This game is a great favorite with boys for outdoor play, but may also be used in the gymnasium, various pieces of apparatus being used in lieu of a fence.
A certain length of fence is chosen for the game. The one who is It gives the other players a slight start in which to vault over the fence, when he immediately vaults over and tries to tag them. This tagging may be done only when both players are on the same side of the fence.
The dodging is made almost or quite entirely by vaulting or dodging back and forth across the fence within the length or boundaries previously determined. Any player tagged must change places with the one who is It.
FOR THE SCHOOLROOM.—This game may be used in the schoolroom by vaulting over the seats. When played in this way, it is not allowable to reach across seats or desks to tag a player. The tagging must be done in the same aisle in which the tagger stands.
FIRE ON THE MOUNTAINS
10 to 30 or more players.
Playground; gymnasium.
Fire on the Mountains
A number of stools are placed in a circle with considerable space between them, there being two stools less than the number of players. If played out of doors, a stone may be used to sit on in place of a stool, or the players may stand, each on a spot or base marked on the ground. One of the odd players is a leader, and sits or stands in the center; the remainder are circle men and take each his place on a stool or base, the other odd man standing anywhere in the circle between the bases. The object of the game is for the circle men to change places on a signal given by the leader, each player trying to secure a stool and avoid being the odd man. The longer the distance between stools or bases the greater the sport. The running must be done in a circle outside of the bases, and no crosscuts through the circle are allowed. The player in the center repeats in rapid time the following lines:—