There is another broken household article on which the young toy-maker may not cast eyes of scorn, and that is the broken clothes peg. In skilful hands, this is capable of reconstruction to very useful ends.
In the first place, if you can use a pocket-knife with some degree of skill, you will be able to chip out of a few broken pegs quite a respectable set of
Chess Men.—The pegs must be sawn across cleanly just through the centre of the knob end: they will then stand upright. A few clean cuts with a pocket-knife will quite easily suggest a king or a castle or a bishop. The knight will, of course, provide most in the way of difficulty—as he is generally shown with a horse's head. A few painstaking attempts, however, should result in the obtaining of a credible likeness. Fig. 32 shows the construction of a "pawn."
Fig. 32.
Skittle Men.—Another piece of work for the pocket-knife expert is the provision of a set of funny skittle men for use in the game of catapult skittles (see below). These can be cut out to any quaint shape, and may be caricatures of well-known people, or of trades, &c. Much amusement can be got out of the cutting and painting of these grotesque little figures. Hats can be provided for them by glueing on little rings of cardboard (Fig. 33).
Fig. 33.