“Very well, then,” said the vicar, “the words are clearly abbreviations of tawny and alabaster.”
“Now then,” said Mr. Seymour, “for a game; what is it to be, Tom?”
“Ring-taw for ever!” cried Tom; “it is the only game of marbles worthy of being played.”
“It is really so long since I left school,” observed his father, “that I must beg you to refresh my memory, and give me some instructions about this favourite game of yours.”
“I will tell you all about it. We must first draw a circle, on which each player is to put a certain number of marbles to be previously agreed upon; we then make a mark at some distance, which is called the offing, and from which we are to shoot at the marbles in the ring.”
“That is all very intelligible,” observed his father; “and I suppose the object of the player is to shoot a marble out of the ring, which not only gives him that marble, but entitles him to shoot again at another, and so on, until he misses, or all the marbles are won.”
“That is right, papa.”
“And a good marksman,” observed the vicar, “who has the first shot, may easily win the game, before any other player can gain the opportunity of shooting at a single marble.”
“I see that clearly,” said Mr. Seymour; “he may strike out a marble from the circle, and then shoot at another, and in this manner traverse the whole ring; I therefore conclude, that good players will always demand a large ring, or else there would not be much chance for any one, except for him who played first.”
“That is the game; but I must tell you,” said Tom, “that if the player should leave his own marble in the ring, he is at once put out; and should it be within a certain distance on the outside, an adversary may shoot at it, and by hitting it, put him also out of the game.”