THE NEW DIXEY’S LAND.
This is an out-of-door game, and may be played on the ground or on the grass, marking the court or lawn with the same material as if arranging a court for tennis.
Form a circle with a diameter of twelve feet, divide the circle into quarters, each quarter representing a section of our country, east, west, north, south, and should be so marked. One letter would represent each word,—E, for east, W, for west, and so on. The oldest boy now becomes the owner of the entire territory, and is named Dixey. This boy must stand directly at the point where the lines unite, the middle of the circle, and as soon as he is in position, any player may run into any quarter of the ground. He must not stand on the line; should he do so, and be tagged on that line, he can no longer play.
But having run into a quarter, he must loudly call, “Dixey, I’m on your North land, now it belongs to me.” Or, “Dixey, I’m on your South land,” etc. He must rightly name the section on which he stands.
Dixey must tag him before he is through stating words above given. Should he fail to do so, the invading player must then run from the part he has claimed, all around the outside of the circle, and then to Dixey’s station, the centre. Dixey, of course, runs after him, trying to tag him before he completes the circuit. Neither may take short cuts by darting across lines, until the run around the circle is completed, and the invader strikes in toward Dixey’s middle ground. Whoever gets there first is now owner of all, and the original Dixey can only get back by earning the position, as the new Dixey has just done.
The winner of the game is the one who has been Dixey the greatest number of times, or should no one be Dixey but once, whoever holds the position at the game’s close.
Therefore the necessity of deciding how long you will play before the game commences.
Any number that can stand on a quarter, may be there at the same time, as only one can be Dixey.
Dixey cannot save himself by failing to leave his post. The first call he hears, he must obey, just as any other landowner would keep off an intruder.
Every rule must be strictly obeyed. Should any one fail, he is no longer a player.
The game is peculiarly adapted to boys, and each one must be careful neither to be rough nor rude. In the straining to get ahead, it will be such an easy thing to knock another boy down, or to prevent him from reaching the goal. First, remember to be honest; second, to be polite.