn to time the pace of a hoop
very exactly and then bowl the little one through the big one
as it rolls.
There is also a game called " Turnpikes," in which several
players and one hoop take part. The turnpikes, of which
there are as many as the players, less the one who begins with
the hoop, are two stones an inch or so apart, through which
the hoop has to be bowled without touching, the faster the
better. If it touches, or misses, the player who has been
bowling it gives the hoop to the turnpike holder, who then
tries his fortune with it, keeping it until he fails at any of
the stones.
Hoop Posting
A very good hoop game for several players is " Posting."
Tfce idea is that a distance is to be covered (as in the old post-
170 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
ing days) as quickly as possible by relays of riders, and the
first thing to do is to station four posts at various points along
the route. Then, when they are ready, each with hoop-stick
or hook, the player with the hoop starts and bowls it as fast
as he can to the first post. Immediately it reaches him that
post takes it on, without stopping the hoop for an instant, to
the next, while the first one takes the place left by him ; and
so on, as often round the ring as you like. When there is a
time-keeper and you post against time it is even better fun.
The advantage of standing in a large circle is that the hoop
need never be checked ; but if the circle is impossible, you can
go up and down a long line, with checks only at each end.
IN THE TRAIN
Or
DURING A WAIT AT A RAILWAY STATION
IN THE TRAIN
Or
DURING A WAIT AT A RAILWAY STATION
ALONG journey in a train say from NQW York to
Chicago can, even if you have a window seat, be
very tiring ; but without a window it is sometimes
almost unendurable. The hints which follow are mostly
adapted for two players, but one or two will be found useful
if you are alone with no one to play with.
The Value of a Map
A map of the country which the train passes through is
an interesting thing to have on a long journey. It tells you
the names of the hills and villages you see from the windows
and you can very likely fix the exact moment that you cross
from one county or state into another.
Railway Competitions
Two persons can have good competitions. They can
agree beforehand that the game is to go to whichever of them
sees the more horses, or cows, or sheep, or men driving, or
bicyclists, or rabbits, between two given points, say one station
and the next. It is not necessary to be at different windows ;
in fact a new kind of excitement comes in if both are at the
same window or at windows on the same side, because then in
addition to seeing the things there is the fun of not letting
the other think you have seen them.
173
1 7 4 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
Railway Whist
This is a kind of " Koadside Whist," the rules for which
Will be found on page 163. As has been said there, most
players will prefer to draw up their own scoring table ; but
the following things and figures may be found useful as a
foundation :
If yon see
A church it counts . . 3
A field with sheep " 3
A field with cows " 2
A field with horses " 4
A field with rabbits " 3
A man u 1
A woman " 2
A stile " 4
An open gate . . 5
A shut gate . " 2
An ordinary dog . . 2
A sheep dog " 6
A horse and cart " 5
A hay-wagon " 2
A pond " 4
If you see
A waving hankerchief you lose . . 6
A hay-stack " . 1
A red barn " . . 5
A grocer's wagon . . 1
Children on a gate " . .10
Whichever side first sees a black sheep wins, no matter
what the score is. Otherwise the scorer of the greatest num-
ber of marks is the winner. In " Railway Whist " it is neces-
sary for the players to be on different sides of the train.
Station Observation
A variety of " Observation " (see page 104) can be played
on journeys. While the train is stopping at a station every
IN THE TRAIN 175
one looks out of the window and notices as many things as
possible. When the train starts again each writes as many of
these things as he can remember, and the one with the best
list wins.
Games With a Watch
II you have a watch it is rather interesting to guess the
exact time at which the train will reach the next station.
The one who guesses nearest becomes the holder of the watch
until the next guess is decided. Other things can be done
with a watch, particularly if it has a second hand. Guessing
the length of a minute is rather interesting, or timing the
speed of the train by noting how long it takes to go between
the telegraph-poles at the side of the line.
Hot-Hand
This is a primitive game, capital for cold weather, for it is
well named. It is played by two people, one of whom spreads
out his hands flat, palms up. The other puts his, palms down,
within about three inches of the other's, and tries to strike
them a smart blow. If the first player can withdraw his
hands quickly enough so that they are not touched it is his
turn to try and strike. As long as the player whose hands
are palms down can strike the other's hands he can go on.
This is an excellent game for cultivating quickness. The
player whose hands are to be struck will find that he can suc-
ceed better in escaping the other's blows, if he watches his eyes
rather than his hands.
This can be arranged among many players as a sort of
tournament, trying out the players by couples until finally the
two best contestants are left to struggle for the championship.
This is a good game to play while getting your breath after
1 7 6
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
skating or at any time out of doors when you are obliged to
be quiet, and there is danger of getting chilled.
Pencils and Paper
It is well to take a pencil and paper when you go on a
long journey. If the train rocks a good deal it is interesting
to see which can write a sentence most clearly. There is a
way of balancing oneself on the edge of the seat and holding
the paper on one's knees which makes for steadiness. It is
never too shaky for " Noughts and Crosses."
Noughts and Crosses or Tit-tat-toe
" Noughts and Crosses " is playable anywhere ; all that is
needed is a piece of paper a newspaper will do and a pen-
cil. The framework is first made. Thus :
One player chooses crosses and the other noughts, and the one
who is to begin puts his mark say, a cross in one of the
nine squares. The other puts a nought in another of the
squares, and so it goes on until either three noughts or three
crosses are in a straight line in any direction. Thus, this is
the end of a game in which noughts played first and crosses
won:
IN THE TRAIN
X
177
X
But it often happens that the game is drawn, as in this
example, in which noughts played first :
X
o
o
X
X
X
A blank book for " Noughts and Crosses," with the frame-
work all ready, can now be obtained. It has places for the
names of the players, and the date.
Paper French and English
" French and English," another game for two, belongs to
the family of " Noughts and Crosses," and can be played any-
where and on any scrap of paper. You first decide which
will be English and which French. Each player then takes
one-half of the paper and covers it with, say, sixty dots. It
does not matter how many, but there must be the same num-
178 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
her on each side. Then in a corner each draws a cannon, or
draws something that can be called a cannon for the purposes
of the game. You then decide how many turns you will have.
The game is played by placing the pencil on the cannon, shut-
ting your eyes, and dashing the pencil across your enemy's
side of the paper, straight or crooked, in any direction you
like. Then you open your eyes, count how many dots the
pencil line has passed through, and score them down. The
player who, at the end of the number of turns settled upon,
has gone through the greatest number of dots is the winner.
" Letters " and Words
A box of letters is an unfailing help to pass the time. A
word will sometimes keep a player puzzling for hours, which
is, of course, too long. "Pomegranate," "Orchestra," and
" Scythe " are good examples of difficult words.
You can also take words and sentences seen on the
journey, such as " Wait till the train stops," and " Pears'
Soap," and see how many words they will make. A more
difficult task is to make anagrams of advertisements. " Lip-
ton's Teas," for instance, makes " Taste on, lips."
" Letters " With a Pencil
The word-making game has been adapted into a writing
competition. Each of the company is handed a card which
has been prepared for the purpose beforehand by having names
of a dozen animals, or towns, or flowers, or birds, or whatever
it may be, written on it in what might be called twisted spell-
ing. For instance, " butterfly " might be spelled thus, " trelby-
fut," and "Manchester" thus, " Tramschene." A certain
amount of time is given, and the winner is the player who has
found out most words therein.
A version of this game is to dot out all the letters of the
IN THE TRAIN
179
word except the first and the last. You would put
" Elephant " on the paper thus, E t, and tell your
companion it was the name of an animal. Or you might
write " Peppermint " thus, P t, and tell him it was
the name of a sweet.
Hanging
This is a more difficult game, very suitable for a tiring
journey. The two players sit side by side, and one of them
dots out on a piece of paper the words of a proverb or well-
known line of poetry. Thus, " I met a little cottage girl "
would be set down in this way :
Underneath this line a small gallows is erected. Thus :
The game is for the other player to discover the line. In
order to do this he is permitted to ask his opponent for letters.
Perhaps he will begin by asking, " May I have an * a,' " be-
cause there are few sentences that do not contain an " a."
His opponent will then put the first " a " in. Thus :
Then perhaps another " a " will be asked for, and the line will
come out thus :
i8o WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW '?
Then perhaps an " e " :
So far all has gone favorably with the guesser, and the
gallows is still untouched. But perhaps he will now venture to
ask for a consonant (which is much more risky than a vowel),
and will say, " May I have an * s ' ? " As there is no " s " in
the line the reply will be against it, and the opponent will at
once append to the rope of the gallows a small head.
Thus :
This means that the guesser has lost one out of a possible six
points, the others being his body, his two arms and two legs.
For each letter he asks for in vain he loses one of these, and
when all have gone he has lost the game too. Sometimes,
however, the quotation can be detected very quickly.
Other Games
Many games usually kept for the house can be played in
the train. " Old Maid " (see p. 79) is a good train game ; so is
" Buz " (see p. 167). A " Fox and Geese " board, or a draught-
board, will help to pass the time.
Food
Food is a great help toward shortening a long journey. A
little picnic every hour, if it is permitted, is something not too
IN THE TRAIN 181
distant to look forward to, and it may take up ten minutes
each time. A larger meal all at once may, of course, be more
convenient but, if not, the hourly picnic is worth trying.
Chinese Gambling
This is the simplest game possible but will while away
endless hours. It is played with nothing but your hands,
which are made to assume three positions : one with clenched
fist ; one spread out flat ; and one with first and second finger
spread apart like the blades of scissors. The first is called
" the stone," the second " the paper " and the third " the
CHINESE GAMBLING
Yery rapidly both players strike their right hand
(clenched) into the left palm three times, and then both at the
same instant bring up the right hand in one of the three posi-
tions. The winner is determined by this formula : " Scissors
cut paper. Stone breaks scissors. Paper wraps stone."
That is if you have made your hand " the stone " and your
companion "the paper," he wins. But if you had chosen
" the scissors " you would have won. The winner must call
out the formula that fits the case, " Scissors cut paper " for
instance, and count is kept of the number of losses and gains.
The one who comes out ahead after a half-hour's contest is the
winner of that bout.
PLAYING ALONE, AND GAMES
IN BED
PLAYING ALONE, AND GAMES IN BED
Bricks
AMONG the best toys with which to play alone are
bricks, soldiers, balls, battledore and shuttlecock,
and dolls. No one needs any hints as how to play
with them ; but it might be remarked that ordinary bought
bricks being rarely what they should be, it is better, if possi-
ble, to get a carpenter to make some of a more useful size,
say four inches long, one and a half inches wide, and an inch
thick. With a hundred of these you can do almost anything
in the way of building, and if made of tough wood they ought
to last forever.
Soldiers
A good game of soldiers is to see how many shots are re-
quired from a cannon to kill the whole regiment. The cannon
can either be a spring cannon or a pop-gun, or a pea-shooter.
Just at first it is almost impossible not to clear off two or three
men with each shot, but later it becomes more difficult and
exciting.
Ninepins
With a box of ninepins very much the same game can be
played. In wet weather, in the hall, a box of large ninepins
is invaluable.
186 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW*
Spanish Cup and Ball
A good quiet game to play alone is " Spanish Cup and
Bali." A long stick has fastened to it a loop of wire standing
SPANISH Cup
out at right angles, thus. To this is attached by a long string
a worsted, or a very light rubber bail. The game is to see
how many times you can throw the ball up to the ceiling and
catch it in the loop of wire as it falls.
PLAYING ALONE, AND GAMES IN BED 187
Balancing
All kinds of balancing games are excellent when you are
alone and tired of toys. There is no way to acquire profi-
ciency in these but by practice, but practice is fascinating work.
Try balancing at first a long pole (an old broom-stick handle
will do) on the palm of your hand, then on your finger, then
on your chin and forehead. The longer the pole, the easier
to balance it. Kemember one golden rule. Keep your eyes
on the top of the pole.
Then try balancing a whole broom, or a chair. The
practice of balancing is excellent for training yourself in
quickness of eye and muscle.
Of course bricks and soldiers and ninepins, as well as
balls (see p. 139), are more interesting when more than one
person plays ; but one can pass the time very well with
them.
Bruce's Heart
Where toys become tedious, games have to be made up ;
and in making up games no outside help is needed. At the
same time, some games which E. H. describes may perhaps sup-
ply a hint or two. " One little girl," she writes, " used to find
endless joy in pretending to be Douglas bearing the heart of
Bruce to the Holy Land. A long stick in the right hand
represented his spear ; a stone in the left hand was the casket
containing Bruce's heart. If the grown-ups stopped to talk
with some one they met, or if there was any other excuse for
running on ahead, the little girl would rush forward waving her
stick and encouraging her men (represented by a big dog),
and, after hurling her stone as far forward as possible, and
exclaiming, ' Lead on, brave heart/ she would cast her spear
in the same direction in a last effort against the Moors, and
then pretend to fall dead to the ground." This little girl had
found the story of Bruce in Tales of a Grandfather, by Sir
i88 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW *
Walter Scott. Almost every book will yield people and
events to play at.
The Hotel Camps
Another little girl whom E. H. knew " once spent a short
time in a hotel, and while there divided the other people into
camps according to the floor on which they had rooms. The
designs in the windows on the various floors represented the
badges or heraldic signs of each camp. For instance, one
window (they were of colored glass) had a border with eagles,
another had gryphons, another lions, and so on. If she met
some one of another floor coming in or going out of the hotel,
it represented the meeting of two rival bands. If she
actually found herself in the elevator with them, it was a
dangerous encounter, in which, if they got out first, she had
driven them off the field, but if she got out first it was she
who was in retreat. If two people of different floors were
seen talking together, a truce had been declared, and so
Block City
The little book called A Child's Garden of Verses, by
R. L. Stevenson, has several poems which describe how a
lonely little boy used to play. Thus (in " Block City ") :
Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet a sea,
There I '11 establish a city for me,
A kirk and a mill, and a palace beside,
And a harbor as well where my vessels may ride.
Story-Books
And (in "The Land of Story-Books ") :
Now, with my little gun, I crawl
All in the dark along the wall,
And follow round the forest track
Away behind the sofa back.
PLAYING ALONE, AND GAMES IN BED 189
There, in the night, where none can spy,
All in my hunter's camp I lie,
And play at books that I have read
Till it is time to go to bed.
The Bed Boat
That is ordinary play. There is also a poem descnoing
play in bed :
My bed is like a little boat ;
Nurse helps me in when I embark ;
She girds me in my sailor's coat
And starts me in the dark.
Thinking Games for Bed
When more than one sleep in the same room, the time
before sleep can be very interesting. Many games which have
already been described are suitable for bed, such as " Telling
Stories" (p. 99), "I Love my Love" (p. 88), "Spelling"
(p. 166), " The Grand Mogul " (p. 166), " Khyming Lights "
(p. 167), " The Apprentice " (p. 167), " Towns and Products "
(p. 168), "Suggestions" (p. 91), and "Clumps," adapted
(p. 93).
Games by Rote
On this subject B. K. L. writes : " We made a list, which
was stuck on the wall with a different game for each night.
One was * I Love my Love with an A ' (see p. 88), which we
steadily made up all through the alphabet. Another was
* Initials,' in which you take turns in saying the initials of
people you know, while the other guesses the names. Another
was * Twenty Questions,' in which one thinks of something
that has to be guessed as quickly as possible, only 'yes' and
* no ' being given as answers. One very girlish game was like
this : suppose you had a little girl with golden hair and blue
eyes, and she was going on a visit to London, what sort of
frocks would you buy her ? "
190 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
The Imaginary Family
E. H. recommends for girls the "Imaginary Family"
game. This is her description of it : " First you have to set-
tle the names, ages, and characters of your family, and then
you can carry on their adventures every night. One little girl
who was devoted to books of travel, and who loved to pore
over maps and charts, used to travel with her family every
night in whatever country she happened to be interested in at
the time. Thus she and a favorite son, Pharaoh, traveled for
a long time in California, crossing every mountain-range by
the proper passes, exploring every valley, tracing each river
to its source, and so on. In the same way she traveled with
her family in Central and South America, the Malay Penin-
sula, and the South Sea Islands. Another little girl who was
very fond of adventure stories carried her family through all
sorts of perils by land and sea. At one time they were ship-
wrecked and lived like the Swiss Family Eobinson. At
another time they were exploring Central Africa, and traveled
about with three years' supplies in a gigantic caravan with
fifty elephants. Yet another little girl had for her family any
characters out of books that particularly fascinated her. Thus,
when she was reading The Heroes, her family was reduced to
one daughter, Medea, a rather terrible daughter, who needed
a great deal of propitiating, and for whose sake all other chil-
dren had to be given up. Later on, when the same child was
reading Tales of a Grandfather, her family consisted of three
sons, Wallace, Bruce, and Douglas. (It is rather a good thing,
by the way, to have a very heroic family, especially if you are
at all inclined to be afraid in the dark, as they help to keep
one's courage up.) Two little girls, who lived in a clergy-
man's household, had an imaginary poor family they were in-
terested in, and they planned about them every night, how
much the father earned, what their rent was, whether the
PLAYING ALONE, AND GAMES IN BED 191
mother ought n't to take in washing, whether the eldest girl
could be spared to go into service, and so on. When they
were n't allowed to talk at night they carried the family his-
tory on independently and compared notes in the morning."
Making Plans
Making plans is always interesting, but particularly so
just before Christmas, when presents have to be arranged for.
For Getting to Sleep
The favorite way is to imagine that you see a flock of
sheep scrambling through a gap in the hedge, and to count
them. A variety of this is a desert with a long train of cam-
els very far off, coming slowly near, and then passing and
gradually disappearing in the far distance. Counting a million
is also a good way.
Games for Convalescents
A good thing to do in bed when getting better from an
illness is to cut out pictures for scrapbooks. Any kind of cut-
ting out can be done, as the scissors and paper are very light
and do not, therefore, tire the arms. " Patience " (see page 76)
is also a good bed game, because it needs very little thought.
Bed Soldiers
In A Child's Garden of Verses there is a poem called
" The Land of Counterpane," which tells what a little boy did
when he was ill, lying among the pillows with his toys :
And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills ;
And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets,
Or brought my trees and houses out
And planted cities all about.
192 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
China Animals
Dolls are, of course, perfectly at home in bed when you
are ill, but there is even more interest in a menagerie. On
this subject it would be difficult to do better than quote from
a letter from E. M. R., who has 590 china animals, mostly in
families and all named. She began this magnificent collection
with a family of monkeys.
The mother was called Sally, her eldest son Mnngo, the next Pin-ceri,
another, eating a nut, Jock, and the youngest, a sweet little girl monkey, Ness.
I was soon given a family of three foxes, Reynard, Brushtail, and Whitepad, and
from that time to the present my collection has been growing. I soon had
enough to fill a shelf in a cabinet, and I turned my doll's-house into a boarding-
school for the little animals with a big pig as headmaster. But when my collec-
tion rose to 400 animals, I had too many children to be all boarders at the
school, so some had to be day-scholars, and the headmaster was changed to a
green frog who swam beautifully, and who was assisted by two swans, a duck, a
fish, two crocodiles, and a seal, who all swam. Another frog taught the chil-
dren swimming by tying a piece of string round their bodies, and dangling them
in the water from the edge of a basin.
The animals' abode was now changed, and they were put into a large cab-
inet containing six small shelves and one big one.
I called the big shelf a town, and the rest villages. The town was called
Weybridge : the village where the birds lived, Airsbury ; and that where the
dogs were, Canistown. The rest had various other names. At this time an im-
portant addition was made to the collection, for a big lion was given me, which
I immediately created king ; then came a queen and four princesses, and shortly
after a crown prince : another prince, and three more little princesses.
The royal family was allowed a village all to itself, which was called
Kingston, and was given five servants, two nurses, a footman, a housemaid, and
a cook.
As I had now two families of several of the kinds of animals, I determined
that they should be married, so, nominating Sally's husband rector, I had sev-
eral weddings. I built a church with some bricks I had, and formed a proces-
sion up the aisle, to the Wedding March, played on an American organ.
First came the bride and bridegroom, then the best man and the brides-
maids, and last the children of the animals who were to be married, two and
two. When the ceremony was over, I marched them all back to their places on
the shelf.
I now made eight laws, and copied them out in an exercise-book, together
PLAYING ALONE, AND GAMES IN BED 193
with the names of all the animals, the nnmher of men, women, boys, and girls,
and the number of married and single families.
I had had several little separate china animals given me, belonging to none
of my families, so I made a law that if any family of their kind came to the col-
lection they must adopt these little orphans.
I also made two acting companies, one of big animals, and one for the chil-
dren, with a boar-hound called Sir Philip of Ravenswood for the manager of the
first, and a little black and white kid, named Tim, for manager of the
second, and at the Christmas of the same year that I formed the two companies
I had two plays, the children acting "Hansel and Gretel," and the big animals
4 'The Yeomen of the Guard."
Being now unable to get any fresh families of small animals, I started a col-
lection of big china animals, and soon had thirty-five, among whom were a Jersey
bull and cow, another brown bull and a brown and white cow, two beautiful
horses, several dogs, two donkeys, and two goats.
These I kept apart from the small animals, in another cupboard ; but I still
kept the lion king over them as well, and gave them two big animals, a blood-
hound and a St. Bernard, as governors over them.
Among the small animals I had a very learned-looking pig called Orsino,
whom I made doctor, while an old bulldog, Dimboona, to whom I had been
obliged to give two wooden legs, was Prime Minister. I also had a treasurer, a
rent collector, a steward, and an under-steward. I also made a young boar-
hound, called Panther, the son of Sir Philip, keeper of the stables, which con-
sisted of ninety-two horses which I had made.
And this brings the narrative of the growth of my china animal collection
up to the present time, when I have 555 small animals and 35 big ones, 590
in all.
AT THE SEASIDE
AT THE SEASIDE
Low Tide
THE first thing to do on reaching the seaside is to find
out when it is low tide. In each twelve hours low
tide comes twenty minutes later, and knowing this
you can arrange your days accordingly. Nothing is so sad-
dening as to run down the beach in the belief that the tide is
going out and to find that it is coming in.
Paddling
To boys who wear knickerbockers the preparations for
paddling are very simple; but girls are not so fortunate.
Lewis Carroll (who wrote Alice in Wonderland) took their
difficulties so seriously that whenever he went to the seaside
to stay he used to have with him a packet of safety-pins for
the use of any children that seemed to be in need of them.
This piece of though tfulness on his part might determine you
to carry them for yourselves.
A Cork Ship
Sailing a good boat in the sea is not the best fun, but
there is a kind of boat which is very easily made as you sit on
the beach, and which is useful to play with when wading, and
afterward to throw stones at. You take a piece of cork for
the hull. Cut a line down the middle underneath and wedge
a strip of slate in for a keel to keep her steady. Fix a pieci
of driftwood for a mast, and thread a piece of paper on that
for a sail.
Wet Clothes
When wading it is just as well not to get your clothes
wet if you can help it. Clothes that are made wet with sea-
197
198 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
water, which probably has a little sand in it, are as uncom-
fortable as crumbs in bed. There is no reason why you should
get them wet if you wade wisely. Sitting among the rocks,
running through the water, and jumping the little crisping
waves are the best ways to get soaked.
Rocks
Seaside places where there are rocks and a great stretch
of sand are the best. Rocks make paddling twice as exciting,
because of the interesting things in the little pools the
anemones, and seaweeds, and shells, and crabs, and shrimps,
and perhaps little fish. Sometimes these pools are quite hot.
To enjoy the rocks properly you want a net.
Sand Castles, and Other Sand Games
To make full use of the sands a spade is necessary and a
pail important. The favorite thing to make is a castle and a
moat, and although the water rarely is willing to stay in the
moat it is well to pour some in. The castle may also have a
wall round it and all kinds of other buildings within the wall.
Abbeys are also made, and great houses with carefully ar-
ranged gardens, and villages, and churches. Railways with
towns and stations here and there along the line are easily
made, and there is the fun of being the train when the line is
finished. The train is a good thing to be, because the same
person is usually engineer and conductor as well. Collisions
are interesting now and then. The disadvantage of a rail-
way on crowded sands is that passers-by injure the line and
sometimes destroy, by a movement of the foot, a whole ter-
minus ; it is therefore better at small watering-places that few
people have yet discovered. If an active game is wanted as
well as mere digging and building, a sand fort is the best thing
to make, because then it has to be held and besieged, and per-
AT THE SEASIDE 199
haps captured. In all sand operations stones are useful to
mark boundaries.
Burying one another in the sand is good at the time, but
gritty afterward.
Seaweed
Seaweed and shells make good collections, but there is no
use in carrying live fish home in pails. The fun is in catching
the fish, not in keeping it ; and some landladies dislike having
the bath-room used as an aquarium. On wet days seaweed
can be stuck on cards or in a book. The best way to get it to
spread out and not crease on a card, is to float the little pieces
in a basin and slip the card underneath them in the water.
When the seaweed has settled on it, take the card out and
leave it to dry. The seaweed will then be found to be stuck,
except perhaps in places here and there, which can be made
sure by inserting a little touch of gum. It is the smaller,
colored kinds of seaweed that one treats in this way ; and it is
well to leave them for a day in the sun before washing and
preparing, as this brings out their color. Tne ordinary large
kind of seaweed is useful as a barometer. A piece hung by
the door will tell when rain is coming by growing moist and
soft.
Shell Work
A good use for little shells is to cover small boxes with
them. The shells are arranged in a simple pattern and fast-
ened on with glue. If the shells are not empty and clean,
boil them, and scrub them with an old tooth-brush.
Good Seaside Friends
So many interesting things are to be seen at the seaside
that there is no need to be always at play. Fishermen will
come in with their boats, which need pulling up ; or a net that
200 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
has been dropped near the shore will be drawn in from the
beach, and you can perhaps help. If the town is not merely
a watering-place but also a seaport, it is, of course, better, be-
cause then there will be the life of the harbor to watch. To
be friends with a lighthouse man is almost as good a thing as
can happen ; and if there is both a lighthouse and a ship-
builder's you could hardly be more fortunate.
IN THE COUNTRY
IN THE COUNTRY
THIS chapter has been written more for readers who
live in a town and visit the country only during the
holidays than for those whose home is always there.
Regular country dwellers do not need to be told many of the
things that follow ; but none the less there may be a few to
find them useful. The principal special attractions of the
country are
In the spring . . . Birds' nests.
"June. . . . Bee-swarming and hay-making.
"July .... Sheep-washing and shearing.
' ' August . . . Early windfalls and harvest.
"September. . . | Bl^kberr^nuts, hops, mushrooms,
Making Friends
The most important thing to do when staying at a farm-
house is to make friends with the principal people. The prin-
cipal people are those in charge of the chickens and ducks, the
cows and the horses. The way to make friends is to be as lit-
tle trouble as possible.
Exploration
On reaching the farm, it is well to make a journey of dis
co very, in order to learn where everything is. The more one
knows about the things in store the size of the barn, the
height of the haystacks, the number of horses, the name of
the watch-dog, the position and character of the pond, and so
forth the simpler will it be, on going to bed, to make plans
for the visit.
203
204 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
Finding Hens' Eggs
The farmer's wife usually has charge of the chickens and
ducks, but very often it is her daughter or a servant. No
matter who it is, as soon as she is convinced that you will be
careful and thorough she will let you hunt for eggs. This is
very exciting, because hens have a way of laying in nests in
the wood and all kinds of odd places, hoping that no one will
find them and they will thus be able to sit and hatch out their
chickens. The hay in the stable is a favorite spot, and under
the wood-pile, and among the long grass. Sometimes one over-
looks a nest for nearly a week and then finds three or four eggs
in it, one of them quite warm. This is a great discovery.
Just at first it is easy to be taken in by the china nest-eggs,
and to run indoors in triumph with one in your hand. But
the farmer's wife will laugh and send you back with it, and the
mistake is not likely to be made again. After a while one gets
to know the hens personally , and to know the noise which means
that they have just laid. Sometimes, if a hen is going to lay
just as you come to her nest, she will run off clucking and
screaming and lay the egg on the ground.
Ducks' Eggs
Ducks' eggs, which are rather larger than hens' eggs, and
pale green in color, are often more difficult to find. They
have to be hunted for in the grass by the pond.
Feeding the Chickens
The farmer's wife also lets her visitors feed the chickens
if they are gentle with them and thoughtful. It needs quite
a little thought, because if you throw down the grain without
thinking, many of the weaker and less greedy ones will get
nothing, and many of the stronger and greedier ones will get
too much. After a few handfuls you can see which are the
weaklings, and after that you can favor them accordingly. A
IN THE COUNTRY 205
greedy hen is so very greedy that she will always, whatever
you do, get more than her share ; but it is possible to snub her
a little. The very little chickens and ducklings do not have
grain, but soft food, which is put in a saucer and placed inside
the coop. It is after they have finished eating that they can
most easily be picked up, but one must be very careful not to
squeeze them.
The Dairy
If the farmer's wife makes her own butter there will be an
opportunity to help her. Perhaps she will let you use the
skimmer. Turning the churn is not much fun except just
when the butter forms.
Bee-Swarming
Bees swarm on hot days in the early summer, usually in
a tree, but sometimes in a room, if the window is open, and
often in a bush, quite close to the ground. When they
swarm in a tree you would think a black snow-storm was rag-
ing all around it. Every moment the cluster of bees grows
larger and larger, until, after half an hour or so, it is quiet.
Then the swarm has to be taken. This is the most interesting
part, but you must be careful not to be too near in case an
accident occurs and the bees become enraged and sting
you.
If the farmer has the new wooden hives with a glass
covering he will very likely let you peep in and see the bees
at work. Before doing this you certainly ought to read
something about their exceedingly wonderful ways. One of
the best books is Sir John Lubbock's (Lord Avebury's) Ants,
Bees, and Wasps, but most encyclopaedias contain very in-
teresting articles on the subject.
206 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
The Cows
The man who looks after the cows is a very valuable
friend. He may even let you try to milk, which only
specially gifted children ever succeed in doing at all well ; and
he will teach you the cows' names (in some farms these are
painted up over each stall Primrose, Lightfoot, Sweetlips,
Clover, and so on) ; and perhaps he will give you the task of
fetching them from the meadow at milking time.
Sheep
In a general way sheep are not very interesting,
especially in low-lying farms. But though sheep, as a rule,
are dull, there are two occasions when they are not at sheep-
washing and sheep-shearing. The washers stand up to their
knees, or even their waists, in the brook, in oilskin clothes,
and seizing the struggling sheep one by one by the wool, plunge
them into the water. Shearing is a finer art ; but the sheep is
hardly less uncomfortable. He has to be thrown into various
positions (on his back for one, and with his head between the
shearer's knees for another), while the shears clip-clop all over
him. The wool is not taken off in scraps, as our hair is at the
barber's, but the whole fleece is removed in one huge piece.
The Blacksmith
It may be that while you are at the farm the day will
come for having the horses shod, and you may go with them
to the blacksmith. The blacksmith is of course a very im-
portant person to be friends with ; and people are very fortu-
nate if their lodgings in the country are close to a smithy.
Some blacksmiths permit their friends to stand right inside
the smithy, instead of just at the door, where strangers have
to stay. Perhaps the blacksmith will ask you to blow his
bellows while he is making a horseshoe, and it may happen
that if he has not much work on hand he will make you a
IN THE COUNTRY 207
hoop that will be far cheaper and stronger than a bought one
( see p. 169 ). In hot weather the flies are so troublesome to
horses which are being shod, and make them so restless, that
some one has to stand beside them and brush the flies away
with a green branch. This job might fall to you.
Birds'-Nesting
One of the advantages of being in the country in spring
is that that is the time when birds build. In May the weather
is not yet sufficiently warm to make sitting about out-of-doors
very comfortable, but birds'-nesting can make up for that. It
is of no use to say in this book, " Don't take the eggs," be-
cause it is possible only for one person here and there to be
satisfied with merely finding a nest and then passing on to
find another. But it is a pity for any one who is not a
serious collector to take more than one egg. For your pur-
poses one is enough, and the loss of a single egg rarely causes
a bird to desert her nest. Of course if you know for certain
that the nest is deserted, it is right to take all. You can find
out by visiting it two or three times, and if the eggs remain
cold or wet and there is no sign of the bird you may safely
feel that she has abandoned them. Birds have so many
natural enemies to fear that it is hard that we should harm
them too.
Blowing Eggs
For blowing eggs a brass or glass blow-pipe is the proper
thing, using only one hole, which is made at the side with a
little drill. But for your purpose a hole at each end made
with a pin is simpler and equally good. In blowing you must
be careful not to hold the egg so tightly in the fingers that its
sides crush in. Before making the holes it is well to put the
egg in a basin of water. If it sinks it is fresh and can be
blown easily ; but if it floats it is set that is to say, the
2o8 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
young bird has begun to form and blowing will be diffi-
cult. In such cases it is wise, if you are using a blow-pipe, to
make a largish hole and put a little water in and leave the
egg to lie for a day or so ; then blowing it will be not much
trouble. But if you have no blow-pipe the best thing to do is
to make one good-sized hole in the less interesting side of the
egg, and empty it with a bent pin. Then, when it is empty,
you can put it in the egg box with the broken side underneath.
Country boys often thread birds' eggs on a string which
hangs from the ceiling, but the ordinary way is to put them
in cotton-wool in a box with cardboard compartments. Mak-
ing this box is a good country occupation for wet weather.
Butterflies
Butterfly-hunting begins when birds'-nesting is done and
the weather is hot. Here again it is not the purpose of this
book to go into particulars : the subject is too large. It is
enough to say that the needful things are a large net of soft
green gauze, a killing-bottle with a glass stopper, a cork-lined
box with a supply of pins in which to cany the butterflies
after they are dead, and setting boards for use at home. The
good collector is very careful in transferring the butterfly
from the net to the bottle, lest its wings are rubbed or broken ;
and before taking it out of the bottle and putting it in
the box you should be quite certain that it is dead. The way
to get the butterfly into the bottle is to drive it into a corner
of the net and hold it there, and then slip the bottle inside,
remove the stopper, and shake the butterfly into it. The
stopper should be off as short a time as possible. For hand-
books for a butterfly collector see the " Heading " section.
Collecting Flowers
A quieter pastime, but a very interesting one, and also
one that, unlike egg-collecting and butterfly-collecting, goes on
IN THE COUNTRY 209
all the year round, is collecting flowers. For this purpose tin
cases are made, with straps to hold them from the shoulders,
in which to keep the plants cool and fresh ; but there is no
need to wait for the possession of one of these. An ordinary
box or basket will, if you have not very far to walk, serve
equally well. You will also need a press, which can be simply
a couple of boards about a foot long and six inches wide, with
a good supply of blotting-paper between. The flowers are
pressed by spreading them very carefully, to show their beauty
to best advantage, between the blotting-paper, and then piling
a few books on the boards. The weight need not be very
heavy and the blotting-paper should frequently be renewed.
You will soon learn how long the pressing need continue, but
it is of the highest importance that the flowers are thoroughly
dried before you mount them in your album or on separate
sheets of paper. The simplest form of mounting is to glue
little strips of paper here and there across the stems. A bo-
tanical collection is more valuable if the roots of the plants
are also included ; and this will make it necessary for you to
have a long trowel. For the collector of flowers a handbook
is compulsory. Such a book as Alice Lounsberry's The Wild
Flower Boole for Young People gives many details of the
growth and nature of plants, told with a story that makes the
book unusually interesting, and will arouse your enthusiasm to
gather wild flowers and see how large a collection of them you
can make.
It is interesting, if you have any skill in painting, to make
water-color copies of all the flowers that you find : another
good occupation for wet days in the country.
Nuts and Blackberries
In nutting you want a hooked stick with which to pull
down the branches. For blackberries a hooked stick is not so
210 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
important, but it is well to have leather gloves. The black-
berries ought to be dry when they are picked. Rain takes
their flavor away ; so you should wait until the sun comes
again and restores it. One thing that you quickly notice is
that all blackberries are not after the same pattern. There
are different kinds, just as there are different kinds of straw-
berry and raspberry. Some are hard and very closely built ;
some are loosely built, with large cells which squash between
the fingers ; some come between these two varieties ; and there
are still others. For eating on the spot the softer ones are the
best, but for cooking and for jam the harder ones are equally
good.
In picking blackberries you soon find that it is better to
have the sun at your back, because if it shines through the
bush into your eyes you cannot distinguish clearly between
the shades of blackness. An open basket full of black-
berries is a radiant sight. Each of the little cells has a
point of light, and thousands of these together are as gay as
jewels.
No one need starve on the open road in September, for
there is food on every hedge two good courses. Nuts are
there as the standby, the backbone of the meal, and after
come blackberries, as pudding or dessert. To pick the two for
an hour, and then, resting beneath a tree, to eat until all are
gone that is no bad way to have lunch. If you take advice
in this matter, you will not crack the nuts with your teeth but
between stones.
Ponds and Sailing Boats
Near the farm is certain to be either a pond or a stream.
If it is a clean and high pond, not in a hollow surrounded by
trees, it will be good to sail boats on. Sailing boats on inland
water is much better than on the sea, because, with a pond,
IN THE COUNTRY 211
directly the boat is fairly started on its voyage you can run
round the other side and meet it. Even with a very poor pond
it is still possible to have a very good time. In buying or
making a boat, be sure that the lead along the keel is heavy
enough. So little do toy-shop people think of these things
that they very often put no lead at all on their boats, and more
often than not put too little. Once a boat is properly
weighted in this way you are certain to have fun in sailing her,
but otherwise it will be useless to try. In boat-sailing it is
well to have a long stick with a hook at the end with which
to draw the ship to land. For suggestions as to making a use-
ful and simple sailing-boat see p. 295.
Little Boats on a Stream
Sailing boats in a stream is little good, because there is no
steadiness of wind, but ordinary boats will float along in the
current splendidly. It is interesting to launch one and follow
its adventures from the bank. Sometimes it will be caught in
a weed; sometimes an eddy will sweep it into a back water;
sometimes, in shooting the rapids, it will be overturned. But
a long stick can always put things right. Or one of you will
go down the stream to a given point and the other will send
down messengers pieces of wood, walnut boats (see p. 298),
paper boats (see p. 285), or whatever it may be.
A Stream's Fascination
But there is no absolute need for you to have boats in
order to enjoy a stream. There are so many other things to
do, not the least interesting being to make a dam and stop or
divert the course of the water. And when tired of playing it
is very good to sit quite still on tne bank and watch things
happening : perhaps a water-rat will swim along suspecting
nothing, and then, seeing you make a movement, will dive and
212 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
disappear, and suddenly come into view ever so far away on
the other bank. Perhaps a kingfisher will flash by or settle
on a branch overhanging the water. Kingfishers grow more
rare every year, owing to the merciless and unthinking zeal
with which they are shot; and maybe before long there will
be no more to be seen anywhere.
Solitary Watchfulness
Indeed, to keep absolutely quiet and watch things hap-
pening is for many people one of the most delightful occupa-
tions which the country holds. When there is no one else to
play with it is as good a way of spending the time as can be
found.
Mice and Moles
In a wood or in any place where there are old leaves, as
in a dry ditch, you will usually get through the ear the first
tidings of any moving thing. For instance, you will hear a
field-mouse rustling long before you can see its queer pointed
nose pushing its way through the dead leaves. Or it may be
a mole blundering blindly along. If by any chance a mole ia
caught in a trap while you are in the country, be sure to
examine its little hands and feel the softness of its fur. Per-
haps the farm boy will skin it for you.
Snakes
Sometimes the rustling is a snake on his way to a sunny
spot where he can bask and sleep. Yery slender brown
speckled snakes, or blind-worms, are quite harmless, and so
are the large grass-snakes, which are something like a mack-
erel in lines and markings. The adder, however, which is
yellowish brown in color with brown markings and a " V "
on his head, is dangerous and should be avoided.
IN THE COUNTRY 213
Ants
On p. 205 is given the title of a book about bees. Hardly
less wonderful are ants, concerning whom there is much curi-
ous information in the same work, the reading of which makes
it ten times more interesting to watch an ant-hill than it was
before. One sometimes has to remember that it is as serious
for ants to have their camp stirred up by a walking-stick as it
would be for New York if Vesuvius were tossed on top of it.
Swallows and Hawks
In the flight of birds there is nothing to compare for
beauty and speed with the swift, or for power and cleverness
with the hawk. On moist evenings, when the swifts fly low
and level, backward and forward, with a quaint little musical
squeak, like a mouse's, they remind one of fish that dart
through the water of clear streams under bridges. The hawk,
even in a high wind, can remain, by tilting his body at the
needed angle, perfectly still in the air, while his steady wide
eyes search the ground far below him for mice or little birds.
Then, when he sees something, his body suddenly seems to be
made of lead and he drops like a stone on his prey. A hawk
can climb the sky by leaning with outspread wings against
the breeze and cork-screwing up in a beautiful spiral.
Squirrels
The time to see squirrels is September and October, when
the beech nuts and hazel nuts are ripe. In the pictures he
sits up, with his tail resting on his back, holding nuts in his
little forepaws ; but one does not often see him like this in
real life. He is either scampering over the ground with his
tail spread out behind him or chattering among the branches
and scrambling from one to another. The squirrel is not seen
at his best when he goes nutting. His beautiful swift move-
ments are checked by the thickness of the hazels. In a beech
214 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
grove he has more liberty to run and leap. Sometimes you
will see twenty at once all nibbling the beech nuts on the
ground. On hearing you they make for a tree trunk, and,
rushing up it for a yard or two, stop suddenly, absolutely
still, with fearful eyes, and ears intently and intensely cocked.
If you stand equally still the squirrel will stay there, motion-
less, like a piece of the tree, for a minute or so, and then, in
a very bad temper, disappear from view on the other side of
the trunk, and probably, though you run round the tree
quickly several times and search every branch with your eyes,
never come into sight again. It is a good thing to sit under
a tree some distance from the beech trees, making as little
movement as possible ; and by and by you will cease to be
considered as anything but a regular part of the landscape
and the squirrels may come quite close to you.
A Country Diary
If you are fond of writing you might find a good deal of
interest in keeping a country diary : that is to say, a small
note-book in which you set down evening by evening all
things seen during the day that seemed to be sufficiently out
of the way to be worth recording.
A Camera in the Country
Nothing is said in this book about amateur photography,
because to own a camera is still the exception rather than the
rule, and if once we began to say anything practical about
photography we should have to say very much more than the
scheme of the volume permits. But we might urge any
reader who has a camera .to use it in the country in taking
pictures of animal life and old buildings. Old-fashioned farm-
houses and cottages are disappearing so rapidly that we ought
to keep as many records of them as possible, and well-chosen
photographs of animals are not only beautiful pictures, but
IN THE COUNTRY 215
are also very useful. Mr. Kearton's work in this way, which
may be studied in With Nature and a Camera, is extremely
valuable.
Country Books
In the "Reading" chapter will be found the titles of
several books which describe life in the country, and tell you
all about the habits of animals, birds, and insects.
DOLLS' HOUSES
DOLLS' HOUSES
THE most magnificent ready-made dolls' house in the
world, with gables and windows, stairs, front garden,
and the best furniture, cannot quite make up to its
owner for all the delight she has missed by not making it
herself. Of course some things, such as cups and saucers,
glasses and bottles, saucepans and kitchen utensils, must be
bought ; but almost all the really necessary things for house-
keeping can be made at home.
Dolls' Gardens
One advantage of making the dolls' house yourself is that
you can arrange for it to have a garden, a provision rarely
made by toy-shops. Grass plots can be made of green baize
or other cloth of the right color ; garden paths of sand
sprinkled over glue, or of strips of sand-paper ; flower-beds of
brown paper, and the flowers of tissue-paper and wire. A
summer-house, and a dog-kennel to hold a china dog, might
also be added (see p. 241), and, if you have room, stables.
Garden Chairs and Tables
Garden seats and tables can be made of cardboard and
cork. For a seat, take a card two or three inches long and
not quite as broad. Mark it right across, lengthwise, in the
middle with a sharp knife, and then half fold it. Tbis will
make the back and seat. Glue the seat to four slender corks
for legs and paint the whole green. To make a table, glue
four cork legs to a strong piece of cardboard.
219
220 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
The House
A dolls' house can be made of almost any kind of box.
For the simplest and smallest kind cigar boxes can be used,
and the furniture made of cork, for which directions are given
later; or a couple of lo\v shelves in a bookcase or cupboard
will do. Much better, however, is a large well-made packing-
case divided by wooden and strong cardboard partitions into
two, four, or six rooms, according to its size. A specially made
box is, of course, best of all ; this should be divided into four
or six rooms, and should have a sloping roof to give attic room
for boxes and odd furniture. The house can be stained out-
side or papered a plain dark color. One or two windows
should be cut out of the walls of each room by the carpenter
who made the box, and there must be doors between the
rooms. A piece of thin glass cut to the right size can be fixed
on the windows at home. But before this is done the house
must be papered. The best kind of paper is that used by
bookbinders for the insides of the covers, because the patterns
used are so dainty and small ; but this is not always easy to
get. Any small-patterned paper will do, or what is called
lining paper, which can be got in every color. The paper
must be very smoothly put on with paste. Always start at
the top when pressing it to the wall, and smooth it downward
gently. Dadoes or friezes can be divided off with the tiny
beading which frame-makers use, or with a painted line, which
must be straight and evenly done.
Fireplaces
Fireplaces, which can be bought or made at home, should
be put in next. To make one yourself, take a strong card
board-box lid about four inches long and two wide (though
the size must depend on the size of the room). Yery neatly
cut off a quarter of it. This smaller part, covered with gold
DOLLS' HOUSES 221
or silver paper, will make the fender. Then cut off both sides
of the remaining piece, leaving the strip at the top to form
the mantelpiece. Glue the back of the cover to the wall, hang
little curtains from the shelf, put some ornaments on it, ar-
range the fender in front, and the fireplace is complete. A
grate can be imitated in cardboard painted black and red.
A Furnishing Game
A splendid game of shop can be played while the furnish-
ing is going on : in fact, from the moment you have the bare
house a board or sign with " To Let or For Sale " will quickly
attract house-hunting dolls, and when a couple have taken it
they will have their days full of shopping before it is ready
for them. You will, of course, yourself be the manufacturers
and shopkeepers. It is well to make out careful bills for
everything sold, and the more things you can display in your
show-rooms the better. All house-hunting dolls require plenty
of money.
Curtains
Windows have been mentioned, but they are not by any
means a necessity. Yet even if you cannot have windows,
you should put up curtains, for they make the rooms prettier.
Shades can be made of linen, edged at the bottom with a piece
of lace, and nailed on the wall just above the window. During
the day these are rolled up and tied. White curtains should
be bordered with lace and run on a piece of tape, which can
be nailed or pinned on both sides of the window. They will
then draw. The heavy inside curtains can be hung on a pen-
cil (which may be gilded or left its own color) supported by
two picture screws. Fasten these curtains back with narrow
ribbons. Some dolls' houses, of course, are fitted with real
doors. But if you do not have these, it is perhaps well to
hang the doorway with curtains, also on pencils.
222 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
Floors
The floors can be stained or painted either all over or
round the edges. Carpets are better not made of ordinary
carpet, for it is much too thick, but of colored canvas, or
chintz, or thin felt, or serge. A rug made of a plain colored
material with a cross-stitch or embroidered pattern around it
is very pretty. Fine matting can also be used, and oil-cloth
is excellent for the kitchen.
General Remarks on Furnishing
In another place in this book (pp. 228-233) will be found
instructions for making furniture for very small and simple
dolls' houses ; but for a good dolls' house with several good-
sized rooms you would probably prefer, for the most part, to
use bought things. Square tables are of course easy to make
(a cardboard-box lid on four legs is practically the whole
thing), and there are other articles which, if you see your way
to devise, are better made at home, instructions for which will
be found as you read on ; but chairs and round tables and so
forth are perhaps most satisfactory when they come from the
toy-shop. Both in buying furniture and in making it, it is
necessary always to remember the size of the rooms and of the
dolls, and the size of whatever furniture you may already
have, so as to keep everything in proportion.
Beds
Beds can be made of cardboard-boxes of different sizes.
The box turned upside down makes the bed itself, and the
cover should be fixed upright behind it for curtains to hang
from. These curtains and the frill round the bed should be
made of any thin material, such as muslin. The mattress,
bolster, and pillows are best made of cotton-wool covered with
muslin or calico. Sheets may be made also out of muslin ;
pillow-cases should be edged with lace ; for blankets you use
DOLLS' HOUSES
223
flannel, button-hole-stitched round with colored silk or wool,
and the quilt will look best if made of a dainty piece of silk,
or muslin over a colored sateen to match the curtains. A tiny
CARDBOAED Box BEDS
nightdress case should not be forgotten. Beds for doll chil-
dren can be made in the same way out of match-boxes ; and
for cozy little cots for babies there are walnut shells.
Bead Furniture
Chairs can be made with wire, beads, a little silk or cot-
ton material, some cardboard and cotton-wool. To make a
224 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
chair in this way, cut a piece of cardboard the size that you
want the seat to be. Lay a good wad of cotton-wool over it,
and then cover it neatly. On a piece of strong wire thread
enough beads to go round the seat of the chair. Sew this
firmly to the seat. Then thread beads on four pieces of wire
the right length for the legs, and leave a little piece of wire
with which to fasten them to the wire round the seat. Then
make the back from a longer piece of wire, bent into shape
and attached to the seat in the same way, and put a short row
of beads across the middle. You will need a pair of tweezers
to cut the wire and to finish the fastening securely.
Pictures
Pictures for the walls can be made very easily. The pic-
ture itself will be a scrap or tiny photograph. This is pasted
on a piece of cardboard larger than itself, and round the edge
of that you place a strip of whatever colored paper you want
for the frame. The picture cord, a piece of cotton, can be
glued on the back. More elaborate frames are cut out of
cardboard and bound round with colored silk and covered
with gold paint. The picture is then stuck into it.
Bookshelves and Books
The simplest bookshelves are those that hang from a nail
on the wall. They are made by cutting two or three strips of
cardboard of the size of the shelves and boring holes at the
corners of each. These are then threaded one by one on four
lengths of silk or fine string, knots being tied to keep the
shelves the right distance apart. Care has to be taken to get
the knots exactly even, or the shelf will be crooked.
Books can be made by sewing together a number of tiny
sheets of paper, with a colored cover and a real or invented
title. Sometimes these books contain real stories.
DOLLS' HOUSES 225
Other Articles
A dolls' house ought to be as complete as possible, and
though this will take a long time it is absorbingly interesting
work from start to finish. It should be the ambition of the
mistress of a dolls' house to have it as well furnished as the
house of a grown-up person, and if she looks round the rooms
in her own home carefully she will see how many things can
be copied. There will be cushions to make, fancy table-cloths
for different tables, toilet-covers and towels for the bedroom,
splashers to go behind wash-stands, mats in front of them, and
roll-towels and kitchen cloths for the kitchen.
Everything should be made of the thinnest and finest
material, cut with the greatest care and sewn with the tiniest
stitches. Light and dainty colors are best for a dolls' house.
If you have several rooms, it is a good plan to have a pink
room, a blue room, a yellow room, and in each room to have
everything of different shades of that color and white. Per-
haps no material is so useful to the owner of a dolls' house as
art muslin. It is soft, cheap, and very pretty.
Coming to other furniture which can be made at home, we
find screens (made of cardboard and scraps), music for the
piano, walking-sticks, flowers (made of colored tissue-paper and
wire), flower-pots (made of corks covered with red paper), cup-
boards to keep linen and glass in (made out of small card-
board boxes, fitted with shelves), and many other little things
which, if you look round your own home carefully, will be
suggested to you. Even bicycles can be imitated in cardboard
and placed in the hall.
The Inhabitants
As to dolls, the more the merrier. They are so cheap and
can be dressed so easily that it seems a great pity not to have
a large family and a larger circle of friends who will occa-
226 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
sionally visit them. There must be a father and a mother, a
baby and some children, servants (in stiff print dresses with
caps and aprons), and certainly a bride, who, if her dress can-
not be changed for an ordinary one, ought to be kept care-
fully hidden, except when there is a wedding.
Dressing Dolls
It is rather difficult to dress these tiny dolls so that their
clothes will take off and on, but it is much better to do so if
possible. In any case they can have capes and hats which
take off. The thinnest materials make the best underclothes,
but stiff material for dresses makes it possible to stand the
dolls up. Glove buttons, and the narrowest ribbons, tapes,
and laces, are useful things to have when you are dressing
dolls'-house dolls.
Dolls' Dinner Parties
Dolls occasionally require parties. The food may be real
or imitation. If real, such as currants and raisins, sugar and
candied peel, it is more amusing at the moment ; but if imi-
tation, you have a longer time of interest in making it. Get
a little flour, and mix it with salt and water into a stiff paste,
like clay. Then mould it to resemble a round of beef, a
chicken, a leg of mutton, potatoes, pies, or whatever you want,
and stand it in front of the fire to dry. When dry, paint (in
water-color) to resemble these things still more. If there is
clay in the garden, you can make all these things from that,
and many others too.
Dolls' Flats
Just as people live not only in houses but in flats, so may
there be dolls' flats as well as dolls' houses. A dolls' flat con-
sists of a board on which the outline of the rooms is made
DOLLS' HOUSES
227
with single bricks. For example, a four-roomed flat might be
arranged like this
ii ii i r r
I \: \ \ T . 1
"i
Kitchen
tf.^
-
I "I 1 1 { ! |:v.;.r
M
TJ -* "7 "D S^C^T'OO'T
rz<3d6 /coo/rt *-*
DD
: i i ^ i \ \ \ i u
A DOLL'S APARTMENTS
To lay the bricks on a board is not necessary. They can be
laid on the floor equally well, except that when you have done
playing you will have then to put them away again, whereas
if placed on a board they can be left till next time. Nor is
there any reason why the walls should not be higher than a
single brick ; that is merely a matter of taste. Once the walls
are ready the furniture and dolls can be put in in the ordinary
way.
Smaller Dolls' Houses
So far we have been considering larger dolls' houses.
But there are also smaller ones, which naturally require much
smaller furniture. These dolls' houses can be made of card-
board (as described on p. 237 and on), or they can be merely
small boxes even cigar boxes ; and the dolls and furniture in
them can be, if you like, all paper, or made of materials in
ways that are now suggested.
228 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW *
Cork and Match-box Furniture
This furniture, if very neatly made, can be very successful,
and it costs almost nothing. Plain pins will do quite well,
although the fancy ones are much prettier. Velvet or thin
cloth is best for the dining-room furniture ; silk for the draw-
ing room ; and some light-colored cotton material for the bed-
rooms.
Materials
You will need -
Several good-sized corks, or pickle corks, for the larger things.
Some pieces of fancy silk or velvet.
A number of strong pins of different sizes. (The fancy pins with large white,
black, and colored heads are best.)
Some wool, silk, or tinsel which will go well with the silk or velvet.
A strong needle and a spool of cotton.
Chairs
Cut a round or square piece of cork about quarter of an
inch thick and one inch across. Cover it with a piece of silk
CORK ARM-CHAIR
or velvet, making all the stitches on that side of the cork
which will be the under side of the seat. For the legs put a
DOLLS' HOUSES 229
pin firmly into each corner. Wind a little wool or silk firmly
round each leg, finishing it off as neatly as possible. The
back of the seat is made by sticking four pins rather closely
together and winding the wool or silk in and out of them.
Fasten the wool with a tiny knot both when you begin wind-
ing and when you finish. Armchairs are made in the same
way, except that they are rather larger, and arms made of
small pins are added.
Chestnut Chairs
Yery good dining-room chairs can be made of chestnuts.
The flatter side of the nut is the seat, and in this are stuck
CHESTNUT CHAIE
pins for the back (and arms if necessary), which maybe bound
together with gold or silver tinsel. Other pins are stuck in
underneath for legs.
Sofas
For a sofa a piece of cork about two inches long and half
an inch thick is needed. This must be covered, and then
quite short pins stuck in for legs. Put a row of short pins
230 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
along one side and the two ends, and wind the wool neatly in
and out of them.
Tables
Bound tables can be made best of different-sized pieces of
cork, with very strong pins for legs ; and square ones of the
outside of a wooden match-box, with four little medicine-
FANCY TABLE
bottle corks glued under it for legs. In either case it is
most important to have the legs well fixed on and of exactly
the same length. It is not necessary to cover a table, but a
table-cloth of silk, either fringed, or hemmed with tiny stitches,
and a white table-cloth for meals, should be made.
Fancy tables can be made by taking a flat round cork
and sticking pins into it at regular intervals all round. Weave
silk or tinsel in and out of the pins until they are covered.
(See above.)
Foot-Stools
Several small pieces of cork may be covered to make
foot-stools.
Standard Lamp
A serviceable standard lamp can be made by taking a
small empty cotton spool, gilding or painting it, and fixing
the wooden part of a thin penholder firmly into it. On the
top of it glue a round piece of cork, on which a lamp-shade,
DOLLS' HOUSES 231
made of one of the little red paper caps that chemists put on
bottles, can be placed.
Bedroom Furniture Materials
You will need
Two large wooden match-boxes.
Several corks of different sizes.
Some pieces of chintz, of cotton material, flannel, linen, oil-cloth, and a
little cottou-wool.
An empty walnut shell.
Several wooden matches with the heads taken off.
Pins of different sizes.
Wool, silk or tinsel, for the backs of the chairs.
A tube of glue.
Beds
To make a bed, take the inside of a match-box and cut
away the bottom of it. Then take two matches and glue
them to the two corners at the head of the bed so that a por.
MATCH-BOX BEDSTEAD
tion sticks out below the bed for legs and above the bed for a
railing. Cut two more matches to the same length as these
others, less the part of them that serves for legs, and fasten
232 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
these at equal distances from each other and from the two
others already glued in position. Along the top of these
place another match for a rail, and the head of the bed is
done. For the foot of the bed repeat these operations ex-
actly, except that all the upright matches must be a little
shorter. Then cut off one end of the bottom of the box and
fit it in to form the part of the bed that takes the mattress.
The bedstead, when made, should be like the one in the ac-
companying picture. A little mattress must now be made to
fit the bed exactly ; it can be stuffed with cotton- wool or
bran. A pillow, blankets, sheets, and a fancy coverlet may
also be made, and a very thin and tiny frill should be put
right round the bed to hide the box.
A very pretty baby's cradle can be made out of half a
walnut shell. It should be lined, and curtains should be
hung from a match fastened upright at one end of the shell.
Dressing-Tables
The outside of the same match-box that was used for the
bed will make a dressing-table. Stand it up on either side of
its striking sides, and glue or sew a piece of light-colored thin
material all round it, and then over this put a muslin frill.
Make a little white cloth to lay on the top of the table. The
looking-glass is made by fixing a square of silver paper in a
cardboard frame.
Washstands
Take the inside of another match-box and stand it up on
one of its sides. Then take five or six matches and cut them
to that length which, when they are glued in an upright row
at equal distances apart to the back of the match-box, will
cause them to stand up above the top of it about a third of an
inch. On the tops of them then lay another match to make a
little railing. Cover the box as you did the dressing-table.
DOLLS' HOUSES
233
Put a little mat of oil-cloth on the top of the box, and make
another large one to lay in front of it. Proper jugs and
MATCH-BOX WASHSTAND
basins will, of course, have to be bought, but an acorn cup or
small shell makes a very good toy basin.
Wardrobes
The wardrobe is made by standing the inside of a match-
box on end, fixing inside several little pegs made of small
pieces of match stuck in with glue, and hanging two little
curtains in front of it. If, when done, it seems too low, it
may be raised on four little corks.
Towel-Rack
A towel-horse can easily be made with six long pins and
two small pieces of cork.
TOWEL RACK
234 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
Clothes-Basket
To make a clothes-basket, take a round piece of cork
about a quarter of an inch thick and stick pins closely together
CLOTHES BASKET
all round it, as in the above picture. Then weave wool in
and out of them.
DOLLS' HOUSES AND DOLLS OF
CARDBOARD AND PAPER
DOLLS' HOUSES AND DOLLS OF
CARDBOARD AND PAPER
ACAKDBOAED house, furnished with paper furniture
and occupied by paper dolls, is a very good substitute
for an ordinary dolls' house, and the making of it is
hardly less interesting. The simplest way to make a card-
board house is to cut it all (with the exception of the parti-
tion and the roof) in one piece.
The plan given here is for a two-roomed cottage, the
measurements for which can be multiplied to whatever size
you like (or whatever is the utmost that your sheet of card-
board will permit). The actual model from which this plan
was made (the house was built from a royal sheet of Bristol
board) had a total floor measurement of 8 inches by 14. The
end walls were 5 inches high, the side walls 5 inches, sloping
up to 7 in the middle, and the partition was 7 inches. The
roof was slightly wider than the floor, in order to make wide
eaves, and as much longer as was needful not only for the
eaves but also to allow for the angle.
The first thing to do is to rule the outline of the cottage.
All the measurements must be most accurately made, as the
slightest incorrectness will keep the house from fitting together
properly. Then cut it out. When this is done, draw the win-
dows and doors. Then lay your cardboard on a board, and
run your knife along each side of the windows and the three
free sides of the doors until the card is cut through. A ruler
held close to the penciled line will make your knife cut
straight. The bars across the windows can be made of strips
of paper glued on afterward. If the doors have a tiny
piece shaved off each of the cut sides, they will open and shut
easily.
237
238 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
To make the front door open well, outward, the hinge
line of the door (KK) should be half cut through on the inside.
The hinge can be strengthened by gluing a narrow strip of
paper or linen along it. At the three points marked H make
small slits through which to put the tags, marked G, of the
partition wall.
All drawing and painting must be done on both sides
while the house is still flat. The doors inside will need
handles and keyholes. Small pieces of mica can be glued
over the windows instead of glass.
Little curtains of crinkly tissue-paper can also be made,
and, if you like, the walls can easily be papered with colored
paper pasted on. This will cause some delay, however, for it
must be well pressed. Instead, wall-paper patterns could be
painted on.
Outside that is, on the underside of the cardboard
there is a great deal to do. Both walls and roof can be
painted, and tiles, bricks, and creepers imitated. The front
door should have a knocker and a letter-box, and around both
the door and the windows should be imitation framework.
As the upright joints of the four walls will be made of linen
painted to imitate brick- work or stone- work, you need not
carry the painting of the walls quite to the edges, because
these will be covered by the joints. It is best to paint the
joints before you stick them on.
Before turning the card over again, run your knife along
the four sides of the floor to assist the bending up of the walls.
Do not on any account cut through ; merely make a half cut.
When you have drawn and painted all you can think of
to make the house complete and pretty, take your strips of
linen, for the fastening of the walls, crease them in half,
lengthwise, and glue one half to the outside of the edge of the
walls marked CB and DE in the plan. When this is quite
DOLLS' HOUSES
CARDBOARD DOLLS' HOUSE
240 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
dry, bend the back wall and the two side walls up, and glue
the free sides of the strips to the wall marked AB and EF,
holding the walls firmly together until well stuck. Strengthen
the fold LM, which has to serve as a hinge for the front of
the house, with a strip of linen glued underneath. The
sides of the front wall must remain unattached, as that forms
the opening. It can be kept closed by a strong pin slipped
through the roof.
APPEARANCE OF HOUSE WHEN COMPLETE
The Partition
Now for the partition. Put the three tags G G G
through the slits H H H and glue them firmly down on the
outside. (These will have to be touched up with paint.) The
roof must then be put on. Cut out a slit N an inch long to fit
the tag on the partition, also marked N. Run your knife
along the dotted line underneath, and fold it to the necessary
angle to fit the sloping walls. Where the roof touches the
end walls it must be fastened on with strips of linen or paper,
which have been folded in the same way as before and one
half fastened securely to the walls. It is important to let it
get quite dry before gluing the other half to the roof.
DOLLS' HOUSES
I.
DOG KENNEL (Fig. 1) AND ROOF (Fig. 2)
242 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
The Chimney
The chimney, of which the illustration is the actual size,
is the last thing to be made. First paint, and then fold the
two side pieces downward, cut out the three little holes
and put into them three chimneys, made by folding small
pieces of paper, painted red, round a penholder, and gluing
their edges together. The chimney is fixed to the sloping
roof with very small pieces of glued paper. Kemember
that all the pieces of paper used as fastening ought to be
touched up with paint. The chimney in the drawing of the
complete house on page 240 is put at the side of the roof, but
it may even better go in the middle.
The Garden
The cottage can then be fixed to a piece of wood or paste-
board, to form its garden and add to convenience in moving it
about. A cardboard fence and gate can be cut out and
painted green. A path to the front door is made by covering
a narrow space of the cardboard with very thin glue over
which, while it is wet, sand is sprinkled to imitate gravel.
Moss will do for evergreens, and grass plots can be made of
green cloth. A summer-house, garden chairs and tables are
easily cut out of cardboard. So also are a rabbit-hutch,
pump, dove-cot, and dog-kennel. A plan of a dog-kennel,
actual size, is given.
Another Way
It is, of course, possible to make a house of several pieces
instead of one. The walls and floors can be made separately
and joined with linen strips ; but this adds to the difficulty of
the work and causes the houses to be less steady. Cardboard
bouses can also be made with two floors.
DOLLS' HOUSES 243
" The House That Glue Built "
A novel kind of paper house has been gotten out in book
form. It is called The House That Glue Built^ and consists
of pictures of rooms, without furniture, which is shown on
separate sheets. The object is to cut out the furniture, ar-
range it and paste it in its proper place. The illustration
shows the library, and the furniture for it. There is also a
sheet of dolls to be cut out, who represent the owners of the
house. Two other books on the same order are The Fun
That Glue Made and Stories That Glue Told. They are all
easily put together, and are lots of fun.
Paper Furniture
Everything required for the furnishing and peopling of a
cardboard dolls' house can be made of paper; and if colored at
all cleverly the furniture will appear to be as solid as that of
wood. After cutting out and joining together one or two of
the models given in the pages that follow, and thus learning
the principle on which ^aper furniture is made, you will be
able to add all kinds of things to those mentioned here or to
devise new patterns for old articles, such as chairs and desks.
Glue and Adhesive Tape
Two recent inventions of the greatest possible use to the
maker of paper furniture are fish-glue which gets dry very
quickly and is more than ordinarily strong, and adhesive tape.
Glue can be bought for very little, and adhesive tape, which is
sold principally for mending music and the torn pages of
books, is put up in inexpensive spools.
Home-Made Compasses
A pair of compasses is a good thing to have ; but you can
make a perfectly serviceable tool by cutting out a narrow
strip of cardboard about four inches long and boring holes at
244 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
intervals, of a quarter of an inch, through which the point of
a pencil can be placed. If one end of the strip is fastened to
the paper with a pin you can draw a circle of what size you
want, up to eight inches across.
Materials
These are the materials needed when making paper fur-
niture :
A few sheets of stiff note-paper or drawi ng-/paper. Scissors. A penknife.
A ruler (a flat one). A mapping-pen. A box of paints. A board to cut out
on. Adhesive tape or stamp-paper. Glue.
Tracing
If the drawings are to be traced, tracing-paper, or trans-
parent note-paper, and a sheet of carbon-paper, will also be
needed. To trace a drawing, cover it with paper and draw it
exactly. Then cover the paper or cardboard from which you
wish to cut out the furniture with a piece of carbon-paper,
black side down, and over that place your tracing. Draw over
this again with a very sharply pointed pencil or pointed stick,
and the lines will be repeated by the carbon-paper on the under
sheet of paper.
The furniture, for which designs are given in this chapter,
can be made of stiff note-paper, Whatman's drawing-paper, or
thin Bristol board. The drawings can be copied or traced.
In either case the greatest care must be taken that the meas-
urements are minutely correct and the lines perfectly straight.
A slip of paper is a very good thing to measure with.
Enough designs have been given to show how most dif-
ferent kinds of furniture can be made. These can, of course,
be varied and increased by copying from good furniture lists ;
while many little things such as saucepans, dishes, clocks, and
so forth, can be copied from stores lists and added to the few
that are given on p. 248.
THE LIBRARY AND FURNITURE FROM
"THE HOUSE THAT GLUE BUILT"
(Facing page 244)
DOLLS' HOUSES 245
These small articles are cut out flat, but an extra piece of
paper is left under each, which, when bent back, makes a
stand.
General Instructions
The front legs of chairs, the legs of tables, and the backs
of furniture must be neatly joined together by narrow strips
of stamp-paper or adhesive tape. To do this, cut a strip of the
right size, crease it down the middle, and stick one side.
Allow this to dry, before you fix the other.
Wherever in the pictures there is a dotted line, it means
that the paper is to be folded there. It will be easily seen
whether it is to be folded up or down.
Before the furniture is folded it should be painted.
Wood, iron, brass, and silk can all be imitated in color.
In cutting out small spaces of cardboard as between the
bars of a chair lay the card on a board, and keeping your
knife, which should be sharp at the point, against a flat ruler,
run it again and again along the lines you want to cut, until
you have cut through. If your furniture is made of paper, the
spaces can be cut out with finely pointed scissors, taking care
to start in the middle of the space, for the first incision is sel-
dom a clean one.
246
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
KITCHEN TABLE
(Cut out the oblong parts marked A A.)
DOLLS' HOUSES
247
J
E
KITCHEN RANGE AND KITCHEN CHAIR
(A is turned up to form a shelf for saucepans ; B is glued down over the back.)
248 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
SCREEN
(To be made of one piece of paper folded into three equal parts and cut out
accordance with the illustration. )
3AOJ
VARIOUS POTS AND PANS
(Under part to be folded back for a stand.)
DOLLS' HOUSES
249
DINING- ROOM TABLE AND CLOTH
250
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
SIDEBOARD
DOLLS' HOUSES
251
SOFA AND AKM-CHAIB
(The corners must be fastened to the sheet by very narrow strips of paper.)
252 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
WOODEN BEDSTEAD
DOLLS' HOUSES
CO
WARDKOBE
(Join the sides AB and AB, and then bend the top down, glueing the flap,
C to the back of the wardrobe.)
254 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
DRESSING TABLE
DOLLS' HOUSES
255
WASHSTAND
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
BOCKING-CHAIB, TOWEL RACK, AND CHAIR
DOLLS' HOUSES
2 57
CHILD'S HIGH CHAIE AND COT
(In the chair the lines AB and BA must be cut. In the cot the four pieces
marked A are cut out on their sides and bent down to form legs.)
258 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
Paper Dolls
Paper dolls are not as good to play with as proper dolls.
One can do much less with them because they cannot be
washed, have no hair to be brushed, and should not sit down.
But they can be exceedingly pretty, and the keeping of their
wardrobes in touch with the fashion is an absorbing occupa-
tion. Paper dolls are more interesting to those who like paint-
ing than to others. The pleasure of coloring them and their
dresses is to many of us quite as interesting as cutting out and
sewing the clothes of ordinary dolls.
Making Paper Dolls
The first thing to do is to draw the doll in pencil on the
cardboard or paper which it is to be cut from. If you are not
good at drawing, the best way is to trace a figure in a book or
newspaper, and then, slipping a piece of carbon-paper (which
can be bought for a penny or less at any stationer's) between
your tracing-paper and the cardboard, to go over the outline
again with a pencil or a pointed stick. On uncovering the
cardboard you will find the doll there all ready to cut out.
It should then be colored on both sides, partly flesh color and
partly underclothes.
The Dresses
The dresses are made of sheets of note-paper, the fold of
which forms the shoulder pieces. The doll is laid on the
paper, with head and neck lapping over the fold, and the line
of the dress is then drawn a little larger than the doll. A
bmail round nick to form the collar is cut between the shoul-
ders of the dress, and a slit is made down the back through
which the doll's head can be passed. After the head is through
it is turned round. (Of course, if the dress is for evening the
place which you cut for the neck must be larger, and in this
case no slit will be needed.) All the details of the dresses,
DOLLS' HOUSES
259
which can be of original design, or copied from advertisements
and fashion plates, must be drawn in in pencil and afterward
painted. Hats, trimmed with tissue-paper feathers or ribbons,
are made of round pieces of note-paper with a slit in them just
big enough for the tip of the doll's head to go through. The
illustrations on pp. 260 and 261 should make everything clear.
Other Paper Dolls
Simpler and absolutely symmetrical paper dolls are made
by cutting them out of folded paper, so that the fold runs
right down the middle of the doll. By folding many pieces
of paper together, one can cut out many dolls at once.
Walking Dolls
Walking ladies are made in that way; but they must
have long skirts and no feet, and when finished a cut is made
WALKING PAPER DOLLS
in the skirt as in the picture and the framework thus pro-
duced is bent back. When the doll is placed on the table and
gently blown it will move gracefully along.
260 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
PAPEB MOTHEB AND CHILD, WITH CLOTHES FOB EACH
DOLLS' HOUSES
261
A PAPER GIRL WITH Six CHANGES
262 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
Tissue- Paper Dresses
Dresses can also be made of crinkly tissue-paper glued
to a foundation of plain note-paper. Frills, flounces, and
sashes are easily imitated in this material, and if the colors are
nell chosen the result is very pretty.
Rows of Paper Dolls
To make a row of paper dolls, take a piece of paper the
height that the dolls are to be, and fold it alternately back-
ward and forward (first one side and then the other) leaving
about an inch between each fold. Press the folds together
tightly and cut out the half of a doll, being careful that the
arms are continued to the edge of the fold and are not cut off.
Open out and you will have a string of paper dolls.
Other articles to be made from paper and cardboard will
be found on pp. 284-291.
PLAYHOUSES OF OTHER PEOPLES
PLAYHOUSES OF OTHER PEOPLES
IT is not in the least necessary to confine yourself to mak-
ing playhouses that are like the houses you live in or see
about you, for with a little ingenuity you can construct
bits of all sorts of strange countries right in your play-room.
In one of the schools in New York City the children study
geography and history of certain kinds by making with their
own hands scenes from the places about which they study.
One of the most valuable materials for making these play-
houses is ordinary modeling clay. You can buy fifty pounds
for from fifty cents to a dollar, and with this you are equipped
to make almost anything you can see in pictures. Put the
cla}' (if bought dry) into a jar, pour over it clear water, and
stir it up with a stick until perfectly smooth and about the
consistency of hard butter. The first thing to do is to make a
supply of bricks for building. This should be shaped like real
bricks and about two inches long. Smaller ones are also pos-
sible if you wish to have your settlement on a very small
scale. These should be made as regularly as possible and as
nearly of the same size. After a little practice one becomes
very expert in this simple art. They should then be dried in
the sun and are ready to use, though they must be handled
carefully. If you can obtain terra-cotta clay, and have it
baked hard you will have real bricks that will outlast your
play-time.
A Pueblo Settlement
Suppose now that you have been reading about the life
of the Pueblo Indians in our Southwest, and you have a pi&
ture of one of their singular settlements. The accompanying
265
266 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
picture shows what was done in the way of constructing such
a settlement by a class of school children, none of whom were
over eight years old. You can model little clay Indian in-
habitants and paint them as you please, to represent their
brown skins and bright-colored clothes. If you can have a
box with a little earth in it to set before your Pueblo village
you can sow wheat seed, or mustard, and model Indians
working in the fields with their crude plows. Anything of
which you can find a picture can be reproduced. Indian vil-
lages and camps are easy to make and interesting. And
once you are started on Indian life it may be fun to make
yourselves Indian costumes. The costumes in the picture
shown were made by the boys who wear them. By looking
closely at them you can copy them.
An Esquimau Village
Another class in the same school painted their bricks
white to represent blocks of snow and made an Esquimau
village. This is fascinating and easy to do. Or, the rounded
huts can be modeled all in one piece directly from the clay.
Any book describing the life of dwellers in the Arctic region
will tell you how they make their houses and you can make
tiny imitations of them that will be infinite fun to construct
and the admiration of all your friends when finished. Cotton-
wool can be used for snow (powdered isinglass also is pretty),
and bits of broken mirror for ice-ponds. Little sleds can be
made on which to put your Esquimau hunter, who may be
one of the white-fur-clad dolls so cheaply bought in toy-stores.
Or you can model a little doll just the right size to be enter-
ing the door of your tiny rounded white hut.
A Filipino Village
Or if you get tired of living near the Arctic circle you
can sweep your table clean of Esquimau dwellings and con-
AN ESQUIMAU SLED
INDIAN COSTUMES
(Facing page 266)
PLAYHOUSES OF OTHER PEOPLES 267
struct a Filipino village. For these you do not need bricks
(which can be given a rest and put away in a box) but little
splints of wood the same size and length which you can make
yourself with a knife. Make a little thin floor of damp clay
(but drier than you use it to model with) and stick your
upright pieces in this in the shape of the house you wish to
make. When the clay has hardened they are held quite firm
and you can make a wattled hut by weaving long straws or
grasses in and out to form your walls. A thatched roof can
also be made of long grasses, tied in little bunches and laid
close together all sloping down from the ridge-pole. Almost
every magazine of a few years back has in it pictures of
Filipino villages which will furnish you with models to copy.
According to the size of the table or board on which you
make your settlements you can have more or less extensive
tropical country, surrounding your village. Mountains can
be made of the clay, covered with moss or grasses to represent
the jungle and a river with overhanging trees arranged with
bits of broken looking-glass, and twigs with tiny scraps of
green tissue paper glued to them for leaves. The exercise of
your own ingenuity in using all sorts of unlikely materials
which you will find all about you is the best part of this
game.
After you have decided to change the climate and char-
acter of your village, the clay used may be broken up and put
back in your jar, wet again, stirred smooth and is all ready to
begin again. Great care should be taken that it is kept clean,
that bits of wood or glass be not left in it, or you may cut or
prick your fingers in handling it.
A Dutch Street
You cannot only wander from one climate and from one
nationality to another, but from one century to another. If
268 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
you are studying early American history nothing is more fun
than to make a street in an old Dutch settlement. Your
bricks are painted red for this. Almost any history-book will
have pictures of one or two old Dutch houses which will show
you the general look of them. They are harder to construct
than the ruder huts of savages and may need to be held to-
gether with a little use of damp clay. It is interesting to try
and reconstruct old Dutch Manhattan, from the maps and
pictures, showing the bay and the walk on the Battery.
Or if you are interested in Colonial New England, make
a settlement of log-houses with the upper story overhanging
the first. On any walk you can pick up enough small sticks
to use as logs after trimming and measuring.
Other possibilities in this line are suggested below. You
will have more fun in working them out yourself than if you
are told just how to proceed. A Roman arena with gladi-
ators fighting and a curtain which may be drawn to keep off
the sun. A little fishing-village beside the sea (a large pan of
water) with tiny nets spread out to dry and little walnut shell
boats drawn up on the sandy beach.
A farmhouse, barn, pig-pen, dog-kennel, carriage-house
and the like. A very pretty settlement can be made of this
with fields of growing grain, brooks, water-wheels, etc.
All the animals of a farm can be modeled and painted.
When they are skilfully made they are very pretty and add
much to the picture and when they are done unskilfully it is
fun to have people guess what they were meant for. How-
ever, with a little practice very presentable animals can be
modeled. It is easier to make them in clay than to draw
them.
^ gyP s y camp, with tents and open fires (bits of yellow
and red tissue-paper), under a black kettle (made of clay and
painted) swung on a forked stick, can easily be made.
PLAYHOUSES OF OTHER PEOPLES 269
Of course with tin or lead soldiers the number of games
one can invent with these tiny settlements is innumerable.
One favorite with some children is the attack and capture of
the Filipino village by American troops. Sometimes it is
burned, and this is always a stirring spectacle. Indeed with
tin soldiers (which are just now unjustly out of favor) one's
range of subjects is unlimited, and one always has plenty of in-
habitants for any settlement. An army post can be made,
with a fort and barracks and a wide green parade ground
with the regiment drawn up in line for dress-parade. A tiny
American flag flutters from the flag-pole and after the sunset
gun booms (a fire-cracker exploded or only some one striking
a blow on a tin pan) it can be lowered to the ground while
the best whistler of the company executes " The Star-Spangled
Banner."
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS AND THINGS
TO MAKE
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS AND THINGS
TO MAKE
Painting
PAINTING is an occupation which is within almost
everybody's power, and of which one tires very slowly
or perhaps not at all. By painting we mean coloring
old pictures rather than making new ones, since making new
ones from nature or imagination require separate gifts.
On a wet afternoon or, if it is permitted, on Sunday after,
noon coloring the pictures in a scrapbook is a very pleasant
and useful employment. After dark, painting is not a very
wise occupation, because, in an artificial light, colors cannot
be properly distinguished.
All shops that sell artists' materials keep painting-books.
But old illustrated papers do very well.
Flags
An even more interesting thing to do with a paint-box is
to make a collection of the flags of all nations. And when
those are all done, you will find colored pages of them in
any large dictionary, and elsewhere too, you might get pos-
session of an old shipping guide, and copy Lloyd's signal code
from it.
Maps
Coloring maps is interesting, but is more difficult than
you might perhaps think, owing to the skill required in laying
an even surface of paint on an irregular space. The middle
of the country does not cause much trouble, but when it
comes to the jagged frontier line the brush has to be very
273
274 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
carefully handled. To wet the whole map with a wet brusk
at the outset is a help. Perhaps before starting in earnest on
a map it would be best to practice a little with irregular-
shaped spaces on another piece of paper.
Magic-Lantern Slides
If you have a magic lantern in the house you can paint
some home-made slides. The colors should be as gay as pos-
sible. The best home-made slides are those which illustrate a
home-made story ; and the fact that you cannot draw or paint
really well should not discourage you at all. A simpler way
of making slides is to hold the glass over a candle until one
side is covered with lamp black and then with a sharp stick to
draw outline pictures on it.
Another way is to cut out silhouettes in black paper, or
colored tracing-paper, and stick them to the glass. In copy-
ing a picture on a slide put the glass over the picture and
draw the outline with a fine brush dipped in Indian ink.
Then paint. All painting on slides should be covered with
fixing varnish, or it will rub off.
Illuminating
As a change from painting there is illuminating, for
which smaller brushes and gold and silver paint are needed. Il-
luminating texts is a favorite Sunday afternoon employ-
ment.
Pen and Ink Work
There is also pen and ink drawing, mistakenly called
"etching," for which you require a tiny pen, known as a
mapping pen, and a cake of Indian ink. If the library con-
tains a volume of old wood-cuts, particularly Bewicks Birds
or Bewick's Quadrupeds, you will have no lack of pictures
to copy.
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 275
Chalks
In place of paints a box of chalks will serve very well.
Tracing
Smaller children, who have not yet learned to paint
properly, often like to trace pictures either on tracing paper
held over the picture, or on ordinary thin paper held over the
picture against the window pane.
Pricking Pictures
Pictures can also be pricked with a pin, but in this case
some one must draw it first. You follow the outline with
little pin pricks close together, holding the paper on a cushion
while you prick it. Then the picture is held up to the
window for the light to shine through the holes.
Easter Eggs
Home-made Easter eggs are made by painting pictures or
messages on eggs that have been hard-boiled, or by merely
boiling them in water containing cochineal or some other
coloring material. In Germany it is the custom for Easter
eggs to be hidden about in the house and garden, and for the
family to hunt for them before breakfast a plan that might
very well be taken up by us.
Spatter.-Work
Paper and cardboard articles can be prettily decorated
by spatter-work. Ferns are the favorite shapes to use. You
first pin them on whatever it is that is to be ornamented in this
way, arranging them as prettily as possible. Then rub some
Indian ink in water on a saucer until it is quite thick. Dip an
old tooth-brush lightly into the ink, and, holding it over the
cardboard, rub the bristles gently across a fine tooth comb.
This will send a spray of ink over the cardboard. Do this
276 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
again and again until the tone is deep enough, and try also to
graduate it. It must be remembered that the ink when dry
is much darker than when wet. Then remove the ferns, when
under each there will be a white space exactly reproducing
their beautiful shape. If you like you can paint in their veins
and shade them ; but this is not really necessary. Colored
paints can be used instead of Indian ink.
Scrapbooks
Making scrapbooks is always a pleasant and useful en>
ployment, whether for yourself or for children in hospit-
als or districts, and there was never so good an opportunity
as now of getting interesting pictures. These you select from
odd numbers of magazines, Christmas numbers, illustrated
papers, and advertisements. Scraps are very useful to fill up
odd corners. In choosing pictures for your own scrapbook it is
better to select only those that you really believe in and can
find a reason for using, than to take everything that seems
likely to fit. By choosing the pictures with this care you
make the work more interesting and the book peculiarly your
own. But in making a scrapbook as a present for some one
that you know, you will, of course, in choosing pictures, try
to put yourself in his place and choose as you think that he
would.
Empty scrapbooks can be bought ; or you can make one
by taking (for a large one) an old business ledger, which some
one whom you know is certain to be able to give you, or (for
a small one) an ordinary old exercise-book, and then cutting
out every other page about half an inch from the stitching.
This is to allow room for the extra thickness which the
pictures will give to the book. Or you can sew sheets of
brown paper together.
For sticking on the pictures, use paste rather than gum 5
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 277
and when it is done, press the book under quite a light
weight, with sheets of paper between the pages.
Scrapbooks for Hospitals
Children that are ill are often too weak to hold up a large
book and turn over the leaves. There are two ways of saving
them this exertion and yet giving them pleasure from
pictures. One is to get several large sheets of cardboard and
cover them with pictures and scraps on both sides, and bind
them round with ribbon. These can be enclosed in a box and
sent to the matron. She will distribute the cards among the
children, and when they have looked at each thoroughly they
can exchange it for another. Another way is to use folding
books which are more easy to hold than ordinary turning-over
ones, and you can make them at home very simply by covering
half a dozen or more cards of the same size (post-cards make
capital little books) with red linen, and then sewing them edge
to edge so as to get them all in a row. In covering the cards
with the linen red is not compulsory, but it is a good color
to choose it is better to paste it on as well as to sew it
round the three edges (a fold will come on one side), because
then when you stick on the pictures they will not cockle up.
Pictures for hospital scrapbooks should be bright and gay*
Colored ones are best, but if you cannot get them already
colored you can paint them. Painting a scrapbook is one of
the best of employments.
Composite Scrapbooks
Sometimes it happens that you get very tired of one of
the pictures in your scrapbook. A good way to make it fresh
and interesting again is to introduce new people or things.
You will easily find among your store of loose pictures a
korse and cart, or a dog, or a man, or a giraffe, which, when
278 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
cut out, will fit in amusingly somewhere in the old picture.
If you like, a whole book can be altered reasonably in this
way, or made ridiculous throughout.
Scrap-Covered Screens
A screen is an even more interesting thing to make than
a scrapbook. The first thing to get is the framework of the
screen, which will either be an old one the covering of which
needs renewing, or a new one made by the carpenter. The
next thing is to cover it with canvas, which you must stretch
on tightly and fasten with small tacks ; and over this should
be pasted another covering of stout paper, of whatever
color you want for a background to the pictures. Paste
mixed with size should be used in sticking it. After the pic-
tures are all arranged they should be stuck with the same
material, and a coat of paper varnish given to the whole, so
that it can be cleaned occasionally.
Collecting Stamps
Stamp-collecting is more interesting if money is kept out
of it and you get your stamps by gift or exchange. The best
way to begin is to know some one who has plenty of foreign
correspondence and to ask for all his old envelopes. Nothing
but time and patience can make a good collection. To buy it,
is to have little of the collector's joy.
Postage-Stamp Snakes
Old American stamps can be used for making snakes.
There is no need to soak the stamps off the envelope paper :
they must merely be cut out cleanly and threaded together.
A big snake takes about 4,000 stamps. The head is made of
black velvet stuffed with cotton wool, and beads serve for
eyes. A tongue of red flannel can be added.
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 279
Puzzles
If you have a fret saw, and can use it cleverly, you can
make at home as good a puzzle as any that can be bought.
The first thing to do is to select a good colored picture, and
then to procure from a carpenter a thin mahogany board of
the same size. Mahogany is not absolutely necessary, but it
must be some wood that is both soft and tough. Deal, for in-
stance, is useless because it is not tough, and oak is useless be-
cause it is not soft. On this wood you stick the picture very
firmly, using weak glue in preference to paste or gum.
When it is quite dry you cut it up into the most difficult frag-
ments that you can. It is best to cut out the border so that
each piece locks into the next. This will then be put together
first by the player and will serve to hold the picture together.
After the puzzle is cut up it is well to varnish each piece with
paper varnish, which keeps it clean and preserves it.
A simple puzzle can be made by pasting the picture on
cardboard and cutting it up with scissors or a sharp knife.
Soap Bubbles
For blowing bubbles the long clay pipes are best. Before
using them, the end of the mouthpiece ought to be covered
with sealing-wax for about an inch, or it may tear your lips,
Common yellow soap is better than scented soap, and rain-
water than ordinary water. A little glycerine added to the
soap-suds helps to make the bubbles more lasting. On a still
summer day, bubble-blowing out-of-doors is a fascinating and
very pretty occupation.
Shadows on the Wall
Shadowgraphy nowadays has progressed a long way from
the rabbit on the wall ; but in the house, ambition in this ac-
complishment does not often extend further than that and one
280
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
or two other animals, and this is why only the rabbit, dog,
and swan are given here. The swan can be made more inter-
esting by moving the arm which forms his neck as if he were
SHADOWS ON THE WALL
prinking and pluming, an effect which is much heightened by
ruffling up and smoothing down the hair with the fingers form-
ing his beak. To get a clear shadow it is necessary to have
only one light, and that fairly close to the hands.
Skeleton Leaves
Leaves which are to be skeletonized should be picked from
the trees at the end of June. They should be perfect ones of
full growth. It is best to have several of each kind, as some
are sure to be failures. Put the leaves in a big earthenware
dish or pan, fill it with rain-water, and stand it in a warm and
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 281
sunn} 7 place the purpose of this being to soak off the green
pulpy part. There is a great difference in the time which this
takes : some fine leaves will be ready in a week, while others
may need several months. Look at the leaves every day, and
when one seems to be ready slip a piece of cardboard under it
and shake it about gently in fresh cold water. If any green
stuff remains, dab it with a soft brush and then put it into an-
other basin of clean water. A fine needle can be used to take
away any small and obstinate pieces of green. It is now a
skeleton and must be bleached according to the following di-
rections : Pour into a large earthenware jar a pint of water
on half a pound of chloride of lime. Mix thoroughly, break-
ing up any lumps with the hand. Add two and a half quarts
of water, cover over, and leave for twenty-four hours. Then
pour off the solution, leaving the sediment behind. Dissolve
two pounds of soda in one quart of boiling water, and pour it,
while on the boil, over the chloride solution. Cover it, and
leave for forty-eight hours ; then decant into bottles, being
careful to leave all sediment behind.
Fill an earthenware dish with this solution, lay the leaves
in it, and cover tightly. The leaves will be bleached in six to
twelve hours. They should be taken out directly they are
white, as the lime makes them very brittle. After bleaching,
rinse the leaves in cold water, float them on to cards, and dry
between blotting-paper, under a heavy weight.
Ferns
It should be noted that if you intend to skeletonize ferns,
they should not be picked before August, and they must be
pressed and dried before they are put into the bleaching solution,
in which they ought to stay for three or four days. The solution
should be changed on the second day, and again on the fourth.
After bleaching they can be treated just as the leaves are.
282 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
Wool Balls
Cut out two rings of cardboard, of whatever size you like,
from one inch in diameter up to about four inches. A four-
inch ring would make as large a ball as one usually needs, and
a one-inch ring as small a one as could be conveniently made.
The rim of the largest rings should not be wider than half an
inch. Take a ball of wool and, placing the cardboard rings
together, tie the end of it firmly round them. Then wind the
wool over the rings, moving them round and round to keep it
even. At first you will be able to push the ball through the
rings easily, but as the wool is wound the hole will grow
smaller and smaller, until you have to thread the wool through
with a needle. To do this it is necessary to cut the wool into
lengths, which you must be careful to join securely. Go on
until the hole is completely filled and you cannot squeeze
another needle through. Then slip a pair of scissors between
the two rings and cut the wool all round them ; and follow
this up quickly by slipping a piece of string also between them
and tying it tightly round the wool that is in their midst.
This is to keep the loose ends, which were made directly you
cut the wool with the scissors, from coming out. All that is
now necessary is to pull out the cardboard rings and shape the
ball a little in your hands. The tighter the wool was bound
round the cards, the smaller and harder the ball will be and
the more difficult will it be to cut the wool neatly and tie it.
Therefore, and especially as the whole purpose of a wool ball
is softness and harmlessness, it is better to wind the wool
loosely and to use thick wool rather than thin.
Wool Demons
To make a " Wool Demon," take a piece of cardboard as
wide as you want the demon to be tall, say three inches, and
wind very evenly over it wool of the color you want the
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 283
demon to be. Scarlet wool is perhaps best. Wind it about
eighty times, and then remove carefully and tie a piece round
about half an inch from the top to make the neck. This also
secures the wool, the lower looped ends of which can now be
cut. When cut, gather up about twenty pieces each side for
the arms, and, holding them firmly, bind them round with
other wool, and cut off neatly at the proper length. Then tie
more wool round to form the body. The legs and tail are
made in the same way as the arms, except that wool is wound
round the legs, beginning from the feet and working upward,
only to the knees, leaving a suggestion of knickerbockers.
Eyes and other features can be sewn on in silk.
Bead-Work
Among other occupations which are not in need of careful
description, but which ought to be mentioned, bead-work is
important. It was once more popular than it now is ; but
beads in many beautiful colors are still made, and it is a pity
that their advantages should be neglected. Bead- work lasts
longer and is cleaner and brighter than any other form of
embroidery. Perhaps the favorite use to which beads are now
put is in the making of napkin-rings. Bead-flowers are made
by threading beads on wire and bending them to the required
shapes. Boxes of materials are sold in toy-shops.
Post-Office
" Post-Office " is a device for providing the family with a
sure supply of letters. The first thing to do is to appoint a
postmaster and fix upon the positions for the letter-boxes.
You then write letters to each other and to any one in the
house, and post them where you like ; and at regular times
the postmaster collects them and delivers them.
284
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
The Home Newspaper
In " The Home Newspaper," the first thing to do is to
decide on which of you will edit it. As the editor usually has
to copy all the contributions into the exercise-book, it is well
that a good writer should be chosen. Then you want a good
title. It is better if the contributors are given each a depart-
ment, because that will make the work more simple. Each
number should have a story and some poetry. Home news-
papers, as a rule, come out once a month. Once a week is too
often to keep up. There is a good description of one in a
book by E. Nesbit, called The Treasure-Seekers.
Paper and Cardboard Toys A Cocked Hat
To make a cocked hat, take a sheet of stiff paper and
double it. Then fold over each of the doubled corners until
FIG. l
they meet in the middle. The paper will then resemble Fig. 1
Then fold AB AB over the doubled corners ; fold the corres.
ponding strip of paper at the back to balance it, and the
cocked hat is ready to be worn. If it is to be used in charades,
it is well to pin it here and there to make it secure.
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS
285
Paper Boats
If the cocked hat is held in the middle of each side and
pulled out into a square, and the two sides are then bent back
FIG. 2
to make another cocked hat (but of course much smaller) ; and
then, if this cocked hat is also pulled out into a square, it will
FIGS.
look like Fig. 2. If the sides A and A are held between the
finger and thumb and pulled out, a paper boat will be the
result, as in Fig. 3.
286
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
Paper Darts
Take a sheet of stiffish paper about the size of this page
and fold it longways, exactly double. Then fold the corners
of one end back to the main fold, one each side. The paper
sideways will then look as in Fig. 1. Then double these
PAPER DARTS
folded points, one each side, back to the main fold. The paper
will then look as in Fig. 2. Repeat this process once more.
The paper will then look as in Fig. 3. Compress the folds
very tightly, and open out the top ones, so that in looking
down on the dart it will have the appearance of Fig. 4. The
dart is then ready for use.
Paper Mats
Take a square piece of thin paper (Fig. 1), white OP
colored. Fold it in half (Fig. 2), and then again in half
rx.s*.
PAPER MATS
(Fig. 3), and then again from the centre to the outside corner,
when it will be shaped as in Fig. 4. If you want a round
mat, cut it as marked by the dotted line in Fig. 4 ; if square,
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS
287
leave it as it is. Remember that when you cut folded paper
the cuts are repeated in the whole piece as many times as
there are folds in the paper. The purpose of folding is to
make the cuts symmetrical. Bearing this in mind cut Fig. 4
as much as you like, as suggested by Fig. 5. Perhaps it
would be well to practice first of all on a rough piece. The
more delicate the cuts the prettier will be the completed mat.
Paper Boxes
Take an exactly square piece of paper (cream-laid note-
paper is best in texture), and fold it across to each corner and
press down the folds. Unfold it and then fold each corner
exactly into the middle, and press down and unfold again.
The lines of fold on the paper will now be seen to run from
corner to corner, crossing in the middle, and also forming a
PAPER BOXES
square pattern. The next thing is to fold over each corner
exactly to the line of this square on the opposite half of the
paper. When this is done, and the paper is again straight-
ened out, the lines of fold will be as in Fig. 1. Cut out the
triangles marked X in Fig. 1, and the paper will be as in
288 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
Fig. 2. Then cut along all the dotted lines in Fig. 2, and
stand the opposite corners up to form the sides and lid of
the box : first A and B, which are fastened by folding back
the little flaps at the tip of A, slipping through the slit at the
tip of B, and then unfolding them again ; and then C and D,
which are secured in the same way.
Cardboard Boxes
Cardboard boxes, of a more useful nature than paper
boxes, are made on the same principle as the house described
on p. 239, and the furniture to go in it, as described later in
the same chapter. The whole box can be cut in the flat, out
of one piece of cardboard, and the sides afterward bent up
and the lid down. Measurements must of course be exact.
The prettiest way to join the sides is to use thin silk instead
of paper, and the lid may be made to fasten by a little bow
of the same material.
Scraps and Transfers
Paper boxes, when finished, can be made more attractive
by painting on them, gluing scraps to them, putting trans-
fers here and there, or covering them with spatter-work
(see p. 275). Scraps can be bought at most stationers' in a
very great variety. Transfers, which are taken off by
moistening in water, pressing on the paper with the slithery
clouded surface downward, and being gently slipped along,
used to be more common than they now are.
Directions how to make many other paper things will be
found on pp. 243-262.
Ink Sea-Serpents
Dissolve a teaspoonful of salt in a glass of water, dip a
pen in ink and touch the point to the water. The ink de-
scends in strange serpent-like coils.
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 289
A Dancing Man
The accompanying picture will show how a dancing
man is made to dance. You hold him between the finger
A DANCING MAN
and thumb, one on each side of his waist, and pull the string.
The hinges for the arms and legs, which are made of card-
board, can be made of bent pins or little pieces of string
knotted on each side.
Velvet Animals
The fashioning of people and animals from scraps of
velvet glued on cardboard was a pleasant occupation which
interested our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers
when they were children many years ago. A favorite picture
was of a boy and a St. Bernard, in which the boy's head,
hands, collar, and pantaloons, and the dog, were made of white
velvet painted. The boy's tunic was black velvet, and its belt a
290 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
strip of red paper. The dog's eye was a black pin-head. The
whole was mounted on a wooden stand with wooden supports
at the back, one running up to the boy's head and the other
to the tip of the dog's tail. With some scraps of white and
black velvet, and a little patience and ingenuity, one could
make all the animals on a farm and many in the Zoo.
Hand Dragons
All the apparatus needed for a " Hand Dragon " consists
of a little cardboard thimble or finger-stall, on which the
features of a dragon have been drawn in pen and ink or color.
This is then slipped over the top of the middle finger, so that
HAND DRAGONS
the hand becomes its body and the other fingers and thumb
its legs. "With the exercise of very little ingenuity in the
movement of the fingers, the dragon can be made to seem
very much alive. The accompanying picture should explain
everything.
Yarious games can be played with the fingers. Tiny
caps and hats can be made, features drawn with ink on the
fingers and little tissue paper dresses made. A whole play
can be acted or sung by these tiny finger marionettes.
Other Uses for Cardboard
Once you have begun to make things out of cardboard,
you will find no end to its possibilities and should be in no
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 291
more need of any hints. After building, furnishing, and
peopling a dolls' house, a farm or a menagerie would be an
interesting enterprise to start upon. E. M. R. has a stud of
ninety-two horses, each named, and each provided with a
horse-cloth, a groom, and harness. She has also several
regiments of soldiers and a staff of nurses, all cut from card-
board and painted. She chooses her horses from Country Life,
or some such paper, and copies them. Another enthusiast has
a cardboard theatre in which plays and pantomimes are per-
formed.
It might be added that cardboard figures can be made to
stand up either by leaving a strip of cardboard at the bottom,
in which teeth can be cut and bent alternately one way or
the other, or by slipping the feet into grooves cut in little
blocks of wood.
Cardboard Cut-Outs
There are a great many cut-outs issued nowadays, which
may be bought for a small sum at any toy shop. Perhaps
the best among these are " The Mirthful Menagerie," " The
Agile Acrobats " and " The Magic Changelings." " The
Mirthful Menagerie " when properly cut out and pasted to-
gether, make a lot of animals that have thickness as well as
length and height ; " The Agile Acrobats " can be made to
assume almost any position, and in " The Magic Changelings,"
Little Red Riding Hood, for instance, can be changed into
the wolf, and then back again !
Books of cut-outs are also made, in which the books are
intact after the cut-outs have been removed. "The New
Mother Goose " gives illustrations of many of the Mother
Goose rhymes to be cut out and pasted together, and has
a story and other pictures besides. " The Electric Fire
Fighters " is on the same order, only in this case the pictures
292 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
to be put together are of the Electric Fire-Engine, the Electric
Water-Tower, etc. They are all easily made, and are fascinat.
ing games for stormy weather, or for indoor games at any
time.
Particulars of " Snap " cards and other home-made cards
will be found on pp. 77 and 78.
Kites
In China, and to some extent in Holland, kite-flying is not
the pastime only of boys, but of grave men. And certainly
grave men might do many more foolish things. To feel a
kite pulling at your hands, to let out string and see it climb
higher and higher and higher into the sky this is a real joy.
For good kite-flying you want plenty of room and a steady
wind ; hence a big field is the best place, unless you are at the
seaside when there is a wind off the land, in which case you
can fly your kite from the beach. To make an ordinary,
serviceable kite, take two laths (which can be bought for a
penny from any builder), one three feet long (A A in the pic-
ture) and the other two feet (BB). Screw BB with two
screws exactly in the middle, at right angles to A A, at C, a
foot from the top. Then take some stout twine of good
quality and make the outline of the kite by tying it securely
to the ends of each of the laths. Next take the thinnest un-
bleached calico you can find, stretch it fairly tightly, and sew
it over the strings. (Or strong but light paper will do, pasted
over the string.) Make a hole (D) through the upright lath
and calico, midway between the cross-piece and the top, and
another hole (E) about fifteen inches below the cross-piece,
and tie a strong string, two and a half feet long, to these
holes, with a loop (F) in it a foot from the top hole. To this
loop you will tie the string of the kite. The tail (G) is made
of pieces of paper about six inches long, rolled tightly and
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS
293
tied at distances of a foot. Its exact length will depend on
the strength of the wind and can be determined only by ex.
perience, but, roughly speaking, it should be five times the
height of the kite, or, with the kite which we are making,
fifteen feet long. It is best to have the tail in two or three
A
A KITE
pieces, and then it can be lengthened or shortened at will.
For instance, if the kite plunges in the air and will not keep
steady, the tail is not long enough ; but if it will go up only a
little way, the tail is probably too long. Be sure to have
plenty of string, carefully wound, so that there will be no
294 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
TO FEEL A KITE PULLING AT YOUR HANDS THI8 IS REAL JOY
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 295
hitches in paying it out. When starting a kite you need the
help of some one who will stand about thirty yards away,
holding the kite against the wind, and throw it straight up
when you have the line tight and give the signal. If it does
not rise it may be well for you to run a few yards against the
wind. At first you must not pay out line very rapidly, but
when the kite is flying steadily you may give it, also steadily,
all the string it wants.
Kite Messengers
A messenger is a piece of cardboard or paper with a
good-sized hole in it, which you slip over the string when the
kite is steady, and which is carried right up to the kite by the
wind.
A Simple Toy Boat
The following directions, with exact measurements, apply
to one of the simplest home-made sailing-boats. Take a piece
of soft straight-grained pine, which any carpenter or builder
will let you have, one foot long, four inches wide, and two
inches deep. On the top of the four-inch side draw an out-
line as in Fig. 1, in which you will be helped by first dividing
the wood by the pencil line AB, exactly in the middle. Then
turn the block over and divide the under four-inch side with
a similar line, and placing the saw an eighth of an inch each
side of this line, cut two incisions right along the wood about
a quarter of an inch deep. The portion between these two
incisions forms the keel. Then carry the line up the middle
of the end A, and repeat the incisions as along the bottom,
these making the boat's stem-post. Next turn to the top
again, and make a line, similar to the dotted line CC in Fig. 1,
about three-eighths of an inch inside the outline of the boat,
and then carefully hollow out with a gouge everything inside
this dotted line. It must be very carefully done; it is better,
296
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW 7
indeed, to err on the side of not hollowing her out enough,
and then a little more can be removed afterward. Next
shape the outside, first with a saw and then with a chisel,
again using the utmost care. Try to give her a fine bow, or
"entry," and a good clean stern, or " run." If the boat were
cut in two crossways in the middle, the section ought to re
A TOY BOAT
semble that in Fig. 2. This flat "floor" will be graduated
away to nothing at bow and stern. Next fix on the lead keel
(see K in Fig. 3), which should be a quarter of an inch thick,
a quarter of an inch deep at the bow, and three-quarters at
the stern, fastened on with four long thin screws. Next make
the deck, which should not be more than an eighth of an inch
thick and should fit very closely at the edges.
The mast (C), which should be about three-eighths of an
inch in diameter at the foot, and should taper slightly, must
stand one foot above the deck, and pass through the deck four
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 297
and a half inches from the bow. First pass it through the
hole in the deck and place it in position, leaning a little back
from the bows ; then slip up the deck and mark the place in
the bottom of the boat where the mast rests, and there fix,
with four small brass screws, a block of wood with a hole in
it, into which the mast can be firmly " stepped." Then on the
upper side of the deck, just in front of the mast-hole, screw a
small eyelet. This is to hold the line called the foresail sheet
(L), but as the deck is only an eighth of an inch thick you
A TOY BOAT
must place a little block of wood under the deck, into which
the eyelet can be screwed. Directly this is done, the deck is
ready to be screwed firmly to the boat with brass screws. If
you are in any doubt as to its being water-tight, you had bet-
ter bore a hole in it and put a cork in, so that you can tip it
up and empty it after each voyage.
The bowsprit (J), a quarter of an inch in diameter, should
be three and a half inches long, two inches of which project
beyond the bow. Screw it firmly to the boat. You have
now to shape the boom (F) and gaff (D), which must have a
fork at the end, as in Fig. 4, to embrace the mast, the ends of
this fork being joined by string. The boom should be eight
and a half inches long and three-eighths of an inch in diam
298 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW *
eter, and the gaff five inches long and a quarter of an inch in
diameter. The gaff is kept in position, about three inches
from the mast-head, by the throat halyards and peak halyards,
to which we now come. The peak halyards (H), throat hal-
yards (G), and foresail halyards (F) should be of very fine
fishing-line. After being tied respectively to the gaff and
foresail, they pass through small holes in the mast, down to
eyelets screwed into the bulwarks on each side of the mast.
The foresail sheet (L) and main sheet (M), which are some
four inches long, are hitched to eyelets screwed into the deck
amidships, one just in front of the mast, as already explained,
and the other about two inches from the stern. The sails must
be of thin calico, neatly hemmed round. Both sails should
come to about three inches of the head of the mast. The
foresail is fastened only to the tip of the bowsprit, the foresail
halyards, and foresail sheet; the mainsail to the gaff, all
along, and to each end of the boom.
Nothing has been said about a rudder, because a boat
built and rigged in the manner described would balance her-
self, and so keep on any course on which she was laid. With
a very little wind she ought to cross and recross a pond with-
out any hitch, all that will be necessary being to let the sails
have plenty of play, by loosening the foresail sheet and main
sheet, and to give her a steady push.
Walnut Shell Boats
To make a boat from a walnut shell, you scoop out the
half shell and cut a piece of cardboard of a size to cover the
top. Through the middle of this piece of cardboard you
thrust a match, and then, dropping a little sealing-wax into
the bottom of the shell, and putting some round the edge, you
fix the match and the cardboard to it. A sail is made by
cutting out a square of paper and fastening it to the match by
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 299
means of two holes; but the boat will swim much better
without it.
Walnut Fights
Here it might be remarked that capital contests can be
had with the empty halves of walnut shells. A plate is turned
upside down, and the two fighters place their walnuts point to
point in the middle. At the given word they begin to push,
one against the other, by steady pressure of finger and thumb
on the stern of the shell. The battle is over when the prow
of one shell crashes through the prow of the other. This
always happens sooner or later, but sometimes the battles are
long and severe. At the end of each contest the number of
shells defeated by the victor should be marked on it, and it
should be carefully kept for the next conflict. At school we
used to have tremendous excitement when two champions
met, a walnut with a record of 520, for instance, and another
with TOO. The winner in such a battle as this would, of
course, be numbered 1,221, because you always add not only
your defeated adversary to your score, but all his victims too.
Suckers
A sucker is a round piece of strong leather. Thread a
piece of string through the middle, and knot the string at the
end to prevent it being pulled through. Soak the sucker in
water until it is soft, and then press it carefully over a big
smooth stone, or anything else that is smooth, so that no air
can get in. If you and the string are strong enough, the
sucker will lift great weights.
Skipjacks
The wish-bone of a goose makes a good skipjack. It
should be cleaned and left for a day or two before using.
Then take a piece of strong thin string, double it, and tie it
300
WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW
firmly to the two ends of the wish-bone, about an inch
from the end on each side. Take a strip of wood a little
shorter than the bone, and cut a notch round it about half an
inch from one end. Then slip it half way between the double
A SKIPJACK
string, and twist the string round and round until the resist-
ance becomes really strong. Then pull the stick through to
the notch, into which the string will settle, and tie it at each
side, so that it is not likely to slip either way. A little piece
of cobblers' wax must be put on the bone on the other side to
that where the stick naturally touches. Pull the stick right
over to stick on the wax, and lay the skipjack, stick down-
ward, on the ground. In a little while the wax will give way,
and the wish-bone will spring high into the air.
A Water-Cutter
The cut-water is best made of tin or lead, but stout card-
board or wood will serve the purpose. First cut the material
into a round, and then make teeth in it like a saw. Thus :
A WATER-CUTTER
Then bore two holes in it, as in the drawing, and thread
strings through them, tying the strings at each end. Hold the
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 301
strings firmly, and twist them a little. Then, by pulling at
them to untwist them, the cut- water will be put in motion,
first one way, while they are being untwisted, and then the
other, while they twist up again. If held just over a basin
of water, the notches will send spray a great distance, but you
must be careful to dip them only when the cut- water is revolv-
ing away from you, or you will be soaked.
Whistles
With a sharp knife a very good whistle can be made of
hazel or willow, cut in the spring or early summer. A piece
of wood about three inches long should be used. Remember
what an ordinary tin whistle is like, and cut the mouthpiece
at a similar angle, and also cut a little nick out of the bark, in
the place of the hole immediately beyond the mouthpiece in
the metal instrument. Then cut all round the bark about an
inch from the other end of the stick, hold the bark firmly
with one hand clasped round it, and hold the inch at the
opposite end firmly with the fingers of the other, and pull. The
greater portion of bark should slide off quite easily. You will
then have a tube of bark about two inches long, and a white
stick about three inches long, with an inch of bark remaining
on it. Cut from the mouthpiece end of this stick as much as
exactly fits between the end and the little nick in the bark
which you have already made. Shave the top until it is flat
(just as in an ordinary whistle), and place it inside the bark
again. Then cut off from the white part of the stick all but
a quarter of an inch : fit this into the other end of the bark
tube, and you ought to get a good shrill whistle. It will be
better if you keep a pea inside.
302 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
Christmas Evergreen Decorations
Getting ready for Christmas is almost as good as Christ
mas itself. The decorations can be either natural or artificial
or a mixture of both. In using evergreens for ropes, it is best
to have a foundation of real cord of the required length, and
tie the pieces of shrub and ivy to it, either with string or
floral wire. This prevents any chance of its breaking. For
a garland or any device of a definite shape, the foundation
could be a stiffer wire, or laths of wood. Ivy chains are
described on page 135.
Paper Decorations
The simplest form of paper chain is made of colored
tissue paper and glue. You merely cut strips the size of the
links and join them one by one.
For paper flowers, paper and tools are especially made.
But for the purposes of home decoration ordinary tissue
paper, wire, glue, and scissors will serve well enough.
Mottoes
Mottoes and good wishes can be lettered in cotton wool
on a background of scarlet or other colored linen or lining
paper. Scarlet is perhaps the most cheery. Or you can make
more delicate letters by sewing holly berries on to a white
background ; and small green letters can be made by sewing
box leaves on a white background. For larger green letters
and also for bordering, holly leaves and laurel leaves are good.
Cotton-wool makes the best snow.
Christmas Trees.
In hanging things on the Christmas tree you have to be
careful that nothing is placed immediately over a candle, nor
should a branch of the tree itself be near enough to a candle
INDOOR OCCUPATIONS 303
to catch fire. After all the things are taken off the tree there
is no harm in its burning a little, because the smell of a burn-
ing Christmas tree is one of the best smells there is. To put
presents of any value on the tree is perhaps a mistake, partly
because they run a chance of being injured by fire or grease,
and partly because they are heavy. The best things of all are
candles, as many as possible, and silver balls which reflect.
On the top there should, of course, be either a Father Christ-
mas, or a Christ child, as the Germans, who understand
Christmas trees even better than we do, always have. For
lighting the candles a long taper is useful, and for putting
them out, an extinguisher tied to a stick.
Bran-Tubs or Jack Horner Pies
Bran-tubs or Jack Horner Pies are not so common as
they used to be, but there is no better way of giving your
guests presents at random. As many presents as there are
children are wrapped up in paper and hidden in a tub filled
with bran. This is placed on a dust-sheet, and the visitors
dip their hands in and pull out each a parcel. The objection
to the bran-tub is that boys sometimes draw out things more
suitable for girls. This difficulty could be got over by having
two tubs, one for girls and one for boys. Sometimes the rib-
bon of each parcel is long and falls over the edge of the dish.
The boys take one color ribbon, and the girls the other, and
all pull at the same time.
Philopenas
Two games with nuts and cherries may as well go at the
end of this section as anywhere else. Almonds sometimes
contain double kernels. These are called Philopenas, and you
must never waste them by eating both yourself, but find some
one to share them with. There are several ways of playing.
304 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
One is " Yes or No," in which the one who first says eithei
" yes " or " no " must pay a forfeit to the other. Another is
" Give and Take," in which the one that first takes something
that the other hands him is the loser. Or whichever of you
first says to the other " Good morning, Philopena," on the
following day, or the next time you meet, wins a present. Or
this is sometimes played that whoever first answers a question
put to him by the other must pay a forfeit. Of course this
makes great fun in trying to invent and evade plausible
questions.
Cherry Contests
Cherry-eating races can be very exciting. The players
stand in a row with their hands behind them, and a number
of long-stalked cherries are chosen from the basket and placed
by the tip of the stalk between their teeth. At the word of
command the players begin their efforts to draw the cherry
up by the stalk into their mouths. All heads must be held
down.
CANDY-MAKING
CANDY-MAKING
Utensils
FOR making candy you will need an enamel or earthen-
ware saucepan ; a long wooden spoon ; one or two old
soup-plates or dishes ; a bowl, if there is any mixing to
be done ; a cup of cold water for testing ; a silver knife ; and,
if you are not cooking in the kitchen, a piece of oil-cloth or
several thicknesses of brown paper to lay on the table.
General Directions
Butter the dish into which the candy is to be poured be-
fore you begin to cook. To do this put a little piece of butter
on a piece of clean soft paper and rub it all over the dish.
Always stir round the edge as well as the middle of the
saucepan. Stir slowly but continually, for candy burns very
quickly if left alone.
The flavoring should be added just before taking the
saucepan off the fire.
To find out if your taffy or candy has boiled long enough,
drop a little in the cup of cold water. If it at once becomes
crisp and hard, it is done.
Before your candy is quite cold, mark it with a silver
knife into squares. This will make it break up more easily
and neatty when cold.
Barley Sugar
1 lb. powdered sugar. $ a pint of water.
The white of an egg. a lemon.
Dissolve the sugar in the water, and add the well-beaten
white of an egg (this must be done before the mixture is
heated). Then put on the fire in a strong saucepan. Remove
all scum as it rises, and when the syrup begins to look clear r
307
308 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
take off the fire and strain through muslin. Put the syrup
back into the saucepan and let it boil quickly until you find
by testing it that it is done. Then add the juice of the lemon
and pour on to a buttered dish. Before the mixture sets cut
it into strips and twist.
Chocolate Caramels
1 tea-cup golden syrup. 2 oz. butter.
1 tea-cup brown sugar. 4 oz. powdered chocolate.
1 tea-cup milk. A pinch of salt.
16 drops vanilla.
Boil all together for half an hour, stirring continually.
Cocoanut caramels are made in the same way, except
that 1 oz. of grated or desiccated cocoanut is used instead of
the chocolate.
Cocoanut Cream
1 Ib. granulated sugar. 4 oz. grated cocoanut.
Melt the sugar with as little water as possible. Continue
to let it boil gently until the syrup begins to return to sugar
again. Directly this happens put in the cocoanut and mix
thoroughly. Pour the mixture into a flat dish or tin.
Cocoanut Cream (another way)
1 oocoanut, grated. $ a cup of cocoanut-milk.
1 Ib. granulated sugar. 1 oz. butter.
Put the sugar, cocoanut-milk, and butter into a saucepan.
When they boil, add the cocoanut gradually. Boil for ten
minutes, stirring all the time. Pour the mixture into a basin
and beat till nearly cold, then turn out into a dish.
Cocoanut Drops
} Ib. cocoanut, grated. J Ib. white sugar.
The whites of 2 eggs, well beaten.
Mix well together and bake in drops on buttered paper
for fifteen minutes.
CANDY-MAKING 309
Cream Caramels
1 tin Nestles milk. 2 oz. butter.
1 Ib. soft white sugar. Vanilla.
Melt the sugar with a very little water, and when boil-
ing add the butter and Nestle's milk. Stir continually, as the
mixture burns very easily, for fifteen minutes. Try in water
to see if it will set. Add the vanilla, pour into a dish, and
beat until nearly cold.
One ounce of cocoanut or 2 of grated chocolate can be
used instead of vanilla to flavor the above.
Fruit Cream
1 cocoanut, grated.
1J Ib. granulated sugar, moistened with a little cocoanut-milk.
Put the sugar in a saucepan and let it heat slowly. Then
boil rapidly five minutes ; add grated cocoanut, and boil ten
minutes. Stir constantly. Put a little on a cold plate, and if
it makes a firm paste, take from fire. Pour part of it into a
large tin lined with greased paper ; and add to what remains
in the saucepan, chopped blanched almonds, candied cherries,
nuts, etc. Pour this over the other cream, and cut in bars.
Pop- Corn
The corn has to be " popped " over a clear fire in a little
iron basket with a long handle. The corn is put in the basket
and shaken continually, and in time each grain pops suddenly
and becomes a little irregular white ball. These can be eaten
with salt, or rolled in a sweet syrup (colored and flavored as
you like it best) made of y 2 Ib. of white sugar boiled for ten
minutes with a very little water.
The Plainest Toffee
3 oz. butter. 1 Ib. brown sugar.
Stir until done.
310 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
Another Toffee
1 lb. raw sugar. 2 small tablespoonfuls of syrup.
lb. butter. The juice of half a lemon.
Half a teaspoonful of powdered ginger.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, and then add the sugar,
syrup, and ginger. Stir continually, adding a little lemon
juice every now and then. Boil for ten minutes, and then
test in cold water.
Two ounces of blanched and split almonds can be added
to the above. The almonds should either be mixed with the
toffee just before taking it off the fire, or else a well-buttered
dish should be lined with them and the toffee poured over.
To blanch almonds, put them in a bowl and cover them
with boiling water. Put a saucer over the bowl to keep the
steam in, and leave for about three minutes. Then take out
the almonds one by one and rub off their brown skins be-
tween your fingers.
Everton Toffee
1 lb. brown sugar. 1 small cup of water.
* lb. of butter.
Boil the water and sugar together very gently until the
sugar is melted. Then add the butter and boil all together
for half an hour.
Molasses Candy
lb. molasses. lb. brown sugar.
2oz. butter.
Boil all together for half an hour.
Nut Candy
1 pint of chopped nuts. 3 oz. butter.
$ lb. brown sugar. Juice of one lemon.
Tablespoonful of water.
Boil everything, except the nuts, for twenty minutes,
CANDY-MAKING 311
stirring all the time. Test, and if done, add the nuts. Stir
them in thoroughly and pour off into a dish.
Nut Candy (another way)
\ lb. brown sugar. 6 oz. butter.
3 oz. chopped nuts.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the sugar. Boil
from ten to fifteen minutes and then add the nuts. Walnuts,
Brazil nuts, almonds, or peanuts (which have been baked)
may be used.
Peppermint Candy
1 lb. syrup. 2 oz. butter.
1 small teaspoonful of essence of peppermint.
Boil the butter and syrup very gently until the mixture
hardens when tested in water. Add the peppermint and pour
into well-buttered dishes.
Stuffed Dates, etc.
Yery dainty and good sweets can be made without cook-
ing at all. All that is necessary is to have a certain amount
of cream with which to stuff or surround stoned dates, cherries,
and French plums, or walnuts and almonds.
The cream is made in this way. Put the white of an egg
and one ta blespoonf ul of water into a bowl, and into this stir
gradually 1 lb. of confectioner's sugar (confectioner's sugar or
" icing " is the only kind that will do), working it very smooth
with a spoon. This will make a stiff paste, which can be
moulded into whatever shape you please. The cream can
then be divided into different portions, and each portion
flavored as you like best. A few drops of vanilla or lemon
juice, a little grated cocoanut or chocolate, or some pounded
almonds, make excellent flavorings. Part of it can be
colored pink with cochineal, or green with spinach-coloring.
312 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
When this is done, stone some dates, French plums, or
raisins, or blanch some almonds and slit them in two, or have
ready a number of the dried walnuts which can be bought at
any grocer's. Only the perfect halves must be used. Form
some of the cream into little balls and put it between two
walnut halves or two almond halves, or stuff the other fruit
with it. Trim all the sweets very neatly with a knife and
roll them in granulated sugar. This is prettier when it has
been colored pink or green, but there is no necessity to do so.
To color the sugar, mix about 1 oz. with a few drops of
green or pink coloring ; dry it thoroughly, and, if the grains
are not quite free, put the sugar between some paper and roll
it, or crush with an iron.
Another richer mixture for filling dates, etc., can be made
as follows : Mix y 2 Ib. of ground almonds with 1 oz.of ground
pistachios. Beat the whites of 3 eggs to a stiff froth and add
the almonds and y 2 Ib. of confectioner's sugar. Color with
green. Almonds can be bought already ground.
GARDENING
GARDENING
Introductory
ALTHOUGH young America is growing more and
more fond of out of-doors, the lovely old occupation of
gardening is less a favorite than formerly : and this
is a great pity, for if one loves flowers, nothing so repays
labor as gardening. Nor is it necessary to have a large tract
of ground to cultivate. Indeed a tiny piece, well tended, is
both more interesting and more successful. A corner of a
city back-yard even a window-box can be a source of never-
failing entertainment ; although of course a little plot of rich
earth in one part of a lawn or country garden, lends itself to
greater and more extensive plans. The important thing
about growing plants is to like to do it. If you are impatient
of routine and neglectful you should not be intrusted with
plants any more than with animal pets, for they are both en-
tirely dependent on your care.
It is your business, as a gardener, to know everything you
can about your flowers. A gardener should be able to recog-
nize seeds as well as seedlings ; to know what treatment each
flower likes best ; and to exercise a special care for tender
plants which need protection until there is no longer any
danger of frost. The beauty of a flower depends very much
upon its content. Many flowers need particular soils ; some
need dry soil, some moisture, some shade, and some sun ; and
the gardener, who is a kind of mother to the flowers, will
have to remember all those things. In return, the flowers,
316 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
which have a real sense of gratitude to those who care for
them tenderly, will do their best to grow beautiful.
It is best to begin with a few flowers and to learn all
that one can about these. Annuals will scarcely ever fail if
carefully sown in good soil. In making your choice, choose
so that you will have flowers from spring to autumn. Peren-
nial plants are the most satisfactory of all to grow ; for once
planted they need only a very little attention and increase in
size each year. Bulbs produce some of the most beautiful
flowers and are very easy to grow. But great care must be
taken not to dig into them after their blossoms have died
down.
Besides those flowers for the growing of which directions
are hereafter given there are many tender ones which must be
raised in frames. This is a part of gardening which can
well be left until later and upon which instructions can be
found in any more advanced book on horticulture.
Color in the Garden
In arranging a garden, select flowers which will keep it
full of blossom from May to October, and remember when
planting and sowing that some colors are more beautiful to-
gether than others. The color arrangement of a garden is
always difficult, but one must learn by experience. Scarlet
and crimson, crimson and blue, should not be put together,
and magenta-colored flowers are never satisfactory. Whites
and yellows, and whites and blues, are always suitable to-
gether, and for the rest you must please yourself.
The Use of Catalogues
A good catalogue gives illustrations of most flowers, and
in many cases its cultural directions are very helpful. As an
extension of the notes that follow nothing could be more use-
ful than two or three catalogues issued by good growers.
GARDENING 317
Gardening Diaries
It is a good thing for a gardener to keep a diary. At the
beginning of the book he would make a plan of the garden, to
scale : that is to say, allowing one inch, or more, in the plan
for every foot of bed. In this plan would be marked the po-
sition of the bulbs and perennial plants. The diary would
take note of everything that happened in the garden. The
sowing of seeds would be recorded ; also when the seedlings
first appear ; when they are thinned out, and when they blos-
som : in fact, everything to do with the life of the plants. A
little collection of drawings of seedlings would be of great
use in helping to distinguish them another year. At the end
of the book might be written the names of any plants that the
owner would like to have, or any special information about
the culture of a plant, or the description of some arrangement
which had been admired in another garden.
Flower-Shows
Where several children have gardens in the same big
garden, or the same neighborhood, a flower-show is very in-
teresting to hold now and then. To do this it is needful first
to find some one willing to act as judge, and if agreeable
to give several small prizes in addition to certificates of merit.
The different things for which prizes are offered will depend,
of course, upon what the competitors can grow. There might
be prizes for different flowers, for collections of flowers, and
for lettuces or radishes, if there are enough competitors who
grow such things. But the most important prize would go
perhaps to the owner of the best-kept garden. Another for
the bent arrangement of bunches of flowers, garden and wild,
might lead to some very pretty bouquets.
318 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
Tools
For simple gardening the following tools are needed :
spade, trowel, hoe, rake, watering-can with a tine rose, syringe.
They should all be strong and good. Besides these tools you
will need either wooden labels or other home-made means of
marking seeds, some strong sticks to use as supports for tall-
growing plants, and tape to tie them up with. A pair of
gloves any old ones will do is very necessary.
Watering
Plants should never be watered when the sun is shining
on them. Early morning in spring, and late afternoon or
early evening in summer, is the best time. It is best to water
with water which has had the chill taken from it by standing
in the sun or in the house. In watering seedlings and tiny
plants, keep the rose on your watering-can; but with big
plants it is better to take off the rose and pour the water
gently, waiting every now and then for it to sink in round
their roots. If the ground is very dry and baked, break up
the surface of it round the plants with a rake, or push a fork
carefully into the earth. This will help the water to sink in.
Water very regularly during hot and dry weather. It is
very hard on your plants to give them a splendid drink one
day and to forget all about them for a week.
Ferns should have a gentle spray bath every afternoon if
you want to keep them fresh and green, and all leaves look
the brighter for a shower from your watering-can.
Perennial plants, annuals, and rose-trees will greatly
benefit if watered with slop-water while they are flowering.
Wall Pockets
If your garden is very small, but is against a sunny wall,
the growing room can be increased by fixing a number of
GARDENING 319
pockets, made of wood or of flower-pots, against the wall.
These should be filled with good soil, and in them wallflowers,
pinks, bulbs of different kinds, Wandering Jew, and some
varieties of wild-flowers, etc., can be planted.
Borders
The first thing to do when a plot has been given to you,
is to mark it off clearly with a border. There are several
ways of doing this. Gardens are sometimes bordered with
escallop shells, which are neat enough but seem rather out of
place among flowers. Tiles make another tidy artificial bor-
der ; but the best is made of natural rough stones from six to
twelve inches long. These stones, which should be sunk into
a groove, are soon covered with patches of green moss, and
if between their irregular ends you drop a few seeds of low
growing annuals, such as candytuft ; or plant little pieces of
thyme, blue forget-me-not, or any kind of rockfoil or stone-
crop, the border will become one of the prettiest things in the
garden. If you prefer a growing boundary, a very nice stiff
little hedge can be made by sowing endive in a line all round
the garden, and, after allowing it to run to seed, cutting and
trimming it. But of course there is no natural border to com-
pare with box ; but to get a good box hedge is a tedious
matter.
Annuals
The seeds of all annuals can be sown from March until
June according to the locality. Any one in the neighborhood
who has gardened for some years can tell you when to plant
better than any catalogue. The seeds of favorite flowers
should be sown several times at intervals of a fortnight, so
that you may have a succession of them through summer and
autumn.
320 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
Preparations for Sowing
Before sowing any seeds, see that the soil is nicely broken
up, and remove any stones.
When you have decided where to sow the different seeds,
take away a little earth from each place and sow the seeds
very thinly remembering that each plant must be from four
inches to twelve inches apart ; cover lightly with the earth
you took out and press it down firmly with your trowel.
Then mark the place with little pieces of white wood, on
which the names of the seeds have been written with an in-
delible pencil. It is much easier to sow the tiny seeds thinly
if you first mix them with a little sand. These must be only
just covered by a very fine sprinkling of earth ; but sweet-pea
and nasturtium must be sown deeper.
Thinning Out and Transplanting
Begin to thin out the seedlings very soon after they ap-
pear, and be very careful not to pull up too many. It is
easiest to thin out when the soil is wet. When the seedlings
are two inches high only those which you wish to keep should
be left in. It is not very easy to say exactly how much room
to leave the different plants, but plants which will be siy
inches high should be about three inches apart ; those which
will be one foot high about six inches, and so on. Godetia,
nasturtium, love-in-a-mist, sweet-pea, cornflower, and larkspur
seedlings can be transplanted when about two inches high, if
you find you want them where they have not been sown. To
do this water the ground well first, and then pull the seed-
lings out so gently that none of their tiny fibrous roots are
snapped ; and, if possible, bring away a little earth with each.
Re-plant them as quickly as you can, making for each a little
hole big enough for the roots to spread out in. Hold the
seedling in position, and fill in with very moist earth ; or else,
GARDENING 321
after you have made the hole, fill it up with water, then put
back some of the earth and stir it up into a sort of paste, and
put the seedling in this, filling up the hole with the rest of
the earth. Seedlings that have been transplanted must be
kept moist until they have taken a good start, and if possible
they should be shaded with a branch of evergreen, for they
droop very quickly in the heat.
All seedlings must be watered gently and often. If you
notice how quickly the sun dries the surface of the ground,
you will see how necessary it is to keep the ground moist un-
til the roots get bigger and go down deep into the earth.
Weeds and Seedlings
It is most important to know what the baby-plants will
look like when they come up, because one has to weed hard
in the warm showery weather, and if one is not careful, mig-
nonette, sweet-peas, and poppies may go on the rubbish heap,
and chickweed and purseley be left on the flower-bed ; which,
although it is what the birds like, will, later, be very dis-
heartening to you. Of course, if your seeds are well marked,
there will be less difficulty, but even then weeds will come up
amongst them. The only safe way is to get to know the ap-
pearance of all the seedlings, and to help you to remember it
is a good thing to make little drawings of them in your gar-
den note-book.
Autumn Sowing
Some seeds, such as cornflowers, godetias, and poppies,
can be sown in the autumn. They will stand the winter as a
rule and will make finer plants and blossom earlier than if
sown in spring. They should be sown thinly in open ground.
Anv good catalogue will give you a list of annuals suit-
322 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
able for your purposes and with a little advice from an oldei
gardener you will have no difficulty in selecting wisely.
Biennials
These are best sown in May. If the garden is full
they may be sown in an ordinary wooden box filled with sev-
eral inches of good earth. Transplant them to their perma-
nent places later on.
Remember that all plants will flower for a much longer
time if the flowers are kept cut and any faded ones taken off.
Saving Seed
The best seed is saved from plants set apart for that pur-
pose ; for good seed comes from the first and finest flowers and
not from those left over at the end of the flowering season.
These plants should be sown in a little patch by themselves
should be allowed to run to seed, and carefully tended until
the seed-pods are ripe enough to be gathered. If, therefore,
you have not a large garden, it is best to buy most of your
seed each year, using a little of your own, from which, how-
ever, you must not always expect the finest flowers. If you
have no wish to keep any of your flowers merely for seeding
purposes but still want, while getting flowers from them, also
to save a few seeds, the thing to do is to mark one or two of
the finest blossoms with a tiny piece of wool or silk (it is
better when it is the color of the flower) and let it go to seed.
Take special care of the plant, and cut off all other flowers as
you wish to gather them. Watch the seed-pods when they
are formed, and when they are ripe that is, brown and dry
cut them off, break them open, and spread the seeds out.
Look them over very carefully to see that there are no maggots
amongst them, and if they are at all damp leave them in a
warm place until they are dry. Then make them up in little
GARDENING 323
packets, clearly labeled with their names, colors, and the date,
and put them away in a dry place until next spring. In sav-
ing sunflower seeds choose your best sunflower, and when the
petals have fallen tie it up in muslin, or else the birds will
steal a inarch on you. In gathering sweet-pea pods one has
to be rather clever, because when they are quite ripe they
burst open and the seeds fly out suddenly, sometimes just as
one is going to cut them. In one poppy pod there are hun-
dreds of seeds, enough to stock a garden, and the same is the
case with the pretty pods of love-in-a-mist. Nasturtium seeds
should be picked up when they fall on the ground, and spread
out until quite brown and dry. Cornflowers, which have
little seeds like shaving-brushes, generally sow themselves,
and marigolds do too, but they are both easy to save. In
choosing a place in which to keep seeds through the winter
remember that damp is not the only danger. Mice enjoy
them thoroughly.
Perennials
Perennials are plants which, although they die down in
winter, come up again and blossom every following spring
or summer. They can be grown from seed, but, with a few
exceptions, this is a long and troublesome part of gardening,
and it is best to get them from friends or from a nurseryman.
Planting Perennials
The best months for planting perennials are November,
February, and March. Dig a hole large enough to take the
roots when well spread out, hold your plant in position, with
the junction of stem and root just below the level of the earth,
and fill in gently with fine soil, pressing it down firmly all
round the plant, and if there is danger of frost protect the
plants with straw, bracken, or a mulching of manure. Never
rater if there is any likelihood of frost.
324 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
Here follow some general remarks concerning the treat-
ment of perennials through the spring, summer, and au-
tumn :
Slugs
In the spring, slugs, which eat the tender new leaves of
many plants, can be kept away by sprinkling coal-ash around
them.
Watering
In hot weather, water perennials regularly and well,
breaking up earth around them so that the water sinks in
easily.
Supports
All tall-growing perennials will need stakes to support
them. Care must be taken not to injure the roots when
putting these in. The stalks can be tied with twine.
Dividing
Perennials can be divided if they grow too large. With
summer-flowering plants this should be done in October or
November, and with spring-flowering plants in June. In
dividing you simply dig up the plant and break off as much
of it as you want, being careful not to injure the roots. As,
however, there are many plants which, to be divided, must be
cut, and as this is an operation which requires some skill and
knowledge, it would perhaps be better to take advice.
Perennials From Seed
Snapdragon, wallflower, pansies, and hollyhocks are very
easily grown from seed. They can be sown in June (wall-
flowers are best sown in April) in boxes, and thinned out and
transplanted to permanent places as soon as they are large
enough. They will blossom the following year.
GARDENING 325
Seedlings
Seedlings of most perennials can be bought for a few
cents a dozen. They should be planted as quickly as possible
and watered well, and they will flower the following year.
Consult a good nurseryman's catalogue for a list of hardy
perennials, as for the annuals.
Bulbs General Remarks
A garden that is planted only with bulbs, or with bulbs
and a few ferns, can be kept beautiful all the year round.
Many of our loveliest flowers come from bulbs, and they are
easy to grow and interesting to watch from the moment that
the first leaf-tips push through the earth until they die down.
The position of all bulbs should be very carefully marked on
the beds and in your garden-plan, so that you will not cut or
injure them when digging your garden over.
The first bulbs to come through the snow sometimes
are the snowdrops, single and double, crocuses yellow, pur-
ple, lilac, and striped and then the tiny bright blue squills ;
and a little later the yellow daffodil and white narcissus, hya-
cinths, and tulips of every kind. Then white, red, and pur-
ple anemones, ranunculi, and wax-like Stars of Bethlehem.
In June there are wonderful irises and tall spikes of summer-
flowering gladiolus red and white and later still the tall
garden lilies. There are many of these lilies, and all of them
are exceedingly beautiful. Two kinds should be in all gardens
- the white Madonna lily, and the orange tiger lily. All the
bulbs that have been mentioned cost very little and can be
grown very simply. And all bulbs that have been mentioned
can remain untouched for many years unless they exhaust the
soil around them (when, instead of increasing as they should
each year, the plants become poorer and smaller).
Never move a bulb when it is in active growth : after the
leaves have died down is the right time.
326 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
Leaf-mould mixed with your garden soil will help to give
you fine flowers.
If the leaves of the bulbs are attacked by slugs, as they
often are, sprinkle a little wood-ash all around them.
Planting Bulbs
For planting bulbs choose a day when the earth is dry,
and make your holes with a trowel. If you want to make a
clump of bulb-plants, take away the earth to the right depth
from the whole area you wish to fill, place your bulbs in posi-
tion, points upward, and cover over, pressing the earth firmly
down.
In planting a bulb in a hole made for it by a trowel, be
very careful to see that it is resting on earth, and is not
" hung," that is to say, kept from touching the earth under-
neath because of the narrowness of the hole.
All bulbs may be protected during the winter by laying
hay or straw over them. This must be neatly pegged down,
and removed in March.
Cutting Leaves
Never cut all the leaves of plants growing from bulbs, but
allow those that are unpicked to die down naturally. If they
look very untidy, as the leaves of the Star of Bethlehem
always do, tie them up tightly. Seeds of annuals can always
be sown among bulbs, and they will hide dying leaves and fill
up the places that are left vacant.
Shades
" Shades " are subterranean gardens : holes in the ground,
some eighteen inches deep and about a foot square (or larger),
the sides of which are covered with moss and little ferns. At
the bottom you can sink a pot or a tin, which must always
be kept filled with water. It is more interesting if a toad
GARDENING 327
or a frog lives there. Over the hole stands a shade made of
glass and wood, which, together with the water, keeps it cool
and moist.
Kitchen Gardens
If you want to grow other things besides flowers, lettuces,
radishes, and mustard and cress are interesting to raise.
Strawberries, too, are easy to cultivate, but they need some
patience, as the first year's growth brings very few berries.
In sowing the seeds of lettuce, radish, and mustard and cress,
follow directions given for sowing flower seeds on page 320.
If you want to grow even the few things mentioned, which
need only very simple culture, the soil of the garden must
be good.
Lettuce
Sow a few seeds of lettuce very thinly in a line once every
three weeks. When the seedlings, which should be protected
from birds by netting, are three inches high, thin them out,
leaving one foot between each plant. The seedlings that are
pulled up can be transplanted or eaten. Transplanted let-
tuces should be shaded during hot weather and given plenty
of water. During dry and hot weather you may water let-
tuces every day.
Radishes
Sow a few radish seeds thinly once every three weeks,
and cover very lightly with earth. These seedlings also must
be protected by netting from birds, and must have plenty of
water, or the radishes will become stringy and poor. In
summer sow in a shady place.
Mustard and Cress
Mustard and cress seed can be sown at any time and is
almost sure to be successful. In very hot weather sow in the
328 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
shade, or protect from the sun in the middle of the day. The
cress should always be sown three days before the mustard.
It is a favorite device to sow one's name in mustard and cress.
For other ways of treating it, see page 332.
Strawberries
Plant strawberries carefully in August or September.
Dig a hole for each plant and spread the roots well out. Hold
the plant while filling in the earth, so that that part of it
where root and stem join comes just below the soil. Each
plant should be eighteen inches from its neighbor. Cut off all
runners that is, the long weedy stems which the plants
throw out in spring, and water well if the weather is dry.
Protect the strawberries from birds, and watch very carefully
for slugs, which are greedy straw berry -eaters. When the
fruit begins to form, lay some straw on the earth under and
between the plants. This will keep the berries clean.
Town Gardens
So far, we have been speaking of gardens in the country,
or, at any rate, not among houses. There are many more
difficulties to contend with in town gardening ; there is more
uncertainty, and often less reward for the greatest care, than
in country gardening ; but the flowers that do grow seem so
sweet between dull walls and under smoky chimneys, that one
can forget how much more luxuriant they could be in other
circumstances.
Flowers for Towns
The following list of annuals, perennials, and bulbs which
grow well in the heart of towns, though it is not complete,
contains enough plants to fill a garden :
GARDENING 329
ANNUALS. PERENNIALS. BULBS.
Alyssum. Jap. Anemones. Crocuses.
Candytuft. Campanulas. Daffodils.
Collinsia. Delphiniums. Hyacinths.
Coreopsis. Flags. Madonna Lilies.
Mignonette. Gaillardias. Squills.
Nasturtiums. Pinks. Spanish Irises.
Poppies. Sunflowers. Tulips.
Sunflowers. Wallflowers. Winter Aconite.
In addition to the plants mentioned above, hardy ferns
grow well, and so do lilies of the valley, and stonecrops and
saxifrages. Wandering Jew will also thrive, and the canary
creeper grows as well in town as in the country.
In summer, geraniums, fuchsias, heliotrope which must
be well watered pansies, lemon verbena, and scented gera-
niums, can be planted out.
Roses do not do very well in towns ; but hardy ones will
grow quite enough flowers to make the possession of them a
great delight.
Indoor Gardening and Window Boxes Precautions
A window full of flowers and green plants makes all the
difference to a room. There are always certain difficulties
about growing plants in a room ; but these may, however, be
partly overcome. One is the great change of temperature
between day and night in winter ; another is the very evil
effect of gas on plants ; and a third is the presence of dust.
The difference of temperature is met to a great extent by
taking the flowers away from the window at night and putting
them in the middle of the room. This is specially necessary
when there is any danger of frost. If gas is burned in the
room where plants are all da}% it is wise at evening to take
the trouble to move them into another room, for nothing
injures them more. As to dust, ferns and plants which have
330 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
smooth leaves should be gently sponged with warm watei
once a week, or else the pores will be so choked that the plants
will not be able to breathe. Those plants which cannot be
sponged, such as fine-leafed ferns, geraniums, etc., should be
gently sprayed occasionally, or, in warm weather, placed out-
of-doors during a soft shower. When a room is being cleaned,
the plants should either be taken away or covered with soft
paper.
The window chosen for your plants should be a sunny
one and as draughtless as may be. It should not be opened
unless the day is very mild. One thing to remember is that
wherever the plants are they should have as much sun, as
equal a temperature, and as little draught as possible.
Watering
No exact rule can be given for watering ; but it should
be noted that water ought never to be allowed to stand in the
saucers. In winter, one good watering a week with luke-
warm water, applied in the morning, will be sufficient. In
spring, when the plant is more active, more water will be
needed, and in summer constant attention must be given to
watering. Kemember, that not only the surface but the
whole soil needs moistening.
Flower-Pots
In spring time, if the plants seem to have outgrown their
pots, or if they are not thriving well, re-pot them in larger
pots with the best earth you can get. Water well after re-
potting.
Turn the plants round every day, as the sun always draws
them toward it.
GARDENING 331
Indoor Plants
A list follows of suitable plants to be grown indoors.
Green plants are mentioned first.
Aspidistra. Of all green giants the aspidistra is the
best to grow indoors. (This plant indeed is so hardy that it
will stand not only draught but even a certain amount of gas.)
Its smooth, beautiful leaves should be carefully sponged every
week.
India-rubber Plant. The india-rubber plant is a verj
handsome, smooth, bright-leaved plant. It should not be
given too much water.
Ferns. Several hardy ferns grow well in a window.
The maidenhair is very beautiful while it lasts, but it is a
poor thing the second year unless it can be put into a green-
house and cared for.
Ivy. Small-leaved variegated ivy will grow under al-
most any conditions. Its leaves should be kept clean. If
grown up a small trellis it is very pretty.
Japanese Fern Balls. In February and March one can
buy Japanese fern balls. The balls have to be soaked for
two or three hours in water (rainwater if possible) and then
drained and hung up in a window where there is not too much
sun. They should be watered three times a week. Gradually
the delicate ferns will grow and unfold until the whole ball is
a mass of green. In November they should be put away in a
cool dark place until the following February, when they can
be started again.
Miniature Trees. Fine little trees can be grown from
chestnuts, beechnuts, acorns, and hazel-nuts. Collect the nuts
as they fall and leave them in a dark place, until about two
weeks before Christmas, when you lay them in bowls full of
wet moss or in pots filled with earth, and put them in a warm
dark place near hot pipes, or in a warm cupboard. This
332 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
warmth will start the root growth. When the root is two
inches long, fill a bowl with moss or pebbles, lay the nuts on
the top so that they are only half covered, with the roots down-
ward, and keep in a room where they will have plenty of
light. Water frequently but do not let much water stand in
the bowl.
Wheat or Canary Seed. Wheat or canary seed can be
sown in any kind of dish, the bottom of which is covered with
wet moss. Sow the seed thickly and then keep the dish in a
dark cupboard until the seedlings are about two inches high.
Then place it in a sunny window. The seed, which will take
about three weeks to grow, makes a beautiful patch of clear
light green in a room. Keep the moss wet.
Mustard and Cress can be sown in pots or on pieces of
wet flannel.
Campanulas. Blue and white campanulas are grown
in almost every cottage window, and they are very beautiful
and graceful. They can be grown in pots, but are prettiest
in baskets from which to hang down.
Fuchsias and Geraniums. Both fuchsias and geraniums
are gay and delightful plants for a room. Good kinds should be
bought in early summer and well watered. In winter the
plants should be kept in a cool dark place, until with the com-
ing of spring they begin to grow again. Both can very easily
be increased by cuttings. To do this take off a shoot of about
four inches long, cutting it off just below a joint. Then pull
off the leaves just above the joint and put it into some earth
in a sunny corner and water it well. In about a month roots
will have formed and it can then be potted.
Bulbs. Bulbs, such as tulips, iris, daffodils, crocuses,
scillas, and snowdrops, can be grown in pots or deep earthen-
ware saucers that have been filled with cocoanut fibre. This
can be bought at any florist's. A little shell, shingle, or sand,
GARDENING 333
can be mixed with the fibre, and a piece of charcoal should
be put at the bottom of the pot to keep it sweet. The bulbs
need only to be covered with a thin layer of damp fibre.
Water regularly, as they must never get dry. If your pot
has no drainage hole it is a good thing a little while after
watering to turn it gently on one side so that any water
which has not been soaked up by the fibre can run off.
Bulbs can also be grown indoors in earth. Plant them
in October just below the soil, and keep them in a cool dark
place until they have made a little growth. Then bring to a
sunny window. Horsfieldii narcissus, poly an thus- flowered
narcissus, and yellow jonquils, grow well, and so do tulips,
hyacinths, and crocuses. In a sunny window the Scarborough
lily ( Vallota purpurea) can be grown. It is a very gorgeous
and imposing red flower which blossoms in August and Sep-
tember. It should be planted in autumn and plenty of room
allowed for its roots.
The Good-Luck Lily, which is a strong and beautiful
polyanthus narcissus, can be grown in bowls filled with peb-
bles and water. Fill the bowl almost to the top with clean
pebbles (which can be brought from the seashore), and among
them plant the bulbs and fill up with water which must be
added to as it evaporates. Among the pebbles put two or
three pieces of charcoal.
Bulbs in Glasses
Hyacinths and daffodils can also be grown in glasses filled
with water, either glasses sold for the purpose, or any kind
into the necks of which the bulbs will fit. The bulb should
be placed in the glass in October, and should not quite touch
the water. Use good fresh water and put a little piece of
charcoal in the glass. Change the water once a week. In
warm sunny weather the hyacinths can be put out of doors
for a little while every day.
334 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
Window Boxes
One cannot grow very many things in a window box, but
it is most interesting to grow a few. In a, town it is often all
the garden that many people possess.
The length of a window-box will depend on the size of
the window. Its depth should be ten inches at least. At the
bottom of the box some cinders or other rough material
should be put, and then it should be filled up with the best
earth you can get. And because of the difference it makes to
the growth of your flowers it is worth while to take a great
deal of trouble in getting good, rich mould. The earth may
be kept level, or heaped up at one or both ends, and a few
stones added to make a tiny rockery, in which you can grow
small saxifrages and other rock plants.
Flowers for Window-Boxes
Nasturtiums and canary creeper can climb up a little
trellis made of sticks at each end of the box, or they can cling
to strings fixed to the box and nailed high up at the side of
the window. Wandering Jew or ivy-leaved geranium will
fall over the front of the box and make it look very gay.
Bulbs, such as winter aconite, squills, snowdrops, a few
daffodils, tulips and irises, will grow well in boxes. These
should be planted rather deep. Then primroses and forget-
me-nots can be planted, and in May a border of lobelia, one
or two geraniums, pansies, fuchsias, a plant of lemon verbena,
and some musk. Mignonette, Virginia stock, collinsia, should
be sown in spring in little patches or lines.
Keep the leaves of all the plants as clean as possible by
gentle watering with a rose. Never let the earth get dry
from neglect, or sodden from too much watering ; yet water
well, for driblets only affect the surface, and it is the roots far
down in the box that need moisture.
GARDENING 335
Cutting Flowers and Packing Them Flowers for Post
It is best, if possible, to pick flowers the day before you
want to send them off. Pick them in the afternoon, sort
them and bunch them up, and then stand them in water right
up to their heads, and keep them there over night. A basin
is the best thing to put the flowers in, unless the stalks are
very long, and a jam-pot or two in the water will help to keep
them from tumbling over and drifting about. Be very careful
that the blooms do not touch the water. Keep the flowers in
water until you are ready to pack them. Tin boxes are best
to send flowers away in ; but generally one has to use card-
board ones. Choose the strongest you can find and line it
with two sheets of paper, one across and one long ways, and each
long enough to fold over when it is full. Then line again
with some big cool leaves or moss. Dry the flowers and pack
them as tightly as possible, taking great care not to crush the
petals. Cover them with a few more leaves and fold the
paper over. Then wrap up the box, remembering to write
the address on a label tied at one end of the box, so that the
postmark will not be stamped on the box itself and perhaps
break it.
Picking Flowers
"When you are picking flowers to send away, never pick
old ones. Buds are best generally, especially in the case of
poppies ; but they should be buds just on the point of opening.
Always use scissors to cut flowers with. A very slight tug at
a little plant in dry weather pulls its roots out of the ground.
Cut the flowers with long stems and with some of their green
leaves, and at the top of the box that you are sending away
it is pleasant always to put something which smells very
sweetly lemon verbena, or mignonette for that first sweet
scent is one of the very best things about receiving a present
of this kind.
336 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
The Reception of Flowers
When flowers are sent to you, each stem should be cut
with a slanting cut before you put it in water. Flowers with
very thick or milky stems should be slit up about half an inch,
and woody stems are best peeled for an inch or two. Put the
flowers deep into water that has had the chill taken off it.
Always put flowers in water as quickly as possible after they
are picked. Change the water every day, and recut the stems
if they look at all brown or dry.
PETS
PETS
IN no case do the following hints as to the care and char-
acter of pets go so far as they might. But they lay
down broadly the most useful rules. In cases where a
dog or bird is really ill, and ordinary remedies and treatment
do not help, the advice of some one who knows should be
asked. It is because all children are in touch with some one
who knows, that this chapter is not longer. The aim of the
writer of most of the notes which follow has been to describe
those creatures which are most commonly kept as pets, with a
few suggestions as to their care in ordinary health.
Dogs : Their Care and Food
All dogs need plenty of exercise ; indeed it is scarcely
possible to give them too much when once they are over six
months of age. After twelve months they can follow a
horse, but a bicycle as a rule is too fast for a dog, and the ex-
cessive exertion is likely to make them ill. Plenty of fresh
air and freedom are necessary, and your dog should never be
chained except at night, when he should have a snug bed
away from any draught. The house is the best place for a
dog to sleep, but should he live in a kennel it must be a
roomy one, filled two or three times a week with clean straw
and raised from the ground about six inches so that it will
keep dry. Kennels with runs in front are the best, as then
the dog need never be chained. In these there should be a
wooden bench for him to lie on, sheltered by a sloping roof.
An earthenware trough of clean water he must always have,
and most dogs will do best if they are fed twice a day : a light
339
340 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
breakfast of biscuit or brown bread and a good dinner of
scraps or dog-biscuit soaked in gravy with vegetables and
plenty of rice. A rounded leather collar is best for dogs with
long hair, as it does not show so much or spoil the coat, but
for smooth-coated dogs a flat plain collar is best.
Washing Dogs
Dogs should not be washed very often, nor will this be
necessary if they are well brushed every day. A stable
dandy-brush is best for short-coated dogs, and a hard hair-
brush, or one of those with metal bristles, which can be
bought in most saddlers' shops, for long-coated ones.
Common yellow soap and soft thick towels should be
used when your dog really needs a bath. Have a pailful of
warm water, a pitcher to dip it up with, a piece of mild yellow
soap, and a pail of cold water. Pour a little warm water over
the dog, beginning with his back, shoulders, and sides, and
finish with his head, rubbing the soap into a lather all over
him at the same time. Be careful not to let any water into
his ears, or soap into his eyes. Next rinse the soap well out of
his coat with the warm water, beginning with the head.
Then pour the cold water all over him and let him shake him-
self well. Kub him dry with towels and give him a run on
grass. Big dogs must be washed in a yard, but you can put a
little one in the tub indoors. All dogs are better for some-
thing to eat after a bath. To swimmers a plunge in a pond
or river is good exercise and a tonic ; but dogs should not be
thrown in.
Feeding Puppies
Puppies at first need feeding five times a day. At four
months old four meals will do. At twelve months they settle
down into grown-up dogs, and the two meals are sufficient.
PETS 341
Do not feed them later than six o'clock, and always give them
a walk after their last meal. A few dry dog-biscuits when
they go to bed will do no harm, and a large mutton or beef
bone now and then will do them good, but small bones are
very dangerous, as they splinter and may kill or seriously
injure the dog.
Distemper
Young dogs are almost sure to have distemper, and if a
puppy about six or eight months old is depressed and quiet,
and his eyes look inflamed, you should put him away by him-
self at once, sew him up in thick warm flannel, bathe his eyes
with cold tea, and attend very carefully to his diet. It will
be difficult to make him eat, but you must coax him and even
pour strong beef- tea or milk down his throat, for if he does
not eat he will have no strength to fight the disease. Tripe is
the best food for him if he will take it, but try everything to
tempt him, and give him as much as he will take. When you
take your patient for a walk (and he will need exercise) do
not take him where he may meet other dogs, for distemper is
very infectious. Put an extra coat over him, wrapping it
well round his throat and chest. Distemper is a fever, and
the risk of chill is very great ; it means inflammation of some
sort from which the dog being weak is not likely to recover.
It is always best to call in a veterinary surgeon when a dog
shows symptoms of distemper.
Tricks for Dogs
If your dog is a terrier there is no end to the tricks you
can teach him. Always begin by teaching him to " trust,"
for it is the foundation of his training, and he will learn it
before he is two months old. Do not keep him " on trust "
for more than a second or two at first, but gradually make
the time longer, until he will let you leave the room and not
342 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
touch the biscuit until you return. Then you can teach him
to die, and waltz, sing, ask, box, and beg. Treat him always
with patience and firmness; be quick to reward but never
give in to him. You will, of course, bear in mind the char-
acter of the dog in teaching him tricks. Dogs of dignified
nature, such as St. Bernards, mastiffs, Great Danes, and deer-
hounds, for example, you would not labor to transform into
performers. The best dogs of all for teaching elaborately
are poodles.
What is Due to Dogs
Do not overdo your mastership. Remember that a dog
needs much liberty and independence to develop his individu-
ality, and an enterprising puppy learns more by observation
and experience in a week than a pampered lap-dog does in his
whole life ; he learns self-reliance, but he will always run to
his master or mistress in any real difficulty, and you who are
his master or mistress must be wary not to misunderstand or
disregard him, for he needs sympathy and love, and if he
does not get them he either becomes cowed and stupid or a
ne'er-do-weel.
Buying Dogs
If you wish to buy a dog, the best way is to get the cata-
logue of some big dog show, and find the address of a well-
known breeder of the kind of dog you wish to have. If you
write to him and tell him exactly what you want he will
probably send you a suitable puppy at a fair price. If you
think of buying through an advertisement, have the dog on
approval first. Another objection to buying a dog at all
casually is that you will not know either his temper, which is
generally inherited, or his age. In all cases it is best to buy
puppies and train them yourself. This means a good deal of
trouble at first, and takes time and patience, but the younger
PETS 343
the puppy the easier he is to train. The best age is about
five weeks old. With constant attention day and night for a
few weeks you will have a perfectly trained dog who will be
a perfect companion to you for years.
Brief descriptions of some of the best known dogs are
here given, beginning with terriers :
The Bull-Terrier
The bull-terrier is very discriminating in his attachments
and does not easily lose his temper, or, as a rule, fight, unless
he is unduly excited. He is such a nervous dog that if he is
roughly treated he is apt to become a coward, but there is no
truer, more faithful friend than a properly trained terrier of
this breed.
The Fox-Terrier
The fox-terrier is often a restless fidgety dog in a house ;
indeed, to keep him much in the house seems to affect his in-
telligence. He fights readily, but a strong master can alter
that. In sharpness and brightness and hardiness he is not to
be beaten, and no dog is more inquisitive and full of spirits.
Perhaps of little dogs he is the best.
The Irish Terrier
The greatest fault of the Irish terrier is his fondness for
barking unnecessarily ; but he is particularly intelligent,
active, and vigorous, and will learn any trick your ingenuity
can devise for him.
Other Terriers
There are many other terriers the Skye, with coat
nearly sweeping the ground ; the black and tan, the Welsh
terrier, and others less well known ; but for pluck, brains, and
fidelity, it is impossible to beat bull-terriers.
344 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
Spaniels
Of all spaniels the Clumber is the most intelligent and
beautiful ; he is also, although not a very demonstrative dog,
very sincere in his devotion to his master.
The Cocker is a small spaniel: an active, merry little
fellow who can be taught to retrieve. The black spaniel and
the liver-colored Sussex are, like the Clumber, of the oldest
and best breeds, and the Sussex variety makes an excellent
house dog. He is quiet and dignified and has very good
manners. The common Norfolk spaniel is intelligent, a good
water dog, and a faithful companion. A satisfactory puppy
should not cost more than five dollars. He and the Cocker
are the best of the spaniels as pets, although these two breeds
are also capable of good work in the field if carefully trained.
The Retriever
Retrievers occasionally make good companions, but for
the most part they are dogs of one idea retrieving and
have little interest in using their intelligence in any other
direction.
Setters
The setter is a wise and affectionate animal. He is full
of spirit and needs careful training, but train him well as a
puppy and you will be able to take him everywhere with
you, for he is a very gallant and courteous gentleman. In
color the English setter varies with the different breeds. The
Gordon setter is black and tan, and the Irish is red.
The Collie
The reputation for uncertain temper which collies have is
not well grounded. They are excitable, it is true, and apt to
snap if you romp too long and wildly with them, and they do
not take correction kindly ; but people who have owned
PETS 345
many specimens of this beautiful breed testify to having
found them always loving and sagacious. A collie should al-
ways belong to one person ; many masters make him too
universal in his affections, and under these circumstances he
does not develop intelligently. The collie at work is the
wisest of dogs, he knows each individual sheep in his care,
and in snow or mist will bring every one to the fold before
he rests.
Collies may be taught to play hide-and-seek a game
they are very fond of. First hide a ball in the room and
help the dog to find it, and by degrees he will find anything
by himself and will seek all over the house and garden.
Among bad habits many collies have the serious one of run-
ning round and barking at horses. This should be checked by
keeping the dog strictly to heel where he is likely to meet
any traffic.
The Sheep Dog
The old English bob-tailed sheep dog is a bouncing,
rough-and-ready fellow. He is not suitable for a house dog,
but he is honest and true and a good worker, and one can get
extremely fond of him.
The Newfoundland
The Newfoundland is one of the grandest of beasts. The
true Newfoundland is black all over, except for a white star
on the chest, and he stands at least twenty-seven inches at the
shoulder. The black-and-white specimens are called Landseer
Newfoundlands, on account of the famous painter's fondness
for them. In character these dogs are dignified and magnan-
imous, and they are particularly good with children. Many
stories are told of their gallant efforts in saving life from
drowning. The Newfoundland is used for draught in the
island from which he takes his name.
346 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW *
The Mastiff
The mastiff is the best of all guards ; it is more pure in-
stinct with him to guard his master's property than it is with
any other breed. He is honest through and through, and as
a rule he is gentle and a good companion.
The Bull-Dog
The bull-dog is stupid and not particularly affectionate.
Although excitable he is not quarrelsome or savage, and if
reasonably treated no doubt would make a quiet, faithful pet.
A not too highly bred bull-dog is likely to be more intelligent
than his very blue-blooded relations.
The St. Bernard
The most majestic of dogs is the St. Bernard. He is
high-couraged and sagacious and very discriminating in his
devotion. Once your friend, he is always your friend. Al-
though with you he never makes a mistake, he is apt to growl
at strangers, and is not to be relied on to be polite to visitors.
If you have one of the rough-coated variety you must groom
him regularly and take great care of him, as he is a delicate
dog and subject to weakness in the back and hind legs if he is
allowed to get wet or lie on damp ground.
The Great Dane
The Great Dane, or boarhound, is a powerful and active
dog. His appearance is suggestive almost of a wild beast,
and he is particularly well fitted to act as guard. He is gentle
and manageable with those he knows, and his great courage,
intelligence, and strength make him a most desirable com-
panion.
Hounds
Of hounds that hunt by sight we have the English Grey-
hound, swiftest of dogs, but neither very intelligent nor af-
PETS 347
fectionate ; the Scotch Deerhound, dignified and very devoted
to his master, and a wonderful jumper over gates and walk-
ing-sticks ; and the Irish Wolf-hound, bigger and less graceful
than either of the others, but with a great big heart and
noble courage. Gelert was of this breed. There is also the
Borzoi, whose appearance is a combination of greyhound and
setter, a very beautiful but rather stupid animal. Finally,
there is the Bloodhound, remarkable for great intelligence,
good temper, and fidelity. He is one of the finest of dogs,
wise and self-reliant and capable of the truest devotion to
his master. He seldom or never fights, but is full of courage
in spite of his naturally nervous disposition.
Toy Dogs
Toy dogs are fairly intelligent, but noisy and wayward.
They cannot be recommended as interesting pets, since they
have little originality ; but they can be taught tricks, and if
treated sensibly and not pampered, no doubt they would de-
velop more intelligence. The best of the toy dogs are Pugs,
toy Pomeranians, the King Charles' Spaniel (black and tan
in color), and the Blenheim spaniel (white and chestnut).
The Pomeranian
The Pomeranian is a sharp and rather snappy dog, not
remarkable for either great intelligence or amiability ; but, as
with all breeds, there are individual exceptions to this rule.
Poodles
Poodles are intelligent and the best of all dogs for learn-
ing tricks. They are also very expensive.
Mongrels
Mongrels can be the best of friends. They are often
more original and enterprising than their too highly-bred
348 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
cousins, and they are very self-reliant ; but as a rule they are
not so courageous nor so steadfast as a well-bred dog. The
chief advantage of possessing a mongrel is that dog-stealers
are less likely to be tempted by him, and you can give him
more freedom, which will make him more interesting and
intelligent than a dog you need to shut up and look after care-
fully.
Cats
There is very little to say about cats, except that they
need much petting and plenty of milk and tit-bits. They
should always have a warm bed in a basket or chair. They
should never be allowed to stay out-of-doors at night.
Wild Rabbits
Of all rabbits the brightest and most intelligent, as a
pet, is the wild rabbit. If you can get two or three baby wild
rabbits and feed them on milk, they will grow up very tame.
We heard recently of two small wild rabbits that were taken
out of the nest and brought up by hand. They and their mis-
tress and a collie pup would play together, and they ran about
the room, racing over the floor and furniture. In the summer
one escaped from the coop on the law"n in which they were
shut up, so the other was turned loose too. They would both
come out of the bushes when called, run about over one's
dress, and hunt pockets for oats or bits of apple, and would
still play with their old friend the collie. It is sad to tell of
their death, which they met at the jaws of a strange dog who
came marauding. They did not recognize in him an enemy,
and easily fell his victims.
Tame Rabbits
The long-haired Angora variety of rabbit is intelligent
and very handsome. These need regular grooming and great
PETS 349
care, or their long coat gets matted and frowsy. Belgian
hares are big, powerful animals, rather apt to be uncertain in
temper, but they have beautiful glossy coats and are enter-
prising and amusing. The lop-eared rabbit is a stately beast
and less brisk than his prick-eared relations. The Himalayan
rabbit has no connection with the mountain chain from which
it has its name, is white, with all its extremities nose, ears,
tail, and feet black or very dark in color. The Dutch rab-
bits are small. The body is colored, but the neck, forelegs,
and jaws are white. But to the ordinary owner of a rabbit
in a hutch, particular variety does not matter very much.
Rabbits' Hutches
A good hutch can be made of a grocer's box, by covering
the open front partly with bars or wire netting and making a
door. The hutch should stand on legs, or at any rate should
be raised from the ground, and holes should be bored in the
bottom for drainage. Then put in clean straw, and it is ready
for the rabbit. In cold or wet weather and at night, it is well
to throw a cloth over the hutch for warmth. The hutch must
be well ventilated, and it should be made in two compartments,
one to admit plenty of light, and the other dark. It should
be made so that the animal may be confined in either com-
partment while the other is cleaned out.
Food and Exercise
Bran, grain, and vegetables such as peas, parsley, car-
rots, turnip-tops, but not much cabbage serve for rabbits'
food. It is advisable to vary it occasionally. The leaves
should not be wet, but a dish of clean water may always stand
in the hutch.
The animal should be allowed at least half an hour's run
day, precautions being taken against its burrowing
350 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
habits, and against its finding anything poisonous to eat
More than one family should not be allowed out at the same
time, as they are very pugnacious. Most diseases are the re-
sult of neglect in cleaning out the hutch regularly and thor-
oughly. Rabbits which most nearly approach the wild in
color are hardiest.
Teaching Rabbits
If you find you have an intelligent rabbit who quickly
learns to come to you when you call him by name, you will
find, with patience, you can teach him that when you say
" On trust," he must not touch the dainty you offer him, and
that " Paid for " means he may have it. He will also learn to
" die," and shake hands when you tell him to do so.
Guinea-Pigs
Guinea-pigs need treatment and housing similar to rab-
bits.
Squirrels
In buying a squirrel make sure it is a young one, because
whereas a young one is difficult enough to tame, an old one is
not to be tamed at all. Unless you can give him a really
large cage, with room for a branch on which he may leap
about, it is cruel to keep a squirrel at all, so beautifully free
is his nature. A little side compartment containing a revolv-
ing wheel should be added. Your only chance of taming him
is to be extremely quiet and gentle in all your visits to the cage
and in giving him his food nuts, acorns, grain, cold boiled
potatoes, dry bread, and now and then a small piece of cooked
meat. A very charming account of what it is possible to do
with tame squirrels will be found in a little book called Billy
and Hans, by Mr. W. J. Stillman.
PETS 351
Mice
Mice should have a cage with two compartments, one of
which should have a door in the woodwork but no wires. In
this room should be a bed of hay. The natural food of mice
is grain, but in captivity they are generally fed on bread and
milk and slices of apple. They can be tamed to a small ex-
tent, but for the most part they do no more than run round a
wheel, although if other gymnastic contrivances are offered
them they will probably do something with them. Dormice
(to whose food you may add nuts) sleep through the winter
months, and are therefore not very interesting for more than
half the year.
Turtles
A turtle is rather an interesting animal to keep, al-
though he will not do much in return. Even in summer they
have a curious way of disappearing for weeks together, and
in winter, of course, you see nothing of them. An ordinary
mud turtle is often seen moving slowly along the roads after
a rain. He can be carried home by turning him over on his
back but be careful to keep your fingers away from his
snapping mouth. As a rule they can feed themselves, and
they also have the happy knack of doing without food alto-
gether for long periods, so that you need not be anxious.
Fish
Bowls of goldfish are not uncommon, but few people
seem to care for fish of other kinds. And yet a little aqua-
rium can be stocked for a small sum and is a most interest-
ing possession. One small tank of young bream, for example,
can be a perpetual and continually fresh delight. Let the
tank have cloisters of rockwork and jungles of weed, so that
hiding may be possible, and then watch the smaller fish
at their frolics. Young trout are hardly less beautiful, and
352 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW*
very easy to keep healthy, in spite of general opinion to the
contrary. The important thing is to maintain a current of
water through the tank. The old way was to carry the over-
flow down a pipe in the centre through its surface opening,
but an improvement on this system is for the leakage to be at
the bottom of the tank and the inflow at the top. Young
perch are beautiful too, and tench, and dace, and roach,
and all are hardy. Feeding them is very simple. The shop
from which you buy the fish will keep you supplied with the
proper food. The American catfish, with its curious antenna3
or whiskers, and its gleaming eyes, set as by a jeweler, is more
wonderful, and not a whit more difficult to keep. But to be
amused by such unfamiliar neighbors as a tankful of fish there
is no real need either to stray abroad or to spend any money.
The ordinary minnow, which you can catch in any stream and
pop into a jar, will serve to introduce you to a new world
a world of silent progressions, of incredible celerities, of
amazing respirations.
Silkworms
Silkworms, if kept at all, ought to be taken seriously and
used for their true purpose. That is to say, you really ought
to wind their silk carefully. Few owners of silkworms in
this country seem to trouble to do this. Silkworms' eggs can
be bought of any naturalist, or some one who keeps silkworms
will willingly give you some. The time is about the end of
April. They are usually laid on scraps of paper, and these
you put in shallow paper and cardboard trays covered with
gauze, and place them in the room where the sun can reach
them. As the worms hatch out you must move them it is
done best with a small paint brush to another tray or trays
and keep them supplied with fresh mulberry leaves or lettuce.
The worms continue to grow for about a month, and then,
PETS 353
when full-sized, they prepare to spin. You may know that
this time is reached by their refusal to eat, and you must then
make a little paper toilet, about two inches deep, for each
worm, and drop it in. You have now nothing to do (except
to watch the worms regularly) for some weeks, in which time
the cocoon has been finished and the worm has become a
chrysalis. When the chrysalis inside the cocoon rattles the
time has come to wind the silk, or the moth will shortly
emerge and eat it. The outside of the cocoon is useless and
can be removed by placing the cocoon in warm water. Once
that is out of the way, the silk can be wound on a card.
The moth soon afterward appears and, after growing to its
full size, lays its eggs some two hundred and dies. It
must be remembered that with silkworms a little practical
demonstration from any one who has kept them is worth
much more than many pages of hints. One thing is of the
highest importance, and that is constant attention. Silk-
worms must never be neglected.
Other Caterpillars
Silkworms are more useful but not more interesting than
many other caterpillars which can be hatched from eggs. The
Privet Hawk Moth, for example, is very easily bred, and a
very beautiful creature it is when in full plumage. But for
information on this subject you must go to more scientific
books.
Pigeons
Pigeons are not exactly pets, for they rarely do more than
come to you for their food, just as chickens do, but they are
beautiful creatures and no country roof is quite complete with-
out them, and a dove-cot is a very pretty and homely old-
fashioned object. Usually, however, the birds are given a
portion of a loft. Whatever the nature of their home, it
354 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
must have separate compartments for each pair of pigeons and
must be warm. If a loft is used there should be sand or gravel
on the floor, with a little lime to assist the formation of the
shells of the pigeons' eggs. The place should be kept clean,
and you must guard against rats and cats. Pigeons eat peas
and pigeons'-beans and most kinds of grain. If they fly loose
they will find out other food, such as green meat, for them-
selves. But if you keep them at home you ought to give them
some. They should have a dish of water in a regular place.
New pigeons should be shut up by wiring in their house for a
fortnight before you give them their liberty, or they will fly
away. They do not care for hay or straw in their boxes, but
will make a nest in their own way when they need one.
Pigeons are of many kinds, the commonest of which is per-
haps the Runt, and the prettiest a white Fan tail. Any one
who takes up pigeons except merely for the pleasure of own-
ing one or two should read up the subject carefully.
Doves
Doves, which are happier when kept in pairs, require the
same food as pigeons. As a rule they are kept in wicker
cages. They are not very interesting.
Parrots
Parrots are most companionable pets, and, next to a dog,
quite the most interesting and intelligent. They are always
cheerful : whistling, singing, and talking. The gray parrot is
the best talker, and speaks much more distinctly than any
other kind, but the Blue-fronted Amazon is more amusing and
far better-tempered as a rule. These birds are very beautiful,
with bright green plumage and touches of yellow and red,
and a blue patch on the forehead. The best food for parrots
is parrot seed, on which they may be fed entirely, and they
should never be allowed dainties except nuts, fruit, and a little
PETS 355
piece of sugar. In the summer time sprinkle your parrot with
water through a fine hose every morning, but in the winter
do so only when he asks for a bath by trying to get into the
water basin. As to talking, parrots will pick up far more
readily any words they hear by accident than any that you
set yourself to teach them. They will also get by heart in
this way a few bars of a whistled tune. When parrots are
apparently spiteful it often proceeds much more from nervous-
ness than from vice. If frightened they will peck anything
near them. It is important to have a thick baize cover for
your parrot's cage, and to put this over it directly the lamps
are lit.
Smaller Cage Birds
Before coming to the different kinds of birds which you
can keep, a few general words about their care ought to be
said. Remember that with them, as with all pets, the most
important of all rules is perfect cleanliness. The best cages
are wooden ones with unpainted wires, and the perches should
be of different thicknesses, as, if they are all one size, the bird
is likely to get cramp in his feet. Once in a week at least the
perches and tray should be scrubbed with very hot water with
soda in it, but they must be dried thoroughly before they are
put back into the cage ; therefore if possible it is best to have
two sets of perches and to use them alternately. A thick
layer of red sand or shell gravel should be sprinkled on the
tray, and occasionally a pinch of maw-seed thrown on it.
Baths
All birds should have a bath given them. They like best
a shallow glass dish, which should be put in the cage when
the tray is out. It is a good plan to put a biscuit-tin lid on
the floor of the cage to prevent the bird from making the
woodwork wet. Other rules in the care of all birds are
356 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
never let them be in a draught, but do not keep them in a
very warm place. Cover them with a white cloth at night,
and in cold weather put a shawl over that.
Food
Seed-eating birds do best if they are fed on canary seed
and a little summer rape, with now and then a few hemp-
seeds, some Hartz mountain bread, and a bit of groundsel or
water-cress that has been well washed. If they look dull and
sit in a puffed-up little heap, a drop of brandy in their water
often does good ; and, should they show signs of asthma, try
chopped, hard-boiled egg, with a few grains of cayenne
pepper, and a bit of saffron or a rusty nail in the water.
These are also good when the bird is moulting. For insect-
eating birds you must buy meal-worms and ants 5 eggs, and
thrushes and blackbirds need earth-worms as well.
Tricks
Some birds are easily taught tricks. We remember a red-
poll who would draw his water up from a well in the cage in
a little bucket ; but if you teach your bird to do this you must
be careful to watch him, in case the string gets twisted and
the bucket does not reach the water, when your pet will suffer
terribly from thirst. He will also learn to pull his seed-box
up an inclined board if you put it day by day a little farther
from him, so that he must draw the string to get his food.
It is better to take a long time in training birds, and tempt
them with any dainty they care most for, such as water-cress,
groundsel, chickweed, or hemp-seed, as otherwise you must
starve the bird first, or he will not trouble to get the seed.
This means a certain amount of cruelty and cannot be
right.
PETS 357
Canaries
The favorite cage-bird is the canary, which, though a
foreign bird, is kept in this country in greater numbers than
any other bird, and is also bred here. One has to be very
well posted up in the nature of the bird to be protected
against deception when buying it ; and you ought therefore,
in getting a canary, to find some one competent to buy what
you want.
Canaries must be kept carefully. They cannot stand
much air. Be particular that the cage does not hang in a
draught, and let it be large enough for comfort. When even-
ing comes it is kinder to take the cage out of a room in which
there will be much light and noise, and put it somewhere dark
and quiet, as the air of a room where gas is burned is not
good for it. But if moving the cage is not convenient, lower
it to a position below the level of the burners and cover it up
with a thick cloth. By day the cage should be hung in the
sunshine if possible, but if the sun is very hot a green gauze
cover ought to protect the bird a little. If the bird's singing
is too lusty as sometimes happens a handkerchief thrown
over the cage will check it ; but this seems rather hard treat-
ment.
In feeding canaries follow the rules on p. 356, but you
may put a lump of sugar between the bars now and then, or
a sprig of groundsel or water-cress. Do not give them cake ;
it is no real kindness.
When they are moulting, canaries (and other birds too)
need rather more attention. Give them a little richer food,
such as chopped-up eggs, and put some saffron in the water.
There is a kind of insect called the red mite which often
attacks canaries. It is not the rule by any means that canaries
should be thus troubled many escape but it may happen.
If you cannot account for the bird's despondency in any other
358 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
way, catch it and look at its skin under the feathers of the
breast and the under part of the wings. If there are little red
spots, it means that the red mites have found out the cage,
and you must wash the bird every day with a weak solution
of white precipitate powder about twelve grains to a small
glass of warm water and either wash the cage too with a
stronger solution, or, if it is a wooden one, destroy it. Now
and then you ought to clip their claws, if they seem too long.
The Love-Birds
The love-birds feed almost entirely on millet or canary
seed, and they like a sod of grass in their cage. They are
bright little birds, but are naturally very wild and need much
petting if you wish to tame them. Once tamed, however,
they are very confiding and amusing.
The Cardinal
One of the most beautiful of cage-birds is the red-crested
cardinal. He is quite hardy and eats seeds and insects im-
partially, thriving on canary, millet, and a little hemp-seed,
with meal-worms now and then. He should always have a
very large cage, or he will spoil his plumage. His song is
sweet and strong.
Wax-Bills
"Wax-bills eat millet-seed, canary seed, and a little soaked
bread and sponge-cake.
Other Foreign Birds
Java sparrows are pretty creatures, although they do very
little for you. Perhaps the most attractive of small foreign
birds is the avadavat, a tiny, perky little soldier. These live
quite comfortably together; and indeed, if it is permitted,
you should certainly, for the non-singing birds, have a large
PETS 359
cage and keep many such birds in it rather than put them in
small cages. They will be far happier.
The Chaffinch
The chaffinch has to re-learn his song every spring, and
for a fortnight or more you will hear him trying his voice
very sweetly and softly, but as soon as he has acquired his
song in perfection, it will be so strong and piercing that on
fine days he often has to be banished from the sitting-room.
He should not, however, be exposed too much to sun and
wind ; a cloth thrown over half the cage will make a shelter.
The chaffinch is another bird that should never be put in a
bell-shaped cage. He should occasionally have flies and other
insects given him. He is lively and hardy and a very gay
companion.
The Goldfinch
We remember a goldfinch that became very tame, perch-
ing on his owner's hands and taking seed from her lips.
Goldfinches should never be kept in bell-shaped cages
which make them giddy but should have one with a square
flat top. Along this they will run head downward. They
are such active birds that they need plenty of space. They
chatter all day long and are very cheery, and they are very
beautiful in their brown, gold, and scarlet coats. In a wild
state the goldfinch feeds chiefly on the seeds of weeds and
thistles, groundsel, and dandelion, and he is therefore a friend
to the farmer, but in captivity he will thrive on canary and
German rape with several hemp-seeds daily, and now and
then lettuce, thistle-seed, and fruit.
The Bullfinch
The bullfinch is squarely built, with a black head and
pink breast. No bird can be more affectionate and intelligent,
360 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
He will learn to pipe tunes if you put him in the dark and
whistle a few bars of some easy melody to him over and over
again ; and he soon gets a number of fascinating tricks.
After a while you will be able to let him out of the cage at
meal-times, when he will hop about from plate to plate and
steal little tit-bits. No bird is so fond of sitting on its
owner's shoulder as the bullfinch can be. Also, unhappily,
few birds are so liable to fatal illness. A bullfinch can be
apparently quite well one minute and the next you find him
lying at the bottom of the cage. Over-eating is often the
cause of his death, so that one must be careful. Hemp-seed
and apple-pips, for instance, which he loves, should be given
in moderation. Rape and millet, lettuce and ripe fruit suit
him best. Gardeners are great enemies of this sturdy little
bird on account of the damage he does amongst fruit-trees,
but he probably does a great deal more good than he does
harm by eating insects which are fatal to plants.
The Yellow Bunting
The yellow bunting (or yellow hammer) can be a pet ;
and he has the sweetest little whispering song. If you have
a caged bunting, his seed should be soaked in cold water for
some hours before it is given to him, and he must have the
yoke of a hard-boiled egg, meal-worms, ants' eggs, and any
insects you can catch for him. He must also have plenty of
opportunities for bathing, and as much fresh air without
draughts as possible.
The Blackbird
The blackbird is delicate when caged and must have
plenty of nutritious food, bread and milk, boiled vegetables,
ripe fruit, insects, and snails. He is a thirsty bird and needs
plenty of water.
PETS 361
Birds of all kinds especially like cocoanut (though they
will come to the window-sill simply for bread crumbs). The
cocoanut should be sawn in two, and a hole bored through
each half, about an inch from the edge. A strong string is
then threaded in and they are hung from the bough of a tree.
They should be hung rather high up, on a bough reaching as
far out from the trunk as possible, so as to avoid all risk from
the cat. The birds frequent elm-trees more than any others,
because the rough bark contains many insects, but you may
choose any kind of tree, as close to your windows as you like.
The birds will keep pecking at the cocoanut all day long and
will soon want a new one. If you have no tree near the
house you might fasten a cord across the outer frame of your
window and tie the pieces of nut to that. The birds would
soon find out the cocoa-nut and come to it, and bread crumbs
could also be put on the window-sill to attract them. Or, if
you have a veranda, they could be hung up there, if you
could make them safe from the cat. Mrs. Earle, in her book
More Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Garden, gives elaborate
directions for an arrangement in a veranda or balcony of
cocoanuts, etc., for the birds. Lumps of fat will do as well
as cocoanut. Some birds also greatly love a bone to pick at
an uncooked one with plenty of fat on it, which the butcher
will probably be glad to give you if you ask him and explain
its purpose. It can be hung up in a tree or merely laid on
the window-sill.
The Robin
In the ordinary way one would not keep robins at all.
They are so tame and fond of the company of human beings
that they will come regularly to the door for crumbs every
morning and never be far off at any time. But if a wounded
robin is found or a nest is abandoned (probably owing to the
362 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
death of the mother at the cat's hands) just before the young
birds are ready to fly, you might pop them in a cage. They
do not often thrive long in captivity, even if the confinement
does not seem irksome, but to keep one until it was strong
enough to be let loose would be a kindness. Still there have
been many cases of happy tame robins. The best food for
them is bread crumbs, grated carrot, yoke of egg and sponge-
cake mixed together, the carrot making the mixture moist
enough. A few insects daily are advisable. Robins are such
quarrelsome birds that it is impossible to keep two of them in
an aviary, or even to keep one robin with birds weaker than
himself. Perhaps the best way to treat a pet robin is to let
him fly all over the house in the winter. He may one day fly
away altogether in the spring, but if he is alive he is almost
certain to come back again when the cold weather begins.
Garden Robins
Robins in the garden are so pretty, so cheeky, so sweetly
musical, and are so friendly to man (in spite of their arrogance
and selfishness among birds) that they ought to be encouraged.
As the only way of encouraging wild birds is to feed them,
we have to try and give them what they like best. Robins
are quite content with bread crumbs only. They will eat sop
if they can get nothing else ; but they prefer crumbs, and not
too dry. For an especial treat they like fat bacon beyond
everything : cooked bacon, that has been boiled, not fried.
It should be mixed up very small, and the bread also crumbled
into tiny morsels, for robins like to eat very nicely and
daintily. Robins are pleased to have crumbs given them all
the seasons through, though in the autumn they can very well
take care of themselves.
Each robin has his own special domain, which any other
robin invades at his peril. The robins that come to the
PETS 363
window for food are those that belong to that particular
side of the house and no other. This means that there
are other robins in different parts of the garden which
will have to be fed in their own special localities. You
will soon find out where these are, even if you have
not already been guided to them by their songs. Kobins
like their food scattered always in the same place, or
under the same tree, and, as nearly as you can, at the
same time. Then you will find them on the lookout for
you, and if you take always the same basket (a rather shallow
flat one which stands firmly) and, putting it on the ground,
go a few steps away, you will see them hop into it. After a
few days they will probably get tame enough to come into
the basket while it is in your hand ; only you must have a
little patience at first, and hold it very still, and of course
you must not have previously scattered any food on the
ground.
Birds in the Garden
This brings us to the other garden birds which we have
no wish to put in cages, but which it is well to be as kind to
as possible. In winter, when there is a frost, to feed them is
absolutely necessary ; but at all times it is well that they
should know that you are not enemies (of which they have so
many), but their friends. The following notes, together with
the foregoing passage on feeding robins, on birds in the gar-
den have been prepared for this book :
"Birds are grateful all the year through for a shallow
pan of water, which they can drink from and use also as a
bath. And the bees, too, will be glad to come and get a sip
of water, for they also are thirsty things. A small round
yellow earthenware pan is excellent for the thrushes and
blackbirds, but it is as well to provide a smaller one, say an
364 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW <?
ordinary shallow pie-dish, for the robins and little birds.
These should be refilled twice a day, at least, in summer time.
You can place the pans on the grass or path, where you can
see them comfortably from the house, but not nearer than
you can help, because the blackbirds are rather shy, and it
would be a pity to make drinking too great an adventure for
them.
"Birds are thankful for a little feeding right through the
spring, both when the mother bird is sitting on the nest and
the father has to forage for two, and when the young ones
are hatched and there are at once many more mouths to fill.
In the summer too, if it should be unduly wet and cold, or
unduly hot and dry, and grubs and insects scarce, the young
birds are pleased to find a meal ready for them. But in the
winter it is a positive duty to feed the birds ; for remember
that when the ground is covered with snow, or frozen hard,
they can get no insects, and thus, after all the berries have
gone, they will starve unless they are helped with other food.
" Almost every household has enough waste scraps, if
they are collected carefully, to give the birds a good meal
once a day. Bread, of course, will form the chief part, but
nothing comes amiss to them, however tiny. Morsels of suet,
dripping, shreds of fat, meat, and fish, and cheese rind also,
all mixed up together, are an especial treat. The mince
should be well mixed with the bread crumbs, or all may not
get a fair share. Crusts, or any hard, dry bits of bread, can
be scalded into sop (though, unlike chickens, wild birds do
not seem to like it hot), and a little piece of dripping or fat,
soaked with the sop, makes it more tasty for them. If the
supply of bread be short, the birds will be very pleased with
chickens' rice. It should be the 'second quality ' kind, in the
brown husk, which can be procured from most corn-dealers.
But this is hardly necessary excepting in a long hard frost.
PETS 365
Starlings are especially fond of bones, and they will esteem it
a favor if any which have been used in making soup, and are
not required for the dog, are thrown out to them on the
ground. Their joyous chattering over them is quite cheer-
ing, even on the dreariest winter's day. They are also grate-
ful for the rind of a ham or piece of bacon, after it has been
boiled. This should be thrown out to them whole, not cut up
in little pieces. They are equally fond of the bones and skin
remains of a ' dried ' haddock.
" For the bolder birds, such as robins, you will like to
put some food on the window-sills, and also on the path or
grass close to the house. But remember the more timid ones,
and scatter it in other parts of the garden as well.
" Sparrows, of course, deserve their food as well as any of
the others; but it is rather hard to see them taking every
morning much more than their share, while the less coura-
geous or impudent birds (who also sing to you) get none. It
seems impossible to prevent this, though Mr. Phil. Robinson,
in his book Garden^ Orchard, and Spinney (in the chapter
entitled ' The Famine in my Garden ' ), recommends scatter-
ing some oatmeal mixed with a few bread crumbs on one side
of the house, to keep the sparrows occupied, whilst you feed
tbe other birds elsewhere. Sparrows, however, have a way
of being on every side of the house at once. Still, if you feed
your birds daily, and as nearly at the same time as possible
(they like it as soon as may be after your own breakfast), you
will find them on the lookout for you, and they will manage
to get a good share, if they all start fair, in spite of the spar-
rows. In a hard frost they are thankful for a second meal,
but it should not be later than two o'clock, because birds go
to bed very early in cold weather, and the food would be
frozen too hard for them to be able to eat it next morning.
" One word more. There is great danger of birds being
366 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
caught by a cat while they are busy with their food, especially
if near the bushes. The only possible protection against this
which you can take is to see that your own cat is indoors and
is therefore not the offender."
READING
READING
ALL persons who care very much for reading will find
their way naturally to the books most likely to please
them ; left alone in a library they are never disap-
pointed. For them no advice is necessary. Nor is advice im-
portant to those who have opportunities to compare notes on
reading with friends who have similar tastes. For instance,
two boys may fall to talking of books. "Have you read
David Balfour f " one will say. " No ; who 's it by ? "
" Stevenson." " What else did he write ? " " Well, he wrote
Treasure Island" " I 've read that. If David Balfour is
anything like that, I must get it." He gets it ; and thus,
either by asking others whose taste he can trust, or by going
steadily on through each author who satisfies him, -he will
always have as much good reading as he needs.
But there are still other readers who have no real in-
stinct for books, or no memory for authors' names, or few
opportunities of comparing notes for whom a list of books
that are worth trying, books which have been tested and
found all right by thousands of readers, ought to be very use-
ful. In the following pages a list of this kind has been drawn
up. It is very far indeed from anything like completeness
many good authors are not mentioned at all, and others have
written many more books than are here placed under their
names but those chosen are in most cases their best, and it will
be very easy for readers who want more to find out other titles.
The books named are for the most part not new. But before
children read new books they read old ; the new ones
come later. What is suggested here is a ground-work.
Moreover, there are so many ways for new books to suggest
569
370 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
themselves that to attempt the impossible task of keeping
pace with tjem here was unnecessary.
Girls are such steady readers of what are called boys'
books, and boys are occasionally so much interested in what
are called girls' books, that the two groups have not been
separated. All that has been done is to describe the nature
of each division of stories.
Fairy Tales
Nearly all the best old fairy tales are to be found in Mr.
Andrew Lang's collections, of which six are mentioned :
The Blue Fairy Book The Green Fairy Book.
The Red Fairy Book. The Yellow Fairy Book.
The Pink Fairy Book. The Orange Fairy Book.
Many families do very well with merely
Grimm's Fairy Tales. Andersen's Fairy Tales.
The Arabian Nights. JEsop'a Fables.
These are traditional. First favorites among English whim-
sical tales are, of course,
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland . . By Lewis Carroll.
Through the Looking-glass . . . " " "
of which there is no need to speak, nor of
The Water-Babies .... By Charles Kingsley.
The King of the Golden River . " John Ruskin.
The Rose and the Ring . . . " W. M. Thackeray.
And among other good stories are
Fairy Tales By Alexandra Dumas.
Mopsa the Fairy " Jean Ingelow.
Prince Prigio " Andrew Lang.
The Gold of Fairnilee .... " "
Twenty Best Fairy Tales .... " Lucy Perkins.
The Bee-Man of Orn " Frank R. Stockton.
The Clocks of Rondaine . . . . " "
Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales . " Mrs. Ewing.
READING 371
Lewis Carroll's " Bruno's Kevenge," the story which was
the beginning of Sylvie and Bruno, is perfect in its way.
Legendary Tales
CLASSICAL
The Heroes By Charles Kingsley.
A Wonder Book .... " Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Tangle wood Tales .... " " "
The Story of the Odyssey . . " Rev. A. J. Church.
The Story of the Iliad " " "
Stories from Homer " " "
ROMANTIC
The Morte D' Arthur ... By Sir T. Malory.
Tales from Shakespeare . . . " Charles and Mary Lamb,
Puck of Pook's Hill . . . u Rudyard Kipling.
Stories from the Faerie Queen . " Mary Macleod.
Heroes of Chivalry and Romance . " Rev. A. J. Church.
Stories of the Magicians . . " 4< "
Olaf the Glorious .... " Robert Leighton.
Robin Hood " Howard Pyle.
Men of Iron " "
Canterbury Tales . . . . " Chaucer.
Robin Hood : His Deeds and Adventures, " Lucy Perkins.
Ballads in Prose .... " Mary Macleod.
Forgotten Tales of Long Ago . " E. V. Lucas.
Old Fashioned Tales ... " " "
Tales from Maria Edgeworth. Intro-
duction " Austin Dobson.
Tales from the Canterbury Pilgrims.
Retold " J. H. Darton.
The Book of King Arthur . . " Mary Macleod.
Midsummer Night's Dream for Young
People " Lucy Perkins.
The Wonder Book of Old Romance.
Here also we might place Gulliver's Travels.
Verse and Poetry
Our first acquaintance with poetry is made through nurs~
ery rhymes. Many collections of nursery rhymes may be
372 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
had. And there are also a number of very charming picture
books of simple verse, suitable for small readers, such as Miss
Kate Greena way's
Mother Goose. Under the Window.
Marigold Garden. A. Apple Pie.
Mr. Walter Crane's
Baby's Opera, Baby's Bouquet,
and various toy books.
Four favorite books of comic verse are Edward Lear's
Book of Nonsense. More Nonsense.
Nonsense, Songs and Stones.
Four books, more recent, which come nearer to poetry than
anything already mentioned, are
Verses for Children ... By Mrs. Ewing.
Sing Song " Christina G. Rossetti.
Lilliput Lyrics . . . . " W. B. Rands.
A Child's Garden of Verses . . " R. L. Stevenson.
A large collection of verse of the kind already described, with
the addition of ballads, open-air rhymes, animal verses and
other matter intended to pave the way to real poetry
exists in
A Book of Verses for Children.
Another Book of Verses for Children,
compiled by E. Y. Lucas. After these, we come to collections
containing real poetry, two excellent ones being
The Blue Poetry Book .... By Andrew Lang.
A First [Second and Third] Poetry Book, " M. A. Woods.
There is also
Lyra Heroica By W. E. Henley,
a collection for boys. Selections from Tennyson, Browning,
and other poets, intended for children, have been made, but
most young explorers of poetry like to have the complete
READING 373
works and hunt for themselves. Other popular books of
poetry are
The Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics.
Poems Every Child Should know.
Mr. C. R. D. Patmore's Children's Garland from the Best Poeta.
Miss Agnes Repplier's Book of Famous Verse.
H. E. Scudder's American Poems.
The " Original Poems," and Others . By Jane and Ann Taylor.
National Rhymes for the Nursery . " George Saintsbury.
The Ballad Book . . . . " W. Allingham.
Lays of Ancient Rome . . . " Lord Macaulay.
Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers . . *' W. E. Aytoun.
The Percy Reliques. A Thousand and One Gems of Poetry.
Scott. Longfellow. Hood.
Many boys also like the humorous stories in Barham's
Ingoldsby Legends.
Books About Children
To this section, which is suited more particularly for
girls, belong a large number of stories of a very popular kind :
stories describing the ordinary life of children of to-day, with
such adventures as any of us can have near home. Years ago
the favorites were
The Fairchild Family . .By Mrs. Sherwood.
Sandlord and Merton . . . . ' Thomas Day.
But these are not read as they used to be, partly because taste
has changed, and partly because so many other books can now
be procured. But fifty and more years ago they were in
every nursery library.
The Swiss Family Robinson,
the most famous family book of all, will be found in the ad
venture section, to which perhaps really belong
Feats on the Fiord, The Settlers at Home,
by Harriet Martineau, although these two, and
The Crofton Boys
374 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
may be included here. Here also belong Maria Edgeworth's
Moral Tales for Young People, The Parent's Assistant,
which, although their flavor is old-fashioned, are yet as inter-
esting as ever they were.
Another writer whose popularity is no longer what it was
is Jacob Abbott, the author of a number of fascinating stories
of home life (on farms and in the country) in America in the
middle of last century. The Franconia stories are these : -
Beechnut. Mary Erekine.
Wallace. Mary Bell.
Madeline. Stuyvesant.
Caroline. Agnes.
And this is the Kollo series, intended by Mr. Abbott for rathei
younger readers :
The Little Scholar Learning to Talk. Rollo at Work.
Rollo Learning to Read. Rollo at School.
Rollo at Play. Rollo's Vacation.
A list of other books, which come more or less rightly
under the head of "Stories about Children" follows, the
earlier ones being better suited to younger readers, and the
later ones to older, the age aimed at in this chapter (and
indeed in the whole book), ranging from five to fifteen.
By Kate Douglas Wiggin :
Polly Oliver's Problem. Timothy's Quest.
By Louisa M. Alcott :
Little Women. Little Men.
Good Wives. Jo's Boys.
Eight Cousins. An Old-Fashioned Girl.
Rose in Bloom. Aunt Jo's Scrap Bag.
Spinning- Wheel Stories. Comic Tragedies.
The Little Pepper Series, and the Elsie Books.
READING
375
By Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett :
Little Lord Fauntleroy.
Editha's Burglar.
By Mrs. Whitney :
We Girls.
Faith Gartney's Girlhood.
By Gelett Burgess : -
Goops, and How to be Them.
More Goops, and How Not to be Them.
The Captain's Youngest.
Sara Crew.
The Gayworthys.
Leslie Goldthwaite.
Goop Tales.
The Lively City o'Ligg.
The Burgess Nonsense Book.
This section is necessarily more incomplete than any of
the others, since it is impossible to keep pace with the great
number of stories of this kind which are published every
Christmas. But a few more may be added :
Stories Told to a Child .
The Lost Child ....
Helen's Babies ....
The Treasure-Seekers .
Holiday House ....
Deeds of Daring done by Girls
Children of Other Days
Paleface and Redskin
The Silver Skates ....
Molly and Oily .
Sweetheart Travelers
Sir Toady Crusoe ....
Sir Toady Lion ....
No Relations ....
Jogging 'Round the World
A Little Daughter of the Revolution
A Little Colonial Dame .
The House of the Red Fox
The Would-be Witch
Little Barefoot ....
Indian Boys and Girls .
Japanese Child Life
Little Japs at Home . . .
Jap Boys and Girls . . .
By Jean Ingelow.
" Henry Kingsley.
" John Habberton.
" E. Nesbit.
" Catherine Sinclair.
" N. Hudson Moore.
<(
" F. Anstey.
" M. M. Dodge.
" Mrs. Humphry Ward.
" S. R. Crockett.
Hector Malot.
Edith Dunham.
" Miriam Byrne.
n
From the German of Auerbaoh,
. By Alice Haines.
376 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
According to Grandma .... By Alice Hainea.
When Grandma was Little . . . " "
What Grandma Says ...."""
Here also belong many of the stories of Miss Yonge, and we
might perhaps place Uncle Tom 1 8 Cabin here too.
Boy and Schoolboy Stories
In this section are placed stories of modern boys, either
at home or at school, and their ordinary home or school ad^
ventures. Among the best are
Tom Sawyer . . By Mark Twain.
and
Bevis ... By Richard Jefferies.
Others are
The Story of a Bad Boy By T. B. Aldrich.
My Boyhood " H. C. Barkley.
The Swan and her Crew " G. C. Davies.
Captain Chap " Frank R. Stockton.
The Tinkham Brothers' Tidemill . . . . " J. T. Trowbridge.
The best school story will probably always be
Tom Brown's School Days . . By T. Hughes.
Among the books of this kind meant rather for grown
up readers, but read also by boys, are -
Huckleberry Fin . . .By Mark Twain.
Frank Fairlegh . . . . " F. E. Smedley.
The Interpreter . . . . " Whyte Melville.
The Human Boy . . . . *' Eden Phillpots.
ViceVersA "P. Anstey.
Adventure Stories
This is the largest group of books usually described as
" for boys," although girls often read them too with hardl}
less interest. The first place in this class will probably al-
ways be held by Defoe's
Robinson Crusoe,
READING 377
and it is likely that most votes for second place would go to
The Swiss Family Robinson.
After these we come to modern authors whose books have
been written especially for boys, first among whom is the late
Mr. E. M. Ballantyne, the author of, among numerous other
books,
The Coral Island. The Iron Horse.
The Gorilla Hunters. Fighting the Flames.
The Dog Crusoe. Erling the Bold.
The Pirate City. Martin Rattler.
Ungava. The Fur Traders.
The Wild Man of the West. The Red Man's Revenge.
Many of Ballantyne's readers make a point of going through
the whole series of his books. The other titles can be col-
lected from the advertisement pages at the end of these
volumes. With K. M. Ballantyne is usually associated the
name of the late W. H. G. Kingston (" Kingston and Ballan-
tyne the brave," Stevenson called them in the verses at the
beginning of Treasure Island, another book which comes
high in this section). Kingston's stories were also very num-
erous, but it will serve our purpose here to mention only the
following six :
Peter the Whaler. The Three Commanders.
The Three Midshipmen. The Three Admirals.
The Three Lieutenants. From Powder-Monkey to Admiral.
Several authors have carried on Ballantyne and Kingston's
work. Chief among these are Mr. G. A. Henty and Mr.
G. Manville Fenn. Here are six of Mr. G. A. Henty's
stories :
Out on the Pampas. In the Heart of the Rockies.
The Young Colonists. Maori and Settler.
The Young Franc-Tireurs. Redskin and Cowboy.
378 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
And here are eight of Mr. G. JVIanville Fenn's :
Brownsmith's Boy. The Golden Magnet.
Bunyip Land. Fix Bay'nets.
Bevon Boys. Jungle and Stream.
Dick o- the Fens. Meuhardoc.
Mr. Max Pemberton, author of
The Iron Pirate. The Impregnable City.
"Q." (Mr. Quiller Couch), author of
Dead Man's Rook. The Silver Spur,
and Mr. David Kerr, author of
The Boy Slave in Bokhara Cossack and Czar.
Lost Among the White Africans. Old Tartar Deserts.
The Wild Horseman of the Pampas Prisoner among Pirates.
Jules Yerne is a French writer, but his stories have al-
ways quickly been translated into English, many of them by
Mr. Henry Frith. Their titles are a good guide to their subject,
for Jules Yerne goes to science for some wonderful invention,
such as a submarine boat or a flying machine, and then sur-
rounds it with extraordinary adventures. Among his best
books are
Twenty Thousand Leagues under The Clipper of the Clouds.
the Sea. From the Earth to the Moon.
Round the World in Eighty Days. The Mysterious Island.
Five Weeks in a Balloon. A Journey to the Centre of the
The English at the North Pole. Earth.
First of English inventors of fantastic stories of adven-
ture is Mr. Eider Haggard. His three most popular books
are
King Solomon's Mines. She. Allan Quatermain.
The books already named, with the exception of Robin-
son Crusoe, were written especially for boys. Other books
which were not so intended, but have come to be read more
READING 379
by boys than any one else, include Fenimore Cooper's Indian
stories, of which these are four :
The Last of the Mohicans. The Deerslayer.
The Pathfinder. The Bee Hunters.
Other Indian stories are those of Gustave Aimard, translated
from the French, among which are these :
The Last of the Incas. The Gold-Seekers.
The Trail Hunter. The Red River Half-Speed.
The Indian Scout. The Border Rifles.
The Trappers of Arkansas.
These are, of course, North American tales. Other North
American tales are those of Captain Mayne Keid, which in-
clude
The Boy Hunters. The Desert Home.
The Boy Slaves. The Forest Exiles.
Bruin, or The Grand Bear Hunter. The Giraffe Hunters.
The Bush Boys. The Headless Horseman.
The Castaways. The Rifle Rangers.
The White Chief. The Scalp Hunters.
In this section belong the books of Mr. George Bird Grinnell,
author of
Jack in the Rockies Jack Among the Indians.
Jack, the Young Ranchman. Jack, the Young Canoeman.
Jack, the Young Trapper.
Also Harold Bindloss'
The Young Traders.
And to this section belong also stories of the sea, several of
which have already been mentioned. High among these are
Captain Marryat's
Poor Jack, Masterman Ready,
together with many of his tales intended originally for older
readers, such as
Jacob Faithful. Peter Simple.
Mr. Midshipman Easy. Snarleyyow,
380 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
Mr. Clark Russell's stories :
The Wreck of the "Grosvenor." An Ocean Free-Lance.
The Golden Hope. The Frozen Pirate.
Here also belong Mr. Kipling's
Captains Courageous,
and an old sea favorite
Two Years Before the Mast . . . By R. H. Dana.
Other good sea books, not fiction :
My First Voyage By W. Stones.
The Voyage of the " Sunbeam " . . " Lady Brassey.
The Cruise of the " Cachalot . . . " F. T. Bullen.
The Cruise of the " Falcon " . . . " E. F. Knight.
Historical Stories for Boys
New historical stories are published in great numbers
every year. The most popular author of this kind of book
for boys is Mr. G. A. Henty, among whose very numerous
historical tales, all good, are
At Aboukir and Acre. The Lion of St. Mark.
At'Aginoourt. Maori and Settler.
Bonnie Prince Charlie. St. Bartholomew's Eve.
By Right of Conquest. Under Drake's Flag.
The Dash for Khartoum. With Clive in India.
In the Reign of Terror. With Frederick the Great
With Moore at Corunna. With Lee in Virginia.
By Kev. A. J. Church
The Chantry Priest of Barnet. Stories from English History.
The Count of the Saxon Shore. With the King at Oxford.
Other good historical tales :
Stories from Froissart ... By Henry Newbolt.
The Scottish Chiefs .... " Jane Porter.
The Children of the New Forest . " Captain Marryat.
A Monk of Fife .... " Andrew Lang.
Grettir the Outlaw .... " Baring Gonld.
READING 381
The Story of Burnt Njal ... By Sir George Dasettt.
Lorna Doone . . . . . u R. D. Blackmore.
In Old Egypt " H. P. Mendes.
An Island Story . . . . " H. E. Marshall.
Scotland's Story . . . . " " "
By K. L. Stevenson
The Black Arrow. Kidnapped. David Balfour.
By Charles Kingsley
Hereward the Wake. Westward Ho!
By Conan Doyle
Micah Clarke The White Company.
The Refugees.
By Stanley J. Weyraan
The House of the Wolf. The Man in Black.
Under the Red Robe. A Gentleman of France.
By Mr. Andrew Balfour
By Stroke of Sword. To Arms !
By Mark Train -
The Prince and the Pauper. Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc.
There are also historical stories more particularly in-
tended by their authors for grown-up readers, but which boys
and girls can, however, find quite interesting enough, even if
much has to be skipped. First among these are Sir Walter
Scott's novels :
Ivanhoe. Rob Eoy.
Kenilworth. The Abbot.
Woodstock. The Monastery.
Quentin Durward. The Talisman.
Other writers and books follow. By Alexandre Dumas
The Three Musketeers. Marguerite de Valois.
Twenty Years After. Chicot the Jester.
The Vioomte de Brageleonne. The Forty-five Guardsmen.
382 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
By Charles Dickens
Barnaby Rudge. A Tale of Two Cities.
By Lord Lytton
Rienzi. The Last of the Barons.
Harold. The Last Days of Pompeii.
Animal Books
First among the animal books are Mr. Kipling's two
Jungle Books. Two other beast stories by Mr. Kipling are
" Moti Guj, Mutineer," the tale of a truant elephant, which is
in Life's Handicap and " The Maltese Cat," a splendid tale
of a polo pony, which is in The Day's Work. Next to these
comes Mr. E. Thompson-Seton's Wild Animals I Have
Known. The lives of animals by themselves, or by some one
who knows everything about them, are always favorite books
with small readers. Among the best are these :
Black Beauty (the story of a horse) By Mrs. Sewell.
Conrad the Squirrel . . . " the author of Wandering Willie.
The Story of the Red Deer . . " J. W. Fortescue.
Every Inch a King (the story of a dog) " Anon.
The Lives of the Hunted . . " E. Thomson-Seton.
The Trail of the Sandhill Stag . " " "
The Adventures of a Siberian Cub " Leon Golschmann.
The Autobiography of a Grizzly. " E. Thompson-Seton.
The best tale of a bear is perhaps Bret Harte's " Baby Syl-
vester," which will be found in one of his volumes of short
stories. Good animal stories are scattered about other collec-
tions of short stories. In Mr. Anstey's Paleface and Redskin
are stories of dogs.
Mr. Lang's
Red Book of Animal Stories
has both dogs and cats in it, and many other creatures too.
Here also should be placed Mr. Warde Fowler's
Tales of the Birds.
READING 383
Other very popular animal books are Mr. Joel Chandler
Harris's
Nights with Uncle Remus, Mr. Rabbit at Home,
Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit (largely illustrations),
and the same author has written also
The Story of Aaron, Aaron in the Wild Woods,
which are stories not only of animals, but of people too ; and
here, perhaps, may be placed jEsop's Fables.
Wood Magic . . . By Richard Jefferies
is an attempt to do for English wild life somewhat the same
service that Mr. Kipling performed for India.
Other open air and animal books are :
By the Eev. J. G. Wood
By Back-yard Zoo. Pet Land.
Pet Land revisited. A Tour Round My Garden.
Also
Curiosities of Natural History . . By Frank Buckland.
White's Selborne Edited by Frank Buckland.
Wanderings in South America . . By Charles Waterton.
Wild Traits in Domestic Animals . - " Louis Robinson.
The Voyage of the " Beagle " . . " Charles Darwin,
Ants, Bees, and Wasps . . . . "Sir John Lubbock.
On the Senses, Instincts, and Intelligence (Lord Avebury).
of Animals " " "
Bob, Son of Battle " " "
A series of very interesting scientific books, under the
general title " The Komance of Science," is published by the
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Among these
volumes are
The Making of Flowers .... By Professor Henslow.
The Birth and Growth of Worlds . . " Professor Green.
Spinning Tops . . . . . " Professor Perry.
Time and Tide " Sir Robert Ball.
384 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW ?
The same publishers also issue a series of " Natural History
Rambles," including
In Search of Minerals . . . . By D. T. Ansted.
Lane and Field " the Rev J. G. Wood.
Ponds and Ditches " M. C. Cooke.
Underground " J. E. Taylor.
The Woodlands " M. C. Cooke.
The Sea-shore " Professor Duncan.
There is also a new series, called " The Wonder Books of
Science," of which
The Wonder Book of Volcanoes and Earthquakes, and
The Wonder Book of the Atmosphere
are the first.
Other good scientific yet very entertaining books :
The Fairyland of Science . . . By A. B. Buckley.
Through Magic Glasses .... "
Life and Her Children . . . . " " "
The Romance of the Insect World . . " Miss L. Badenoch.
The Ocean MM
Glaucus " Charles Kingsley.
Madam How and Lady Why ... " "
The Old Red Sandstone .... " Hugh Miller.
The Testimony of the Rooks .
Homes without Hands . . . . " Rev. J. G. Wood.
Sun, Moon, and Stars . . . . "A. Giberne.
The Story of the Heavens ... u Sir Robert Ball.
Other Worlds than Ours . . . " R A. Proctor.
The Orbs around Us ....
The Boys' Book of Inventions . . " R. S. Baker.
Extinct Animals " E. Ray Lankester.
Electricity for Young People . . " Tudor Jenks.
History
A good deal of more or less truthful history will be found
in the section given to historical tales (see page 380). Here
follows a small list of more serious historical books which also
are good reading :
READING
385
Tales of a Grandfather .
Stories from English History .
Lives of the Queeus of England
Cameos from English History (several series)
Stories from Roman History .
Deeds that Won the Empire .
Fights for the Flag ....
By Sir Walter Scott.
" Kev. A. J. Church.
" Agnes Strickland.
C. M. Younge.
Mrs. Beesley.
W. H. Fitchett.
Books of Travel
It is not important that travel books
should be written especially for young
readers. Almost all records of travel
contain some pages of interest, what-
ever the remainder may be like. The
fact that 2 book describes wanderings
in a far country is enough.
But the books by Commander Rob-
ert E. Peary and his wife deserve
mention.
Snowland Folk.
The Snow Baby.
Children of the Arctic.
The Treatment of Library Books
On this page is given a copy of the
book mark which a clergyman, Mr.
Henry Maxson, prepared for the use
of the readers in the children's section
of a library in Wisconsin.
BOOK MARK
ONCE upon a time a Library
Book was overheard talking
to a little boy who had just
borrowed it. The words
seemed worth recording, and
here they are:
" Please don't handle me
with dirty hands. I should
feel ashamed to be seen when
the next little boy borrowed
me.
" Or leave me out in the
rain. Books can catch cold
as well as children.
" Or make marks on me
with your pen or pencil. It
would spoil my looks.
" Or lean on me with your
elbows when you are reading
me. It hurts.
" Or open me and Jay me
face down on the table. You
wouldn't like to be treated so.
" Or put in between my
leaves a pencil or anything
thicker than a single sheet of
thin paper. It would strain
my back.
" Whenever you have fin-
ished reading me, if you are
afraid of losing your place,
don't turn down the corner of
one of my leaves, but have a
neat little Book Mark to put
in where you stopped, and
then close me and lay me
down on my side, so that I
can have a good, comfortable
rest.
" Remember that I want to
visit a great many other little
boys after you have done
with me. Besides, I may
meet you again some day,
and you would be sorry to see
me looking old and torn and
soiled. Help me to keep
fresh and clean, and I will
help you to be happy."
APPENDIX OF HOLIDAY GAMES
HOLIDAY GAMES 389
The following games have been selected with the hope that
the holiday hostess may find among them delightful suggestions
or even ready-made programs for holiday parties. In addition
to the new games appropriate to each day, page references are
given to other games in the volume especially suited to the cele-
bration in question, and the chapter on Games for a Party gives
many others which will make merriment on any occasion.
NEW YEAR'S DAY
January 1
Ships of Fortune
The Ships of Fortune take a little trouble to prepare but are
well worth it in fun. Make, according to the directions given on
page 298, as many walnut shell boats as you expect to have
guests. Omit the sails. Fill a large, low tub or pan more than
half full of water and gather the fortune-seekers about it on the
floor, presenting each with a boat, marked in some way with a bit
of color to identify it. Then each lights his candle and the
shells are launched simultaneously on the "sea of life." The
fate of his boat is supposed to indicate the owner's course dur-
ing the coming year. If the light burns steadily to the end and
the boat rides safely, a happy, successful year is predicted; if
two boats travel side by side, or cross each other's path, the same
is foretold for their owners; if a boat clings to the side of the
tub it shows the owner will not travel, and vice-versa. The
watchers can invent much laughable prophecy, according to the
movements of the little fleet. It is a good plan to stir the water
with a stick, or gently move the tub occasionally to create re-
newed activity.
New Year Resolutions
This is a trick game which requires two initiated players,
one of whom professes to be able to guess a New Year resolution
390 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
of each person present. Each person writes a resolution on a
slip of paper, folds it and puts it in a hat. The hat, containing
all the resolutions, folded alike, is placed before the "seer."
This person has previously and secretly learned from the other
person in the secret the exact wording of his resolution. He
begins by taking out one of the papers and before opening it an-
nounces the resolution he has previously learned. He asks if any
one made such a resolution, the person admits it, and the seer,
opening the paper, triumphantly repeats the words, at the same
time memorizing the resolution that is actually written on the
paper he has drawn. He then proceeds as before, each time,
while seeming to confirm his guess, learning the next resolution.
Of course, no one must be allowed to look over his shoulder and
he must not be required to show the papers. If he manages
cleverly the audience is truly amazed at his mystic power.
Testing the Fates
Place twelve lighted candles in a row or large circle on the
floor, each candle being of a different color and labeled to rep-
resent a different month of the year. Each player in turn then
jumps over the candles and if he succeeds in jumping over all
without putting out one, he is assured of happiness and prosperity
throughout the year. But if he extinguishes one or more of
them he will suffer some ill luck in the month represented by
that candle.
New Year Spin the Platter Game
This is played according to the directions for Spin the Plat-
ter given on page 17, except that the players, instead of taking
numbers or names of towns, each represent a month of the year.
Charades and tableaux always make fun for an indoor
holiday celebration, especially for family groups of old and
young. Descriptions of some of these games are given on pages
106-109.
HOLIDAY GAMES 39 1
LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY
February 12
Who Am I?
An excellent game to open a large party, particularly if the
guests are not all acquainted, is a historical character guessing
game. Provide a large number of slips, each bearing the name
of some well-known person in United States history. Pin one
on the back of each arrival, being sure that he or she does not
see the name. The person must then guess who he is, by asking
questions about himself of the other guests. As soon as he
guesses the name on one slip he may have another, and a prize
may be given to the person guessing the greatest number.
(This game is also adaptable to a literary party, by using
names of books and authors.)
Lincoln Anagrams
Give each player a slip bearing the anagrams listed on the
left below, plainly printed with space opposite each for the
solution, to be made by rearranging the letters to spell some
word connected with Lincoln's history.
1. nillocn (Lincoln)
2. enykuctk (Kentucky)
3. macirean (American)
4. ohtens bea (Honest Abe)
5. airl pertilts (rail splitter)
6. luribacepn ( Republican )
7. warely (lawyer)
8. renpetids ( president )
9. aervyls (slavery)
10. oftr ertmus (Fort Sumter)
11. tobialnio (abolition)
12. utetgygbsr ( Gettysburg)
Breaking the Chain
Several children chosen as slaves stand in the center of a
392 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
circle made by the other players with linked arms and hands
clasped in front. The slaves then try to break free as the chain
revolves about them. When all are free a new lot of slaves may
be chosen.
The game entitled Pictures and Titles on page 55 may be
adapted to Lincoln's birthday by calling for drawings of scenes
in Lincoln's life.
ST. VALENTINE'S DAY
February 14
St. Valentine's Post
One of the players is chosen as postman, while the leader
of the game is the postmistress. The postman is blindfolded
and seated in the center of a circle of seated players. There
should be no empty chair. The postmistress whispers to each
person in the circle the name of a city or town on a list prepared
beforehand. She then stands outside the circle and calls, "I
have sent a Valentine from New York to San Francisco!" and
the players representing those cities must exchange places, while
the blind postman tries to catch one of them. When he succeeds
he is rewarded with a Valentine in an envelope bearing his name
and the person caught takes his place as postman. It is well to
play until each one has received a Valentine. These should be
prepared beforehand, one for each guest.
A Heart Hunt
A heart hunt, similar to the familiar peanut hunt, makes
an attractive opening game for a Valentine party. The hearts
may be small ones cut from red cardboard or tiny candy hearts,
and should be hidden in every conceivable nook and cranny
throughout the rooms devoted to the party, before the guests
HOLIDAY GAMES 393
arrive. Each hunter should be provided with a small heart-
haped paper basket in which to collect the hearts.
The game is made somewhat more exciting by using differ-
ent colored hearts, rated differently ; for instance, a white heart
counting 1, a blue one 2 and a red one 3. The player with the
highest ''score" at the end of five (or ten) minutes will be the
winner, regardless of the number of hearts.
Cupid Is Coming
This is a good game for a quiet interval in a Valentine
party. Seat the players in a circle. The leader then says,
1 ' Cupid is coming, ' ' and the person at her left must provide an
adverb beginning with A describing how he is coming, for in-
stance, ''absurdly" or "adoringly" or "agilely." The next
player gives an adverb beginning with B, the next C, and so on
through the alphabet. Great rapidity must be insisted upon
and forfeits required of players who are not ready.
Other games suitable for this day are Ruth and Jacob on
page 23, Consequences on pages 68 and 69, and I Love My Love
on page 88.
WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY
February 22
Washington Pi
Supply each player with a pencil and a card containing the
list of Washington anagrams given on the left below, the object
being to guess and write the solutions opposite. At the end of
ten minutes the correct answers are read and the person having
a perfect list is proclaimed winner.
1. astighownn (Washington)
2. burrefay (February)
3. hyrecr eret (cherry tree)
394 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
5. ariottp (patriot)
6. mettsaans (statesman)
7. tomun nervon (Mount Vernon)
8. derpneist (president)
9. ulernoiovt (Revolution)
10. lealvy reogf (Valley Forge)
11. ealwadre ( Delaware )
12. rafbet fo ish utorcny (Father of his country)
A Hatchet Hunt
This is similar to the Heart Hunt described among the
Valentine's Day games, but instead of concealed hearts, several
hundred little cardboard hatchets are used, the number of
minutes set for the hunt depending on the quantity hidden and
the difficulty of their hiding places.
The games of Who Am I ? and Pictures and Titles described
for Lincoln's Birthday are also suitable for "Washington's
Birthday. The Yes and No games described on page 94 are
easily adapted to Washington subjects.
APRIL FOOL'S DAY
April 1
Obstacle Race
Uninitiated players must volunteer for this race which may
be prepared for two or more contestants, according to the space
available. Clear a space down the center of the room and place
a row of similar obstacles for each contestant, the articles in
each row being three or four feet apart. These articles are a
sofa cushion, a lighted candle, and a bowl of water. After
the contestants have seen the obstacles and measured the dis-
tance with their eyes, they are blindfolded and told to walk to
the end of the course, avoiding the obstacles. As soon as their
HOLIDAY GAMES 395
eyes are covered all the articles are quickly and silently re-
moved, making the efforts to avoid them irresistibly laughable.
An April Tableau
A large mirror or pier glass is necessary for this trick. It
should be placed in a bay window or doorway behind curtains
that can be readily drawn aside at the right moment. It is
better to prepare this trick in an out of the way corner or to
place a table before the curtain so that no one will investigate
too soon. At the chosen moment arrange the spectators before
the curtained mirror in a close group, sitting, kneeling and
standing, so that all may see. When all are ready, pull the cur-
lain back and disclose the reflected tableau of expectant "April
fools." "We are April Fools" may be written in soap at the
top of the mirror beforehand.
Circus Peep Show
The peep show is made by cutting away the ends of a box
about two and a half feet long and a foot and a half high, and
substituting gay curtains at each end. Paste translucent paper
over the top of the box, leaving a space in the center for an ad-
justable cardboard slide. Place the box on a stand or table
(about chin height of the intended spectators) in a good light.
Prepare a list of circus animals and characters and announce
exhibition of two at a time for instance, ''the fierce lion and
the lady trainer" or "the funniest clown on earth and the
biggest elephant." Select a girl and a boy for the first view
and let them simultaneously draw the curtains at each end of
the box. Withdraw the slide from the center at the same
instant, and the "fierce lion" and the "lady trainer" confront
each other. They must of course, keep the secret and enjoy
the joke on the succeeding couples to "peep." (A pretense
396 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
at rearranging the show should be made before announcement
of each new exhibit.)
Other games suited to April Fooling are The Donkey's
Tail, and The Blind Feeding the Blind on page 5, Blowing Out
the Candle on page 6, The Whistle on page 8, The Concerted
Sneeze on page 27, Old Maid's Birthday on page 81, and Mak-
ing Obeisance and Mesmerism on page 99.
EASTER
Variable between March 22 and April 25
The Giant Cobweb
This game is always a favorite, though it takes consider-
able trouble to prepare. From the claws of a huge paper
spider suspended in the center of the room hang as many ends
of colored twine as there are guests. Each person is told to
follow the string until he comes to the end, winding as he goes.
The balls have been previously wound among table and chair
legs, around doorknobs, in and out the stair rails in fact every-
where in the most complicated manner possible. An Easter
egg or small gift should be tied to the hidden end of each
string.
An Egg Hunt
An egg hunt, similar to that described as a Heart Hunt
in the Valentine games, is always successful at an Easter party.
Either colored paper eggs or tiny candy eggs may be used.
Easter Ribbon Race
This is a contest for two or more players. If three are to
play at a time, place three similar chairs at the end of the room
and to the back of each fasten a strip of crepe paper (or colored
cheesecloth) four or five yards long and an inch and a half
HOLIDAY GAMES 397
wide. Stretch these "ribbons" as far as they will go and give
an end to each contestant, being sure the strips are exactly the
same length. Supply each with a good pair of scissors and at
a given signal let all begin to cut through the center of the
strip toward the chair. The one who reaches the chair first
without cutting off the edge of the strip wins.
An Egg Race
For the egg race select leaders for two even sides. Place
six hard boiled Easter eggs in a row, about a foot apart, on
each side of the room, with a basket at the end of each row.
The leader of each side is provided with a large wooden spoon
(these must be alike) and at a given signal starts to pick up
the eggs in his row and place them in the basket. Having done
this, he replaces the eggs as they were, on the floor and hands
the spoon to the next player on his side, who repeats the proc-
ess. The side which first finishes wins. Any help from the
other hand or the foot disqualifies a player and she must begin
again.
The Dancing Egg on page 124 and Hen and Chickens on
page 130 are other appropriate Easter games.
MAY DAY
May 1
Nothing is more appropiate to May Day than the delight-
ful old English May Day games, of which a number are given
in this volume. Nuts in May, page 12, London Bridge, page
15, Lady Queen Anne, page 20, The Mulberry Bush, page 28,
Looby, Looby, page 29, The Muffin Man, page 32, Tom Tiddi-
ler's Ground, page 129, Hen and Chickens, page 130, and Hunt
the Squirrel, page 153 are especially appropriate.
398 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW'?
INDEPENDENCE DAY
July 4
What Will You Bring to the Picnic?
A trick game that is most successful if the leader alone
knows the secret, till it is guessed. He should announce that
he intends giving a picnic but that it depends upon what two
articles each guest decides to contribute toward the lunch,
whether or not he shall be invited. The leader, who, by the
way, must be well-enough acquainted with the company to know
the initials of each one present, proceeds to ask each in turn
what he or she will contribute. If, in answer to the question,
''What will you bring to the picnic ?" a person names articles
which do not begin with the initial of either her first or last
name, she is told she may not go, but if, for instance, her name
is Sally Jones and she chooses to bring sandwiches and peaches,
she is made welcome. If she should select sandwiches and jelly
she is made doubly welcome! Each player answers the ques-
tion, the object being for the company to guess the cause for
acceptance or rejection of their contributions.
Red, White and Blue Toss
Out of heavy cardboard cut nine discs about five inches in
diameter, and paint, or cover them with red, white and blue
paper, making three of each color. The game consists of throw-
ing these into a basket from a distance of six feet. A waste
paper basket will do. To play it by sides, mark the distance
of six feet from opposite sides of the basket, assigning a side
to each team. Each team then plays five rounds, ninety being
the highest possible score for each player, a red disc in the bas-
ket counting 1, a white disc 2 and a blue, 3. The sides should
alternate in play, each individual player throwing all nine discs
and making her score to be reckoned in her team's total. The
HOLIDAY GAMES 399
greatest total score of all the players on a side wins the con-
test. Of course, the game may be played without sides, the
single winner of the highest score being victor.
Battle Guessing Contest
A quiet interval in a Fourth of July party may be pro-
vided in guessing Battle anagrams. Give each player a pencil
and a card bearing the mixed letters, given below, of the names
of famous battles. The person guessing the most battles by
rearranging the letters, should receive a prize. If the players
are younger children it would be well to confine the list to
familiar battles of United States history, substituting these for
the European battles on the list below.
1. hortaman (Marathon)
2. rolawote (Waterloo)
3. geixontln (Lexington)
4. redunv (Verdun)
5. yeccr (Crecy)
6. taghinss (Hastings)
7. alimna (Manila)
8. moleepythar (Thermopylae)
9. surteggytb (Gettysburg)
10. renbuk'lihl (Bunker Hill)
11. motapxopat (Appomatox)
12. wooyrktn (Yoi-ktown)
Flag Contest
Display the flags of fifteen or twenty different countries
on a strip of white canvas or a plain wall, numbering each, and
retaining a correct list of the flags numbered correspondingly.
The players are provided with paper and pencil and pass before
the flags, writing the name of the country to which each be-
longs opposite its number. The person identifying the greatest
number wins.
400 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
A Torpedo Hunt
For the torpedo hunt, each player is provided with
a paper bag in which to collect torpedoes, hidden within a
specified area. A prize of a flag may be given to the finder of
the greatest number, and the torpedoes and bags be utilized
rn a grand salute to the prize.
Old Soldier, page 13, The Sergeant, page 24, and Tug of
"War, page 38, as well as all the games in the chapter on Out-
door Games for Boys, are suitable for an Independence Day
party.
HALLOWE'EN
October 31
The Three Bowls of Fortune
Place in a row on a table three bowls, one empty, one con-
taining clear water, and the other milky water. The girl wish-
ing to try her fortune is blindfolded, turned-about three times
and led to the bowls. She is then told to put her left hand into
one of them. If she touches the clear water she will marry a
bachelor ; if the milky water, a widower ; if the empty bowl, she
will remain unmarried. This ceremony should be repeated
three times, and the hand dipped twice in the same bowl to
make the test doubly sure.
A Raisin Race
This provides lots of fun for the spectators as well as for
the performers. In the exact center of a piece of clean white
string one yard long a large fat raisin is tied securely. The
two contestants with hands tied or clasped behind them then
chew the two ends of the string simultaneously. The one who
reaches the raisin first wins.
HOLIDAY GAMES 401
The Ring and the Goblet
The equipment for this fortune telling experiment is a
wedding ring or light key, a long hair plucked from the ex-
perimenter's head, and a glass containing a little water. Pass
the hair through the ring so that the ring will swing freely in
the glass, then say the alphabet slowly. The letters on which
the ring strikes the glass will spell the name of the experi-
menter's fate.
Other games suitable for a Hallowe'en frolic are Shadow
Buff on page 5, Blow Out The Candle and Apple-Snapping on
page 6, Eyes, Making Obeisance, and Mesmerism on page
99, the Thought Reading Tricks on pages 100 and 102, Witches
on page 131, The Cat Alphabet on page 166, and Shadows On
The Wall, page 279.
THANKSGIVING DAY
The Last Thursday of November
The Headless Turkey
This game is an adaptation of The Tailless Donkey, par-
ticularly appropriate to Thanksgiving Day. A large silhouette
of a headless turkey cut from black paper or muslin and pasted
on a sheet, is tacked firmly across a doorway or upon a wall.
Each member of the party is given a pin and a black muslin
turkey head which if rightly placed will fit the turkey. Then
each in turn is blindfolded at the opposite side of the room,
turned three times, and directed toward the turkey. The ef-
forts to pin the head on the right spot are most amusing.
A Nut Race
The Potato Race described on page 40 makes a good Thanks-
giving game, and a more difficult and exciting adaptation of
this is A Nut Race, played similarly, but with nuts picked up
and carried to the goal on the end of a dinner knife.
402 WHAT SHALL WE DO NOW?
Charades and tableaux as described on pages 106-109 are
also recommended for family fun on Thanksgiving Day.
CHRISTMAS DAY
December 25
The Night Before Christmas
This is an adaptation of Family Coach (see page 33) suit-
able for a Christmas party. The players sit in a large circle and
to each one is whispered a word occurring in Moore's well
known <<7 Twas the Night Before Christmas, " such words, for
instance, as house, mouse, reindeer, mama, Donner, Blitzen,
stocking, etc. If there are few players, two or even three words
can be given to each. Then the person in the center of the ring
reads or repeats the poem and each player as her word is men-
tioned, rises and turns around. At any time the reader is
privileged to cry "St. Nicholas!" when all must change seats
and the reader tries to secure one. If she is successful the
player who is left standing must continue the story.
Christmas Stockings
Pin or araw on a sheet tacked to the wall a full sized fire
place with a mantelpiece but do not make it too high if the
players are to be small children. Provide each player with a
small empty stocking and a pin, blindfold each in turn and
tell him to hang the stocking on the mantelpiece. If he succeeds,
drop a small toy into the stocking before removing the handker-
chief from his eyes. If the stocking is out of place it remains
empty unless a second try for the unsuccessful is agreed upon.
Christmas Music
Magic Music as described on page 9 may be made especially
appropriate for a Christmas party by choosing a hollyberry a
HOLIDAY GAMES
the object to be sought and playing Christmas music during
the search.
What Do I See?
This is a good memory game for any occasion but there is
particular fun in it when Christmas gifts received are on dis-
play. On a table place a collection of from 25 to 30 articles.
The following are suggested unless a collection of Christmas
gifts is available: A spool of thread, a pair of scissors, a pic-
ture frame, a thimble, a knife, a pencil, a paper weight, a box,
a book, in fact any easily recognizable objects. Let all the
players examine the articles for three minutes, then cover them
carefully out of sight. Give each player a pencil and paper
and let him make a list of as many of the things as he can re-
member. The best memory wins the prize.
Blowing Out The Candle on page 6 may be played with
lighted candles of a Christmas tree. Bag and Stick on page 7
is also a good Christmas game.
THE END
INDEX OF HOLIDAY GAMES
Anagrams, Lincoln, 391
Apple snapping, 6
April tableau, an, 395
Bag and stick, 7
Battle guessing contest, 399
Blind feeding the blind, 5
Blowing out the candle, 6
Breaking the chain, 391
Cat alphabet, 166
Charades, 106
Christmas music, 402
Christmas stockings, 402
Circus peep-show, 395
Cobweb, giant, the, 396
Concerted sneeze, the, 27
Consequences, 68-69
Cupid is coming, 393
Dancing egg, the, 124
Donkey's tail, the, 5
E
Easter ribbon race, 396
Egg hunt, an, 396
Egg race, an, 397
Eyes, 99
P
Flag contest, 399
Fortune, three bowls of, 400
ships of, 389
G
Giant cobweb, the, 396
H
Hatchet hunt, a, 394
Headless turkey, 401
Heart hunt, a, 392
Hen and chickens, 130
Hunt the squirrel, 153
Hunt, egg, an, 396
hatchet, a, 394
heart, a, 392
torpedo, 400
I love my love, 88
Lady Queen Anne, 20
Lincoln anagrams, 391
London bridge, 15
Looby, looby, 29
M
Making obeisance, 99
Mesmerism, 99
Muffin man, the, 32
Mulberry bush, the, 28
Music, Christmas, 402
405
406
INDEX
N
New Year resolutions, 389
New Year spin the platter game,
390
Night before Christmas, 402
Nut race, 401
Nuts in May, 12
S
Sergeant, the, 24
Shadow buff, 5
Shadows on the wall, 279
Ships of fortune, 389
St. Valentine's post, 392
Obstacle race, 394
Old maid's birthday, 81
Old soldier, 13
Peep-show, circus, 395
Pictures and titles, 55
Post, St. Valentine's, 392
Potato race, 40
R
Race, Easter ribbon, 396
egg, an, 397
nut, 401
obstacle, 394
potato, 40
raisin, 400
Raisin race, 400
Red, white and blue toss, 398
Resolutions, New Year, 389
Ring and the goblet, 401
Ruth and Jacob, 23
Tableau, April, an, 392
Tableaux, 108
Testing the fates, 390
Three bowls of fortune, 400
Thought reading tricks, 100-102
Tom Tiddler's ground, 129
Torpedo hunt, 400
Tricks, thought reading, 100-102
Tug of war, the, 38
W
Washington Pi, 393
What do I see? 403
What will you bring to the picnic?
398
Whistle, the, 8
Who am I? 391
Witches, 131
Yes and No, 94
INDEX
ACROBATIC impossibilities, 36
Acrobatics, drawing-rooin, 35-41
Acrostics, 59
Acting initials, 97
games, 97-109
proverbs, 97
verbs (Dumb Crambo), 98
Adders, 212
Adhesive tape, 243
Adventure, stories of, 376
Advertisements, 21
Almonds, how to blanch, 310
Alphabet, the cafe, 166
Alphabet, the love, 88, 165
Alphabet, the ship, 87
Anemone, 325
Angora rabbits, 348
Animal, vegetable and mineral, 96
Animals, books about, 382
China, 192
composite (drawing game), 51
invented (drawing game), 54
velvet, 289
Annuals, treatment of, 319-323
Ants, 213
Apple-snapping, 6
Apprentice, the, 167
Arm-chair (model), 251
Aspidistra, 331
Auctioning prizes, 43
Autumn sowing of seedlings, 321
Avadavats, 358
BAG and stick, 7
Balancing, 187
Balancing tricks, 122
Ball games, 139
wool, 282
Ballad game, the, 132
Balloon, 39
Barley Sugar, 307
Baths for birds, 355
Battledoor and shuttlecock, 129
Bead furniture for dolls' houses, 223
Bead-work, 283
Bean bags, 113
Bed boat, the, 189
games, 185-193
soldiers, 191
thinking games for, 189
Beds for dolls' houses, 222
matchbox, 231
Bedstead (model), 252
Bees, 205
Belgian hares, 349
Bicyclist, the, 34
Biennials, treatment of, 322
Bingo, 27
Birds, large and cage, 355-366
in the garden, 363-366
Birds' -nesting, 207
Birthday, the old maid's, 81
Blackberrying, 209
Blackbird, the, 360
Black man, 158
Blacksmith, the, 206
Blenheim spaniels, 347
Blind feeding the blind, the, 6
Blind games, 3-5
Blind man's buff, 3
played with spoons, 3
407
408
INDEX
Blind man's wand, 4
Blind worms, 212
Block city, 188
Bloodhound, the, 347
Blowing eggs, 207
Blowing out the candle, 6
Boat, a simple toy, 295
Boats, paper, 285
on a stream, 211
sailing, 210
walnut shell, 298
Book mark, 385
Books
and bookshelves for a doll's house,
224
about animals, 382
about boys, 376
of adventure, 376
about children, 373
of fairy tales, 370
historical, 380-382, 384
of poetry, 371
about the sea. 379
of travel, 385
of legendary tales, 371
Borders for a garden, 319
Borzoi, the, 347
Bowling, 143
Boxes, cardboard, 288
for collections of eggs, 208
for dolls' houses, 220
paper, 287
Boy and schoolboy stories, 376
Boys' toys, 292-301
Bran-tubs. 303
Bream, 351
Bricks, 185
Bruce 's heart, 187
Bubbles, soap, 116, 279
Buff, 26
Buff, blind man's, 3
Buff, shadow, 5
Bulbs, treatment of, 325-326
in cocoannt fibre, 333
in glasses, 333
in pots, 332
Bull dog, the, 346
Bullfinch, the, 359
Bull terrier, the, 343
Bunting, the yellow, 360
Buried names, 63
Butterfly hunting, 208
Butter making, 205
Buying dogs, 342
Buz, 167
CAGE birds, 355-366
Cages for birds, 355
Campanulas, 332
Canaries, 357
seed, 332
Candle-blowing, 6
Candle lighters, the, 38
Candy-making, 307-312
Candy, molasses, 310
nut, 310
peppermint, 311
Caramels, 308
cream, 309
Cardboard and paper furniture :
drawings of, 241-257
arm-chair, 251
bedstead, 252
chair, 256
cot, 257
cut-outs, 291
dining-room table, 249
dressing-table, 254
high chair, 257
kitchen chair, 247
range, 247
table, 246
pots and pans, 248
rocking-chair, 256
screen, 248
sideboard, 250
sofa, 251
towel-rack, 256
wardrobe, 253
washstand, 255
Cardboard and paper toys, 284-292
INDEX
409
Cardboard boxes, 288
dolls' houses, 237-243
uses for, 290
Card games, 77-83
Cardinal, the, 358
Cards for patience, 76
for snap, 77
Cards, hat and, 38
Catalogues, gardening, 316
Cat alphabet, the, 166
Catching balls, 140
Caterpillar game, 11
Caterpillars, 353
Cat-fish, the American, 352
Cats, 348
Chaffinch, the, 359
Chair (model), 256
Chairs, chestnut, 229
cork, 228
Chalks, 275
Characteristics, prophecies and, 80
Charades, 106
Cherry contests, 304
Chevy, 156
Chickens, feeding the, 204
Child's Garden of Verses, A, 188
Children, books about, 373
China animals, 192
nest-eggs, 204
Chinese gambling, 181
Chitterbob, 31
Christmas, 302-303
trees, 302
Clap in, clap out, 15
Clothes-basket, a doll's house, 234
Clothes-horse, summer house, 136
Clumber spaniel, the, 344
Clumps, 93
Coach, family, 33
Cobbler, the, 14
Cocked hat, paper, 284
Cocker spaniel, the, 344
Cocoanut cream, 308
drops, 308
fibre for bulbs, 332
Coffee-pot, 95
Collars for dogs, 340
Collecting Jones's, 165
Collections of china animals, 192
of flags, 273
of flowers, 208
Collections, continued
of stamps, 278
Collie, the, 344
Color in a garden, 316
Coloring maps, 273
pictures, 273
Compasses, home-made, 243
Competitions, guessing, 103
railway, 173
Composite animals (drawing game), 51
scrap books, 277
stories, 70
Concerted sneeze, the, 27
Concerts, the topsy-turvy, 105
Consequences, 68
an extended form of, 69
Contests, cherry, 304
Convalescents, games for, 191
Copying woodcuts, 274
Cork and matchbox furniture, 228-234
ships, 197
Cot (model), 257
Counting dogs, 164
a million, 191
Counting imaginary flocks of sheep, 191
Counting-out rhymes, 134
Country books, 215
Country, employment in the, 203-215
Cows, 206
Cradle, a walnut, 232
Cream caramels, 309
cocoanufc, 308
stuffing for dates, 311
Cress, mustard and, 327, 332
Crocuses, 325
Crosses, noughts and, 176
Cross questions, 22
Cross-tag, 152
Cumulative games, 29-31
Curtains for cardboard dolls' houses,
238
dolls' house, 221
Cushion, 14
Cutting flowers, 335-336
Cutting out pictures, 191
Cutting leaves, 326
4io
INDEX
DAFFODILS, 325, 333
Dairy, the, 205
Daisy chains, 135
Dancing dwarf, the, 105
Dancing egg, the, 124
Dancing man, a, 289
Dancing pea, the, 124
Darts, paper, 286
Dates, stuffed, 311
Day's shopping, the, 14
Decorations, evergreen, 302
paper. 302
Deerhouud, the Scotch, 347
Deer Stalking, 6
Demons, wool, 282
Diaries, country, 214
gardening, 317
Dining-room table (model), 249
Dinner parties, dolls', 226
Distemper, treatment of, 341
Ditto game, the, 26
Dividing perennials, 324
Dog-stick, 145
Dogs, counting, 164
exercising. 339
food for. 33!)
how to buy. 342
how to teach tricks, 341
the various kinds of, 343-348
treatment of, 339-343
washing, 340
Dogs' collars, 340
kennel (cardboard), 241
Dolls for dolls' houses, 225
dressing, 226
paper, 258-262
rows of paper, 262
walking, 259
Dolls' dinner parties, 226
flats, 226
garden seats and tables, 219
houses, 220
cardboard, 237-243
chimney, 242
partition, 240
small, 227
house beds, 222
bookshelves, 224
cupboards, 225
curtains, 221
Dolls house, continued
fireplaces, 220
floors, 221
gardens, 220, 242
pictures, 224
screens, 225
wall papers, 220
Donkey's tail, the, 5
Dots, five, 47, 48
Double acrostics, 60
Doves, 354
Dragons, hand, 290
Drawing games, 47-56
Drawing-room acrobatics, 35-41
Drawings, eyes-shut, 50
Drawing tricks, 51
Dresses for paper dolls, 258
Dressing dolls, 226
Dressing the lady, 13
Dressing-table (model), 254
table, matchbox, 232
up for charades, 108
Dock on a rock, 142
Ducks' eggs, 204
Dumb Crambo, 98
performances, 107
Dutch rabbits, 349
Dutch street, a, 267
Dwarf, the dancing, 105
EASTER eggs, 275
Eggs, blowing, 207
ducks', 204
Easter, 275
hens', 204
INDEX
411
Electricity, 125
Elements, the, 90
Employments, guessing, 98
Esquimau village, a, 266
Evergreen decorations, 302
Everton toffee, 310
Exercising dogs, 339
Exploration, 203
Eyes, 99
Eyes-shut drawings, 50
FAIRY-TALE books, 370
Family coach, 33
specimen story, 33
Family, the imaginary, 190
Fan tail pigeons, 354
Farmyards, 203
Feather, the, 21
Feeding chickens,
Fern halls, 331
Ferns, 331
skeleton, 281
Fights, walnut shell, 299
Filipino village, a, 266
Fire-huckets, 40
Fireplaces for dolls' houses, 220
Fish, 351
Five dots, 47-48
Fives, 61
Flags, collection of, 273
Floors in dolls' houses, 222
Flower pots, 330
Flower shows, 136, 317
Flower symbols, 136
Flowers, collecting, 208
cutting, 335
for a doll's house, 225
packing, 335
painting, 209
for town gardens, 328
for window boxes, 334
Fly away, 23
Follow my leader, 159
Food for birds, 356
for chickens and ducks, 204
for dogs, 339
for puppies, 340
for rabbits, 349
for wild birds, 359, 361, 365
on a railway journey, 180
Football, parlor, 39
Foot-stools, cork, 230
Forfeits, 41
Fowls, trussed, 37
Fox terrier, the, 343
French and English, 158
(paper). 177
French tag, 152
French Blind Man's Buff, 4
Fruit cream, 309
Fuchsias, 332
Furnishing dolls' houses, 222
Furnishing game, a, 221
GAMES with a ball, 139
by rote, 189
drawing, 47- 56
in bed, 185-193
with cards, 75-83
412
INDEX
Games, continued
for convalescents, 191
for a journey, 173-181
for a party, 3-43
for a picnic, 151-159
quotation, 92
rainy-day, 113-126
table, 75-83
thinking, guessing, and acting, 87-
109
for a walk, 163-170
with a watch, 175
writing, 59-72
yes and no, 94-96
Gambling, Chinese, 181
Gaps, 154
Garden, dolls' house, 219, 242
kitchen, 327
shop, 136
town, 328
Gardening catalogues, 316
diaries, 317
tools, 318
General post, 17
Geraniums, 332
Ghosts of My Friends, 50
Glasses, bulbs in, 333
Glass-maker, the, 125
Going to Jerusalem, 10
Goldfinch, the, 359
Gold fish, 351
Good fat hen, a, 30
Good luck lily, 333
Gordon setter, 344
Gossip, 21
Grab, 78
Grand Mogul, the, 166
Grand Mufti, the, 25
Grass snakes, 212
Great Dane, the, 346
Greyhound, the, 347
Guessing competitions, 103
employments. 98
games, 93-104
numbers, 102
quantities, 104
results, 102
scents, 104
the color of horses' tails. 164
Guinea pigs, 350
Gypsy camp, 268
H
HAND dragons, 290
Hanging, 179
Hare and hounds, 145
Hat and cards, 38
Hate, cocked, 284
Hawks, 213
Heads, bodies and tails, 54
He can do little who can't do this, 8
Hen and chickens, 130
Hen, a good fat, 30
Hens' eggs, where to look for, 204
Here I bake. 13
Hide and seek, 154
Hieroglyphics, or picture-writing, 62.
53, 55
High chair (model), 257
High skip, 38
Himalayan rabbits, 349
Hish ! hash ! hosh ! 27
Historical stories, 380-382
History books. 385
Hives, bee, 205
Hold fast ! Let go ! 24
Home newspaper, the, 284
Honey-pots, 11
Hoop games for two, 169
posting, 169
Hoops, 169
Hop-scotch, 143
Hop, step, and jump, 159
Hospitals, scrap books for, 277
Hot and cold, 9
Hot hand, 175
Hotel game, an, 188
Hounds, 346
Houses, cardboard, 237-242
dolls', 220
House that glue built, the, 243
Bow, when, and where, 95
INDEX
Hunting for eggs, 204
Hunt the ring, 19
Hunt the slipper, 7
Hunt the squirrel, 153
Hunt the thimble, 9
Hutches, rabbit, 349
Hyacinths, 325, 333
JACK HORNEB pies, 303
Jack-stones, 116
Japanese fern balls, 331
Java sparrows, 358
John Ball, 31
Jinglers, 3
Jolly miller, the, 10
Jones's, collecting, 165
Journeys, games to play on, 173-181
Judge and Jury, 22
Jumping Rope, 129
ILLUMINATING, 274
Illustrated papers, painting, 273
Illustrating, 120
I love my love, 88, 165
Imaginary family, the, 190
Improbable stories, 70
India-rubber plant, 331
Indoor gardening, 329-334
occupations and things to make, 273
painting, 273
plants, 331
Initials, 65, 189
acting, 97
Ink sea-serpents, 288
Invented animals (drawing game), 54
Irises, 325
Irish setter, 344
terrier, 343
I spy, 155
It, 152
Ivy, 331
chains, 135
KILLING butterflies, 208
King Charles spaniel, 347
Kingfishers, 212
Kitchen gardens, 327
table (model), 246
chair 247
range " 247
pots and pans, 248
Kitchen utensils, 18
Kite messengers, 295
Kites, 292
Knots, 117-120
414
INDEX
LADY QUEEN ANNE, 20
Lamp for small dolls' house, 230
Land of counterpane, the, 191
Land of Story-books, the, 188
Laughter, 26
Leaves, skeleton, 280
Legendary tales, 371
Letter games, 75
Letters and telegrams, 63
and words, 178
with a pencil, 178
Lettuce, 327
Lights, rhyming, 167
Lists, 62
Little dog, the, 152
Looby, looby, 29
Log Houses, 268
London Bridge is Falling Down, 15
Love alphabet, the, 88, 165
Love-birds, 358
Low-tide, 197
Lubbock, Sir John, on bees, 205
Making friends, 203
Making plans, 191
Making obeisance, 99
Making sentences, 165
Man, a dancing, 289
Mandarins, the, 25
Maps, coloring, 273
on a journey, 173
Marbles, 146
Mastiff, the, 346
Mats, paper, 286
Menageries, 192
Mi'Miierism, 99
Messengers, kite, 295
Mice, 212
pet, 351
Milking cows, 206
Million, counting a, 191
Miniature trees, 331
Minnows, 352
Missing information, 67
Mogul, the Grand, 166
Molasses candy, 310
Moles, 212
Mongrels, 347
Mottoes for Christmas, 302
Moulting, 357
Mounting pressed flowers, 20$
Muffin man, the, 32
Mufti, the Grand, 25
Mulberry bush, the, 28
Music, dolls', 225
Music, magic, 9
Mustard and cress, 327, 332
My lady's clothes, 13
My right-hand neighbor, 94
My thought, 89
M
MADONNA lilies, 325
Magic-lantern slides, 274
Magic music, 9
INDEX
415
Old soldier, 13
Old stone, 130
Oranges and lemons, 15
Orchestra, 29
Outdoor games for boys, 139-147
Outdoor games for girls, 129-136
Outlines, 47, 49
N
NARCISSUS, 325, 333
Natural history books, 382
Neighbor, my right-hand, 94
Neighbors, 15
Newfoundland dogs, 345
Newspaper, the, 71
Newspaper, the home, 284
Ninepins, 185
Norfolk spaniel, 344
Noughts and crosses, 176
Numbers, guessing, 102
Nut candy, 310, 311
Nuts in May, 12
Nutting, 209
OBSERVATION, 104
for railway journeys, 174
Occupations, indoor, 273-304
Old bachelor, 79
Old maid, 79
Old maid's birthday, the, 81
P's AND Q's, 89
Packing flowers, 335
Paddling, 197
Painting, 273
cardboard dolls' houses, 238
cardboard furniture, 245
dolls' house food, 226
eggs for Easter, 275
flags, 273
flowers, 209
magic-lantern slides, 274
maps, 273
Paper boats, 285
boxes, 287
and cardboard toys. 284-292
darts, 286
decorations, 302
dolls, 258-262
French and English, 177
furniture, 243-257
mats, 286
Papers for dolls' houses, 220
Parlor football, 39
416
INDEX
Parrots, 354
Party, games for a, 3-43
Patience or Thirteeiis, 76
Pen and ink work, 276
Peppermint candy, 311
Perch, 352
Perennials, treatment of, 323
Pets, 339-366
Philopenas, 303
Photography, 214
Picking flowers, 335
Picnic games, 151-159
Pictures and titles, 55
Pictures, coloring, 273
for dolls' houses, 224
pricking, 275
tracing, 275
Pictures to order, 54
Picture-writing, or hieroglyphics, 52,
53, 55
Pig, 79
Pigeons, 353
Ping-pong, 75
Plain toffee, 309
Plans, making, 191
Planting bulbs, 326
perennials, 323
seedlings, 320
Plants, window, 329
indoor, 331
Playhouses of other peoples, 265-269
Poetry books, 371
Pomeranian, the, 347
Ponds, 210
Poodles, 347
Pop-corn, 309
Pop-guns, 185
Postage-stamp collections, 278
snakes, 278
Post office, the, 283
Potato races, 40
Pots and pans (models), 248
Predicaments, 71
Pressing flowers, 209
Pricking pictures, 275
Prisoner's base, 156
Prize, auctioning, 43
Products, towns and, 168
Prophecies and characteristics, 80
Proverbs, 96
acting, 97
Proverbs, continued
shouting, 97
Pueblo settlement, a, 265
Pugs, 347
Puppies, how to feed, 340
Puss in the corner, 7
Puzzles, 279
QUANTITIES, guessing, 104
Queen Anne, Lady, 20
Quoits, 141
Quotation games, 92
RABBITS, wild, 348
tame, 348
Races, 140
Races, potato, 40
soap-bubble, 116
Spanish, or wheelbarrow, 141
tissue-paper, 39
Radishas, 327
Railway competitions, 173
Railway whist, 174
Rainy-day games, 113-126
Reading, 369-385
Red rover, 159
INDEX
417
Remarks on acting, 100
Retriever, the, 344
Rhymed replies, 67
Rhymes, counting out, 134
Rhyming games, 92
Rhyming lights, 167
Riddles, 66
Ring, hunt the, 19
Ring taw, 146
Riug-the-uail, 115
Ring-toss, 114
Roadside whist, 163
Robin's Alive, 27
Robin, the, 361
Rocking-chair (model), 256
Rocks, 198
Rows of paper dolls, 262
Runt pigeons, 354
Russian scandal, 21
Ruth and Jacob, 2c
SAILING boats, 197, 210
Saint Bernard, the, 346
Sand castles, 198
games, 198
Saving seed, 322
Scandal, Russian, 21
Scarborough lily, 333
Scents, guessing, 104
Schoolboy stories, 376
Science, books about, 383
Scrap-books, 191, 276
covered screens, 278
Scraps and transfers, 288
Screen (model), 248
Screens covered with scraps, 278
for dolls' houses, 225
Sea-Serpents, ink, 288
Seaside friends, good, 199
Seaside employments, 197-200
Seaweed, 199
Seedlings, perennials, 325
general remarks on, 321
Seed, sowing, 322
Sentences, making, 165
Sergeant, the, 24
Setters, 344
Setting-boards for butterflies, 208
Shades, 326
Shadow buff, 5
Shadows on the wall, 279
Shearing sheep, 206
Sheep, 206
counting imaginary flocks of, .1 91
dog, the, 345
shearing, 206
washing, 206
Shell work, 199
Ship alphabet, the, 87
Ships, cork, 197
Shop, game of, 221
in the garden, 136
Shopping, the day's, 14
Shop windows, 164
Shouting proverbs, 97
Shuffle board, 121
Sideboard (model), 250
Silkworms, 352
Simon says thumbs up, 24
Simple acrostics, 59
Skeleton ferns, 281
leaves, 280
Skipjacks, 299
Skye terrier, the, 343
Sleep, ways of getting to, 191
Slugs, 324
Small dolls' houses, 227
Snakes, 212
postage stamp, 228
Snap, 77
Snap cards, 78
Sneeze, the concerted, 27
Snowdrops, 325
Soap-bubbles, 116, 279
Sofa (model), 251
Sofas, cork, 229
Soldiers, 185, 191
Solitary watchfulness, 212
Sowing seeds, 320
Spaniels, 344
Spanish cup and ball, 186
Sparrows, 365
4i8
INDEX
Spatter-work, 275
Spelling game, 166
Spin the platter, 17
Spoons, blind man's buff played with, 3
Squills, 325
Squirrels, wild, 213
tame, 350
Stagariuo, 159
Stamps, collecting, 278
Star of Bethlehem, 325
Starlings, 365
Station Observation, 174
Statues, 26
Steps, 4
Stevenson, R. L., 188
Still Pond ! No More Moving, 4
Stir the mash, 11
Stool of repentance, 98
Stories, composite, 70
improbable, 70
about schoolboys, 376
telling, 93, 163
Story books, 188
Story for Family coach, 33
for Old maid's birthday, 82
Story game, 70
Strawberries, 328
Streams, 211
Strength tests, 144
Stuffed dates. 311
Suckers, 299
Sugar, Barley, how to make, 307
Sugar, how to color, 312
Suggestions, 91
Summer-houses, 136
Sussex spaniel, the, 344
Swallows. 213
Swarming of bees. 205
Sweet-making, 307-312
TABLEAUX vivante, 108
Table games, 75-83
Tables, cork, 230
Tag, 152
Teapot, 95
Telegrams, 64
Telling stories, 93
during walks, 163
Terriers, 343
Terza, 154
Thimble, 9
Thinking games, 87-93
for bed, 189
Thirteens, or Patience, 76
Thought, my, 89
Thought-reading tricks, 100
Throwing light, 96
Tides, 197
Tiger-lilies, 325
Tissue-paper dresses for dolls, 262
races, 39
Titles, pictures and, 55
Tit-tot-toe, 176
Toffee, almond, 310
Everton, 310
plain, 309
Tom Tiddler's ground, 129
Tools for gardening, 318
Topsy-turvy concert, the, 105
Touch last, 152
Touchwood, 152
Towel-rack, cork, 233
(model), 256
Town gardens, 328
Towns and products, 168
Toy boate, 295
dogs, 347
Toys for boys, 292-301
Tracing, 244
Tracing pictures, 275
Train, games to play in the, 173-181
Transfers, 288
Transplanting flowers, 320
Travel, books of, 385
Traveller, the, 34
Trees, miniature, 331
Christmas, 302
Tricks, how to teach birds, 356
balancing, 122
how to teach dogs, 341
INDEX
419
Tricks, continued
drawing, 51
thought-reading, 100
Trout, 351
Trussed fowls, 37
Tug of war, 38
Tulips. 325
Turtles, 351
Twenty questions, 189
Twos and threes, or Terza, 154
Tying knots, 117
u
UNISON games. 26
Up Jenkins, 18
Utensils, kitchen, 18
kitchen (models), 248
for sweet-making, 307
VELVET animals, 289
Verse and poetry books, 371
Walnut fights, 299
shell boats, 298
Wand, blind man's, 4
Wardrobe, matchbox, 233
(model), 253
Washing dogs, 340
sheep, 206
Washstand, 232
(model), 255
Watch, games to be played with a, 175
Water-cutters, 300
Watering flowers, 318
perennials, 324
seedlings, 320
window boxes, 334
window plants, 330
Wax-bills, 358
Weeds, 321
Welsh terrier, the, 343
Wet clothes, 197
Wheat, 332
When my ship comes in, 87
Whist, railway, 174
Whist, roadside, 163
Whistle, the, 8
Whistles, 301
Wiggles, 49
Wild birds, feeding the, 361
rabbits, 348
Window boxes, 329, 354
plants, 329
Windows, shop, 164
Witches, 131
Wool balls, 282
demons, 282
Word -making, 178
Writing games, 59-72
W
WALKING dolls, 259
games to play when out, 163-17C
Walking Spanish, 39
Wall-pockets, 318
YELLOW bunting, 360
Yes and no games, 94-96
AP
14 DAY USE
RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED
LOAN DEPT.
This book is due on the last date stamped below, or
on the date to which renewed.
Renewed books are subject to immediate recall.
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General Library
University of California
Berkeley
19637
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY