This simple game has been a puzzler to young people many and many a time. With a stick in the left hand the player thumps on the floor, at the same time saying, "He can do little who can't do this." Then, passing the stick into the right hand, he gives it to the next person, who, if unacquainted with the game, will, no doubt, thump with the right hand. Of course, it is most natural to use the right hand for everything, consequently few people suspect that the secret of the game lies in simply taking the stick with your right hand when it is passed to you, but knocking with your left.
HISS AND CLAP.
In this game, the gentlemen are all requested to leave the room, when the ladies take their seats, leaving a vacant place on the right side of every one for the gentlemen of their choice. Each gentleman in turn is then summoned, and asked to guess which lady he imagines has chosen him for her partner. Should he guess rightly he is allowed to take his seat by the lady who has chosen him, while the company loudly clap hands, in proof of their congratulations on his success; but should he guess wrongly, he will be only too glad to disappear from the scene, so loud will be the hisses of his friends.
"HOT BOILED BEANS."
In this game some small article is to be hidden, the player who has to find it being sent out of the room while the hiding is being effected. This being done, the invitation, "Hot Boiled Beans and Bacon, make haste and come to supper," is given, upon which the searcher returns to the room and begins to hunt for the hidden article. The progress of the player is usually announced by assuring him that he is "very cold," "cold," "warmer," "warm," "hot," "very hot," or "burning," according as he is far from or near to the article to be discovered.
HOT COCKLES.
A game not unlike Shadow Buff is that known by the peculiar title of Hot Cockles. A handkerchief is tied over the eyes of one of the company, who then lays his head on a chair, as if he were about to submit to the punishment of being beheaded, and places his hand on his back with the palm uppermost. Any of the party come behind him and give him a slap on his open hand, he in the meantime trying to discover whose hand it is that strikes.
HOUSE FURNISHERS.
In this game the company are to imagine themselves a number of hosts and hostesses who are expecting the arrival of some friends, for whose reception they are totally unprepared, as far as provisions and household arrangements are concerned. Accordingly, each one must volunteer to set out immediately, in order to procure some particular article. First of all, the rooms must be furnished with tables, chairs, beds, bedsteads, curtains, carpets, and fire-irons; then knives, forks, and crockery of every kind must be obtained; and lastly, a good supply of provisions—meat, wine, ale, fruit, vegetables, sugar, coffee, tea—indeed, everything that would conduce to the comfort of the coming visitors. Every made article must come direct from the place where it has been manufactured, as must also the articles of produce from their native soil.
"HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR NEIGHBOUR?"
The company must seat themselves round the room, leaving plenty of space in the middle for passing to and fro. One person left standing then begins the game by putting the question, "How do you like your neighbour?" to any one he pleases. The answer must be either "Not at all" or "Very much." Should the reply be "Not at all," the lady or gentleman is requested to say what other two members of the company would be preferred instead as neighbours, when the new neighbours and the old must immediately change places. During the transition the questioner may endeavour to secure a seat for himself, leaving out one of the four who have been struggling for seats to take the place of questioner. When the reply "Very much" is given, every one in the room must change places. The questioner, therefore, will easily find a seat for himself, and the person left standing must take his place as interrogator.
"HOW, WHEN, AND WHERE?"
In this game, like the last, a word is chosen by the company, containing as many meanings as possible, the person who has volunteered to be the questioner having previously gone out of the room. On being recalled, the person who has been out begins by asking each of his friends how they like it.
Supposing the word "cord" to have been chosen, the first player might answer slight, the next sweet, meaning chord, the next loud, the next strong, and so on until all have said how they liked it. The questioner then recommences his interrogations at the first player by inquiring "When do you like it?" Replies to this question something like the following may be given:—"When I am preparing to take a journey;" "When I am in church;" "When I am driving;" "When I feel musical." Then to the last question—"Where do you like it?" the company may reply—"In a piano;" "In the garden;" "Not round my neck;" "Always at hand," &c. No doubt long before all the questions have been answered the word that has been chosen will have been discovered.
HUNT THE RING.
The game of Hunt the Ring is perhaps better liked than Hunt the Slipper, on account of its being in the estimation of most people more convenient and manageable. Either a ring or a small key may be used for the purpose. Whichever it is, a string must be passed through it, and the ends fastened in a knot, forming thus a circular band. The company then stand in a circle, allowing the string to pass through the hands of each person, and enabling every one to slide the ring easily along from one to the other. The object of the player standing inside the circle is to stop it in its progress, which, in most cases, he finds a rather difficult task. The game is also frequently played without any string, when every one tries, of course, to pass the ring round very rapidly, without being detected by the hunter.
HUNT THE SLIPPER.
This surely must be one of our oldest games, and one, no doubt, that our grandmothers and grandfathers played at when they were children. The players all seat themselves, like so many tailors, on the floor in a ring, so that their toes all meet. A slipper (the smaller the better) is then produced, and given by the person outside to one sitting in the circle, with instructions that it must be mended by a certain day. Finding it not finished at the time appointed, the pretended owner declares that he must have it as it is, and thereupon commences the hunt. How it is carried on is no doubt too well known to need further explanation.
HUNT THE WHISTLE.