it represented the meeting of two rival bands. If she actually found
herself in the elevator with them, it was a dangerous encounter, in
which, if they got out first, she had driven them off the field, but
if she got out first it was she who was in retreat. If two people of
different floors were seen talking together, a truce had been
declared, and so on."

Block City

The little book called _A Child's Garden of Verses_, by R. L.
Stevenson, has several poems which describe how a lonely little boy
used to play. Thus (in "Block City"):--

Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet a sea,
There I'll establish a city for me,
A kirk and a mill, and a palace beside,
And a harbor as well where my vessels may ride.

Story-Books

And (in "The Land of Story-Books"):--

Now, with my little gun, I crawl
All in the dark along the wall,
And follow round the forest track
Away behind the sofa back.

There, in the night, where none can spy,
All in my hunter's camp I lie,
And play at books that I have read
Till it is time to go to bed.

The Bed Boat

That is ordinary play. There is also a poem describing play in bed:--

My bed is like a little boat;
Nurse helps me in when I embark;
She girds me in my sailor's coat
And starts me in the dark.

Thinking Games for Bed

When more than one sleep in the same room, the time before sleep can
be very interesting. Many games which have already been described are
suitable for bed, such as "Telling Stories" (p. 99), "I Love my Love"
(p. 88), "Spelling" (p. 166), "The Grand Mogul" (p. 166), "Rhyming
Lights" (p. 167), "The Apprentice" (p. 167), "Towns and Products" (p.
168), "Suggestions" (p. 91), and "Clumps," adapted (p. 93).

Games by Rote

On this subject B. R. L. writes:--"We made a list, which was stuck on
the wall with a different game for each night. One was 'I Love my Love
with an A' (see p. 88), which we steadily made up all through the
alphabet. Another was 'Initials,' in which you take turns in saying
the initials of people you know, while the other guesses the names.
Another was 'Twenty Questions,' in which one thinks of something that
has to be guessed as quickly as possible, only 'yes' and 'no' being
given as answers. One very girlish game was like this: suppose you had
a little girl with golden hair and blue eyes, and she was going on a
visit to London, what sort of frocks would you buy her?"

The Imaginary Family