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AMUSEMENTS FOR EVERYBODY 37
increasing the size and weight of the shuttlecock, and sub stituting heavy wooden battledores for the light, leather-covered frames, the game of shuttlecock may be made to yield considerable exercise, as well as amusement. The simplest form is where there are two players, who strike the shuttlecock alternately, the one who first allows it to fall to the ground being the loser. But the game may be made more interesting, and at the same time amuse a greater number, when there are five or six players, who divide into sides, each having his number—one side, i, 3, 5; the other, 2, 4, 6. The shuttlecock, first struck by 1, must then be hit by 2, and then, in turn by 3, 4, 5, and 6. The player who lets it drop is out, and the side of which one or more men are still in, after all their opponents have lost their positions, wins.
A good shuttlecock may be made, where there are no toyshops to supply it, by cutting off the projecting ends of a common cotton-spool, trimming one end with a knife, and drilling holes in the flat surface left at the other, in which holes the feathers of quill pens are to be inserted. As for the battledores, we should think very little of the boy who could not, on an emergency, cut out a set from a bit of thin board, or the flat lid of a box, with the help of the big blade of his pocket-knife.
The French are great adepts at this game, and light battledores and shuttlecocks are wielded by them with great perseverance and considerable skill. There is one great advantage about this game, namely, that without requiring any great amount of strength, it thoroughly exercises every muscle of the player, and furnishes real exercise without producing exhaustion.
Buzz
This is a very old game, but is always a very great favorite. The more the players, the greater the fun. The way to play it is as follows. The players sit in a circle and begin to count in turn, but when the number 7 or any number in which the figure 7 or any multiple of 7 is reached, they say "Buzz,'** instead of whatever the number may be. As, for instance,
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