Page:String Figures and How to Make Them.djvu/256

is the far ring finger string). Now, if the lower string be kept tightly drawn and the other fingers be kept close together, the loose hanging strings (the original thumb loops) will become wrapped around the twisted little finger strings as these gradually untwist when the upper string is lifted by the thumb. This movement forms the figure, which should be about two inches high (Fig. 491). A better effect is produced if the thumbs lift the upper little finger string just as you toss the hanging loop over; the zigzag lightning will then flash into view.

This is one of the most effective and satisfactory of all the figures, but one in which the novice is very apt to fail owing to his letting the strings slip through the fingers just before its completion. The lacing of the far thumb string and the near index string on the rest of the fingers, which is begun by the middle finger in the "Bow," is carried further in this figure by the ring and little fingers. These movements are peculiar to the "Bow" and to "Lightning."

A BUTTERFLY

I obtained this figure from the two Navaho girls at the St. Louis Exposition. The native name is Ga-lo-kĭ or Ga-hi-kĭ.

First: The same as the First movement of "The Bow."

Second: Twist each index loop five times by rotating each index down toward you, and up again five times.

Third: Put each thumb from below into the index loop and, without removing the index, separate the thumb from the index (Fig. 492).