To begin, a player puts a pebble or bit of wood into the place marked 1, and then, hopping into it with his right foot, he kicks the counter outside the diagram. Then hopping out himself, he kicks it (with the foot on which he is hopping) into the part marked 2. He hops through 1 to 2, kicks the counter out again, and follows it out. This continues until he has kicked the counter in and out of every space in the diagram, without stepping on a line, or so casting the counter that it rests on a line. If this occurs he is put back a space, and it is the turn of the next player. Each one plays until he has made a fault, and when it is his turn again, he takes up the game where he left off. The one who first gets through the required figures is the winner.
There is literally no end to the variations of this game, either in the diagram used or in the rules. Sometimes when people become very skilful they play it backward, and sometimes at the end the player is required to place the pebble on his toe and kick it in the air, catching it in his hand.
Strength Tests
Various trials of strength are good for boys out of doors, provided rules are fixed and adhered to. Cane-spreeing is good sport, but should only be tried by boys pretty well matched in size and strength. A cane (or broom-stick) about three feet long is held by two boys facing each other, each with a hand on each end of the cane, the respective right hands being outside the lefts, that is, nearest to the end. Then one tries to get the cane away from the other. It sounds simple, but there are a great variety of strategic tricks to be learned by practice. No struggle should last more than two minutes by the watch, when the boys should stop and get breath. The feet are not used, but it is quite allowable to use your body, if you get down on the ground in a sort of wrestling.
Hare and Hounds
Hare and Hounds can be played either in the country or the city and is fine fun, although it should be begun with a short run. In the excitement of the chase boys are apt to forget, and over-strain themselves. The "hares" are two players who have a bag of small paper pieces which they scatter after them from time to time as they run. They are given a start of five or ten minutes and then all the others, who are the "hounds," start after them, tracing their course by the bits of paper. In the city the hares take a piece of chalk and mark an arrow on the wall thus —--> showing in which direction they have gone. Good stout shoes should be worn to run in, or you will blister your feet.
Dog-Stick
A game for city pavements or for smooth country roads has so many names that it is difficult to say which is its right one, but a common one is "dog-stick." It is played something like hockey, the aim being to get a ball or counter over your opponent's goal line. The ball in this case is not a ball but a piece of wood which you can make yourself, of an odd shape. It is like a flattened ball with a tail to it. With a club or stick you strike the tail so that the ball springs up in the air and then before it falls you strike it with your club toward your enemy's goal line. The players are divided into sides who try to defend their goal lines and to send back the ball to the other side. Make your own rules as experience teaches you is fair.