Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III MY GAMES AND PLAYTHINGS The thing that I wanted to own after I began to go out-doors was a sling, " mikla," for throwing stones. It consists of a woven, palm-like receptacle into which the stone is put. To both ends of this are attached strong cords, and in the end of one of the cords is a loop large enough to slip over a finger. First the boy puts a stone into the " pan " of the sling, and then slips his finger into the loop. Grasping both cords in his hands, he swings the " mikla " violently over his head, just as they throw the hammer in athletic meets in this country. Then he lets one cord loose, and away goes the stone, whizzing like a bullet. By practicea true aim may be developed. You probably remember that David killed Goliath with one of these slings. Another one of our pastimes was a game played with pegs of wood very much like the American game " Peggy," in which one strikes a double-pointed peg on one end with a stick, and tries to gain ground over an opponent. A similar game is played upon a soft, spongy spot of ground with longer pegs sharpened on one end only. It is something like " Stick-knife." The object is to drive the peg by a throw into the soft space in the ground in such a way as to dislodge an opponent's pegs, previously thrown, and to make your peg stick in the same place. When this is done, a peg is gained. The boys hoard these pegs to help with the cooking of " Barbara," the principal dish served at the feast of Saint Barbara, and named, as you see, in her honor. It is plain boiled wheat sweetened with sugar and mixed with pomegranate seeds. This feast is the first oneafter Christmas, and it helps to make the winter enjoyable. The game most enjoyed by us boys was " Alam," which is very similar to the American game of " Eoll the ba...