“Not so readily as you may imagine,” replied the vicar; “but I will tell you all I know upon the subject. It appears to be a very ancient game; for it is stated by Suetonius, that Augustus, when a youth, spent many hours in the day in playing with little Moorish boys ‘_cum nucibus_,’ that is, _with nuts_, which appear to have been then used in the very way in which you now play with your marbles. In later times, round stones, picked out of gravel, were introduced for this purpose. The marbles which you now hold in your hand are substitutes of still more modern invention. The best of them are imported from Holland, where, as I have been informed, they are manufactured by grinding fragments of alabaster and of other stones, in an iron mill of a peculiar construction, in which there are several partitions furnished with rasps, which turn with great velocity, by means of a stream of water; and thus, having rounded the stones, project them out of different holes for which their size may adapt them. Thus manufactured, they are brought down the Rhine, and from thence dispersed throughout Europe; immense quantities are also exported to India and China. There are, however, as you well know, inferior kinds, which are of home manufacture, and consist of potter’s clay covered with a glaze, and burnt in a furnace.” “I have often wondered what is the meaning of the words _taw_ and _ally_,” observed Tom. “Why, your _taw_ is a brown marble, and your _ally_, if I remember rightly, a very white one; is it not so?” asked the vicar. “To be sure,” said Tom. “Very well, then,” said the vicar, “the words are clearly abbreviations of _tawny_ and _alabaster_.” “Now then,” said Mr. Seymour, “for a game; what is it to be, Tom?” “_Ring-taw_ for ever!” cried Tom; “it is the only game of marbles worthy of being played.” “It is really so long since I left school,” observed his father, “that I must beg you to refresh my memory, and give me some instructions about this favourite game of yours.” “I will tell you all about it. We must first draw a circle, on which each player is to put a certain number of marbles to be previously agreed upon; we then make a mark at some distance, which is called the _offing_, and from which we are to shoot at the marbles in the ring.” “That is all very intelligible,” observed his father; “and I suppose the object of the player is to shoot a marble out of the ring, which not only gives him that marble, but entitles him to shoot again at another, and so on, until he misses, or all the marbles are won.” “That is right, papa.” “And a good marksman,” observed the vicar, “who has the first shot, may easily win the game, before any other player can gain the opportunity of shooting at a single marble.”