for the girls and boys. One of the number is chosen to
be postmaster, and is stationed at the door of the post-office;
another is elected to start the game by entering the post-office,
closing the door and indicating to the postmaster the one for whom
there are letters and the number of letters. This is then announced
in the assembly room by the postmaster, and the girl (if it was a boy
who started the game) is expected to respond by coming to the
post-office and getting her mail, which means granting a kiss for
each letter. She then remains in the post-office to indicate her
choice to the postmaster, while the boy joins the others in the
assembly room, and the game thus goes on indefinitely. The postmaster
is usually granted, as his fee, the privilege of kissing each girl
whose mail he announces. Picking Grapes is a game that calls for as
many kisses as there are bunches to be picked. It further involves
the holding of hands, and is not infrequently so arranged as to have
the boy's arms about the girl's waist. Digging a Well is similar to
Picking Grapes, and calls for as many kisses as there are feet in
depth to be dug. In competition games where forfeits are sold there
is no limit to the devices for indirect love expressions except the
fertility and ingenuity in invention of the young people, and every
one knows that in this particular regard their resources are well
nigh inexhaustible. London Bridge is made use of to satisfy the
hugging impulse. The game is played as follows. Two leaders agree
upon two objects, for example, a horse-and-carriage and a piano,--as
badges of their respective parties. Then they join hands and raise
them to form an archway that represents London Bridge. The others in
the game form a line and pass under this archway while all are
singing:

You stole my watch and broke my chain,
Broke my chain, broke my chain,
You stole my watch and broke my chain,
So fare you well my lady love.

Off to prison you must go,
You must go, you must go,
Off to prison you must go,
So fare you well, my lady love.

The leaders may at any time let their hands drop down and catch any
one in the line that is passing through. The procession then stops
and the prisoner is asked in a whisper, "Which would you rather have,
a horse-and-carriage or a piano?" According to the choice he or she
passes around and locks his hands about the leader's waist. The
second one who makes the same choice lo