Water Polo.—Boys who can swim will find this excellent sport. Each player should provide himself with a sound cask. Place it upon its side and weight it with lead or other material, making this ballast fast so that it cannot move about. Now make the cask quite water-tight. Upon one end fix a horse’s head made of wood, upon the other a tail. These features may be made as extravagant and comic as the owner pleases. Get a paddle like a canoe paddle, and astride of this horse take to the water. Choose sides as at football and have for goals stakes driven into the bed of the river or floating objects moored into position. The ball should be a light hollow india-rubber one, or a bladder from the butcher. Some players use the inner part of a football. The paddle both strikes the ball and propels the steed. This game should never be played unless the players are accompanied by a capable person in a boat who can go to the assistance of those who may be in difficulties.
CHAPTER VI.
PAPERCHASING, FOOTBALL, GOLF, AND BOXING
Paperchasing.—This may be practised with more or less success all the year round, but it is in the winter time that it can best be enjoyed. It is then that the air is cool and invigorating, and that the fields, being unoccupied by crops, may be run over without any very great damage being done. For boys it is a grand game; it affords a welcome change from the scrimmages and knocks of football and fives; and if the distance run be not too far, nor the pace too fast, there are few who cannot take part in it with pleasure.
An important point in its favour is that the expenses connected with it are small. The paperchaser wears jersey, knickerbockers and stockings as at football, with the addition, in very cold weather, of woollen mittens to keep the wrists warm, and the substitution of light leather or rubber and canvas shoes, for heavy boots. For each of the “hares” there must be provided a bag in which to carry the “scent.” These bags should be of stout linen or canvas and shaped like a life-buoy, so that they go round the runner—under the left shoulder and over the right—with a hole in the under-side, by means of which they are filled and emptied. Time was when the “scent” consisted of paper torn up very small, the preparation of which afforded almost as much fun as the chase itself; but nowadays we have grown luxurious, and fill the bags with the paper shavings which may be purchased for a very small sum from any bookbinder or printer.
Much of the success of a paperchase depends on the choosing of the hares. Of these there are generally two or three—more often the former—and it is necessary that one of them should have a good knowledge of the surrounding country. The time of their departure having been noted, they start off and lay a trail as they go. Sometimes one will lay for a while, and then the other will take a turn; occasionally one will lead and lay his trail, and the other following some little distance in the rear, will look out for gaps and fill them in. It is not necessary to lay a continuous trail, but care should be taken that it is quite easy to see from one patch of scent to the next. When the wind is high, it is always well in crossing from one field to another, to sprinkle some scent on the hedge itself.
The laying of an occasional “false” scent adds to the troubles of the hounds, and gives the hares a chance of regaining some of the advantage which they naturally lose in choosing their course. A “false” is usually managed by the hares separating, and each laying a trail in different directions; then one ceases laying, and makes his way straight across country to join his companion, and they go on again together as before. In laying a false trail, much ingenuity may be shown. One way is to make the wrong one much the more distinct of the two; but this must not always be done, or naturally it will soon cease to have any effect. In selecting a course, it is well to choose a circular one, so that in case of accidents, the distance from home is not very far; and it is a very good plan, and one which is likely to be of advantage to all, to start out against the wind and to return with it. The reason for this is that it is easier to face the wind when starting out fresh than when returning home fatigued at the end of a run.
The hounds, or pack, must be provided with a captain and a “whipper-in”—the former to set the pace and generally take command, and the latter to look after the stragglers and see that none are left behind. Both should be good runners, and if possible should have had some experience of the game. After an interval—the length of which is arranged with the hares before they start, and depends chiefly on the distance it is proposed to travel—the pack set out on their journey. The pace should be a steady jog-trot, especially at the beginning; afterwards, if all goes well, it may be increased. It is a rule that so long as the hares are not in sight, all must follow the trail; but if once they are seen, it becomes a case of “catch who can,” the scent is ignored, and all go off straightway in pursuit. If the hares are not seen and there appears to be no likelihood of their being caught, it is usual for the captain on getting within a mile or so of home, to give the word for a race and for the hounds to set off then to compete among themselves for the honour of being the first to reach the goal.
Carried out on these lines, paperchasing provides plenty of fun, and is as healthy a pastime as can be found. Now and again there will be a ducking caused by a failure to clear a brook, or a stumble at a fence; but if the victims of these mishaps keep moving, and immediately they reach home, change their clothes, little harm will be done. Two warnings may be given: Do not go too far; and when feeling tired, do not strain yourself by trying to race. A six or seven miles spin is quite long enough for any one; and it is better to go all through at a jog-trot, and even to walk occasionally, than to sow the seeds of future ills by striving to outdo fleeter rivals.