Every Boy's Book: A Complete Encyclopædia of Sports and Amusements

by Unknown

Charles.—Tom wishes to know the use of the fire-engine, and John tells him, “To plough up the ground,” &c.

Any mistake is punished by a forfeit.

DUMB MOTIONS.

The players form sides, and decide who shall be masters and who men. The principal aim of the men is to keep working as long as possible, and to prevent the masters taking their places. The men consult secretly among themselves, and decide upon some trade or profession, the practice of which may be certain movements of the arms, hands, or legs. They now range themselves opposite the masters, and the foreman tells them the first and last letters of the trade they are about to exercise; as for example, C—r for carpenter, D—t for druggist, B—h for blacksmith, and so on. The men now set to work and express in dumb motions the various labours belonging to the craft they have chosen. Let us suppose that they have selected the trade of blacksmith: one of the players will appear to be blowing the forge bellows, another will seem to be filing something in a vice, while others will be violently exerting themselves by wielding imaginary sledge-hammers round an unseen anvil. If any of the men speak at their work, or make use of inappropriate gestures, the whole side is out. The masters are allowed one guess each, and if none of them can hit upon the right trade, the men tell them their occupation, and then fix upon another. If the masters can guess the name of the trade, the men are out and become masters. The men need not continue their labours until all the masters have guessed, but may stop working, and demand their wages, after having plied their craft for a reasonable time. When the name of a trade consists of two words, the men must tell the first and last letter of each word, as C—h B—r, for coach builder.

FAMILY COACH.

The chief player in this amusing game must possess the faculty of inventing a long story, as well as a tolerably good memory. This player gives to each of the others the name of some person or thing to be mentioned in the story he is about to relate. For example, he may call one “the coachman,” another “the whip,” another “the inn,” another the “old gentleman,” another the “footman,” another “the luggage,” and so on, until he has named all the persons engaged in the game. The story-teller now takes his stand in the centre of the room, and commences his narrative; in the course of which he takes care to mention all the names given to the players. When the name of a player is mentioned, he must immediately rise from his seat, turn round, and sit down again, or else pay a forfeit for his inattention; and whenever “the family coach” is named, all the players must rise simultaneously. In the following example of a story, the names given to the different players are printed in italics: “An old gentleman, dreading an attack of the gout, resolved to pay a visit to the hot wells of Bath; he therefore summoned his coachman, and ordered him to prepare THE FAMILY COACH (all the players rise, turn round, and sit down again). The coachman, not liking the prospect of so long a journey, tried to persuade the old gentleman that THE FAMILY COACH was out of repair, that the leader was almost blind, and that he (the coachman) could not drive without a new whip. The old gentleman stormed and swore upon hearing these paltry excuses, and ordered the coachman out of the room, while the little dog sprang from under his master’s chair and flew at the calves of the offender, who was forced to make a precipitate exit. Early the next morning, THE FAMILY COACH belonging to the old gentleman stopped at an inn on the Bath road, much to the surprise of the landlord, who had never seen such a lumbering conveyance before. The family coach contained the old gentleman, the old lady (his wife), and the little dog that had made such a furious attack on the poor coachman’s legs. The landlord called the landlady, who came bustling out of the inn to welcome the old gentleman and old lady. The footman jumped down from behind THE FAMILY COACH, and helped the old gentleman and the old lady to alight, while the boots and chambermaid belonging to the inn busied themselves with the luggage. The little dog trotted after the old lady, but just as it was going into the inn, the coachman gave it a cut with his whip. The little dog howled, upon which the old gentleman turned round, and seeing the coachman with his whip raised, he seized him by the throat. The footman came to the assistance of his friend the coachman, and the ostler belonging to the inn took the side of the old gentleman. The landlord, landlady, chambermaid, boots, cook, stable-boy, barmaid, and all the other inmates of the inn, rushed into the road to see what was the matter, and their cries, joined to the yells of the little dog and the screams of the old lady, so frightened the leader, the white horse, and the brown mare, that they ran away with THE FAMILY COACH.” Of course this tale might have been continued to any length, but the specimen we have given will be sufficient to give the story-teller some idea of what is expected from him to keep up the fun of the game.

FROG IN THE MIDDLE.

This is a highly amusing, though very simple game. One player seated on the ground is surrounded by his comrades, who pull and buffet him till he can catch one of them, when the person so caught takes his place, and is buffeted in like manner. As the players sport round the Frog, they usually cry, “Frog in the middle—can’t catch me!” but they frequently find that this is vain boasting, as Froggy does catch them now and then.

THE FOUR ELEMENTS.

The party being seated in a circle, the player who has been chosen to commence the game takes a knotted handkerchief, and throws it suddenly into another’s lap, calling out at the same time either “Earth!” “Water!” “Air!” or “Fire!” If “Earth” be called out, the player into whose lap the handkerchief has fallen must name some quadruped before the other can count ten; if “Water!” he must name a fish; if “Air!” a bird; and if “Fire!” he must remain silent. Should the player name a wrong animal, or speak when he ought to be silent, he must pay a forfeit and take a turn at throwing the handkerchief; but should he perform his task properly, he must throw the handkerchief back to the first player. Those who have never joined in this simple game can have no idea of the absurd errors into which the different players fall when summoned unawares to name a particular kind of animal.