Rollo in Paris

by Jacob Abbott

The boys strolled along through the crowd a little while longer, looking for a moment, as they passed, now at the stalls for selling gingerbread and cakes, now at a display of pictures on a long line,—the sheets being fastened to the line by pins, like clothes upon a clothes line,—now at a company of singers, singing upon a stage under a canopy, and now again at a little boy, about seven or eight years old, who was tumbling head over heels on a little carpet which he had spread on the ground, and then carrying round his cap to the bystanders, in hopes that some of them would give him a sou. At length their attention was attracted by some large boys, who were engaged at a stand at a little distance in shooting at a mark with what seemed to be small guns. These guns, however, discharged themselves by means of a spring coiled up within the barrel, instead of gunpowder; and the bullets which they shot were peas. Rollo had seen these shooting-places before, when he went through the Fields on the first Sunday after he came; so he did not stop long here, but called Carlos's attention to something that he had never seen before, which was going on at a place a little under a tree, a little farther along. A large boy seemed to be pitching quoits. There were a number of persons around him looking on. There was a sort of box placed near the tree, the bottom of which was about two feet square. It had a back next the tree, and two sides, but it had no front or top. In fact, it was almost precisely like a wheelbarrow without any wheel, legs, or handles.

SINGING IN THE OPEN AIR.

The bottom or floor of this box had a great many round and flat plates of brass upon it, about four inches in diameter, and about four inches apart from each other. The player had ten other plates in his hand, of the same size with those which were upon the bottom of the plate. He took these, one by one, and standing back at a certain distance, perhaps about as far as one good long pace, pitched them, as boys do quoits, in upon the floor of the box. What he tried to do was, to cover up one of the disks in the box so that no part of it could be seen. If he did so he was to have a prize; and he paid two sous for the privilege of playing. The prizes consisted of little articles of porcelain, bronzes, cheap jewelry, images, and other similar things, which were all placed conspicuously on shelves against the tree, above the box, in view of the player.

It seemed to the bystanders as if it would be not at all difficult to toss the disks so as with ten to cover one; but those who tried seemed to find it very difficult to accomplish the object. Even if the disks which they tossed fell in the right place, they would rebound or slide away, and sometimes knock away those which were already well placed. Still, after trying once, the players wore usually unwilling to give up without trying a second, and even a third and fourth time, so that they generally lost six or eight sous before they were willing to stop; especially as the man himself would now and then play the disks, and he, having made himself skilful by great practice, found no difficulty in piling up his ten disks wherever he wished them to go.

"I could do it, I verily believe," said Rollo. "I should like to try. I mean to go and ask my father if I may."

So Rollo went to the carriage to state the case to his father, and ask his permission to see if he could not pitch the disks so as to cover one of the plates on the board. His father hesitated.

"So far as trying the experiment is concerned," said Mr. Holiday, "as a matter of dexterity and skill, there is no harm; but so far as the hope of getting a prize by it is concerned, it is of the nature of gaming."

"I should think it was more of the nature of a reward for merit and excellence," said Mr. George.