If she desires them to find fern seed, one is to hide carefully, and the others are to find her.

If she bids them play by moonlight, they are to dance.

If she says they are to play at elves, they are to raise one hand and foot as if about to fly.

If she calls for her crown, Dew-drop is to spring up and turn round three times.

If she calls for her nightcap, Sunshine is to do the same.

If she calls for her wand, Moonlight starts up and courtesies.

If she calls for music, Lily-bell is to sing.

If she cries "The Roast Beef of Old England," Mustard-seed rises and bows.

If she says she wants her spinning-wheel, Cobweb spins round three times with her arms extended.

If she says she wishes to feed her pigeons, Pease-blossom pretends to scatter seed.

If any fairy forgets her duty when it is named, or does not instantly obey the order, she forfeits something, and has to sit apart till the game is over. Constant mistakes create plenty of laughter and forfeits.

CLAP! CLAP!

This game may be played in or out of the house. Example: Mary puts her hand under her pinafore, cloak, or cape, holds up a finger inside it, and of course out of sight, and says,

"Mingledy, mingledy, clap! clap!

How many fingers do I hold up!"

The others guess one, two, three, or five, as they think most likely to be right; but it is very rarely that the guess proves correct. If not, the guesser pays a forfeit, and the player (changing the number of her fingers) begins again. When a little girl guesses rightly, it becomes her turn to play, and the former player pays a forfeit.

BLIND MAN'S BUFF.

BLIND MAN'S BUFF is a good game on a large lawn; but as at all times it is attended with some risk, we advise our little readers to play it in a safer way, thus:

A little girl is blinded carefully with a handkerchief, and a wand or stick is put into her hand. The rest take hands and dance round her. When she waves her wand they stop; she touches the one nearest to her with it, and says, "Who is this?" The little girl touched answers, in a voice as unlike her own as possible, "It is I." If the blindfolded child guesses rightly by the voice who it is, the two exchange places. The little girl who is caught becomes "blind," and the player in the centre resigns her wand and joins the dancing circle.

The players divide into two parties. One side takes a ball, and draws close together, raising frocks into a "lap" or cover, into which the players

put their hands. The ball is given to a player to hold in her lap. She must try to hide it as much as possible, while those whose laps are empty must "make believe," as well as they can, to hold the ball in their raised dresses. This is done by pushing the dress out with the hand, &c. When the ball has been concealed, the players advance to those waiting on the other side of the lawn, and sing,

"Queen Anne, Queen Anne, she sat in the sun,

As white as a lily, as grave as a nun;

She sends you these letters, and begs you'll read one;
If you guess our secret, 't will be great fun."

The other players answer,

"Good fortune the gracious Queen befall,

I ask Amelia [or whatever the name may be] to give me the ball."

If her guess is mistaken, the maids of honour sing,

"The ball is ours; you guess not well,

Nor can our Lady's secret tell;

So sit like gipsies in the sun,

While we, fair ladies, go and come."

Then they return to their places, and transfer the ball to another playfellow.

When the guessers fix on the right person, the ball is transferred to them and the parts are reversed, while the ball-holder has to pay a forfeit.

THE FRENCH ROLL.

She stands on

one side, while the others range themselves in a long single file, one behind

the other, each taking hold of her neighbour's frock. The player who happens to be at the head of the file is the Baker; all the others form the Oven, except the last, who is called the French Roll.

As soon as the file is formed, the one who has been left to play purchaser comes up, and says to the baker, "Give me my French roll."

The baker answers, "It is at the back of the oven."

The purchaser goes to get it; but the French roll instantly lets go her companion's frock, and runs up the opposite side to the baker, crying, "Who runs? who runs ?"

The purchaser pursues her. If she gets to the head of the line, however, before he catches her, she becomes baker, and the little girl who at first stood before her, and is now at the end of the file, becomes French roll. If she is caught by the purchaser, she becomes purchaser herself, and the purchaser becomes baker.

This is a lively, animated game.

If the players wish it, forfeits can be paid by the French roll when caught. But the game is merrier when played quickly and without waiting to pay them.

For this game the little ones divide into two parties, one called the Roses the other the Dew-seekers. The children on one side provide themselves each with a leaf, and then advance, singing,

"Here we come gathering May-dew, May-dew,

May-dew, May-dew;

Here we come gathering May-dew,

Early in the morning."

The others (who are supposed to be roses covered with dew) reply,

"Our pretty cups are full of dew,
Full of dew, full of dew,

Which we'll gladly give to you
Early in the morning."

The roses then all bow their heads. The leader of the other party touches one with her leaf, and the two then take hands and try which can pull the other over to her side. If the dew-gatherer succeeds in pulling the rose over to her side, she joins that party, and the game begins again in the same words.

The party which draws the greater number over wins.

The children sit on the grass, or on a bank or bench in the garden, side by side. One stands as Market Woman opposite the row of players. She walks along the row and touches each child, beginning wherever she pleases, and saying one word of the following rhyme to each, as she touches her

"Please-good-farmer-cut-the-corn,

Keep-the-wheat-and-burn-the-thorn
Shut-your-gate-and-turn-the-lock,
Keep-the-five-geese-in-a-flock."

As soon as she says the word "flock," the one first touched jumps up and runs away. The market woman pursues her. But while she is catching her, the other geese have fled, and she has to catch each player and re-seat her in her place, before the game can begin again. The one first caught becomes in her turn market woman.