Did you ever play charades? Here is a brief statement about charades taken from a cyclopedia. See if you can read it through in a half-minute so as to give the substance of it.

A charade is a popular form of riddle, the answer to which is a word of several syllables, each of which alone is in itself a word. Each syllable, taken as a word, is described, and finally a puzzling definition of the whole word is given. The following is an example: "Some one threw my first and second at me, and it hit my third. It did not hurt me, for it was only a branch of my whole." The answer is Mistletoe. A girl, sitting under a high table, would suggest the word misunderstand.

A pleasing charade requiring more thought is in the form of a rhyme, as—

The answer is Ox. Then, too, charades are often presented in the form of little plays, each syllable representing a scene. They are then called acting charades. This form of amusement is much in vogue on social occasions. It is thought the name was derived from a French word meaning idle talk, which in its turn was derived from Spanish words meaning speech and actions of a clown.