A PAPER CHASE F FUN! Why what can compare with it? The clear frosty air is full of life, the blood is rushing tumultuously through your veins and your feet are tingling to be off on the chase. It is healthful, it is inspiring, it is glorious fun. You must think, too, in order to be successful either as hare or hound, for the object of each is to outwit the other, and Paper Chase is a game that requires the use of brains as well as muscle. The Hares and Hounds compose the party. Two hares and as many hounds as you will, the more the merrier. Each hare must carry a bag filled with paper cut into small strips. The hounds carry only the weight of their responsibility to entrap and catch the hares. The Game is a country game, of course. Who would think of the hares and hounds dashing in a mad run through the streets of Select a convenient club-house or residence for the meet and let there be two hares and at least six hounds. The first thing to be decided upon is the distance of the run, which should not be too great, especially for beginners. The next is the agreement between the hares upon a general plan to be pursued in their tactics, which must be kept secret from the hounds. The morning hours are best for the game, and a hearty appetite for lunch, or the hunt-breakfast, it might be called, is the result. At a Given Time let the hares start off together, scattering their bits of paper as they go, to be followed ten or fifteen minutes later by the hounds, who are led by the paper on the tracks of the hares. The object of the hares is so to scatter the paper in their cross-country run as to lead the hounds on A False Scent. This is sometimes done by the hares making a detour into a field, doubling back on their tracks and running in quite another direction. Or they may provide a number of false scents leading from one point. To be sure all this uses up much precious time, but the compensation lies in mystifying and delaying the hounds, each of whom must decide for herself which trail is the most likely to prove the one the hares have really taken. When The Hares Are Off and the fifteen minutes up, the hounds must start in pursuit. Their object is to head off and catch the hares before they can cover the given distance and again reach the place of meeting. A hound must not only come in sight of a hare but must touch her in order to make a catch. Each player in the paper chase acts for herself, and if she succeeds in catching a hare she wins the honors. And a hare reaching home without being caught wins great honor. The hares keep together, but the hounds may scatter at will, though no girl should risk going too far alone. From time to time the hares must give their cry Kee-ooi! Kee-ooi! that the hounds may not go too far astray, and the hounds reply with their La-ha-hoo! to let the hares know they are on their tracks. Over Fences, Across Brooks, taking to the cover of the woods, or speeding along the roads, it matters little how you get there, the object is to reach the point you have decided upon over the shortest route and in the least possible time. This is the fun of it, the wild scramble over all obstacles and the exultant moment when, if a hound, you have run down the hares or, if a hare, you outwit the hounds and make the home-run in safety. The game requires good generalship on both sides, quick thought and ready decision. How to Dress. A short skirt, loose, stout walking shoes, and a sweater make the most comfortable costume. Wraps will be found Light bags for the hares to carry may be made of cotton cloth with straps of the same to throw over the shoulder. Good health, good-fellowship, good-nature, and fair play are the requisites for the complete enjoyment of this most exhilarating of all games.
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