“Sardines,” played indoors or out, is the most popular of the games consisting purely of hiding and finding. One person goes off to hide while the others shut their eyes and count to the agreed number. The seekers split up, and search independently of each other. Indeed, if one of the seekers finds the hider he is careful not to let the others know, but slips into the hiding-place when they are not looking. Ideally the hiding-place should be somewhere that will accommodate all the players; but it seldom is, and as further players find it, and crowd in, the silent squeeze becomes tighter and more suffocating, players sometimes having to lie on top of each other. Those who are still searching gradually become aware that their fellow searchers are disappearing, and rush to the places where they were last seen, thinking they will be near the hidy-hole. When the last person arrives he is sometimes chased back to the starting-place, but more often than not there are just sighs of relief as the sardines extract themselves from their cramped positions, and complain of their stiffness and the length of time they have been waiting.
