cled the row
and regained his seat. The row wins whose last player is first seated.
The remaining alternate rows then play, and lastly the two winning
rows may compete for the championship.

The interest may be increased by calling the race an international
one, the teacher providing small flags of different nations, or the
children may cut and paint these of paper. The first child in each row
chooses the country he will represent by the selection of a flag at
the beginning of the game. This he places on the rear desk, and it is
held aloft by the last player when he regains his seat, indicating
that his country has come in first, second, etc., in the automobile
race.

BARLEY BREAK

_6 to 18 players._

_Playground; gymnasium._

A long, narrow strip of ground is needed for this game, divided into
three spaces measuring from ten to fifty feet square. The central one
of these three spaces is called the barley field. In each of the three
stands a couple of players (or more, as hereinafter described). The
couple in the center is obliged to link arms; therefore the center
place is the most difficult and considered disadvantageous. The
couples in the other spaces advance, singly or together, into the
barley field, trampling the barley by dancing around the field as much
as they can without being caught. These couples need not link arms.
When one of these is caught, he must remain inactive in the barley
field until his partner is also caught. The couple owning the barley
field may not step beyond its limits, nor may the couple being sought
take refuge in the field opposite to their own. When the two are
caught, they become warders of the barley field, changing places with
the previous couple, and any others who have been caught return to
their own fields. The game is made interesting by not confining the
effort to catching two members of the same couple in succession. Both
couples in the adjoining fields should venture far into the barley,
taunting the couple who have linked arms by calling "Barley break!"
These, in turn, will assist their object by making feints at catching
one player and turning suddenly in the opposite direction for another.

The number of players may be increased by putting three couples in the
center (barley field) and two or three couples at each end.

This game is centuries old and used to be played at harvest
time around the stacks in the cornfields.

BASTE THE BEAR

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