_Directions_.--The number of points which shall constitute winning the game
should first be agreed upon; if ten be the number, then twenty reeds should
be set aside as counters and the rest used as game-reeds. All of these
latter must be alike save one, and that reed must have a black band about
an inch or so wide painted around the middle, that is, midway between the
two ends of the reed. It is this particular reed that must be detected or
its location guessed.

The mat or blanket should be laid east and west. The two players sit
opposite each other, one near the northern edge of the mat, the other near
the southern edge. The counters are divided in half, one-half put at the
eastern end of the mat, the other half at the western. The counters at the
east belong to the player sitting at the north, those at the west to the
player at the south. Two singers stand back of each player. The spectators
are grouped about the mat, but must not be too near the players. Lots are
drawn to decide which player shall "hold the reeds." The player who loses
the chance to "hold the reeds" becomes the one who is to be the guesser.

All the game-reeds, including the reed with the black band painted on it,
are thrown in a pile in the center of the mat or blanket. The player who is
to "hold the reeds" gathers all the game-reeds in his hands, brings them
behind his back, where he shuffles and divides the reeds into two bunches,
one for each hand. When he is ready to bring his hands forward, each one
with a bunch of reeds grasped by the middle, the two singers standing
behind him start the following song:

GAME SONG

[Music]