House party.
Each player is given a paper on which the following is written or dictated, the words in parentheses being omitted and a blank space left. The game consists in each player filling in these blank spaces with the name of some tree. The host or hostess at the end reads this list of words in order, the player winning who has the largest number correct. The same tree may be mentioned more than once.
He took her little hand in his own big (palm). "I love (yew), dear," he said simply. She did not (sago) away, for it had been a case of love at first sight. She murmured something in (aloe) voice. They had met one day upon a sandy (beech), and from that (date) onward, they cared not a (fig) for the outside world. Her name was (May Ple). She was a charming girl. Rosy as a (peach); (chestnut) colored hair; (tulips) like a (cherry); skin a pale (olive). In fact, she was as beautiful (as pen) or brush ever portrayed. The day he met her she wore a jacket of handsome (fir). He was of Irish descent, his name being (Willow) 'Flaherty. He was a (spruce) looking young fellow. Together they made a congenial (pear). But when did the course of true love ever run smooth? There was a third person to be considered. This was (paw paw). Both felt that, counting (paw paw) in, they might not be able to (orange) it. What if he should refuse to (cedar)! Suppose he should (sago) to her lover? And if he should be angry, to what point won't a (mango)? Well, in that case she must submit, with a (cypress) her lover in her arms for the last time, and (pine) away. But happily her parent did not constitute (ebony) skeleton at their feast. He was guilty of no tyranny to reduce their hopes to (ashes). They found him in his garden busily (plantain). He was chewing (gum). "Well," he said thoughtfully, in answer to the question: "Since (yew) love her I must (cedar) to (yew). You make a fine young (pear). Don't cut any (capers) after you're married, young man! Don't (pine) and complain if he is sometimes cross, young woman! I hope to see (upas) many happy days together!"
ZOO
5 to 10 players.
Parlor; schoolroom.
Each player is provided with ten slips of paper, numbered conspicuously from one to ten, but arranged irregularly in a pile. The players gather around a table or sit in a circle, each one being given the name of an animal; the sport of the game will consist largely in choosing unusual or difficult names, such as yak, gnu, camelopard, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, Brazilian ant-eater, kangaroo, etc.
Each player holds his slips with the numbers turned downward. The first player turns up his upper slip so that the number is visible and lays it down in front of him. In doing this he must turn it away from himself, so that the other players see it first; the next player then does the same. Should the two slips happen to coincide in number, for instance, should the first player have turned up number three and the second player turn up number three, they must each at once call each other's names, as "Yak!" "Hippopotamus!" or whatever name was assigned to them. The one who first calls the other's name gives away his slip to that other, the object being to get rid of one's slips as fast as possible.
Should the slip turned up by the second player not correspond in number to that turned by the first, he also lays it down in front of him; the third player then turns his up, and this is continued around the circle until a slip is turned that corresponds in number with any that has already been turned up, when those two players must immediately call each other's names, as before explained. The player wins who first gets rid of all of his slips.