"Oh, Zebedee!" exclaimed Dum. "I am so relieved. I thought you were getting hippy. It was candy all the time." When every vestige of food was devoured and all the paper plates and papers carefully burned, as Nan said, to keep from desecrating Nature, someone proposed that they should play games. "Let's play teakettle!" exclaimed Skeeter, so teakettle it was. Some of the company had to be enlightened as to the game and perhaps some of my readers may have to be also. This is the way: whoever is "It" or "Old Man" must go out of ear shot and then the company selects a word. The "Old Man" then returns and asks a question to each one in turn. The answer must contain the chosen word, but in place of the word, "teakettle" must be inserted. "You go out, Zebedee, you are so spry," suggested the irreverent Dum. "No, that's not fair! We must count out," declared Dee, determined that her parent must be bossed only by her own sweet self. "I bid to count!" from Lucy. "'Eny, meny, miny mo, cracker, feny, finy, fo, ommer noocher, popper toocher, rick, bick, ban, do, as, I, went, up the, apple, tree, all, the, apples, fell, on, me, bake a, pudding, bake, a, pie, did, you, ever, tell, a, lie, yes, you, did, you, know, you, did, you, broke, your, mammy's, tea, pot, lid, did, she, mind?'" She stopped at Lil Tate, who was equal to the occasion. "No!" cried Lil; and Lucy took up her counting out in the sing-song we hear from children engaged in that delightful occupation of finding out who is to be "It." No matter where one lives--east, west, north or south--it is the same except for slight variations in the sense of the incantation. "N, o, spells, the, word, no, and, you, are, really--It!" An accusing finger was pointed at Nan, who perforce must crawl from her comfortable perch and go around the side of the mountain while the assembled company chose a word. After much whispering, Mr. Tucker hit on a word that appealed to all of them, and Nan was whistled for to return. "Helen, what do you enjoy most in camp life?" "Teakettles!" was the prompt response. "Skeeter, did you and Frank get any squirrels yesterday?" "No, not one! We told them if they would let us shoot them that they could come with us on the picnic--but they said: no teakettles for them!" Indignant cries from Skeeter's chums ensued. "You came mighty near giving us away, you nut!" Nan thought a moment. "Is it pies? Helen certainly enjoys pies, and if the squirrels had come on the picnic it would have been in a pie." "No; guess again! Guess again!" "Mother, are you comfortable up there?" "Yes, my dear; I had no idea one could have an armchair at a teakettle." "'Picnic!' 'Picnic!' I know that is the word. Mumsy gave it away. You have to go out, mumsy." "Picnic" was the word and everyone thought Nan very clever to guess it so quickly. Mrs. Carter was loath to leave her leafy bower, so Mr. Parker gallantly offered to take her place and be "It."