Usually, you must invent a story about the “Family Coach,” as you play; but unless you are very bright and quick about it, there is not much fun. The next time you have a little party, play this game as it is set down here. I have never seen any written before, and I think, if you use this story, you will have a real funny time.
In the first place, Lord Chesterfield gave them all a part or name, which they must by no means forget, and the point is, that when your name is called, you must get up instantly, twirl around quickly, and sit down again; and when “Family Coach” is mentioned, everybody in the play must get up instantly, twirl around quickly, and sit down again.
There were little Lucy and twenty-eight dogs, cats, and monkeys to play, and they each took one of these parts:
| 1. | Off-leader | } Horses. |
| 2. | Near-leader | |
| 3. | Off-wheeler | |
| 4. | Near-wheeler | |
| 5. | Reins. | |
| 6. | Traces. | |
| 7. | Pole. | |
| 8. | Whip. | |
| 9. | Box. | |
| 10. | Fore-axles. | |
| 11. | Hind-axles. | |
| 12. | Fore-wheels. | |
| 13. | Hind-wheels. | |
| 14. | Dog’s tail. | |
| 15. | Lamps. | |
| 16. | Foot-board. | |
| 17. | Steps. | |
| 18. | Windows. | |
| 19. | Doors. | |
| 20. | Linch-pin. | |
| 21. | Hubs. | |
| 22. | Spokes. | |
| 23. | Springs. | |
| 24. | Coachman. | |
| 25. | Footman. | |
| 26. | Old lady. | |
| 27. | Fat poodle. | |
| 28. | Coach-dog. | |
| 29. | Blinders. | |
Then the good old gentleman began, speaking rather quickly—
“Once upon a time, in a certain tumbledown old house in the country, there existed a family heir-loom, in the shape of a Family Coach.”
All the dogs, cats, and monkeys bounced up with such a whirl, that they looked like whipping-tops, with their own quickly whisking tails for whips, and dear little Lucy, in her haste and delight, tumbled over sideways, and fell softly on the carpet. She did not hurt herself the least bit, but jumped up laughing, to Beppo’s great joy, and the play went on.
“To be sure, the Family Coach was rather worn out: the wheels were none of the best; the axles were nearly rotten; the linch-pins were rusty; the box tottering, and the whole Family Coach decaying.
“But then the old lady who owned it thought it worth all the new ones from here to Kamtschatka. The fat poodle and the coach-dog couldn’t live without it. The fat poodle barked, and the coach-dog wagged his tail for joy whenever it appeared. Indeed nobody knew whether the old lady, the fat poodle, the coach-dog, the coach-dog’s tail, the coachman, or the footman, was most delighted at the event, when one day the old lady ordered out the Family Coach.