The uniform assumed is usually a coat turned inside out, a hat made of a twisted newspaper, a bag of some description for a cartridge-box, and soot moustaches.
Holding a walking-stick in a military style, the penitent goes up to a lady, presents arms, and stamps three times with his feet.
Rising from her seat, the lady must accompany the gentleman to the opposite side of the room, then whisper in his ear the name of the gentleman for whom she has a special preference.
Without speaking the brave Prussian must march up to the favoured gentleman, and escort him across the room to the side of the lady who has avowed herself his admirer. The lady is, of course, saluted by the object of her choice, after which she is taken back to the seat she originally occupied. The soldier then, presenting arms, returns to the gentleman, who whispers in his ear a favoured lady's name, to whom he escorts her admirer. The proceeding is thus carried on, until some lady is good enough to acknowledge her preference for the soldier himself above all the other gentlemen, when, after saluting the lady, he is at liberty to lay aside his military dress, and return to his seat.
28. "'Twas I."—The victim in this case is unmistakably doomed to occupy a very humiliating position. He must go round the room, inquiring of each person what object he has seen lately that has particularly attracted his notice. The answer may be—a baby, a thief, a donkey; whatever it is, the unfortunate redeemer of the forfeit must remark—"'Twas I."
29. The acrostic.—A word is given to you, the letters of which you must convert into the first letters of a double set of adjectives, one half expressing good qualities, the other half bad ones. When complete you may present both good and bad qualities to the person you most admire, as expressive of your estimate of his or her character. For instance, should the word given you be Conduct. If a gentleman, you might inform your lady that you consider her—
C areful.
O rderly.
N oble.
D elightful.
U seful.
C ompassionate.
T idy.
while at the same time you think her to be—
C aptious.
O bnoxious.
N iggardly.
D eceitful.
U ntidy.
C ross.
T ouchy.
30. The three words.—The names of three articles are given to you, when on the spur of the moment you must declare to what use you would put them if they were in your possession for the benefit of the lady you admire. Supposing the words to be, a penknife, a half-crown, and a piece of string, you might say:—"With the penknife I would slay every one who attempted to place any barrier between us; with the half-crown I would pay the clergyman to perform the marriage ceremony; and with the string I would tie our first pudding."
31. Make a perfect woman.—To do this the player has to select from the ladies present the personal features and traits of character that he most admires in each, and imagine them combined in one individual. Although the task is by no means one of the easiest, it may be made the opportunity of paying delicate little compliments to several ladies at once.
32. Show the spirit of contrary.—The idea in this imposition is the same as in the game of contrary. Whatever the player is told to do, he must do just the contrary.
33. Give good advice.—Go round the room, and to every one of the company give a piece of good advice.
34. Flattering speeches.—This penance is usually given to a gentleman, though there is no reason why the ladies should always be exempted from its performance. Should it be a gentleman, however, he must make six, twelve, or as many flattering speeches as he is told to a certain lady, without once making use of the letter L. For instance, he may tell her she is handsome, perfect, good, wise, gracious, or anything else he may choose to say, only whatever adjective he makes use of must be spelt without the letter L.
35. The deaf man.—This cruel punishment consists in the penitent being made to stand in the middle of the room, acting the part of a deaf man. In the meantime the company invite him to do certain things, which they know will be very agreeable to him. To the first three invitations he must reply—"I am deaf; I can't hear." To the fourth invitation he must reply—"I can hear"; and, however disagreeable the task may be, he must hasten to perform it. It is needless to say the company generally contrive that the last invitation shall be anything but pleasant.
36. Act the parrot.—The player condemned to this penance must go round the room, saying to every one of the company—"If I were a parrot, what would you teach me to say?" No end of ridiculous things may be suggested, but the rule is that every answer shall be repeated by the parrot before putting another question.
37. Make your will.—The victim in this case is commanded to say what he will leave as a legacy to every one of his friends in the room. To one he may leave his black hair, to another his eyebrows, to another (perhaps a lady) his dress coat, to another his excellent common sense, to another his wit, and so on until every one in the room has been remembered.
38. Spell Constantinople.—This trick, as most people are aware, consists in calling out "No, no!" to the speller when he has got as far as the last syllable but one. Thus he begins:—"C-o-n con, s-t-a-n stan, t-i ti." Here voices are heard crying "No, no!" which interruption, unless the victim be prepared for it, may lead him to imagine that he has made a mistake.
39. The natural historian.—Go to the first player, and ask him to name his favourite animal. Whatever animal he may mention, you must imitate its cry as loudly as you can. You then ask the second player to do the same, and so on until you shall have imitated all the animals mentioned, or until the company shall declare that you deserve to have your forfeit returned to you.
40. The blind dancers.—Among players who are not anxious to prolong the ordeal of forfeit crying any longer than is necessary, the following method of redeeming several forfeits at once may be acceptable:—Eight victims are chosen to be blindfolded, and while in this condition are requested to go through the first figure of a quadrille.
41. The cats' concert.—This is another method of redeeming any number of forfeits at once. The players who have their forfeits to redeem are requested to place themselves together in a group, when, at a given signal from the leader, they all begin to sing any tune they like. The effect, as may well be imagined, is far from soothing.
42. Spelling backwards.—Spell some long word, such as hydrostatics, &c., backwards.
GIANT.
The wonderful performance known as the Giant is accomplished by the united efforts of two gentlemen, one of whom takes his position on the shoulders of the other, sitting of course with one leg on each side of his companion's neck. Cloaks, rugs, or coats of any description are then arranged round the two figures in order to hide the real state of things, so that when the Giant makes his appearance nothing is to be seen but one huge figure. The lower gentleman who supports his friend
