The French play some pretty in-door games which are not known in America, a favorite of which is "Why am I on the sellete?" _Sellette_ means literally "stool," and it is represented by a chair in the centre of the room. One person goes out, while another of the players goes around and asks each one why So-and-so is "on the sellette." When all the answers are given, the player who has gone out is called in, and takes his place on the chair. "Why am I on the sellette?" he asks, and the person who has collected the answers gives one after another, while the person in the centre tries to guess who are their authors. You can see that all the fun of this game, like that of many others, depends upon the cleverness of the players, for each one tries to make a witty hit in his answer at some characteristic or some event in the life of the person in question that is known to the speaker alone. If the person on the sellette guesses the author of the answer, the latter takes his place on the sellette.
"If I were a little piece of paper, what would you do with me?" is another game of the same sort, where the interest depends on the cleverness of the answers. "I'd make you into a bank-note." "I'd make you into a love-letter." You can see how an endless number of bright replies is possible. "I've lost my valise--what was there in it?" is another, in which any little foible or characteristic of the questioner is good-naturedly hit off. "Pigeon, vole, oiseau, vole," is a game very much like our "Simon says thumbs up." You twirl your two forefingers and put them down on your knees, saying, "Pigeon, fly, bird, fly," etc. But if you say "rabbit, fly," or any other animal that hasn't wings, and any fingers go down, their owners must give a forfeit.
And now to end with one more game, "Marriage and Divorce." All the players but one form in couples, one behind the other. The one left out stands in front of them in this way .::: and claps his hands three times, when the last two players run, one on one side and one on the other, and try to come together again and join hands behind the one standing alone before he shall have been able to catch either one of them. If he does not succeed in doing this the couple are still married, and take their place at the head of the others. If he succeeds, the one caught takes his place, and he "marries" the other, and takes his place with his bride at the head.