My Book of Indoor Games | Page 5

horses has your father got?" The answer is "Three," and to the question: "What color are they?" he replies: "Black, white, and gray." All the players then cry: "Turn round three times and catch whom you may." Buff accordingly spins round and then the fun commences. He tries to catch the players, while they in their turn do their utmost to escape "Buff," all the time making little sounds to attract him. This goes on until one of the players is caught, when Buff, without having the bandage removed from his eyes, has to guess the name of the person he has secured. If the guess is a correct one, the player who has been caught takes the part of "Buff," and the former "Buff" joins the ranks of the players.
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PUSS IN THE CORNER
This game is really for five players only, but, by a little arrangement, six or seven children can take part in the fun.
Four players take their places in the different corners of the room, while the fifth stands in the middle. If a greater number of children wish to play, other parts of the room must be named "corners," so that there is a corner for every one.
The fun consists in the players trying to change places without being caught; but they are bound to call "Puss, puss," first, and to beckon to the one they wish to change with. Directly they leave their corners, the player in the center tries to get into one of them.
When the center player succeeds in getting into a corner, the one who has been displaced has to take his place in the middle of the room.
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THE POSTMAN
For this game all the players, except two, seat themselves in a circle. One of the two left out is blindfolded and is called the "Postman," the other is called the "Postmaster-General." Each of the players seated in the circle chooses the name of a town, which the "Post-master-General" writes down on a slip of paper, so that he may not forget it. He then calls out the names of two towns, thus: "The post from Aberdeen to Calcutta." At once, the players who have taken those names must change places, and while doing so the "Postman" must try to catch one of them. If he succeeds in doing so he takes his place in the circle, having chosen a town for his name, and the one caught becomes "Postman" in place of him. Sometimes "General post" is called, when all have to change places, and the "Postman" is then almost sure to gain a seat.
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THE DWARF
[Illustration]
This is a most amusing game if well carried out. The two performers must be hidden behind two curtains in front of which a table has been placed.
One of the performers slips his hands into a child's socks and little shoes. He must then disguise his face, by putting on a false mustache, painting his eyebrows, sticking pieces of black court plaster over one or two of his teeth, which will make it appear as though he has lost several teeth. This, with a turban on his head, will prove a very fair disguise. The second performer must now stand behind the first and pass his arms round him, so that the second performer's hands may appear like the hands of the dwarf, while the first performer's hands make his feet. The figure must, of course, be carefully dressed, and the body of the second performer hidden behind the curtains.
The front player now puts his slippered hands upon the table and begins to keep time, while the other performer follows suit with his hands.
The dwarf can be used either to tell fortunes, make jokes, or ask riddles, and if the performers act their parts well, the guests will laugh very heartily.
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HOW, WHEN, AND WHERE
One of the company goes out of the room, while the others choose a word to be guessed, one with two or three different meanings being the best.
[Illustration]
We will suppose that the word "Spring" has been thought of. When the person who is outside the room is recalled, he (or she) asks each one in succession: "How do you like it?" The answers may be "Dry" (meaning the season), "Cold and clear" (a spring of water), "Strong" (a watch-spring), and "High" (a jump). The next question is: "When do you like it?" The answers may be: "When I am in the country," "When I am thirsty," "When my watch is broken."
The next question is: "Where do you like it?" and the answers may be: "Anywhere and everywhere," "In hot weather," "In the clock." The game is to try and guess the word after any of the answers, and if