the knowledge of games which my readers already have, and so to
increase their interests in those healthful sports that add to the
joys of boy life.

TOWN BALL

This game, before being imported from England, long, long ago, was
called "Rounders." In this game the bat and ball are both different
from those used in baseball. There are corners instead of bases, and
there is a "giver" instead of a pitcher. The fielders may be of any
number, but they are not known by distinctive names.

The greatest freedom is permitted in the choice of ball. It may be of
hollow rubber, or it may be of the good, old-fashioned, home-made
sort. Did you ever make a ball, but of course you have, by unravelling
a heelless worsted stocking and then winding the thread about a core
of cork or rubber till the whole is quite round, the end being sewed
to keep it from unravelling. This ball is finished by a cover of thin
leather, cut in the form of a three-leaved clover and neatly sewed on
with a waxed thread. The bat is like that used in baseball but lighter
and shorter. The corners are usually three in number, with a home-
base, making four, but this varies according to the whim of the
players or the locality where the game is played. Ordinarily with
three corners the distances are about the same as between the bases in
baseball. In place of home-base there is a rectangle marked on the
ground where the striker and catcher stand.

The giver stands in the same position that the pitcher occupies in a
game of baseball; but in place of pitching or making the underhand
throw, he throws overhand and "gives" the ball to the catcher over the