Dorothy Canfield Fisher

“ 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, motionless, 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. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ The players sit in a 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 handkerchief, 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A collie should always 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. ”

“ 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 antennæ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 raging all around it. Every moment the cluster of bees grows larger and larger, until, after half an hour or so, it is quiet. ”

“ 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 somebody's best clothes for a rather violent performance. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 allowed to have fires to do some outdoor cooking. This is always 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 yourselves. 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. ”

“ 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 [Pg 27] to laugh and continue to laugh until the handkerchief touches the ground. They must then stop or leave the circle. Gradually all will leave but one, who must then perform by himself, if he is willing. ”

“ A good guessing contest is to supply every person with a slip of paper on which is written the name of an animal. He draws a picture of it and these pictures are all exhibited signed with the artist's name. The person who guesses correctly the subjects of the greatest number of them wins.
Heads, Bodies, and Tails
For this game sheets of paper are handed round and each player draws at the top of his sheet a head. It does not matter in the least whether it is a human being's or a fish's head, a quadruped's, a bird's, or an insect's. ”

“ It must be remembered that unless there are very few players, when it is less fun, you do not get the chance of writing more than once, or at most twice, on the same sheet of paper, so that it is of no use to have a reasonable series of remarks in your mind. The specimen given above is an average one. In print nothing could be much less funny, but when the company has the spirit of "Consequences," even so tame a story [Pg 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. ”

“ But the mere suggestion of a writing game is often enough to frighten away timid players who mistrust their powers of composition—although the result can be as funny when these powers are small as when they are considerable. The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. ”

“ 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-bubbles) . 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. ”

“ 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, machines—anything and everything—is cut out from the advertisement 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 allowed to choose suitable pictures, to paste them on to sheets of paper and to add, with pencil, accessories that are necessary: and then results are compared. ”

“ 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 succeeds 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. ”