Skittles

“ Life isn't all beer and skittles—but beer and skittles, or something better of the same sort, must form a good part of every Englishman's education. ”

“ There is also another version of the game of Skittle Cannonade played on a board specially prepared, and the result of which depends entirely upon chance. A teetotum, as in the game of Cannonade, is used instead of balls and a cue, or sometimes a top is made to do duty for the teetotum. Nine specially-made skittles are used, each of which is placed on a spot inscribed with a number. ”

“ Every man has a fad. One will tell you he sees nothing in billiards or pool or golf or tennis, but will grow enthusiastic over the scientific possibilities of mumble-peg; you agree with him, only you substitute "skittles" for "mumble-peg."
Old Sanders' fad was mixing toddies and punches.
"The nectar of the gods pales into nothingness when compared with a toddy such as I make," said he. "Ambrosia may have been all right for the degenerates of the old Grecian and Roman days, but an American gentleman demands a toddy—a hot toddy." ”

“ The pastimes of throwing at a cock, sliding and skating, roasting an ox, football, skittles, pigeon-holes, cups and balls, &c., are represented as being carried on in various parts of the river; whilst a sliding-hutch, propelled by a stick; a chariot, moved by a screw; and stately coaches filled with visitors, appear to be rapidly [22] moving in various directions, and sledges with coals and wood are passing between London and Southwark shores. ”

“ This is a game played on a level board with raised edges. Nine small wooden pins are arranged at one end of the board as skittles are arranged in the ordinary skittle-alley game. These skittle pins are then bowled at by means of a small ivory or boxwood ball, propelled with an ordinary billiard cue. The game is frequently arranged for on an ordinary dining-room table, precautions being first taken to prevent the ball from rolling off.
FLYING CONES.
Flying Cones are made of hard wood, hollow, a hole being made at one side so as to produce a humming sound when the completed toy is being spun. ”

“ The sickle-bills, so named after the beautiful sweeping curve of the bill, which has been known to measure eleven inches in length, are the largest of them all. They are colored much like a marlin, have a beautiful bright eye, a short reed-like call, and a steady, dignified flight. In stretch of wings they exceed three feet, and nothing can be more impressive than the approach of a large flock of these birds with wings and bills extended and legs dropped in preparation for alighting amid the stools. ”

“ That is what Slicko thought as she lay there, her leg in the trap, hurting her very much. All animals, when they are caught in a trap, at once begin to think of how they can get out. Some think one way, and some another, but they all think, or else how could some of them get out the way they do? Of course I don’t mean to say that animals think just the way we do, any more than they talk the way we do. But they talk and think in a language of their own.
Slicko was not a very old squirrel, and this was the first time she had ever been in a trap. ”

“ When he was still some distance away from the nest, he took a long jump, and landed on the limb near the hole in the tree.
“Did you see him?” asked Mrs. Squirrel.
“Yes. He is in the woods,” chattered Mr. Squirrel. “But he may not be here for some minutes. We have time to run and hide. And we had better not keep together. We must all go different ways, and then he will not find us so easily.”
“Oh, what is it?” cried Slicko. “What has happened?”
“The hunter-man, and his dog, have found out where our nest is,” said Mrs. Squirrel. “At any minute he may come here to shoot us, or catch us.” ”

“ Soon Slicko felt quite at home in her new cage. She went inside the little bedroom, that was pretty dark, even in the daytime. Squirrels, and all wild animals, like to be in the dark, and off by themselves, once in a while.
Inside the little bedroom, which was made of tin and wire, like the rest of the cage, was some soft cotton, and in this Slicko could cuddle up and keep warm, even when winter came. And, as I have said, there was a dish for nuts and another for water. These the boy filled, and soon Slicko was eating her first meal in her new home. ”

“ Slicko saw Bob, though.
The little squirrel stayed in the tree all that night. But she did not have a very good time. It was cold, and it rained, and there was no hole, and no nest, into which Slicko could crawl to keep warm. She just had to shiver. And she was more hungry than ever, too.
“Oh dear! Running away isn’t as much fun as I thought it would be!” said Slicko. “To-morrow, when Bob puts out the nuts again, and leaves the cage open, I’m going to run back into it. I have had enough of living like this. I had rather do tricks, such as jumping through paper hoops, than be cold and hungry.” ”

“ Any one who has ever rowed an American skiff will remember that these little vessels are ‘crank’ to an extreme degree. Although boat-shaped above, they are without keels, and a rude step will turn them bottom upward in an instant. Even to stand upright in them, requires careful balancing; but to fight a mad dog in one without being bitten, would require the skill and adroitness of an acrobat. With all my caution, as I half stood, half crouched in the stern, the skiff rocked from side to side, and I was in danger of being pitched out. ”

“ He seized the tie and head erect, honor intact, walked fearlessly back to his room. But there, a new dilemma! The tie was indeed of whitest lawn but, alas! across one end was a smudge which defied the most persistent rubbing. Skippy, as has been observed, was at the period when the imagination is not confined by tradition. In desperation he resorted to the washbasin and with the aid of a brush, triumphantly banished the damned spot. Then having wrung the limp mass, he spread the tie carefully against the window pane and covering it with a handkerchief, laboriously ironed it out with a shoe. ”

“ A bundle of brush constitutes the harrow. "Their hoes are heavy grub-hoes, and grass is cut by digging it up with such a hoe." "The sickle is of the conventional type of the time of the patriarchs, but, instead of having a sharp edge, it is provided with saw-teeth, and is used in gathering small grain, the employment of a cradle for such a purpose being unknown. ”

“ And I certainly never could climb a tree, and sleep in a nest, as you do,” went on Tum Tum, with a jolly laugh.
“No, I suppose not,” said Slicko. “You are too big for a nest. Well, if you see Mappo, please send him back to me. I am so lonesome.”
[63]
“If I see him I will,” Tum Tum answered. And then he walked on back through the woods.
“Good-bye, Slicko!” called the jolly elephant. “I have to be in the show this afternoon. I have to make believe play ball, and eat my dinner at a real table, and then I have to play the hand organ with my trunk. Those are some of my tricks.” ”

“ Slicko knocked again with her little paw, and then, thinking her aunt might be asleep, the little jumping squirrel gave a little hop down inside the nest. It was just like the nest at home, which she and the others had left because of the danger from the hunter-man.
At first, coming in the dark nest, after having [37] been out in the bright sunlight, Slicko could see nothing. Just as when you come into the house, after having walked along the snowy road from school, you have to wait until your eyes get used to the darker house. It was that way with Slicko. ”

“ The sickles with a socket to receive the handle appear to be peculiar to Britain and the North of France. The other form occurs over the greater part of Europe, including Scandinavia, and the blades, as has been observed by Dr. Keller, are always adapted for use in the right hand. Dr. Gross, of Neuveville, on the Lake of Bienne, has been so fortunate as to discover at Mœrigen, the site of one of the ancient pile-villages on the lake, two or three handles for sickles of this kind. ”

“ In all nursery literature animals have played a conspicuous part; and the reason is obvious for nothing entertains a child more than the funny antics of an animal. These stories abound in amusing incidents such as children adore and the characters are so full of life, so appealing to a child’s imagination that none will be satisfied until they have met all of their favorites—Squinty, Slicko, Mappo, Tum Tum and Don.
Squinty, the Comical Pig Slicko, the Jumping Squirrel Mappo, the Merry Monkey Tum Tum, the Jolly Elephant Don, A Runaway Dog. ”

“ Slicko hid deeper down in the leaves, and, a little later, as the brown animal came closer, the girl squirrel saw that it was not the kind of a boy she had ever seen before. For, though boys can climb trees, they can not climb up and down as fast as the brown animal was doing, nor can they hang by their tails. In fact, as Slicko knew, boys have no tails. ”

“ He uttered several unintelligible sounds, flushed a fiery red and backed away.
"Right where the chicken met the axe," said Skippy, who began to whistle a melancholy tune as he gathered up the scattered greenbacks. "Here comes mother."
"Let's beat it," said Snorky, who felt a sudden need for a purer atmosphere.
"You know women better than I do," said Skippy, who though a chum was human. ”

“ But, each time, after she was through doing her little tricks, she was given something good to eat. That is always the way to train wild animals or pets—be kind to them when they have done what you want them to do.
Slicko lived in the house with the boy for several weeks. The weather had gotten colder now, and winter would soon be here. Slicko could tell this, for sometimes the windows of the room, in which her cage stood, were left open, and she could feel the cold wind. ”

“ Most animals are that way when first they learn a new trick. They forget very easily, until they have done it over and over again. It was this way with Slicko.
But as Bob kept the hoop in front of her, and as she kept smelling the nice nuts at the other end of the table, it came into Slicko’s head that she must jump through the paper of the hoop to get them, just as she had done to get the piece of apple.
“Here I go!” thought the little squirrel. ”

“ Soon the little girl squirrel was asleep again, and when next she awakened, the sun was shining down, through the hole, into the nest.
“Oh, good! It’s morning!” chattered Slicko. “Now the owl can’t get me.”
Slicko knew that owls fly only at night, for [43] they have such funny eyes, that sunlight makes them almost blind, and they cannot see to catch little squirrels. So Slicko knew she was safe, for a while, at least.
“Now for breakfast, then to wash my face and paws, and we’ll see what happens,” whispered Slicko to herself. It did not take long to eat the nuts for breakfast. ”

“ John C. Bedelle, The Bathtub King! For a delicious week Skippy sailed into the future on the magic carpet of his imagination. He dreamed through the long dull hours of recitations; he dreamed when huddled in sweater he watched the scurrying of the baseball candidates; he dreamed over the prunes at breakfast and the prune whip at night, and in his soft and delicious bed he lay awake for hours planning out the disposal of his future wealth. ”

“ Whatever attracted man to the frizzled, giggling, smirking, smiling bipeds in shirts remained a mystery to Skippy.
All at once he had to face this problem. He had gone resolutely up the steps towards perfect manhood. He had learned the art of pressing trousers to a thin razor-edge from Snorky, who was a year his senior in boarding-school knowledge. ”

“ John Skiddy, the forlorn widower, the ambitious Californian, in the middle of the kitchen, in his absconded wife’s rocking-chair, trotting a seven months’ baby on the sharp apex of his knee, alternately singing, whistling, and wiping the perspiration from his forehead, while the little Skiddy threw up its arms in the most frantic way, and held its breath with rage, at the awkward attempts of its dry nurse to restore peace to the family. ”

“ An Egyptian regal coin bears a man cutting corn with a [Pg 58] sickle of semi-circular blade. In many parts of England, the sickle is spoken of simply as “a hook.”
Apparently the carver of the Beverley misericorde was conscious he had rendered the shell very badly, for in the side supporter of the carving he had placed, by way of reminder as to an attack upon the occupant of a shell, a man in a fashionable dress, piercing a snail as it approaches him. In mediæval carvings, as in many of their explanations, it is scarcely a step from the sublime to the ridiculous. ”

“ Tricks!” said Slicko to herself. “Where have I heard that word before? Oh, I know! Squinty, the comical pig, could do tricks, and so could Tum Tum, the jolly elephant.
“Well, maybe if this boy teaches me some tricks, it will not be so bad. Then I could go home and surprise Chatter, Fluffy and Nutto. I don’t believe they can do tricks.”
Slicko watched the boy and dog. The dog was barking and jumping about in the leaves. He seemed quite excited at seeing the squirrel in the trap.
“Quiet, Rover! Lie down!” said the boy, and Rover minded like the good dog he was. ”

“ And if she got enough to eat, water to drink, and [85] had a nice, warm place to sleep in, what more could a squirrel ask?
Slicko’s leg hurt her a little bit, but it was getting better all the while, and she was feeling happier and happier every minute. True, she would have been very glad if her papa and mamma and her sister and brothers had been with her, but then she knew she could not have everything she wanted.
“And it’s just wonderful that the same boy who has me had Squinty, the comical pig, for his pet,” thought Slicko. ”