hop-scotch."

The "pitcher" is produced, and we notice how punctiliously each girl
takes her proper turn and starts from the correct place; we notice also
the dilapidated condition of their boots, that act as golf clubs and
propel the "pitcher." We wonder how with such boots, curled and twisted
to every conceivable shape, they can strike the "pitcher" at all. There
is some skill in "hop-scotch" played as these girls play it, and with
their "boots" too!

A one-legged game is "hop-scotch," for the left foot must be held clear
of the pavement, and the "pitcher" must be propelled with the right foot
as the girl "hops."

If she hops too high and misses it, she is "out"; if she strikes too
hard, and it travels beyond one of the boundaries, she is "out" too; if
she does not propel it far enough, again "out."

Why, of course there is skill and fascination in it, for it combines the
virtues of golf and baseball, and "tod" is quite as good as a football
goal. And there is good fellowship and self-denial going on, too; not
quite every girl, thank Heaven, is hampered or blessed with a baby,
and we notice how cheerfully they take their turn in nursing while the
foster-mother arrives at "tod."

The substitute, too, understands the use of the "comforter," for should
it roll in the dirty gutter she promptly returns it to its proper
place, the baby's mouth. Untidy, slatternly girls, not over-clean, not
over-dressed, and certainly not over-fed, we leave them to their play
and their babies.

Here are a lot of half-naked boys, some standing, some sitting on the
hot pavement; they are playing "cherry hog"; why "hog" I don't know!
Their requisites are a pocketful of cherry stones and a small screw, not
an expensive outfit, for they save the "hogs" when they are permitted
to eat cherries, as sometimes, by the indulgence of a kindly fruiterer,
they are, for he kindly throws all his rotten or unsaleable fruit into
the gutter.

If these are not to hand, there are plenty of "hogs" to be picked up. As
to the little screw, well, it is easy to get one or steal one.

The advantage of a screw is that it possesses a flat end, on which it
will stand erect. In this position it is delicately placed so that when
struck by a cherry "hog" it falls. Each boy in turn throws a certain
number of "hogs" at the screw, the successful thrower gathers in the
spoil and goes home with his pocket bursting with cherry "hogs."

It's an exciting game, but it is