Part 32

"'Twas whisper'd in heaven, 'twas mutter'd in hell, And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell; On the confines of earth 'twas permitted to rest, And the depths of the ocean its presence confess'd. 'Twill be found in the sphere when 'tis riven asunder, 'Tis seen in the lightning, and heard in the thunder; 'Twas allotted to man from his earliest breath, It assists at his birth, and attends at his death; Presides o'er his happiness, honour, and health, Is the prop of his house, and the end of his wealth. In the heap of the miser 'tis hoarded with care, But is sure to be lost in his prodigal heir. It begins every hope, every birth it must bound, It prays with the hermit; with monarchs is crowned; Without it the soldier and seaman may roam, But woe to the wretch that expels it from home. In the whispers of conscience 'tis sure to be heard, Nor e'en in the whirlwind of passion is drowned; 'Twill soften the heart, though deaf to the ear, 'Twill make it acutely and constantly hear; But in short, let it rest--like a beautiful flower, Oh, breathe on it softly, it dies in an hour."

Lord Byron did, however, compose an Enigma on the letter I, which is equally clever, but perhaps not so well known:--

"I am not in youth, nor in manhood, nor age, But in infancy ever am known; I'm a stranger alike to the fool and the sage; And though I'm distinguished in history's page, I always am greatest alone. I am not in earth, nor the sun, nor the moon; You may search all the sky--I'm not there. In the morning and evening--though not in the noon-- You may plainly perceive me; for, like a balloon, I am midway suspended in air. Though disease may possess me, and sickness and pain, I'm never in sorrow nor gloom. Though in wit and in wisdom I equally reign, I'm the heart of all sin, and have long lived in vain, Yet I ne'er shall be found in the tomb."

The next two Enigmas are attributed to Charles James Fox.

"Formed long ago, yet made to-day; And most employed when others sleep; What few would like to give away, And fewer still to keep."

_Answer_: A bed.

"You eat me, you drink me, describe me who can, For I'm sometimes a woman, and sometimes a man."

_Answer_: A toast.

To the pen of Germany's celebrated poet, Schiller, we are indebted for the following expressive Enigma:--

"A bridge weaves its arch with pearls High over the tranquil sea. In a moment it unfurls, Its span unbounded, free. The tallest ship with swelling sail May pass 'neath its arch with ease, It carries no burden, 'tis too frail, And when you approach, it flees. With the flood it comes, with the rain it goes, And what it is made of nobody knows."

_Answer_: Rainbow.

The remaining miscellaneous Enigmas will suffice to show the variations of which the puzzle is capable:--

A lady gave me a gift she had not, And I received her gift, which I took not; She gave it willingly, and yet she would not. If she give it me once I force not; If she take it again I grieve not. Consider what this is, and tell not, For I am fast sworn--I may not.

The answer to this quaint and humorous Enigma is, A Kiss. The last line will be understood by the old adage, "Kiss and never tell."

In other days, when hope was bright, You spoke to me of love and light, But now you tell another tale, That life is brief and beauty frail; Away, ye grieve and ye rejoice, In one unfelt, unfeeling voice.

_Answer_: Church Bells.

Enough for one, too much for two, and nothing at all for three.

_Answer_: A Secret.

Scorned by the meek and humble mind, And often by the vain possessed; Heard by the deaf, seen by the blind, I give the troubled spirit rest.

_Answer_: Nothing.

ALPHABETICAL PUZZLES.

The "Alphabetical Puzzle," though simple in its construction, affords an opportunity for the riddler, not only to display his ingenuity, but also to quicken his perception of sound. The puzzle consists in the choice of a word, the sound of which, when uttered, shall be comprised in the naming of one or more letters of the alphabet. The word chosen should then be briefly described or defined, the number of letters forming the word stated, together with the number of letters that, when uttered, give a sound similar to the sound of the chosen word, thus:

A word denoting a volume of water spelt with three letters, but that can be expressed with one.

_Answer_: Sea, C.

This simple example will make the above description perfectly clear; and we now give some other examples in order to set forth the variety that may be introduced into this kind of amusement.

_Words containing three letters which can be expressed in one_:--

1. Famous gardens _Answer_: Kew Q. 2. English rivers " Dee and Wye D and Y. 3. A tree " Yew U.

_Words containing four letters which can be expressed in two_:--

4. An adjective _Answer_: Wise Y Y. 5. A prophet " Seer C R. 6. Repose and comfort " Ease E E.

_Words containing five letters which can be expressed in two_:--

7. An exertion of mind or body _Answer_: Essay S A. 8. Decrepitude " Decay D K. 9. An English county " Essex S X. 10. To surpass " Excel X L. 11. A lady's Christian name " Ellen L N. 12. A lady's Christian name " Katie K T. 13. Plural of a species of corn " Peas P P. 14. To lay forcible hands on " Seize C C. 15. Requires replenishing " Empty M T.

_Words containing five and six letters which can be expressed in three_:--

16. A tax _Answer_: Excise X I I. 17. A flower " Peony P N E. 18. A plaintive poem " Elegy L E G.

_Words containing six and seven letters which can be expressed in two_:--

19. A superfluity _Answer_: Excess X S. 20. Akin to capsicum " Cayenne K N.

_Words containing six and seven letters which can be expressed in three_:--

21. A likeness _Answer_: Effigy F E G. 22. A state of being " Entity N T T. 23. To pardon " Excuse X Q Q. 24. Dissolution " Decease D C C.

_Word containing seven letters which can be expressed in four_:--

25. A malady _Answer_: Disease D D E E.

GUESSING STORIES.

This is a word puzzle entertainment, into which the riddler may, if by a judicious display of imagery, description, and humour, he only properly sets about his work, introduce much genuine amusement and fun.

The puzzle is best explained by an illustration which is given below, and which can be taken as a model on which other "Guessing Stories" may be constructed.

I am the child of the night, and the child of the day. Some dread me, some hate me, some find me a good companion. I have walked for many a mile, but no one ever heard my footfalls. Sometimes my master sends me on before him, but as he travels as quickly as I do, he sends me back sometimes, and I have to follow in the rear. I have hands and feet, head and shoulders, but no body. It is impossible to estimate my exact height. Nobody has ever looked into my eyes; nobody has ever incurred my anger. I sometimes in my haste run over people, and am sometimes trampled under foot by them. When my master writes, I always hold a pen by his side; and when he shaves, I generally take a razor too. I have travelled a good deal, and am very old. When Adam walked in Eden, I, too, was there, and when any new member of Parliament goes to the House of Commons, I nearly always accompany him. Robinson Crusoe was disturbed by my approach when I visited him on the Island of Juan Fernandez; and on one occasion I was the means of defeating an army. Although I have no eyes, I could not live without light. I am of very

## active habits, although I have not the will or the ability to move.

Tell me my name.

_Answer_: A Man's Shadow.

MENTAL SCENES.

These are next-of-kin to "Guessing Stories," they will however be appreciated as they afford perhaps greater scope for vividly descriptive narrative.

The following specimen of a Mental Scene, which is sufficiently close to the original to reveal to all lovers of Shakspere the play upon which it is founded, will serve as an example as to how these scenes may be rendered:--

From camp to camp, throughout the live-long night, nothing is heard but the hum of either army. So stilly is the scene, that the opposing sentinels might almost hear each other's secret passwords. The cocks commence to crow, the armourers, with busy hammers, secure all rivets in the knights' full armour, the clocks do toll and the third hour of drowsy morning name, and all gives note of dreadful preparation. Proud of their numbers, and insolent with pride, one army rises from a night spent in counting chickens which have ne'er been hatched, and throwing dice for rich lands not yet secured. Anon they chide the cripple, tardy-gaited night, which limps so tediously away. They wait the morn, expectant and exulting. The poor wretches whom they have already, in imagination, condemned, like sacrifices, by their watch fires, sit patiently, and inly ruminate the morning's danger. Oh, now behold the royal captain of this seeming ruined band, walking from watch to watch, from tent to tent. He bids them all good morrow with a modest smile, and calls them brothers, friends, and countrymen. Beholding him, with his cheerful semblance and sweet majesty, one and all pluck comfort from his looks. A largess, universal as the sun, his liberal eye doth give to every one, thawing cold fear, and infusing his heroic nature into all. The scene is blurred over with bloodshed; but a ray of light reveals this royal captain, victorious against fearful odds, exclaiming, "O, God, thy arm was here! and not to us, but to thy arm alone, ascribe we all!"

_Answer_: Agincourt. _See_ Shakspere's _Henry V._

Should difficulty be found in painting in words a "Mental Scene" for the company to discover, a capital plan--as the above example will have indicated--is to read a passage from some great writer, such as Shakspere, or Macaulay, or Sir Walter Scott, or Tennyson, or Carlyle, and leave it to the discernment of the audience to give the name of the scene or incident related. The passage should of course be complete in itself, not too long, and proper names of persons and places which might give a definite clue to the subject of the reading should be removed, and abstract terms like "the hero," "the heroine," "the scene of conflict," and so on, used in their stead. Remember, it is useless to select a "scene" so difficult that no one could identify it or so easy that everybody could discover it.

FOOTNOTE:

[3] English reading:--"Christ our leader: therefore victorious."

[Illustration]

INDEX.

A

Acrostics, and double acrostics, 211

## Acting charades, 15

## Acting proverbs, 9

## Acting rhymes, 9

Adjectives, a parlour game, 10 Adventurers, The, a parlour game, 10 Æsop's mission, 11 Album, Animal; a talking picture-book, 52 All fives, 134 All fours, 132 Alphabet games, 11 Alphabetical puzzles, 215 American puzzles "15" and "34," 97 Anagrams, 189 Animal album; a talking picture-book, 52 Animated serpent, 52 Annulette (_see_ Parlour Croquet) Apple-mill, 53 Apple-woman, a hand trick, 53 Archery, Drawing-room, 59 Arithmetical puzzles, 97-106; American puzzles "15" and "34" ("Boss"), 97; the magic nine, a puzzle of fifteen, 98; the magic thirty-six, or puzzle of one hundred and eleven, _ib._; the magic hundred, or puzzle of five hundred and five, 99; the twenty-four monks, _ib._; to take one from nineteen, so that the remainder shall be twenty, 100; the famous forty-five, _ib._; the costermonger's puzzle, _ib._; the progression of numbers:-- the horse-dealer's bargain, the sovereign and the sage, the pin in the hold of the _Great Eastern_ steamship, 101; how a number thought of may be told, 102; magical addition, 103; the clever lawyer, 104; a new way of multiplying by 9, _ib._; to reward the favourites and show no favouritism, 105; the dishonest servants, _ib._; Lord Dundreary's finger puzzle, to count eleven fingers on the two hands, 105; uniform results of multiplication, _ib._; to ascertain a square number at a glance, 106; to distinguish coins by arithmetical calculation, _ib._; properties of numbers, _ib._ Arithmorems, 194 Artists' menagerie, 12

B

Baby elephant, 12 Balancing puzzles: demon bottle, 58; magic figure, 64; obedient soldier, 68; Pegasus in flight, 75; steady tar, 86; the balanced pail, 90; the balanced stick, _ib._; revolving coins and needles, _ib._; the bridge of knives, 91 Balloons, Gas, 60 Balls and rings (puzzle), 93 Balls, German, 60 Balls, Houdin's cups and balls tricks, 178 Bandilor (toy), 54 Battle, Mrs., her opinion of whist, 115 Beggar my neighbour, 149 Bell and hammer, 54 Bellows, Paper, 69 Bézique, 143 Billiards, German, 61 Bird-catcher, The, a parlour game, 13 Birds, beasts, and fishes, a slate game, 54 Birds, fruits, and flowers enigmatically expressed, 192 Bird-whistles, 54 Blind man's buff, 13 Blind postman, 13 Blowing out the candle, 13 Boat, Paper, 70 Bob Short's rules for whist, 110 Bombardment, a round game, 54 "Boss," the American puzzles "15" and "34," 97 Bottle fountain, 153 Bottle imps, 54 Bouts rimés, 14 Bowls, Parlour, 74 Boxes, Paper, 70 Bricks, Toy, 51 "Brother, I'm bobbed," 14 Brother Jonathan, 55 Brough, Robert B., Logogram by, 201 Bucephalus, Mechanical, 66 "Buff says 'Baff,'" 14 Buff with the wand, 15 Byron, Lord, enigma on the letter H ascribed to him, 214; another on the letter I, by Byron, _ib._

C

Camera (miniature), 55 Candle, Blowing out the, 13 Candle-ends, Eatable, 152 Canning, George, Charade by, 208 Cannonade, or castle bagatelle, 55 Capping verses, 15 Card games, 107-150; antiquity of card-playing, 107; long whist, 107-15; mode of playing, 108; technical terms used, _ib._; Bob Short's rules: for first, second, and third hand, 110; for all the players, _ib._; laws of the game, 111; the rubber, _ib._; shuffling, 112; first, second, third, and fourth hand, _ib._; memory, temper, patience, 114; Mrs. Battle's opinion on whist, 115; short whist, _ib._; dumby, or three-handed whist, 116; double dumby, or two-handed whist, _ib._; piquet, _ib._; technical terms, _ib._; pique, repique, capot, 118; euchre, _ib._; two-handed, three-handed, and four-handed, 119; vingt-un, 120; speculation, 121; napoleon, 122; cribbage, _ib._; three and four handed cribbage, 124; ranter go round, 125; écarté, 126; technical terms, _ib._; mode of playing, 127; loo, limited and unlimited, 128; technical terms, 129; cassino, _ib._; laws of the game, 130; put, 131; matrimony, _ib._; all fours, 132; blind all fours, 133; all fives, 134; poker (stud poker, twenty-deck poker), _ib._; draw poker, _ib._; straight poker, 135; whiskey poker, 136; snip-snap-snorum, _ib._; commerce, 137; sift smoke, 138; lottery, _ib._; quince, 139; Pope Joan, _ib._; spinado, 140; old maid, 141; spade and gardener, 142; happy families, _ib._; bézique, 143; technical terms, _ib._; bézique without a trump, 144; snap, _ib._; zetema, 145; table of scores, _ib._; marriages, tricks, 146; French vingt-un, or Albert Smith, 148; beggar my neighbour, 149; catch the ten, _ib._; cheat, 150; truth, _ib._ Card, Immovable, 61 Card tricks and combinations, 153-167; sleight-of-hand, 153; to palm a card, 154; to make the pass, _ib._; to force a card, _ib._; to make a false shuffle, 155; to sight a card, _ib._; the long card, _ib._; to guess a card thought of, 156; to show the five cards five different persons have selected, _ib._; to tell the card thought of out of thirty-five exposed cards, 157; when the number of cards is not fixed, _ib._; by arranging the cards in a circle, 158; to name a card noted, _ib._; to guess the cards thought of by different persons, _ib._; to discover a card by touch or smell, 159; to tell all the cards without seeing them, _ib._; the nerve trick, 160; to make a person draw the cards called for, _ib._; to call for any card, _ib._; to discover what cards have been turned, 161; to send a card through a solid table, _ib._; to tell the pairs, _ib._; the four kings, 162; the turnover, _ib._; to ascertain the number of pips on unseen cards, 163; like with like, 164; to make a card come out of a pack, _ib._; to draw a particular card from a coat pocket, _ib._; to deal in rotation and in suits, _ib._; to catch a card from a pack thrown in the air, 165; the four recruits, _ib._; the four confederates, _ib._; the transmutable cards, 166; the two convertible aces, _ib._; to tell the number of cards by their weight, _ib._; to discover a card drawn by the throw of a die, 167 Carpenter's puzzle, 91 Carpet croquet, 56 Cassino, 129 Castle bagatelle, 55 "Cat, The minister's," 34 Catch the ten, 149 Chair, Musical, 35 Charades (_see_ Acting Charades, Figure Charades, Letter Charades, Numbered Charades, Verbal Charades) Cheat, 150 Chinese junk, Paper, 71 Chronograms, 198 Clairvoyance, or second sight, 178-180 Clairvoyant, a parlour game, 17 Clever lawyer, 104 Coins distinguished by arithmetical calculation, 106 Coins, Puzzles and tricks with, 90, 167-172 Comic concert, 18 Commerce, 137 Common whistle, 56 Comte, the French conjurer; his feats in ventriloquism, 184 Concert, Comic, 18 Conjuring, 151-180; authorities: works of Piesse, Hoffmann, and Cremer, 151; "Memoirs of Robert Houdin," _ib._; "Patter," _ib._; magician's wand and magician's table, 152 Conjuring: simple deceptions and minor tricks, 152-167; eatable candle-ends, 152; how to swallow a flame, _ib._; to pull a string through a button-hole, _ib._; the cut string restored, _ib._; the musical snail, 153; to extract a cork from a bottle without touching the cork, _ib._; the bottle-fountain, _ib._; to place wine under a hat, and to drink it without touching the hat, _ib._ Conjuring with and without special apparatus, 167-178; the transposable money, 167; the penetrative coin, _ib._; the phantom coin, 168; the coin melted and restored, _ib._; the flying coins, 169; the box, the halfpence, and the die, 170; to pick a marked shilling out of a hat covered with a handkerchief, 171; burning the handkerchief, 172; the augmented coins, _ib._; to guess the two ends of a line of dominoes, 174; to get a ring out of a handkerchief, 175; Herr Frikell's gold-fish trick, 176; Houdin's cups and balls, 177 (_and see_ Card Tricks and Combinations) Consequences, a parlour game, 18 Conveyances, a parlour game, 19 Costermonger's puzzle, 100 Crack loo, 56 Crambo, 19; dumb crambo, 21 "Crandall's toys," 51 Cremer on conjuring, 151 Cribbage, 152 Croquet, Carpet, 56; Parlour, 74 Cross, Magic, 95 Cross questions and crooked answers, 20 Cryptography, 197 Cup and ball, 56 "Cupid is coming," 20 Cupolette, 56 Cups and balls, Houdin's tricks with, 177 Cushion-dance, 20 Cut-water, 57

D

Dancer, Hydraulic, 61; pith, 76 Dancing Highlander, 57; pea, 57 Dart and target, 58 (_see_ Puff and Dart) Dart, Paper, 72 Dartelle, 58 Definitions (parlour game), 21; (fireside game), 205 Demon bottle, 58 Diamond word-puzzles, 196 D'Israeli, Isaac, his skill in anagrams, 189, 190 Dominoes, Tricks with, 174 Double acrostics, 212; example written by her Majesty Queen Victoria, _ib._ Drawing-room archery, 59 Drawing-room racquets, 79 Dumb crambo, 21 Dumby (whist), 116 Dundreary, Lord: puzzle to count eleven fingers on the two hands, 105 Dutch racquets, 59 Dwarf imitated, a parlour game, 21

E

Ecarté, 126 Elements, The, a parlour game, 22 Elephant, Baby, 12 Enfield skittles, 59 Enigmas 192-193; example on the letter H, by Miss Katherine Fanshawe (ascribed to Lord Byron), 214; on the letter I, by Lord Byron, _ib._; enigmas by Charles James Fox, _ib._; by Schiller, 215 Euchre, 118 Extractions of words, 204

F

Fan, Japanese, 62 Fan, Magic, 62 Fanshawe, Miss Katherine, her enigma on the letter H (ascribed to Lord Byron), 214 Farmyard, 22 Feather, The, a parlour game, 22 "Fifteen" (American puzzle), 97 Figure charades, 210 Finding the ring, 22 Fireside fun, 185-189; decapitations, 185; curtailments and retailings, 186; anagrams, 189; word squares, 191; birds, fruits, and flowers enigmatically expressed, 192; rebuses, 193; arithmorems, 194; diamond puzzles and word puzzles of various shapes, 196; cryptography, 197; chronograms, 198; logograms, 200; metagrams, 202; word capping, 203; paragrams, _ib._; extractions, 204; transpositions, _ib._; definitions, 205; inversions, 206; hidden words, _ib._; numbered charades, 208; charades by Winthrop Mackworth Praed, Mark Lemon, George Canning, _ib._; by Archbishop Whately, Charles James Fox, 209; letter or figure charades, 210; verbal charades, 211; acrostics, _ib._; double acrostics, _ib._; example written by her Majesty Queen Victoria, 212; enigmas, 213; alphabetical puzzles, 215; guessing stories, 216; guessing mental scenes, 217 Flowers and fruit enigmatically expressed, 192 Flute, Magic, 64 Flying, a parlour game, 23 Flying cones, 59 Forfeits, 23 Fox, Charles James, Logogram by, 201; charade, 209; enigmas, 214 French and English, a slate game, 60 French vingt-un, 148 Frikell, Herr, his gold-fish trick, 176

G

Gas balloons, 60 German balls, 60 German billiards, 61 German toy manufacturers, 89 Giant imitated, a parlour game, 28 Giant, Telescopic, 46 Giraffe imitated, a parlour game, 28 Gold-fish trick, 176 Grand Mufti, The, 28 Guessing mental scenes, 217 Guessing proverbs, 38 Guessing rhymes, 40 Guessing stories, 216

H

Hampton Court maze, 96 Handkerchief, The burnt, 172 Hands, a parlour game, 28 Hat measurement, 61 Hat, Paper, 72 Hats, Magic, 33 Hats, The two, 49 "He can do little who can't do this," 29 Hidden words, 206 Highlander, Dancing, 57 Hiss and clap, 29 Hoffmann on conjuring, 151 Homeward bound, 61 Horse-dealer's bargain, The, 101 Horses, Toy, 51 Hot boiled beans, 29 Hot cockles, 29 Houdin, Robert, Memoirs of, 151; his cups and balls tricks, 177; his illustrations of clairvoyance, 178 House furnishers, a parlour game, 29 "How do you like your neighbour?" 30 "How, when, and where?" 30 Hundred, The magic, 99 Hunt the ring, 30 Hunt the slipper, 30 Hunt the whistle, 31 Hydraulic dancer, 61

I

"I apprenticed my son," 31 "I love my love," 31 Immovable card, 61 Indian skittle pool, 61 Inversions of words, 206

J

Jack-in-the-box, 62 "Jack's alive," 31 Japanese fan, 62 Jerk straws, 62 Jolly miller, 32 Judge and jury, 32

L

Le diable (flying cones), 60 Lemon, Mark, Charade by, 208 Letter charades, 210 Logograms, 200; specimens by Lord Macaulay and Charles James Fox, 200, 201; by William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, 201; by Robert B. Brough, _ib._ Loo, Limited and unlimited, 128 Lottery, 138

M