You will need a tin bath-tub for the lake, the longest one you can find, and a toy boat which will not easily tip or turn over. Place tiny flags in the bow and stern, and in one end of the boat glue a doll dressed like the “Lady of the Lake” in Scott’s poem. Attach a pulley to each end of the tub, and fasten the string to the boat, as it must be run back and forth by means of the pulleys. Fill the tub nearly full of water, then cover the edges with moss and vines. The bath-tub must be completely disguised, and surrounded by plants and foliage, with an opening left at one end for purchasers, and another small one near the other end for the boat to pass through to those stationed behind the shrubbery, who have charge of the boat, and where the parcels are kept. At the store-room end the screen of vines or leaves should be so arranged that those in charge can see all that is going on outside without being seen themselves.
The boat should be stationed at the farther end of the lake, and whoever wishes to make a purchase must give the doll five cents; then the boat may immediately leave, sail across the lake, and disappear behind the screen, only to emerge again laden with a parcel in place of the money, and lightly skimming over the water arrive at her destination, when the purchaser can relieve the “Lady of the Lake” of her package.
The Bubble Range described on [page 335] can be used in a fair with advantage. Unless the fair is very small, it is better to have two Bubble Ranges, to prevent the tiresome waiting for a turn, and give all who wish to try their skill the opportunity to enjoy the sport.
Fortune’s Wheel.
Fig. 355.—Circle for Fortune’s Wheel.
Fig. 356.—Fortune’s Wheel.
Cut of stiff pasteboard a large circle (Fig. 355) with a point on the edge at the end of one of the spokes, for the circle must be painted to resemble a wheel. With a large round nail fasten the wheel through the centre to a board, which has previously had numbers painted on in a circle somewhat larger than the circumference of the wheel (Fig. 356); the wheel should turn around easily on the nail. Hang the board up flat against the wall. The gypsy in charge of the Fortune’s Wheel should be stationed by its side, holding a basket filled with many envelopes numbered to correspond to the figures on the board, each envelope containing some appropriate fortune-telling lines; and when the people come to seek their fortunes the gypsy must allow each in turn to give the wheel a twirl, sending it around rapidly, and then hand to the fortune-seeker an envelope whose number corresponds with the figure at which the wheel pointed when it stopped turning.