"Noughts and Crosses," and can be played anywhere and on any scrap of
paper. You first decide which will be English and which French. Each
player then takes one-half of the paper and covers it with, say, sixty
dots. It does not matter how many, but there must be the same number
on each side. Then in a corner each draws a cannon, or draws something
that can be called a cannon for the purposes of the game. You then
decide how many turns you will have. The game is played by placing the
pencil on the cannon, shutting your eyes, and dashing the pencil
across your enemy's side of the paper, straight or crooked, in any
direction you like. Then you open your eyes, count how many dots the
pencil line has passed through, and score them down. The player who,
at the end of the number of turns settled upon, has gone through the
greatest number of dots is the winner.
"Letters" and Words
A box of letters is an unfailing help to pass the time. A word will
sometimes keep a player puzzling for hours, which is, of course, too
long. "Pomegranate," "Orchestra," and "Scythe" are good examples of
difficult words.
You can also take words and sentences seen on the journey, such as
"Wait till the train stops," and "Pears' Soap," and see how many words
they will make. A more difficult task is to make anagrams of
advertisements. "Lipton's Teas," for instance, makes "Taste on, lips."
"Letters" With a Pencil
The word-making game has been adapted into a writing competition. Each
of the company is handed a card which has been prepared for the
purpose beforehand by having names of a dozen animals, or towns, or
flowers, or birds, or whatever it may be, written on it in what might
be called twisted spelling. For instance, "butterfly" might be spelled
thus, "trelbyfut," and "Manchester" thus, "Tramschene." A certain
amount of time is given, and the winner is the player who has found
out most words therein.
A version of this game is to dot out all the letters of the word
except the first and the last. You would put "Elephant" on the paper
thus, E......t, and tell your companion it was the name of an animal.
Or you might write "Peppermint" thus, P........t, and tell him it was
the name of a sweet.
Hanging
This is a more difficult game, very suitable for a tiring journey. The
two players sit side by side, and one of them dots out on a piece of
paper the words of a proverb or well-known line of poetry. Thus, "I
met a little cottage girl" would be set down in this way:--
. ... . ...... ....... ....
Underneath this line a small gallows is erected. Thus:--
+---------+
| / |
|/ |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The game is for the other player to discover the line. In order to do
this he is permitted to ask his opponent for letters. Perhaps he will
begin by asking, "May I have an 'a,'" because there are few sentences
that do not contain an "a." His opponent will then put the first "a"
in. Thus:--
. ... a ...... ....... ....
Then perhaps another "a" will be asked for, and the line will come out
thus:--
. ... a ...... ....a.. ....
Then perhaps an "e":--
. .e. a ...... ....a.. ....
So far all has gone favorably with the guesser, and the gallows is
still untouched. But perhaps he will now venture to ask for a
consonant (which is much more risky than a vowel), and will say, "May
I have an 's'?" As there is no "s" in the line the reply will be
against it, and the opponent will at once append to the rope of the
gallows a small head. Thus:--
+---------+
| / |
|/ |
| |
| O
|
|
|
|
|
This means that the guesser has lost one out of a possible six points,
the others being his body, his two arms and two legs. For each letter
he asks for in vain he loses one of these, and when all have gone he
has lost the game too. Sometimes, however, the quotation can be
detected very quickly.
Other Games
Many games usually kept for the house can be played in the train. "Old
Maid" (see p. 79) is a good train game; so is "Buz" (see p. 167). A
"Fox and Geese" board, or a draughtboard, will help to pass the time.
Food
Food is a great help toward shortening a long journey. A little picnic
every hour, if it is permitted, is something not too distant to look
forward to, and it may take up ten minutes each time. A larger meal
all at once may, of course, be more convenient, but, if not, the
hourly picnic is worth trying.
Chinese Gambling
This is the simplest game possible but will while away endless hours.
It is played with nothing but your hands, which are made to assume
three positions: one with clenched fist; one spread out flat; and one
with first and second finger spread apart like the blades of scissors.
The first is called "the stone," the second "the paper" and the third
"the scissors." Very rapidly both players strike their right hand
(clenched) into the left palm three times, and then both at the same
instant bring up the right hand in one of the three positions. The
winner is determined by this formula: "Scissors cut paper. Stone
breaks scissors. Paper wraps stone." That is if you have made your
hand "the stone" and your companion "the paper," he wins. But if you
had chosen "the scissors" you would have won. The winner must call out
the formula that fits the case, "Scissors cut paper" for instance, and
count is kept of the number of losses and gains. The one who comes out
ahead after a half-hour's contest is the winner of that bout.
[Illustration: CHINESE GAMBLING]
PLAYING ALONE, AND GAMES IN BED
Bricks
Among the best toys with which to play alone are bricks, soldiers,
balls, battledore and shuttlecock, and dolls. No one needs any hints
as how to play with them; but it might be remarked that ordinary
bought bricks being rarely what they should be, it is better, if
possible, to get a carpenter to make some of a more useful size, say
four inches long, one and a half inches wide, and an inch thick. With
a hundred of these you can do almost anything in the way of building,
and if made of tough wood they ought to last forever.
Soldiers
A good game of soldiers is to see how many shots are required from a
cannon to kill the whole regiment. The cannon can either be a spring
cannon or a pop-gun, or a pea-shooter. Just at first it is almost
impossible not to clear off two or three men with each shot, but later
it becomes more difficult and exciting.
Ninepins
With a box of ninepins very much the same game can be played. In wet
weather, in the hall, a box of large ninepins is invaluable.
Spanish Cup and Ball
A good quiet game to play alone is "Spanish Cup and Ball." A long
stick has fastened to it a loop of wire standing out at right angles,
thus. To this is attached by a long string a worsted, or a very light
rubber ball. The game is to see how many times you can throw the ball
up to the ceiling and catch it in the loop of wire as it falls.
[Illustration: SPANISH CUP]
Balancing
All kinds of balancing games are excellent when you are alone and
tired of toys. There is no way to acquire proficiency in these but by
practice, but practice is fascinating work. Try balancing at first a
long pole (an old broom-stick handle will do) on the palm of your
hand, then on your finger, then on your chin and forehead. The longer
the pole, the easier to balance it. Remember one golden rule. _Keep
your eyes on the top of the pole._
Then try balancing a whole broom, or a chair. The practice of
balancing is excellent for training yourself in quickness of eye and
muscle.
Of course bricks and soldiers and ninepins, as well as balls (see p.
139), are more interesting when more than one person plays; but one
can pass the time very well with them.
Bruce's Heart
Where toys become tedious, games have to be made up; and in making up
games no outside help is needed. At the same time, some games which E.
H. describes may perhaps supply a hint or two. "One little girl," she
writes, "used to find endless joy in pretending to be Douglas bearing
the heart of Bruce to the Holy Land. A long stick in the right hand
represented his spear; a stone in the left hand was the casket
containing Bruce's heart. If the grown-ups stopped to talk with some
one they met, or if there was any other excuse for running on ahead,
the little girl would rush forward waving her stick and encouraging
her men (represented by a big dog), and, after hurling her stone as
far forward as possible, and exclaiming, 'Lead on, brave heart,' she
would cast her spear in the same direction in a last effort against
the Moors, and then pretend to fall dead to the ground." This little
girl had found the story of Bruce in _Tales of a Grandfather_, by Sir
Walter Scott. Almost every book will yield people and events to play
at.
The Hotel Camps
Another little girl whom E. H. knew "once spent a short time in a
hotel, and while there divided the other people into camps according
to the floor on which they had rooms. The designs in the windows on
the various floors represented the badges or heraldic signs of each
camp. For instance, one window (they were of colored glass) had a
border with eagles, another had gryphons, another lions, and so on. If
she met some one of another floor coming in or going out of the hotel,
it represented the meeting of two rival bands. If she actually found
herself in the elevator with them, it was a dangerous encounter, in
which, if they got out first, she had driven them off the field, but
if she got out first it was she who was in retreat. If two people of
different floors were seen talking together, a truce had been
declared, and so on."
Block City
The little book called _A Child's Garden of Verses_, by R. L.
Stevenson, has several poems which describe how a lonely little boy
used to play. Thus (in "Block City"):--
Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet a sea,
There I'll establish a city for me,
A kirk and a mill, and a palace beside,
And a harbor as well where my vessels may ride.
Story-Books
And (in "The Land of Story-Books"):--
Now, with my little gun, I crawl
All in the dark along the wall,
And follow round the forest track
Away behind the sofa back.
There, in the night, where none can spy,
All in my hunter's camp I lie,
And play at books that I have read
Till it is time to go to bed.
The Bed Boat
That is ordinary play. There is also a poem describing play in bed:--
My bed is like a little boat;
Nurse helps me in when I embark;
She girds me in my sailor's coat
And starts me in the dark.
Thinking Games for Bed
When more than one sleep in the same room, the time before sleep can
be very interesting. Many games which have already been described are
suitable for bed, such as "Telling Stories" (p. 99), "I Love my Love"
(p. 88), "Spelling" (p. 166), "The Grand Mogul" (p. 166), "Rhyming
Lights" (p. 167), "The Apprentice" (p. 167), "Towns and Products" (p.
168), "Suggestions" (p. 91), and "Clumps," adapted (p. 93).
Games by Rote
On this subject B. R. L. writes:--"We made a list, which was stuck on
the wall with a different game for each night. One was 'I Love my Love
with an A' (see p. 88), which we steadily made up all through the
alphabet. Another was 'Initials,' in which you take turns in saying
the initials of people you know, while the other guesses the names.
Another was 'Twenty Questions,' in which one thinks of something that
has to be guessed as quickly as possible, only 'yes' and 'no' being
given as answers. One very girlish game was like this: suppose you had
a little girl with golden hair and blue eyes, and she was going on a
visit to London, what sort of frocks would you buy her?"
The Imaginary Family
E. H. recommends for girls the "Imaginary Family" game. This is her
description of it:--"First you have to settle the names, ages, and
characters of your family, and then you can carry on their adventures
every night. One little girl who was devoted to books of travel, and
who loved to pore over maps and charts, used to travel with her family
every night in whatever country she happened to be interested in at
the time. Thus she and a favorite son, Pharaoh, traveled for a long
time in California, crossing every mountain-range by the proper
passes, exploring every valley, tracing each river to its source, and
so on. In the same way she traveled with her family is Central and
South America, the Malay Peninsula, and the South Sea Islands. Another
little girl who was very fond of adventure stories carried her family
through all sorts of perils by land and sea. At one time they were
shipwrecked and lived like the Swiss Family Robinson. At another
time they were exploring Central Africa, and traveled about with three
years' supplies in a gigantic caravan with fifty elephants. Yet
another little girl had for her family any characters out of books
that particularly fascinated her. Thus, when she was reading _The
Heroes_, her family was reduced to one daughter, Medea, a rather
terrible daughter, who needed a great deal of propitiating, and for
whose sake all other children had to be given up. Later on, when the
same child was reading _Tales of a Grandfather_, her family consisted
of three sons, Wallace, Bruce, and Douglas. (It is rather a good
thing, by the way, to have a very heroic family, especially if you are
at all inclined to be afraid in the dark, as they help to keep one's
courage up.) Two little girls, who lived in a clergyman's household,
had an imaginary poor family they were interested in, and they planned
about them every night,--how much the father earned, what their rent
was, whether the mother oughtn't to take in washing, whether the
eldest girl could be spared to go into service, and so on. When they
weren't allowed to talk at night they carried the family history on
independently and compared notes in the morning."
Making Plans
Making plans is always interesting, but particularly so just before
Christmas, when presents have to be arranged for.
For Getting to Sleep
The favorite way is to imagine that you see a flock of sheep
scrambling through a gap in the hedge, and to count them. A variety of
this is a desert with a long train of camels very far off, coming
slowly near, and then passing and gradually disappearing in the far
distance. Counting a million is also a good way.
Games for Convalescents
A good thing to do in bed when getting better from an illness is to
cut out pictures for scrapbooks. Any kind of cutting out can be done,
as the scissors and paper are very light and do not, therefore, tire
the arms. "Patience" (see page 76) is also a good bed game, because it
needs very little thought.
Bed Soldiers
In _A Child's Garden of Verses_ there is a poem called "The Land of
Counterpane," which tells what a little boy did when he was ill, lying
among the pillows with his toys:
And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;
And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets,
Or brought my trees and houses out
And planted cities all about.
China Animals
Dolls are, of course, perfectly at home in bed when you are ill, but
there is even more interest in a menagerie. On this subject it would
be difficult to do better than quote from a letter from E. M. R., who
has 590 china animals, mostly in families and all named. She began
this magnificent collection with a family of monkeys.
The mother was called Sally, her eldest son Mungo, the next
Pin-ceri, another, eating a nut, Jock, and the youngest, a
sweet little girl monkey, Ness. I was soon given a family of
three foxes, Reynard, Brushtail, and Whitepad, and from that
time to the present my collection has been growing. I soon
had enough to fill a shelf in a cabinet, and I turned my
doll's-house into a boarding-school for the little animals
with a big pig as headmaster. But when my collection rose to
400 animals, I had too many children to be all boarders at
the school, so some had to be day-scholars, and the
headmaster was changed to a green frog who swam beautifully,
and who was assisted by two swans, a duck, a fish, two
crocodiles, and a seal, who all swam. Another frog taught the
children swimming by tying a piece of string round their
bodies, and dangling them in the water from the edge of a
basin.
The animals' abode was now changed, and they were put into a
large cabinet containing six small shelves and one big one.
I called the big shelf a town, and the rest villages. The
town was called Weybridge: the village where the birds lived,
Airsbury; and that where the dogs were, Canistown. The rest
had various other names. At this time an important addition
was made to the collection, for a big lion was given me,
which I immediately created king; then came a queen and four
princesses, and shortly after a crown prince, another prince,
and three more little princesses.
The royal family was allowed a village all to itself, which
was called Kingston, and was given five servants, two nurses,
a footman, a housemaid, and a cook.
As I had now two families of several of the kinds of animals,
I determined that they should be married, so, nominating
Sally's husband rector, I had several weddings. I built a
church with some bricks I had, and formed a procession up the
aisle, to the Wedding March, played on an American organ.
First came the bride and bridegroom, then the best man and
the bridesmaids, and last the children of the animals who
were to be married, two and two. When the ceremony was over,
I marched them all back to their places on the shelf.
I now made eight laws, and copied them out in an
exercise-book, together with the names of all the animals,
the number of men, women, boys, and girls, and the number of
married and single families.
I had had several little separate china animals given me,
belonging to none of my families, so I made a law that if any
family of their kind came to the collection they must adopt
these little orphans.
I also made two acting companies, one of big animals, and one
for the children, with a boar-hound called Sir Philip of
Ravenswood for the manager of the first, and a little black
and white kid, named Tim, for manager of the second, and at
the Christmas of the same year that I formed the two
companies I had two plays, the children acting "Hansel and
Gretel," and the big animals "The Yeomen of the Guard."
Being now unable to get any fresh families of small animals,
I started a collection of big china animals, and soon had
thirty-five, among whom were a Jersey bull and cow, another
brown bull and a brown and white cow, two beautiful horses,
several dogs, two donkeys, and two goats.
These I kept apart from the small animals, in another
cupboard; but I still kept the lion king over them as well,
and gave them two big animals, a bloodhound and a St.
Bernard, as governors over them.
Among the small animals I had a very learned-looking pig
called Orsino, whom I made doctor, while an old bulldog,
Dimboona, to whom I had been obliged to give two wooden legs,
was Prime Minister. I also had a treasurer, a rent collector,
a steward, and an under-steward. I also made a young
boar-hound, called Panther, the son of Sir Philip, keeper of
the stables, which consisted of ninety-two horses which I had
made.
And this brings the narrative of the growth of my china
animal collection up to the present time, when I have 555
small animals and 35 big ones, 590 in all.
AT THE SEASIDE
Low Tide
The first thing to do on reaching the seaside is to find out when it
is low tide. In each twelve hours low tide comes twenty minutes later,
and knowing this you can arrange your days accordingly. Nothing is so
saddening as to run down the beach in the belief that the tide is
going out and to find that it is coming in.
Paddling
To boys who wear knickerbockers the preparations for paddling are very
simple; but girls are not so fortunate. Lewis Carroll (who wrote
_Alice in Wonderland_) took their difficulties so seriously that
whenever he went to the seaside to stay he used to have with him a
packet of safety-pins for the use of any children that seemed to be in
need of them. This piece of thoughtfulness on his part might determine
you to carry them for yourselves.
A Cork Ship
Sailing a good boat in the sea is not the best fun, but there is a
kind of boat which is very easily made as you sit on the beach, and
which is useful to play with when wading, and afterward to throw
stones at. You take a piece of cork for the hull. Cut a line down the
middle underneath and wedge a strip of slate in for a keel to keep her
steady. Fix a piece of driftwood for a mast, and thread a piece of
paper on that for a sail.
Wet Clothes
When wading it is just as well not to get your clothes wet if you can
help it. Clothes that are made wet with seawater, which probably has
a little sand in it, are as uncomfortable as crumbs in bed. There is
no reason why you should get them wet if you wade wisely. Sitting
among the rocks, running through the water, and jumping the little
crisping waves are the best ways to get soaked.
Rocks
Seaside places where there are rocks and a great stretch of sand are
the best. Rocks make paddling twice as exciting, because of the
interesting things in the little pools--the anemones, and seaweeds,
and shells, and crabs, and shrimps, and perhaps little fish. Sometimes
these pools are quite hot. To enjoy the rocks properly you want a net.
Sand Castles, and Other Sand Games
To make full use of the sands a spade is necessary and a pail
important. The favorite thing to make is a castle and a moat, and
although the water rarely is willing to stay in the moat it is well to
pour some in. The castle may also have a wall round it and all kinds
of other buildings within the wall. Abbeys are also made, and great
houses with carefully arranged gardens, and villages, and churches.
Railways with towns and stations here and there along the line are
easily made, and there is the fun of being the train when the line is
finished. The train is a good thing to be, because the same person is
usually engineer and conductor as well. Collisions are interesting now
and then. The disadvantage of a railway on crowded sands is that
passers-by injure the line and sometimes destroy, by a movement of the
foot, a whole terminus; it is therefore better at small
watering-places that few people have yet discovered. If an active game
is wanted as well as mere digging and building, a sand fort is the
best thing to make, because then it has to be held and besieged, and
perhaps captured. In all sand operations stones are useful to mark
boundaries.
Burying one another in the sand is good at the time, but gritty
afterward.
Seaweed
Seaweed and shells make good collections, but there is no use in
carrying live fish home in pails. The fun is in catching the fish, not
is keeping it; and some landladies dislike having the bath-room used
as an aquarium. On wet days seaweed can be stuck on cards or in a
book. The best way to get it to spread out and not crease on a card,
is to float the little pieces in a basin and slip the card underneath
them in the water. When the seaweed has settled on it, take the card
out and leave it to dry. The seaweed will then be found to be stuck,
except perhaps in places here and there, which can be made sure by
inserting a little touch of gum. It is the smaller, colored kinds of
seaweed that one treats in this way; and it is well to leave them for
a day in the sun before washing and preparing, as this brings out
their color. The ordinary large kind of seaweed is useful as a
barometer. A piece hung by the door will tell when rain is coming by
growing moist and soft.
Shell Work
A good use for little shells is to cover small boxes with them. The
shells are arranged in a simple pattern and fastened on with glue. If
the shells are not empty and clean, boil them, and scrub them with an
old tooth-brush.
Good Seaside Friends
So many interesting things are to be seen at the seaside that there is
no need to be always at play. Fishermen will come in with their boats,
which need pulling up; or a net that has been dropped near the shore
will be drawn in from the beach, and you can perhaps help. If the town
is not merely a watering-place but also a seaport, it is, of course,
better, because then there will be the life of the harbor to watch. To
be friends with a lighthouse man is almost as good a thing as can
happen; and if there is both a lighthouse and a shipbuilder's you
could hardly be more fortunate.
IN THE COUNTRY
This chapter has been written more for readers who live in a town and
visit the country only during the holidays than for those whose home
is always there. Regular country dwellers do not need to be told many
of the things that follow; but none the less there may be a few to
find them useful. The principal special attractions of the country
are--
In the spring Birds' nests.
" June Bee-swarming and hay-making.
" July Sheep-washing and shearing.
" August Early windfalls and harvest.
" September Blackberries, nuts, hops, mushrooms, and squirrels.
Making Friends
The most important thing to do when staying at a farmhouse is to
make friends with the principal people. The principal people are those
in charge of the chickens and ducks, the cows and the horses. The way
to make friends is to be as little trouble as possible.
Exploration