Battles are for best out of five, seven, eleven, or thirteen rounds.
Badger-Pulling
The two contestants, on hands and knees, face each other.
A strong belt or strap is buckled into one great loop that pa.s.ses round the head of each: that is, crosses his nape. Half-way between them is a dead line. The one who pulls the other over this line is winner.
The contestant can at any time end the bout by lowering his head so the strap slips off; but this counts one against him.
Game is best out of five, seven, eleven, or thirteen points.
Poison
This is an ancient game. A circle about three feet across is drawn on the ground. The players, holding hands, make a ring around this, and try to make one of the number step into the poison circle. He can evade it by side-stepping, by jumping over, or by dragging another fellow into it.
First to make the misstep is "it" for the time or for next game.
Hat-Ball
When I was among the Chepewyan Indians of Great Slave Lake, in 1907, I made myself popular with the young men, as well as boys, by teaching them the old game of hat-ball.
The players (about a dozen) put their hats in a row near a house, fence, or log (hollows up). A dead line is drawn ten feet from the hats; all must stand outside of that. The one who is "it" begins by throwing a soft ball into one of the hats. If he misses the hat, a chip is put into his own, and he tries over. As soon as he drops the ball into a hat, the owner runs {304} to get the ball; all the rest run away. The owner must not follow beyond the dead line, but must throw the ball at some one. If he hits him, a chip goes into that person"s hat; if not, a chip goes into his own.
As soon as some one has five chips, he wins the b.o.o.by prize: that is, he must hold his hand out steady against the wall, and each player has five shots at it with the ball, as he stands on the dead line.
Duck-on-a-Rock
This is a good old grandfather game.
Each player has a large, smooth, roundish stone, about five or six inches through. This is his duck. He keeps it permanently.
Toe rock is any low bowlder, block, stump, b.u.mp, or hillock on level ground. A dead line is drawn through the rock, and another parallel, fifteen feet away, for a firing line.
The fellow who is "it," or "keeper," perches his duck on the rock. The others stand at the firing line and throw their ducks at his. They must not pick them up or touch them with their hands when they are beyond the dead line. If one does, then the keeper can tag him (unless he reaches the firing line), and send him to do duty as keeper at the rock.
But they can coax their ducks with their feet, up to the dead line, not beyond, then watch for a chance to dodge back to the firing line, where they are safe at all times.
If the duck is knocked off by anyone in fair firing, the keeper is powerless till he has replaced it. Meantime, most of the players have secured their ducks and got back safely to the firing line.
Road-side Cribbage
This is a game we often play in the train, to pa.s.s the time pleasantly.
Sometimes one party takes the right side of the road, with the windows there, and the other the left. Sometimes all players sit on the same side.
The game is, whoever is first to see certain things agreed on scores so many points.
Thus: A crow or a cow counts 1 A cat 2 A hawk 3 An owl 4 A sheep 5 A goat 6 A horse 7
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The winner is the one who first gets twenty-five or fifty points, as agreed.
When afoot, one naturally takes other things for points, as certain trees, flowers, etc.
Lion Hunting
(The games from Lion Hunting to Hare and Hounds are from General Baden-Powell.)
A lion is represented by one scout, who goes out with tracking irons on his feet, and a pocketful of corn or peas, and six lawn-tennis b.a.l.l.s or rag b.a.l.l.s. He is allowed half an hour"s start, and then the patrol go after him, following his spoor, each armed with one tennis ball with which to shoot him when they find him. The lion may hide or creep about or run, just as he feels inclined, but whenever the ground is hard or very greasy he must drop a few grains of corn every few yards to show the trail.
If the hunters fail to come up to him neither wins the game.
When they come near to his lair the lion fires at them with his tennis b.a.l.l.s, and the moment a hunter is. .h.i.t he must fall out dead and cannot throw his tennis ball. If the lion gets. .h.i.t by a hunter"s tennis ball he is wounded, and if he gets wounded three times he is killed.
Tennis b.a.l.l.s may only be fired once; they cannot be picked up and fired again in the same fight.
Each scout must collect and hand in his tennis b.a.l.l.s after the game.
In winter, if there is snow, this game can be played without tracking irons, and using s...o...b..a.l.l.s instead of tennis b.a.l.l.s.
Plant Race
Start off your scouts, either cycling or on foot, to go in any direction they like, to get a specimen of any ordered plant, say a sprig of yew, a shoot of ilex, a horseshoe mark from a chestnut tree, a briar rose, or something of that kind, whichever you may order, such as will tax their knowledge of plants and will test their memory as to where they noticed one of the kind required and will also make them quick in getting there and back.
Throwing the a.s.segai
Target, a thin sack, lightly stuffed with straw, or a sheet of card-board, or canvas stretched on a frame.
a.s.segais to be made of wands, with weighted ends sharpened or with iron arrow heads on them.
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Flag Raiding
Two or more patrols on each side.
Each side will form an outpost within a given tract of country to protect three flags (or at night three lanterns two feet above ground), planted not less than two hundred yards (one hundred yards at night) from it. The protecting outpost will be posted in concealment either all together or spread out in pairs. It will then send out scouts to discover the enemy"s position. When these have found out where the outpost is, they try to creep round out of sight till they can get to the flags and bring them away to their own line. One scout may not take away more than one flag.
This is the general position of a patrol on such an outpost: