The game continues till all are free or caught. If "it" fails to catch any, then he must be "it" again for the next game. If he is successful, then the first boy caught is "it."
The best time to play "I spy" is in the evening, for the dusk is the best time to hide, and in the dim light it is harder to recognize the boys. If "it" calls a boy by another's name, then he is free for that game. To deceive "it" the other boys often change hats or turn their coats—an act usually frowned down on, but quite permissible in this game.
If the last hider gets in undetected and shouts "Freeings!" all go out for another hide, and "it" stays in his old position.
There are some varieties in this game, but they are not so different from the one given as to make them worth describing.
LEAP FROG
is distinctly an athletic game, but it nevertheless requires that quality of brains called "judgment." The boy who does not know leap frog has something good to learn, and it is for him I am writing this.
One boy turns his back to the player and, bending his head low, rests his hands on his knees. This is called "Giving a back." The other boy places his hands on the first boy's back and leaps over him, by straddling his legs wide apart on each side like a frog. The second boy then assumes the stooping posture, and the third boy leaps over the first and second, and the fourth over all three, one at a time, of course.
This goes on until there is no boy left who is not stooping. Then the first boy's back straightens up and he goes leaping over his fellows and again gives a back, while the second follows, and so on until they are all tired and the game ceases.
FOOT-AN'-HALF
The foot mentioned in this title is not the foot marked on a United
States standard rule, but a boyish foot enclosed in a rusty shoe and
owned by the leader in the game. The boy who is "it" is known as First
Back. He stands in the proper position at a taw.