CHAPTER XXIV.

A WILD WEST SHOW IN THE HOUSE.

There are many boys to-day who have never seen an Indian, and while it is impossible for us all to view the real Wild West, it is not difficult for us to get up a little Wild West show of our own, at home.

Patterns Are Here Given,

which any intelligent boy can copy. The fields of the patterns given are divided into small squares, and the dividing lines are numbered and lettered along two sides of the pattern.

It is not hard to understand that, since every square, be it big or little, is exactly the same shape, by making the same number of larger squares you will have an enlarged field, similar to the one shown.

How to Reproduce the Patterns.

Place a clean piece of card-board on the table, and, with the aid of a straight-edged piece of board, rule a line close to the edge of the card-board and parallel to it.

By means of a two-foot measure, or tape-line, mark off with your pencil a point at each half-inch, to correspond with the numbered lines on the field (Fig. 286). Number the lines from one to thirty-three, as they are numbered in Fig. 286. Replace the straight-edged board along the line, take a large flat book (your geography will do), see that the edge of the board is exactly parallel to the pencil line, and just far enough back of it to show the pencil dots, hold the board firmly in place, and slide the book along the edge of the board, until the edge of the book is exactly at the first pencil dot.

Rule the First Line

along the edge of the book, then move the book to the next dot and rule the line No. 1, then No. 2, and so on, until No. 33 is ruled.

Again Take Your Two-foot

rule or tape measure, and mark off by pencil dots the points for the lines at A, B, C, D, etc.; do the same on the line No. 33, and with your board ruler connect with lines the two sets of dots, and you will have a field of squares exactly similar to the one in Fig. 286, only much larger.

Next Trace Out the Cowboy,

horse, and Indian, by drawing a line upon your enlarged field from point to point, as it is seen to cross the squares in the small pattern. In the pattern the Indian has but one leg and one arm, and the horse but one fore leg and one hind leg, but after these are cut out it is a simple matter to trace around them on card-board with a pencil, and thus supply all of the missing limbs.

After the Puppets Are Cut

out, punch holes with a darning-needle at the points marked A; these are the joints, and the spots where the parts are joined by a piece of string.

Make a Round Knot

in the end of a piece of string, so large that it will not pull through the needle-holes. Take the hind leg of the horse and thread the string through A, then through A upon the horse’s hip, then through the hole in the other hind leg. Pull the string taut and, placing the puppet flat, tie a knot close to the leg (Fig. 289).

How it is Done.

To do this make a loose knot first, and with the forefinger of the left hand press the loop against the puppet while you slowly pull the free end taut (see Fig. 289). Tie it three or four times, until the knot is too large to pull through the needle-hole; then cut off the end of the string.

Join all the limbs in the same manner, and the two parts of the horse’s body. The result will be a horse with a body which will bend and legs which will move in a most natural manner.

As the Audience

can see only the shadows, the joints will not be perceptible, and the horse and rider can be made to take the most natural poses. The silhouettes on the next page were traced from a puppet made from this pattern.

For a Bridle

fasten a loop of string in the bit and the rider’s hand. To make the horse buck, fasten a piece of fine thread to his tail and another piece to his head; then, by alternately pulling taut and allowing the thread to slacken, the horse will be found to jump, pitch, and buck, in a life-like and most approved Wild West manner. Fig. 290 (the page illustration) shows a photograph made from the puppet here described, and Figs. 291, 292, 293, and 294 are positions assumed by that puppet, and traced directly from the paper horse and rider.

The Indian Horseman

(Fig. 287) shows how the body is joined; the dotted line indicates where the portion of the fore part of the body laps under the hind part. In Fig. 287 the legs are not jointed as in Fig. 286. In drawing your pattern for this puppet make two fields of squares: one for the fore part and one for the hind part of the Indian and horse; and in Fig. 288 make three fields of squares, one for the hind legs, one for the body and one for the head. Both of the last diagrams are drawn on one field to save space; but you can easily understand how to reproduce them. For instance, in Fig. 287 make a field of squares from 0 to 18 for the fore part; make another field of squares from 12 to 34 for the hind quarters.

Make five or six duplicates of the Indian horseman; make as many duplicates of the dancing Indians as may be required for your war-dance; do the same with

The Buffalo,

until you have a herd of them. Paste the flat end of a stick to the buffalo’s leg and fasten a thread to the neck and hind legs, as shown by Fig. 288. With the stick you move the bison along, and with the string you make him throw up his head and hind legs in a most amusing and comical manner.

A Piece of White Muslin,

stretched taut, with no wrinkles, will make your stage, and a light behind it will throw the shadows of your puppets on the cloth. The stage should be surrounded with heavy curtains, to prevent the operators from being seen, and the light behind the stage from illuminating the room in front. A bicycle lamp or an ordinary candle will answer for the light. A sheet of smooth Manila paper makes a better stage than the white cloth; it may be tacked upon a frame, or the bottom edge be tacked to a kitchen table and the top to a rod, suspended from the ceiling. The table should be on the audience side of the screen, so that the showmen may have room to move their puppet-sticks along the inside edge of the table, and keep the puppets close to the screen of paper. By changing the cowboy’s hat to a soldier’s cap or helmet, and putting a sword or gun in his hand, you can make as many cavalrymen from this pattern as you desire to have in the show.