“Now, Matilda Jane would not be outdone, so she kissed him twice, and begged him to accept of ——
“Brown was perplexed, but he took the gift, and going home was saluted by the children, who shouted, ‘There goes a man with ——’
“That night he had wonderful dreams; he thought he was chased by ——
“And that he was trying to crowd into his carpetbag ——
“When a man came along and charged him with stealing ——
“He was enraged at this, and was about to pitch into the man, when he awoke, and found it all a dream, caused by his having eaten for supper ——
“He was early at the station, and on asking for a ticket, the clerk gave him ——”
And so on, in like manner. These last games, as a change from graver recreations, make a good deal of fun, particularly with young players.
The Cook who Doesn’t Like Peas.
The fun of this game depends on a fair proportion of the players not being acquainted with it. The leader begins, addressing the first player, “I have a cook who doesn’t like peas (p’s); what will you give her for her dinner?” The person addressed, if acquainted with the secret, avoids the letter p in his answer, and, for example, says, “I will give her some walnuts.” The question is then asked of the second person, who, if unacquainted with the trick, is likely enough to offer some delicacy which contains the letter p; e. g., potatoes, asparagus, pork, apple-pie, pickled cabbage, peanuts, etc., etc. When this occurs, the offender is called upon to pay a forfeit, but the precise nature of his offence is not explained to him. He is simply told, in answer to his expostulations, that “the cook doesn’t like p’s.” When a sufficient number of forfeits has been extracted, the secret is revealed, and those who have not already guessed it are aggravated by being told over and over again that the cook did not like p’s, and if they would persist in giving them to her, they must, of course, take the consequences.