especially for indoor companies. The players are divided into two or
more groups which compete against each other. Each group lines up in
single file, so that the leaders all toe a starting line. Placed on
the floor in front of each group, and stretching ahead in the same
direction, should be a row of potatoes at intervals of two or three
feet apart, one for each player in the file. The larger and the more
irregular in shape the potatoes the better. There should be from six
to ten potatoes for each row. Each leader should be furnished with a
teaspoon, and beside the leader of each file should be a pan, box, or
basket, in which the potatoes are to be placed. At a signal each
leader starts forward, takes up a potato on the spoon, carries it to
the box or basket beside his first standing position, and places the
potato in it; he then hands the spoon to the next player, and passes
off the playing field, not lining up again with his team. The second
player picks up the next potato, puts it in the box, and so on, until
all have played, the last one standing beside the box with the spoon
held aloft as a signal that he has finished.
It is not allowable to touch the potato with anything but the spoon.
Should a potato be touched otherwise, the player must replace it and
pick it up again on the spoon. Should a potato drop from the spoon, it
must be picked up on the spoon where it dropped, and the play
continued from that point.
PRISONER'S BASE
Prisoner's Base is one of the most popular games for both boys
and girls who are beginning to care for team organization, and
is capital for adults. It gives opportunity for vigorous
exercise for all of the players, for the use of much judgment,
prowess, and daring, and for simple team or coöperative work.
The game is found under many different forms. Several, which
offer marked or typical differences, each possessing distinct
playing values, are given here. These differences are in (1)
the arrangement of the ground, and (2) the rules governing the
players and game.
The differences in the grounds may be classed as follows:--
I. The entire playground divided in two divisions, one
belonging to each party, each division having a small pen for
prisoners at the rear. (Diagram I.)
II. The main part of playground neutral territory, with home
goals for the opposing parties at opposite ends, with prisons
in, near, or attached to them. (Diagrams II, V.)
III. The main part of playground neutral territory, with home
goals for both parties at the same end, attached or separate,
and prisons at the opposite end, either (1) on the same side of
the ground as the home goal, or (2) on the enemy's side of the
ground. (Diagrams III-IV.)
The rules for play for the second and third types of ground are
fundamentally the same, though differing in details, and they
differ from those for Diagram I. The playing qualities of the
games for the last three diagrams, however, are very distinct
because of the different methods of the enemies' approach to
each other (which make differences in the risk of "dares"), and
because of the differing risks in rescuing prisoners and taking
the enemy's goal by entry.
It has seemed best to make a selection of the typical forms,
and leave the leader of games free to choose his own. The first
form is the simplest for beginners and younger players, and
makes a good introduction to the game for such players.
Stealing Sticks is still another form of Prisoner's Base. The
main difference lies in the carrying away of the enemy's
property.
Prisoner's Base and related games are supposed to have
descended from the days of border warfare. They are very old,
and Strutt mentions a "Proclamation at the head of the
Parliamentary proceedings early in the reign of Edward the
Third, ... where it [Prisoner's Base] is prohibited in the
avenues of the palace at Westminster during the sessions of
Parliament, because of the interruption it occasioned to the
members and others in passing to and fro." The game at that
time was played by adults.
PRISONER'S BASE--I
_10 to 30 or more players._
_Playground; gymnasium._
[Illustration diagram: PRISONER'S BASE--I]
The ground is divided into two equal parts, with a small base or
prison marked off at the farther end of each division. From five to
fifteen players guard each side. They venture into the enemy's ground,
and, if caught, are put into the prison, where they must remain until
tagged by one of their own side who is free. Both prisoner and rescuer
may be tagged and brought back to prison before reaching their own
ground. The game is won when one side makes prisoners of all of its
opponents, or when a free man enters the opponents' prison, but this
last may be done only when there are no prisoners there.
This form of Prisoner's Base differs from others in greater
simplicity, both as to the arrangement of the ground and the
rules of play. It is therefore better for younger players or
beginners in the game.
The differences in detail consist in:--
1. The ground being divided by a line through the center into
two opposing territories. In other forms, the main playground
is neutral territory, each party having a small home goal
marked within it.
2. In this game (No. I) a player cannot "give a dare" without
venturing into the opponents' territory, and any opponent may
tag him. In other forms, the tagging, being on neutral
territory, is controlled by limitations as to which player was
last to leave his home goal, and makes a more complex game.
The rules about (1) a prisoner and his rescuer both being
liable to capture on the way home, and (2) to winning by
entering the enemy's prison, with the restriction that no
prisoners must be there, are also distinctive features.
[Illustration: PRISONER'S BASE]
PRISONER'S BASE--II
_10 to 30 or more players._
_Playground; gymnasium._
[Illustration diagram: PRISONER'S BASE--II]
Two captains are chosen who select players alternately until all are
disposed in two parties of equal numbers. A large goal is marked off
at each end of the ground, with a small base or prison in one rear
corner of it. The wide, open space between the goals is neutral
territory. The objects of the game are to enter the opponent's goal or
to make prisoners of all of his men. The entrance of one player within
the enemy's home goal means victory for his side. As one player
advances for this purpose, or "gives a dare," the opponents send out a
player to tag him, when the first side immediately sends out a second
player to "cover" or protect the darer by trying to tag his opponent.
The first side then sends out a second player to "cover" their first
man. He is at liberty to tag either of the other two players. In this
way any or all of the players may be out at one time, though it is
unwise to leave the goal unguarded. Any player may tag any man from
the opposite side who left his goal before he did, but none who came
out after he did. Whenever a player returns to his home goal, which he
may do at any time, the man who went out to cover him must return
also, and of course the man who went out to cover this second one,
etc. The issuing forth of players, or their return to the home goal,
is subject at all times to the direction of the captain, though much
independence of judgment should be exercised by the various players.
The captain may also designate one player to guard the home goal and
one to guard the prisoners whenever he chooses.
Any player caught (tagged) is placed in the opponents' prison
("prisoner's base"), where he must remain until rescued by one of his
own side. The prisoner may reach as far out of the prison as possible,
so long as one foot is within it. When there are several prisoners,
they may take hold of hands or otherwise touch each other, as by the
feet (this is optional with the prisoners), and reach forward as far
as possible, to be tagged by a rescuer, so long as one of them (the
last caught) keeps one foot within the prison goal. In such a line the
first one caught should be farthest from the prison, the next one
caught holding his hand, and so on in the order of capture. A guard
should always be at hand to intercept any attempts at rescue. A
prisoner and his rescuer may not be tagged while returning home, but
the rescuer may be tagged before he touches the prisoner. One rescuer
may free only one prisoner at a time. Whenever a player is caught, all
of the others return to their home goals (except prisoners), and a
fresh start is made in the game.
Much finessing is possible by engaging the enemy on one side of the
ground, while a good runner is held in reserve to dash into the
enemy's goal on the other side. Or one player may, by a wide detour,
creep around unnoticed to the rear of the enemy's goal and enter it
from that side.
Each side should have a captain to maintain discipline, to take
general direction of the game, and to decide with the opposing captain
any disputed points.
This game is more complicated than the one of the same name
previously described. It is well for beginners to start with
the first game. The author can testify from vivid recollections
the hold which this form of the game may have for successive
seasons on its devotees. Sometimes a "dare line" is drawn a few
feet in front of each home goal, which challenges the opponents
to a special thrill of venturesomeness. The game in this form,
as a small boy said to the author, is "the national game of
Minneapolis."
PRISONER'S BASE--III
_6 to 30 or more players._
_Playground; gymnasium._
[Illustration Diagram: PRISONER'S BASE--III]
The ground is divided according to the accompanying diagram; the
players, who are divided into two equal parties, with a captain for
each party, being stationed respectively in the goals marked _A_ and
_B_, which are at the same end of the ground instead of at opposite
ends, as in Prisoners' Base II. In the present form of the game, the
prison belonging to each side is located directly opposite its own
home goal at the farther end of the ground, instead of near its own
goal, as in II. Rescue of a prisoner is by entry of the opponent's
prison, not by tagging the prisoners; so there is no object in the
prisoner's reaching out of the prison, as in the previous forms of the
game.
The two parties decide by counting out, holders, drawing lots, or some
other form of choice, which shall commence. One member of this side
then runs out to the middle of the ground and gives a "nominy," or
"dare," calling, "Chevy, chevy, chase! One, two, three!" As soon as he
has called this (but not before), he is liable to be tagged by the
opponents, who try to catch him before he can run home again. Should
he reach home in safety, the opponents take their turn in sending a
man to the middle to give a "dare" in the same way. A player need not
run home, however, but may remain at large, another player from his
side running out to cover or protect him by trying to tag the
opponent. Several players from each team may be out in this way at one
time. A player may be caught by any man who left his home goal after
he did, but by none who left before him. Each player must therefore
keep a sharp watch on his opponents to know which of them may tag him
and which he may tag. This is continued until a prisoner is caught,
when he is taken by his captor to the prison belonging to the side
capturing him. A captor may not be tagged while taking a prisoner to
prison, and is allowed to go back to his goal afterward without
tagging. If a player can reach the opponents' prison without being
tagged by an opponent, he releases the first prisoner taken there.
Both may return home without being tagged. The object of the game is
to place all of the players of the opponents' side in prison, and
when that is accomplished, to take possession of the opponent's home
goal. When this is done, the two parties change sides and begin again,
the losing side being first to send a man into the field.
PRISONER'S BASE--IV
[Illustration diagram: PRISONER'S BASE--IV]
This differs from the preceding game only in the laying out of the
ground, the prison for each party being on the opponent's side of the
ground instead of on the side of the home goal. This arrangement
decreases the risk in rescuing prisoners. All of the rules for the
game are the same as in III.
PRISONER'S BASE--V
_10 to 30 or more players._
_Playground; gymnasium._
[Illustration diagram: PRISONER'S BASE--V]
In this form of prisoner's base the ground is marked out in a square
or oblong, the dimensions varying with the number of players and their
age or ability as runners. For average players a ground measuring 60 ×
60 feet is recommended. The two end boundaries serve as base lines,
the territory beyond each belonging to the party on that side. In this
respect the game differs from those previously described, in which a
limited home goal is marked for each team. About ten feet from the
base line, near the left-hand corner of the square or oblong, a small
prison is marked for each team.
The first object of the game is to make prisoners of all the
opponents. The second object of the game is to make runs into the
enemy's territory and back again without being caught (tagged). Three
such runs entitle the player making them to select a player from the
opposing team as a prisoner, or to free one prisoner from his own
team. Should a player be made a prisoner, any runs he may have made
into the enemy's territory up to that time are lost in his account,
and when freed, he must begin his score of runs over again to count
three. A player returning home after a run into the enemy's territory
may not capture a prisoner, or free one of his own men from prison on
the way. A player may not be tagged after crossing the opponents' base
line until he starts back. In returning home after such a run, a
player may be tagged by any opponent who left his own goal after the
runner left his own goal (not the enemy's goal), but not by any who
started out before the runner started. This rule applies to the
capture of opponents at any time, any player, for instance, on team A,
being liable to capture by any opponent on team B who left his base
line _after_ the A man, but not any who left it _before_ he left his
own. Similarly, he may capture any player on team B who ventured forth
before he did, but must be on his guard against any who came out after
he did. Stepping over the side lines while being chased is equivalent
to being caught; but this does not apply when escorting a prisoner or
at any other time.
Prisoners may stretch out of the prison as far as possible so long as
one foot is within it. As the number of prisoners increases, they may
stretch out in one long file from the prison, provided each touches a
hand or foot, or some other part of the next player. In such a file,
the first prisoner captured should be the farthest away from the
prison, the last one captured with at least one foot in the goal, and
the others in relative order. After the first prisoner is caught, the
game centers more on freeing or preventing the freeing of prisoners
than on runs into the enemy's goal.
This is the form of Prisoner's Base preferred by Mr. Joseph Lee
of Boston, and described by him in _Playground_ (No. 8). Mr.
Lee says:--
"The interest of the game depends very much on locating the
prison in such a way as to give the right balance between the
forces of offense and defense. If it is placed close to the
base line of the side by which the capture has been made, it is
almost impossible to free the prisoner if there is any defense
at all. The game is often spoiled by this mistake. On the other
hand, it must not be placed too far out, for if it is, it
becomes impossible to win the game, because the line of
prisoners, when the side is nearly all caught, then extends to
a point so much nearer their own base line than to that of
their opponents that even the slowest runner on the losing side
can get down and free a prisoner before the fastest runner on
the opposite side can get out to stop him. The art of laying
out the ground is to have the prison placed far enough out to
make the freeing of the first prisoner reasonably easy, without
being so far out as to make the catching of the last one
impossible. In general, the game can be made lively and
comparatively unscientific by making the distance between the
base lines (the lines on which the two sides are lined up)
short, the field wide, and the prisons far out; and can be made
more difficult and less eventful by making it long and narrow,
with the prisons close in. If this latter tendency is carried
too far, however, freeing prisoners and making runs become at
last impossible, and the game is entirely stopped.... The game,
of course, is at its best when there is most going on and of
the most thrilling sort,--a lot of players making runs and
freeing and defending prisoners,--with flight and rally, charge
and rout, and triumph and despair."
PUSS IN A CORNER
_5 to 30 or more players._
_Schoolroom; playground; gymnasium._
All of the players but one are disposed in the corners or at
convenient goals that will answer the same purpose. The odd player
goes from one to another, saying, "Pussy wants a corner!" The player
to whom this is addressed replies, "Go to my next-door neighbor." Any
two of the other players meanwhile watch their opportunity to beckon
to one another for exchanging places. They try to make this exchange
of signals and to dash across from place to place when the attention
of Puss is attracted in some other direction, as Pussy must try to
secure a corner by rushing to any place that is vacant when the
players thus exchange.
The sport of the game consists very largely in tantalizing Puss by
making many exchanges, or, on the other hand, in Puss suddenly dashing
for some vacant place without giving previous evidence of knowing of
it. Whenever Puss secures a corner, the odd player left out becomes
Puss.
Puss, when not succeeding in getting a corner as soon as desirable,
may call "All change!" when all of the players must exchange places,
and in the general flurry Puss should secure a place.
Out of doors.--This game may be very delightfully adapted to
outdoor play by each player taking a tree as a "corner," when
the dodging and running may be much more varied and
interesting than in the open space of a parlor or gymnasium.
PUSS IN THE CIRCLE
_10 to 30 or more players._
_Playground; gymnasium._
A large circle is marked on the ground or floor. One player, who is
Puss, stands in the center of this circle; the other players stand
outside of the circle surrounding it. These players may be tagged by
Puss whenever they have a foot inside of the circle. They will make
opportunity for this by stepping in and out of the circle, teasing
Puss in every possible way to tag them. Any one whom Puss touches
becomes a prisoner and is another Puss, joining the first Puss in the
circle to help tag the others. The last one tagged is the winner of
the game.
This is one of the games particularly suited to make a timid
child courageous, and a teacher or leader using the game with
little children should urge such timid children to take an
active part in the game.
RAILROAD TRAIN
_10 to 100 players._
_Parlor; schoolroom; out of doors._
Each player is named for some object on a train, such as engine,
baggage car, dining car, smokestack, boiler, cylinders, wheels, oil,
coal, engineer, porter, conductor, etc. One person is chosen to be the
train master. He says in narrative form: "We must hurry and make up a
train to go to Boston. I will take Number One _engine_ and some
_coal_; have the _bell rope_ in order; be sure that the _cushions_ are
brushed in the _sleeping car_," etc. As he names these objects, the
player bearing each name runs to the starter and lines up behind him,
each putting his hands on the shoulders of the one in front, the first
one placing his on the shoulders of the starter. When all are on the
train, the starter gives the signal for going, and the whole train
moves out on its journey, which at the discretion of the starter will
be up hill over obstacles, down hill from others, around loops and
curves, etc.; and he may, under suitable circumstances, find a
convenient place for a grand "smash-up" at the end.
For large numbers there should be several starters, starting several
trains at once, and these may race for a given point at the end.
RED LION
_5 to 30 or more players._
_Playground; gymnasium._
A place is marked out at one side or end of the ground called the den.
In this stands one player who is called Red Lion. The other players
choose one of their number as a chief, who does not run, but stands at
one side and directs the movements of the others. The chief calls
"Loose!" to the Red Lion. After hearing this signal, the lion is free
to run out whenever he chooses. The players venture near to the den,
taunting the lion with the lines:--
"Red Lion, Red Lion, come out of your den!
Whoever you catch will be one of your men."
When the Red Lion thinks the players are sufficiently near to give him
a good opportunity to catch one, he makes a sudden sortie and catches
any player that he can. The player is not his prisoner until the Lion
has held him and repeated three times "Red Lion!" Both the Lion and
his prisoner must hurry back to the den, as all of the other players
may turn upon them at once to drive them back with blows. This is
generally restricted to hitting with caps. Thereafter, when the Red
Lion issues forth, he must take the prisoner with him, hand in hand,
both of them endeavoring together to catch one of the other players by
putting their arms over his head.
The Red Lion and his man may not issue, however, from their den until
the chief calls "Cow catcher!" or some other signal, as explained
below. As in the previous case, when a prisoner is caught, he and his
captors hurry to the den to avoid the buffeting of the other players.
Each time that the Red Lion goes forth, all of his prisoners must go
with him. The method in which they go, however, and in which they
capture their prey, will be determined by the signals of the chief.
When he calls "Cow catcher!" they must all run out in a long string,
hand in hand, and capture their prisoner by any two in the line
slipping their clasped hands over his head. If the chief calls
"Tight!" the Red Lion and his men go forth in the same way, holding
hands, and try to capture a player by surrounding him and so take him
to the den. Should the chief call "Doubles!" then the Red Lion and his
men come forth two by two, and try to capture their prisoners. The
order in which these varied commands are given is entirely at the
discretion of the chief.
At any time when the Red Lion and his men are out on the hunt, any of
the other players may try to break apart the clasped hands of the
hunters. Whenever this is done, the lions must rush back to their den,
being driven back and buffeted by the outside players. The game ends
when all of the men have been captured by the Red Lion's party. The
last man to be caught is the winner, and becomes Red Lion for the next
game.
RING-A-LIEVIO
(Ring-a-lee-ve-o)
_10 to 30 or more players._
_Out of doors._
This is a form of Hide and Seek in opposing parties. Players
who are caught are prisoners and may be freed as described. The
method of capture also differs from that in some other forms of
Hide and Seek.
A small goal or den about five feet square is drawn at some central
point.
Two leaders are chosen who alternate in choosing players, until all
are disposed in two groups. Lots are drawn or counting out resorted to
between the captains to determine which side shall start out first.
The remaining group takes its place in the den while the opponents go
to some distant point, from which they call "Ready!" and immediately
scatter and hide.
The group in the den, as soon as they hear the call "Ready!" start out
for the chase, leaving one of their number to guard the den. Whenever
a player is caught (tagging is not enough; the player must be firmly
secured), the catcher calls "Caught! Caught! Caught!" and leads his
prisoner to the den. The object of the game is to make prisoners of
all of the hiding team. A prisoner may be freed from the den by one of
the players from his group running out from his hiding place and
tagging him. This may only be done, however, by the rescuer getting
both feet in the den. Should this be accomplished, the rescuer calls
"Ring-a-lievio!" as he dashes through the den, and both run for
safety. The den keeper tries to catch them as they run away, but may
not chase them beyond certain boundaries, which must be determined
beforehand. Only one prisoner may be freed at a time. Prisoners are
most easily freed when there are several in the den at once and the
den keeper's attention is distracted to one side of the den while the
prisoners are freed from the other.
This game, like all hiding games, is especially adapted to open
spaces, offering many hiding places, such as the edge of a
wood, a garden, park, or playground having considerable
shrubbery, or to a village street.
RINGMASTER
_10 to 60 players._
_Playground; gymnasium; parlor._