Page:Indoor and Outdoor Gymnastic Games.djvu/43

Rh succeeds in getting all its enemies into Prison at the same time. It is necessary for a player to remember who of his opponents left their Base before him and who after him, so that he may know whom to chase and whom to avoid. When a large number of players are out of bound this makes the game quite complicated.

This game is played by the youths of Washington, D. C, on the streets, using the curbs as goals. The game can well be applied to the gymnasium, however, using the mats at either end of the floor or a chalk line at either end.

All the players congregate on one side. One player in the centre endeavors to make them step off the curb by shouting, "Ham—Ham—Chicken—Ham—Bacon," the word "bacon" being the signal for all to cross to the other side, while he endeavors to catch one. The one caught must help him catch the others. If any one steps off before the centre man says "Bacon" he has to go to the aid of the catcher. For instance, the trick is adopted of shouting, "Ham—Ham—Chicken—Ham" and stopping short and causing some one to step off. Or of substituting other words for "Bacon," which may draw some one from their base. When all are caught the game begins anew.

This game may well be applied to the gymnasium for a large number, using various obstructions as corners. If, when the change is made from one corner to the other, more than half the distance is covered, the "puss" is obliged to continue, thus crowding the other "puss" from his corner and enabling the catcher to obtain a vacant corner, only one "puss" being allowed in a corner at a time. The catcher tries to get into the empty corners, forcing the others out. The "puss" caught or left without a corner is "it."