This requires an assistant to whom the secret of the game is intrusted.
The assistant leaves the room, the other party remains with the
company, and states that during the assistant’s absence she will put
her hand on some object, person, or thing, and when the assistant
returns he will tell what has been touched.
The assistant now being out, the piano stool is touched. On the
assistant’s return he is asked, “What did I touch?” at once he replies,
“The piano stool.”
Of course this causes great surprise and the assistant is asked to go
out again, the company expecting, perhaps, to be able to guess this
time. For a change a girl is touched, and on the assistant’s return he
is asked, “Whom did I touch?” and he promptly says, “Bessie Brown,” or
whatever the girl’s name.
Then the players think there must be some look or gesture given to aid
the assistant when he re-enters, and so they are given the privilege of
blindfolding him before his return, but all in vain, the assistant is
as correct as before and no one is able to guess.
Then the company beg: “Do tell us the secret.” So when all give up they
are told that just before the assistant leaves the room, the other
player secretly touches some person or thing, or perhaps indicates what
the object is with his foot or perhaps sits on it, if it be a chair or
stool. Occasionally, to further mystify, it would be well to simply
fold one’s arms. This would signify to the confederate, “I am touching
myself.” Therefore the assistant, whether blindfolded or not, can
answer correctly, because he has received his clue before he went out.
Of course, this game requires an intelligent assistant; indeed, both
players must be very careful, as so many eyes are on the constant
lookout.
This will be found a satisfactory game for a rainy afternoon in a
summer hotel, when the grown people are taking naps and there seems
absolutely nothing left for young people to do, and they are tired
watching the weather, and saying, “If it would _only_ clear!”