on the blade, then the hole in the handle is well glued with glue that is not too thick and quite hot.  The blade with the cross guard is inserted in the handle and allowed to set.  When the glue is thoroughly dry, remove the surplus with a sharp knife and paint the handle with brown, dark red, or green oil paint.  The blade is covered with tinfoil to give it the appearance of steel.  Secure some pieces of tinfoil and cut one strip 1/2 in. wider than the blade and the other 1/4 in. narrower.  Quickly paint the blade well with thin glue on one side., then lay evenly and press on the narrow strip of tinfoil.  Glue the other side of the blade, put on the wider strip of tinfoil and glue the overlapping edge and press it around and on the surface of the narrow strip.  The cross guard must be covered with tinfoil in the same manner as the blade.  When the whole is quite dry, wipe the blade with light strokes up and down several times, using a soft and dry piece of cloth.  The sword is then ready to hang in its chosen place as a decoration, not for use only in cases of tableaux, for which this article will be especially useful to those who are arranging living pictures wherein swords and armor are part of the paraphernalia.

A Chinese scimitar is shown in Fig. 2.  The handle of this sword is oval and covered with plaited cord.  In making this scimitar, follow the directions as for Fig. 1, except that the handle has to be covered with a round black cord.  If it is found difficult to plait the cord on the handle as in the illustration, wind it around in a continuous line closely together, and finish by fastening with a little glue and a small tack driven through the cord into the handle.  The pommel is a circular piece of wood, 1/8 in. thick and 5 in. in diameter.  The length of the handle, allowing for a good hold with both hands, should be about 9 in., the length of the blade 28 in., the width near the pommel 1-1/2 in. and 3 in. in the widest part at the lower end.  The sharp or cutting edge is only on the short side, the other is flat or half-round.

A Turkish sabre of ancient manufacture from Constantinople is shown in Fig. 3.  The handle is painted a dull creamy white in imitation of ivory.  The enamel paint sold in small tins will answer well for this purpose.  The cross guard and blade are covered as described in Fig. 1.  The sharp edge is on the longer curved side, the other is flat or half-round.

A two-handed sword used in the 14th and 15th centuries is shown in Fig. 4.  This sword is about 68 in. long, has a cross guard and blade of steel with a round wood handle painted black.  The ball or pommel on top of the handle is steel.  Both edges of the blade are sharp.  This sword is made in wood the same as described for Fig. 1.

** A Dovetail Joint Puzzle [236]

A simple but very ingenious example in joinery is illustrated.  In the finished piece, Fig. 1, the dovetail appears on each side of the square stick of