Robbers And Soldiers
Source:
Games For The Playground, Home, School And Gymnasium
Category:
MISCELLANEOUS ACTIVE GAMES
_10 to 100 players._
_Out of doors._
This game is best played in the country, where there are woods
in which the robbers may hide.
The players are divided between robbers and soldiers, there being
about ten robbers to fifty soldiers (the proportion of one to five).
The larger and stronger players are usually selected for the robbers.
The soldiers have one General who directs their movements, and the
robbers a Captain. The robbers are given five or ten minutes' start
from the prison. The soldiers stand at this place, marked as their
fort or prison, until the General gives the command for the search to
begin. The object of the robbers is to hide so that the soldiers may
not find them, and when found, to resist capture if possible. They may
hide by climbing trees or dodging behind them, conceal themselves in
underbrush, under dead leaves, etc. If played aright, the game should
be a very strenuous one, the resistance offered by the robbers
requiring several soldiers to overcome. A robber may resist all of the
way to prison. A guard is appointed by the General for the prison, and
prisoners may run away at any time if not prevented by the guard.
The soldiers, in attempting to locate the robbers, will use many
devices besides a simple hunt. For instance, they will form a large
circle and gradually work in toward the center, thus surrounding any
robbers who may be hidden within the territory so covered. The game is
won when all of the robbers have been made prisoners. Old clothes are
quite in order for this game.
The soldiers will find whistles of advantage for signaling each other
for help.
This game has been a favorite one for many generations with the
boys at a large school near Copenhagen.
ROLLING TARGET AS PLAYED BY THE HIDATSA INDIANS, FORT CLARK, NORTH
DAKOTA
_Reproduced by kind permission of the Bureau of Ethnology, Washington
D.C., from "Games of the North American Indians," by Stewart Culin._
]
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Ringmaster
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