In this game the leader tells one of the players to think of any number he likes, but not to say it aloud.
He next tells him to double it; this done, the player is told to add eight to the result, and then halve it. After doing this he must halve the whole, and from what is left take away the number first thought of. If correctly worked out the answer will he four, which is just half the number which the leader told the player to add after the original number was doubled.
For instance, we will suppose the number thought of to have been twenty. When doubled, the result will be forty. The player then adds eight, which gives him a total of forty eight. He halves this, and has twenty-four left. When he has taken away the number first thought of (twenty) he has a total of four-which is half the number the leader told him to add in the beginning at the game.
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Games for All Occasions by Mary E. Blain