Before erecting the pole you must mark out
A Court on the Grounds.
Drive a stick in the earth where you want your pole to stand. On this stick tie a piece of string close to the ground; then sharpen the end of another short stick and tie the other end of the string on the second stick near its top; let the string measure two and one-half feet from one stick to the other stick. Pressing the point of the second stick slantingly against the earth, run it around and around in a circle until a circular line is distinctly marked ([Fig. 283]), then you can pull out the stake and dig a hole where it stood at the centre, and plant your pole. Mark a straight line across the centre of the circle and extend this straight line beyond the edge of the circle six feet on each side. On opposite sides of each of the straight lines running out from the circle mark a cross about two and one-half feet from the circle and two and one-half feet from the line, F and F ([Fig. 284]). The cross designates the spot where the player on either side must stand to serve the ball when the game begins. The crosses are called service crosses.
| Fig. 287.—This is the first step in tying the ball to the pole-string. | Fig. 288.—Second step in tying ball to pole-string. |
Fig. 289.—The tether ready to play.
The length of the tether pole you are to use depends upon your height and that of your young friends. Make the pole long enough to allow being planted sufficiently deep to be firm and steady and extend up above the surface of the ground, vertically, to the height of about three feet above your head. Cut a notch near the top of the pole before erecting it ([Fig. 285]). Tie one end of a long string fast around the notch. The string must be well waxed, twisted and doubled and waxed again, and it must reach within two feet of the ground. Tie the ball on the loose end of the string and erect your pole so firmly that it will not even tremble when you bat the attached ball ever so vigorously ([Fig. 286]). [Fig. 287] gives the first step in tying the ball on the pole string. D is the end attached to the pole, E is the loose end. Pass E under D, then around back again over D and through the loop ([Fig. 288]); repeat this stitch over and over, drawing the string very tight each time. Finish by tying the E end of the string on the D end in several knots. Examine [Fig. 289]. It will give you the process of tying, but the knots are drawn loose that you may see how each is made. Paint a red ring around the pole just above the height of your head. Make
A Pattern for the Rackets
of a piece of paper twelve inches long and five and one-half inches wide; fold the paper lengthwise through the centre and cut according to curved line in [Fig. 290]. Open the pattern and lay it over a shingle, the handle at the thickest part; draw a pencil line around it and carefully whittle out the racket. Smooth down the rough edges with sandpaper ([Fig. 291]). Make a second racket in the same way. Now let us thoroughly understand the meaning of the divisions of the court before attempting the game. Inside the ground circle no one shall go, for it is not allowable at any time during the game to step on, or within, or reach over the circle line on the ground surrounding the tether pole. The straight line is used to divide the ground into two courts, one on each side of the line, making a separate court for each player.