A Catapult Game.—Probably every boy knows what a catapult is—and what fun there is in the using of it. Happy young fingers pull back the powerful elastic, and bright eyes watch the stone go whizzing away. There is a fluttering of white wings: something falls; and there, lying in the road, is a motionless lump of flesh and feathers—all that remains of what was a beautiful little bird, pouring out its heart in joyful song.
Boys who think for a minute will not want to use the catapult in that cruel fashion: they will prefer a game in which no harm is done, in which no innocent creature is harmed, but which provides just as much fun. "Catapult skittles" is such a game.
It consists simply of a board with a catapult at one end, and a set of skittles at the other. The broken peg skittles dealt with above will do admirably for this (Fig. 34).
The catapult itself can also be made with two pegs. These should be cut off cleanly at the forks. Two holes, about 3 in. apart, should then be bored in the base board (for this, a piece of plank about 3 ft. or 4 ft. long will do quite well), and the pegs screwed on (see Fig. 39 on page 34).
Fig. 34.
For ammunition all you need is an unlimited number of little pieces of cardboard, folded in two. These carry well, are quite heavy enough to upset the skittles, and, above all, are not likely to hurt, even if they do strike a player.
If you wish to vary the game slightly, you can rig up a "cokernut shy" in place of the skittles. This you will find very popular at Christmas time, particularly if you play for the nuts.
For this you want some wire hoops on which to stand the nuts. To make these, take a piece of stiff wire about 5 in. long and bend one end in the shape of a small circle, about 1/2 in. across. Now bend this loop so that it is at right angles to the wire; then when the wire is upright the circle will be horizontal (Fig. 35). Sharpen the other end with a file. Make three or four like this, and then some more an inch shorter, and a third lot two inches shorter. These must then be driven into the other end of the catapult board so that they are not too close together; otherwise the game is too easy.