out:

"Let out the doves."

One of the larger girls took hold of the hands of two of the smaller,
one of whom represented a dove and the other a hawk. The hawk stood
behind her and the dove in front.

She threw the dove away as she might pitch a bird into the air, and as
the child ran it waved its arms as though they were wings. She threw
the hawk in the same way, and it followed the dove.

She then clapped her hands as the Chinese do to bring their pet birds
to them, and the dove if not caught, returned to the cage. This is a
very pretty game for little children.

By this time the girls were all rested and our little friend said:

"Seek for gold."

Three or four of the girls gathered up some pebbles, squatted down in a
group and scattered them as they would a lot of jackstones. Then one
drew her finger between two of the stones and snapped one against the
other. If she hit it the two were taken up and put aside.

She then drew her finger between two more and snapped them.

If she missed, another girl took up what were left, scattered them,
snapped them, took them up, and so on until one or another got the most
of the pebbles and thus won the game. Our little friend was reminded of
another and she called out:

"The cow's eye."

Immediately the girls all sat down in a ring and put their feet
together in the centre. Then one of their number repeated the following
rhyme, tapping a foot with each accented syllable.

One, two, three, and an old cow's eye,
When a cow's eye's blind she'll surely die.
A piece of skin and a melon too,
If you have money I'll sell to you,
But if you're without,
I'll put you out.

The foot on which her finger happened to rest when she said "out" was
excluded from the ring. Again she repeated the rhyme excluding a foot
with each repetition till all but one were out.

Up to this point all the children were in a nervous quiver waiting to
see which foot would be left, but now the fun began, for they took the
shoe off and every one slapped that unfortunate foot. This was done
with good-natured vigor but without intention to hurt. It was amusing
to see the children squirm as they neared the end of the game.

This game finished, the little girl called out:

"Pat your hands and knees."

The girls sat down in pairs and, after the style of "Bean Porridge
Hot," clapped hands to the following rhyme:

Pat your hands and knees,