de in a mixed
party. It may not seem a momentous affair whether the privilege of
striking one's own ball and the adversary's without holding the former
beneath the foot, should be extended to all players or limited to the
"rover"; but it makes an immense difference in both the duration and the
difficulty of the game. By skilfully using this right, every player may
change the position of every ball, during each tour of play. It is a
formidable privilege, and accordingly Reid and "Newport" both forbid it
to all but the "rover," and Routledge denies it even to him; while
Fellow alone pleads for universal indulgence. It seems a pity to side
with one poor authority against three good ones, but there is no doubt
that the present tendency of the best players is to cultivate the
roquet-croquet more and more; and after employing it, one is as
unwilling to give it up, as a good billiard-player would be to revert
from the cue to the mace. The very fact, however, that this privilege
multiplies so enormously the advantages of skill is perhaps a good
reason for avoiding it in a mixed party of novices and experts, where
the object is rather to equalize abilities. It should also be avoided
where the croquet-ground is small, as is apt to be the case in our
community,--because in such narrow quarters a good player can often hit
every other ball during each tour of play, even without this added
advantage. If we played habitually on large, smooth lawns like those of
England, the reasons for the general use of the roquet-croquet would be
far stronger.

Another inconvenient discrepancy of the books relates to the different
penalties imposed on "flinching," or allowing one's ball to slip from
under one's foot, during the process of croquet. Here Routledge gives no
general rule; Reid and "Newport" decree that, if a ball "flinches," its
tour terminates, but its effects remain; while, according to Fellow, the
ball which has suffered croquet is restored, but the tour
continues,--the penalties being thus reversed. Here the sober judgment
must side with the majority of authorities; for this reason, if for no
other, that the first-named punishment is more readily enforced, and
avoids the confusion and altercation which are often produced by taking
up and replacing a ball.

Again, if a ball be accidentally stopped in its motion by a careless
player or spectator, what shall be done? Fellow permits the striker
either to leave the ball where the inter