r fingers broke apart, when they each uttered the word
"Honor." This must not be spoken before they broke apart, but as soon
as possible after, and he who was first heard was entitled to an
obeisance on the part of the other. Those who failed the first trial
sat down, and those who succeeded paired off and pulled once more, and
so on until only one was left, who, as in the spelling-bees of our
boyhood days, became the hero of the hour.

Chi, however, was not making heroes, or was it that he did not want to
hurt the feelings of those who were less agile; at any rate he called
out "Hockey," and the boys at once snatched up their short sticks and
began playing at a game that is not unlike our American "shinny," a
game which is so familiar to every American boy as to make description
unnecessary--the principal difference between this and the American
game being that the boys all try to prevent one boy from putting a ball
into what they call the big hole, which, like the others, tended to
develop quickness of action in the boys.

I was familiar with the fact that there are certain games which tend to
develop the parental or protective instinct in children, while certain
others develop the combative and destructive, as for instance playing
with dolls develops the mother-instinct in girls; tea-parties, the love
of society; and paper dolls teach them how to arrange the furniture in
their houses; while on the other hand, wrestling, boxing, sparring,
battles, and all such amusements if constantly engaged in by boys, tend
to make them, if properly guided and instructed, brave and patriotic;
but if not properly led, cause them to be quarrelsome, domineering,
cruel, coarse and rough, and I wondered if the Chinese boys had any
such games.

"Chi," I asked, "do you have any such games as host and guest, or games
in which the large boys protect the small ones?"

"Host and guest," said Chi.

The boys at once arranged themselves promiscuously over the playground,
and with a few peanuts, or sour dates which they picked up under the
date trees, with all the ceremony of their race, they invited the
others to dine with them. After playing thus for a moment, Chi called
out:

"Roast dog meat."

The children gathered in a group, put the palms of their hands
together, squatted in a bunch or ring, and placed their hands together
in the centre to represent the pot. The boy on the left of the
illustration represents Mrs. Wang, the guest o