Other statues were examined, and at length the boys stopped in front of a case containing several small articles of wood and stone. "What are these things?" said Frank, pointing to one corner of the case. "And these? and these?" said Fred, as his eye wandered from one thing to another. [Illustration: WOODEN DOLLS.] "They are mostly toys for children," the Doctor answered. "You see that the ancient Egyptians tried to amuse their little ones just as parents in America try to do to-day." [Illustration: CHILDREN'S TOYS.] The collection of toys was an interesting one. Here was a rude figure of a man supposed to be washing, or kneading dough, and he was made to move his hands up and down an inclined board by means of a string, like a "jumping-jack" of to-day. A wooden crocodile was there, with his under-jaw moving up and down at the will of the child who owned it, and there were several wooden dolls, some well modelled, and others painted in brilliant colors, intended to catch the juvenile eye. The sight of the toys naturally brought up a question relative to the games played by the ancient Egyptians. [Illustration: POSITIONS IN PLAYING BALL.] [Illustration: BALLS OF LEATHER AND PORCELAIN.] "There is abundant evidence," the Doctor remarked, "that the Egyptians were familiar with many games which are popular at the present time. We are not aware that they had base-ball clubs five thousand years ago, and there is no proof that they went about the country playing for 'gate-money;' but that they used to play ball we know very well from the pictures on the walls of the tombs, and from sculptures elsewhere. And, furthermore, the balls they played with have been found at Thebes, some of them covered with leather like our own, and stuffed with bran or corn-husks, or of stalks of rushes plaited together into a solid mass. There were also balls covered with strips of leather of different colors, as we have them to day, and several have been found of glazed earthen-ware, on which the colors were laid before the ball was baked. [Illustration: PLAYING BALL MOUNTED.] "The positions they took in playing ball are the same that you will see at base-ball matches in America. There is one picture of a curious game, in which it was the custom for some of the players to mount on the backs of the others, probably on account of the latter failing to catch the ball when it was thrown at them, or for some other forfeit. They also had the trick of throwing two or more balls in the air and catching them, just as you see jugglers performing in our own time. If you want to believe that there is nothing new under the sun, you will go a long way toward it by studying the life and manners of the Egyptians of the days that are gone. [Illustration: PLAYING CHECKERS.]