Up Jenkins!

Source: Games For The Playground, Home, School And Gymnasium
Category: QUIET GAMES



_6 to 20 or more players._

_Parlor; schoolroom._

This is one of the most popular current games among young people,
being usually played to the accompaniment of much laughter and intense
interest. It consists in the guessing by opposing parties of the hand
under which a coin is hidden.

The players are divided into two parties. Each party has a captain,
each player being captain in turn during successive rounds of the
game. The players gather around a table, one party on one side and the
others opposite. A coin, usually a quarter, is passed from hand to
hand under the table by one of the parties in an endeavor to conceal
from the opponents which individual holds it. The leader of the
opposite party then calls, "Up, Jenkins!" when all of the hands of his
opponents are brought from under the table and held up with palms
outward toward the guessing party, fingers closed down tightly over
the palms, the quarter being hidden in one of the hands. The opponents
may look at the hands from their side of the table in this way as long
as they choose. The leader then commands "Down, Jenkins!" when the
hands are slammed down simultaneously flat on the table, palms
downward. This is done with enough noise to disguise the clink of the
coin striking the table. The object of the game is for the opponents
(those not having the coin) to guess under which hand the coin is
laid, each hand supposed not to have it being ordered off the table.
The captain of the guessing party, who alone may give these orders
(though his players may assist him with suggestions), calls for the
lifting of one specified hand at a time. The player named must lift
the hand indicated, and that hand is thereafter to be taken from the
table.

If the guessing party can be successful in thus eliminating all of the
empty hands so that the coin is left under the last hand, they are
considered to have won, and the coin passes to them for the next
round. If the coin be disclosed before the last hand be reached, the
side holding it adds to its score the hands remaining on the table
that were not ordered off. The side wins which has the highest score
when the play stops, the time limits being indefinite.

For the schoolroom see also an adaptation called _Hands u
Hands
down_.


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