he line.

Hot-Hand

This is a primitive game, capital for cold weather, for it is well
named. It is played by two people, one of whom spreads out his hands
flat, palms up. The other puts his, palms down, within about three
inches of the other's, and tries to strike them a smart blow. If the
first player can withdraw his hands quickly enough so that they are
not touched it is his turn to try and strike. As long as the player
whose hands are palms down can strike the other's hands he can go on.
This is an excellent game for cultivating quickness. The player whose
hands are to be struck will find that he can succeed better in
escaping the other's blows, if he watches his eyes rather than his
hands.

This can be arranged among many players as a sort of tournament,
trying out the players by couples until finally the two best
contestants are left to struggle for the championship. This is a good
game to play while getting your breath after skating--or at any time
out of doors when you are obliged to be quiet, and there is danger of
getting chilled.

Pencils and Paper

It is well to take a pencil and paper when you go on a long journey.
If the train rocks a good deal it is interesting to see which can
write a sentence most clearly. There is a way of balancing oneself on
the edge of the seat and holding the paper on one's knees which makes
for steadiness. It is never too shaky for "Noughts and Crosses."

Noughts and Crosses or Tit-tat-toe

"Noughts and Crosses" is playable anywhere; all that is needed is a
piece of paper--a newspaper will do--and a pencil. The framework is
first made. Thus:--

| |
| |
| |
-----+-----+-----
| |
| |
| |
-----+-----+-----
| |
| |
| |

One player chooses crosses and the other noughts, and the one who is
to begin puts his mark--say, a cross--in one of the nine squares. The
other puts a nought in another of the squares, and so it goes on until
either three noughts or three crosses are in a straight line in any
direction. Thus, this is the end of a game in which noughts played
first and crosses won:

| |
X | |
| |
-----+-----+-----
| |
X | O | O
| |
-----+-----+-----
| |
X | | O
| |

But it often happens that the game is drawn, as in this example, in
which noughts play