s them in turn, "What is my
thought like?" Not having the faintest idea what the thought is they
reply at random. One may say, "Like a dog"; another, "Like a
saucepan"; a third, "Like a wet day"; a fourth, "Like a comic opera."
After collecting all the answers the player announces what the thought
was, and then goes along the row again calling upon the players to
explain why it is like the thing named by them. The merit of the game
lies in these explanations. Thus, perhaps the thing thought of was a
concertina. The first player, asked to show why a concertina is like a
dog, may reply, "Because when it is squeezed it howls." The next may
say, "It is like a heavy saucepan because it is held in both hands."
The third, "It is like a wet day because one soon has enough of it";
and the fourth, "It is like a comic opera because it is full of
tunes."

P's and Q's

Another old game of this kind is "P's and Q's." The players sit in a
circle and one stands up and asks them each a question in turn. The
question takes this form, "The King of England [or France, or Germany,
or Africa, or Russia, or India, whatever country it may be] has gone
forth with all his men. Tell me where he has gone, but mind your P's
and Q's." The player who is addressed must then reply, naming, in
whatever country is mentioned, some town that does not begin with P or
Q or with any letter before P in the alphabet. Thus, if the question
refers to England, he may say "Salisbury" but not "Bristol," "Redruth"
but not "Oxford"; or to France, "Toulon" but not "Lyons," "Versailles"
but not "Dieppe."

The game is capable of improvement or, at least, of variety. For
instance, instead of P's and Q's, the questioner may say, "Mind your
K's and L's," or instead of ruling out all letters before P, all
letters after Q may be stopped. And one need not confine the game to
geography, but may adapt it to include animals, or eatables, or books.

The Elements

The players sit in a circle, and the game is begun by one of them
throwing a rolled-up handkerchief to another and at the same time
calling out the name of one of the four elements--air, water, earth,
or fire. If "Air" is called, the player to whom the handkerchief is
thrown must at once mention some creature that flies. Having done so
she throws the handkerchief to some one else, calling perhaps "Earth,"
whereupon that player must mention an animal that inhabits the earth.
And so on. The same animal must not b