Paster, lone, bone, strei,
Ene, fune, herke, berke,
Wer? Wie? Wo? Was?




CHAPTER XII

DO YOU KNOW ALL ABOUT THE GAME OF TAG?


The poet Pope says, "The proper study of mankind is man." If he did
not mean this to include boys, then I don't quite agree with him, for
I have found boys and girls, too, be it said, as a rule, far more
interesting as objects of study than the average grown-up.

I have always liked these stanzas from Hood's fine poem, "The Dream of
Eugene Aram": "'Twas in the prime of summer time, An ev'ning calm
and cool, When four and twenty happy boys Came bounding out of
school; There were some that ran, And some that leapt, Like
troutlets in a pool.

"Like sportive deer, they cours'd about,
And shouted as they ran,
Turning to mirth all things of earth,
As only boyhood can."

If the boys had not already decided on a game, it would be safe to
wager that the first thing they started off with was the old and ever-