230 GAMES. 



occupied by a player ; the fifth, who is called Puss, stands 

 in the centre. The game now commences ; the players 

 exchange corners in all directions ; it is the object of the 

 one who stands out to occupy any of the corners which 

 may remain vacant for an instant during the exchanges. 

 When he succeeds in so doing, that player who is left with- 

 out a corner becomes the puss. It is to be observed, that 

 if A and B attempt to exchange corners, and A gets to B's 

 comer, but B fails to reach A's before the player who stands 

 out gets there, it is B and not A who becomes Puss. 



CAT AND MOUSE. 



This is a French sport. The toys with which it is played 

 consist of two flat bits of hard wood, the edges of one of 

 which are notched. The game is played by two only ; they 

 are both blindfolded and tied to the ends of a long string, 

 which is fastened in the centre to a post, by a loose knot, 

 so as to play easily in the evolutions made by the players. 

 The party who plays the mouse occasionally scrapes the 

 toys together, and the other, who plays the cat, attracted 

 by the sound, endeavours to catch him. 



CAT AND MOUSE-HUNTING. 



The game of " Hunt the Slipper " used frequently to be 

 called " Cat and Mouse hunting." It is generally played 

 with a slipper, shoe, or even a piece of wood, which was 

 called the mouse, the centre player being the cat, and 

 trying to catch or find the mouse. The "Boy's Own Book" 

 thus describes the game, but not as Cat and Mouse : 

 "Several young persons sit on the ground in a circle, a 

 slipper is given them, and one — who generally volunteers to 

 accept the oflice in order to begin the game— stands in the 

 centre, and whose business it is to ' chase the slipper by its 

 sound.' The parties who are seated pass it round so as to 

 prevent, if possible, its being found in the possession of any 

 individual. In order that the player in the centre may 



