e says "The stage coach upset!" all of
the players must change seats. The leader takes this opportunity to
secure one for himself, and the player who is left without a seat
becomes leader for the next game, or must distribute the forfeits. For
large numbers there should be several more players than chairs.

The leader may say, for example: "It being a beautiful spring
day, the _old lady with the bandbox_ [here the old lady must
get up and turn around] decided to visit her daughter, and so
took a _seat_ in the _stage coach_ [everybody turns around];
she found the _cushions_ [cushions turn around] very
comfortable until the _fat old gentleman_ [fat old gentleman
turns around] got in, when the place seemed to her very
crowded, and she was glad to open the _windows_; the _driver_
cracked his _whip_, the _wheels_ creaked, the _horses_ strained
at the _harness_, and away they started on their journey," etc.

The interest of the game may be enhanced by connecting the
stage coach, its passengers, and journey with some well-known
story, as of Mr. Pickwick and Sam Weller, or Rebecca of
Sunnybrook Farm.

STAKE GUARD

(See also _Duck on a Rock_.)

_10 to 30 players._

_Playground; gymnasium._

This game is one of the forms of Duck on a Rock, and in this
form is well adapted to use indoors as well as out of doors.
The game differs from the ordinary games of Duck on a Rock
chiefly in the limited territory to which the guard is
confined.

A stake is driven in the ground (or if in a gymnasium, an Indian club
is placed) in the center of a square plainly marked, and measuring
from eight to twelve feet. A throwing line is drawn twenty or more
feet from the stake. The game is played with bean bags, and begins
with the choice of a guard. This choice is made by all of the players
standing on the throwing line and throwing their bags at the stake.
The player whose bag falls farthest away from the stake becomes the
first guard.

The stake guard places his bag on top of the stake (or club). The
other players line up on the throwing line. Upon a given signal from
a leader or captain, all of the players throw their bags
simultaneously at the stake, trying to displace the bag on top of it.
Knocking over the club accomplishes the same purpose. Each player must
then try to regain his bag, but in doing this he may be tagged by the
guard.