etimes it was put on the middle line, between the two parties
playing, and each party tried to seize it, and throw it over the
adversary's goal-line."

"Why, that's like our own football, isn't it, auntie?"

"Yes; the Epikoinos, or common game of ball played by the Greek
children, is really the great-great-great-grandfather of our football."

"Had those children any hoops?" asked Edith.

"The Romans had hoops, and even the same kind of hooked stick, but they
played very differently from what we do. They tried to snatch the hoop
from each other with the hook."

"I'm glad I am not a Roman, then," said Edith, "for I do love a good
straight run with my hoop; and that must have been more like fighting
than playing. But do tell us some more about those children's games. It
seems so strange to think they had balls and hoops like us."

"They had whip-tops, too," I said. "And some people say that the great
Emperor Augustus used to play at marbles when he was a boy. You have
seen Charlie and Tom play with knucklebones; the Greek children had them
too, and sometimes there were numbers on them, and each bone had a
different name. Backgammon and draughts were played by the Greeks, and
we see by some of the pictures on the tombs in Egypt that the game of
draughts was very popular there."

"But hadn't they any nice romping games?" asked Maggie.

"Yes. Blind man's buff was a great favourite with the Greeks and Romans.
And they were very fond of playing a game which was known as
oyster-shell."

"Do you mean making grottoes? I don't call that romping."

"The children were divided into equal numbers on each side of a line
drawn on the ground; one party would be called white, the other black.
They then tossed an oyster-shell into the air, and whichever side came
upwards, one of that party ran off. If it was the dark, one of the
blacks ran away, and one of the whites dashed after him. As soon as Mr.
Black was caught, he had to take Mr. White on his shoulders and carry
him to the camp, where he remained till all the others were caught. This
is the origin of our prisoner's base.'"

"But that is a boy's game," said Maggie. "I want to know about the
girls'."

"They played blind man's buff, as I told you just now; then there was
'runaway,' or 'touch,' which was like our game. One girl would shut her
eyes whilst the others hid. A place of refuge, or, as we call it,
_home_, was fixed upon, and she had to try and touch some of the oth