Were all spirits, and Are melted into air, into thin air; And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, All shall dissolve,

And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind.

At the close of the program, the unmarried people are escorted by Mephistopheles to two different rooms. Over the door of the room for men is a large sign, "Enter Men, but Have a Care." Over the door of the room for women is the sign, "May Fortune Treat You Fairly." The men and women enter these rooms and select the flower preferred, and meet in the hall. The woman and man that have the same kind of flower are partners for the evening in all games, feasts, etc.

REFRESHMENTS: Serve the refreshments immediately after the play or performance. The following refreshments are suggested: "Fortune Cake," "Conundrum Nuts," "Halloween Pie," "Apples," Chestnuts," "Fortune Balls," Lemonade. For married people substitute popcorn balls for "Fortune Balls."

When married and unmarried people are present, the refreshments may be served at different tables. In the centre of the table for married people have a large cake, without a ring. In the centre of the table for unmarried people have the " Fortune Cake." The rest of the refreshments for married people may be the same as for the unmarried, or they may be of a more substantial nature. WAITRESSES: The refreshments should be served by young girls gowned as Witches.

WITCH COSTUME: A tall steeple cap with narrow rim and having a snake coiled around the steeple; a black bodice with a white front (bodice laced together at the front); short, full white skirt; long black pointed overskirt (about six points reaching bottom of skirt); short, white panier overskirt at each hip; black pointed slippers with big buckles and black stockings.

REFRESHMENT RECIPES. "Fortune Cake."-1 lb. butter, 2 lbs. sugar, 3 lbs. flour, 1 lb. currants, 1 lb. raisins, 6 eggs, 3 teaspoonfuls powdered saleratus, 1 teaspoonful ground cinnamon, 1⁄2 nutmeg, 1 gold ring. Beat butter to a cream; add sugar after rolling it fine, then add well-sifted wheat flour, then well-beaten eggs. Dissolve saleratus in a little hot water, add it. Also add cinnamon and grated nutmeg. Wash and dry currants thoroughly and stone and cut raisins in two; flour them all together with the ring and work them all in the dough. Put into a large buttered tin and bake in a moderate oven. "Conundrum Nuts."-Take English walnuts and cut them apart with a knife-do not break the shells take out the kernels and make the inside of the shells smooth. Write suitable conundrums on strips of paper about two inches wide and four inches long. Roll up the slips and put between two shells. Place the opening of shells together and tie daintily with baby ribbon. Place them into a deep glass dish or in several dishes, to be served at the table the same as if good nuts.

"Halloween Pie."-Consists of an upper and lower crust of dough and looks like any large deep pie. The dish is deep and round. Bake under crust and upper crust. When cool, fill with sawdust and dainty knick-knacks. Have knick-knacks evenly scattered throughout sawdust. Then put on top pie crust and sprinkle with powdered sugar. The knick-knacks should consist of anything pertaining to the occasion, such as witches on brooms, tiny Jack-o'-lanterns, ghosts, apples, etc.,--souvenirs of the occasion.

"Apples."-Cut out inside of apples and fill in with sawdust and into centre of sawdust put witch's caps made from pretty colored paper. Put a plug of the apple in top to hide opening. "Chestnuts."-Take out kernel of chestnut and put in little mottoes about Halloween, or ghosts, or good luck. Tie daintily with colored cord. "Fortune Balls."-On a slip of paper four inches

long by six inches wide write the fortune of each person. Select things that happen in every life. Have each paper different. Roll them up and when corn is popped and dipped in syrup or molasses that has been properly boiled, put paper into the middle of each ball and roll corn all around the bundle of paper. These balls may be of different colors. Syrup for Pop Corn Balls. Take two cups of granulated sugar to one cup of boiling water, and boil until the syrup, when dropped into the water, makes a soft ball. Then stir in popped corn. Molasses boiled until stringy may be used in the same way. A little cochineal will make the syrup red, a little chocolate will make it chocolate color.

ORDER OF SERVING REFRESHMENTS.

Cut the Fortune Cake" at table after all are seated, the cake at other table at same time. See that each person at table gets a piece. Then all are to search for the ring. The one that gets it will be married within a year.

After ring is found, then pass the "Conundrum Nuts." Each person receives two. Then the one at head of each table reads his conundrum and each one at table is to try to answer. If answer is not given, then

hostess gives it. Each person in turn reads his conundrum and the answer is given.

When all have read conundrums and answers have been given, "Apples" are passed, each guest taking one. The hostess then tells them to eat the apples.

After the caps are found and put on, the "Chestnuts" are passed. Each guest takes one and the person at foot of each table, when mottoes are discovered, reads his. Each one in turn does the same until all are finished.

"Halloween Pie" comes next and is brought in cut. Each person receives a

SAMPLES OF CONUNDRUMS. Why is the letter D like a wedding-ring? Because we can not be wed without it.

Why is a bridegroom often more expensive than a bride? Because the bride is given away, but the bridegroom is often sold.

Why does a single lady wear mittens? To keep off the chaps.

When is a ship said to love? When tender to a man-o'-war.

What did the girl call the man who took her home under his umbrella when she was caught in the rain? Her rain-beau (bow).

Why is a young man like a kernel of corn? Because he turns white when he pops.

What should a young man carry with him when calling on his fiancé? Affection in his head, perfection in his manners and confection in his pockets.

Why might it be expected that some men would abuse their wives? Because they are lady-killers before marriage.

What nation produces the most marriages? Fascination.

Why do birds in their nest agree? Because if they did not they would fall out.

Who was the first man condemned to labor for life? Adam.

When was fruit known to use bad language? When the first apple cursed the first pair (pear).

What does a stone become in the water? Wet.

What ship carries the most passengers? Court-ship.

Why is Canada like courtship? It borders on the U. S.

SAMPLES OF FORTUNE SLIPS.

1. You will receive a letter in a few days from your dearest friend. Your life will be smooth and full of glad content.

2. You are going to marry and live abroad. Your life will have many clouds but will end gloriously.

3. Your life will be spent in doing good to others.

4. You are about to enter upon the broad ocean of life. Choose the straight and narrow way and you will be exceedingly successful.

5. You will be a wanderer. A rolling stone gathers no moss.

6. Sorrow approaches you through one you deem your friend. Tell no more secrets. Be a friend to yourself.

7. You are not doing yourself justice. Cease hiding your light under a bushel. Show the world what you are.

8. A glorious future is thine. Gold to burn-Take up thy cross.

9. Be of good cheer-Thy flour barrel shall never be empty.

10. Thou shalt win all thou desirest. Be noble, true, and good.

[If preferred, humorous fortunes may be written on the slips. They are likely to cause more fun.]

GAMES.

After the refreshments, the hostess invites all the unmarried people to take part in the games in the kitchen.

Bean Game.—“All are invited to find the bean hidden in the kitchen," announces the hostess, "the reward is a silver bookmark."

Apple Paring.-Each guest receives an apple and a knife. He is requested to peel without breaking; then swing the paring round the head, and let it drop to the floor. The letter formed is the initial of your future mate's name. Or you may hang your paring over the door-the first of the opposite sex to pass under will be your future mate.

Melting Lead.-Each guest in turn melts lead and pours it through a wedding-ring or key into a dish of water. Have one person dressed as fortune-teller who tells what the shapes in the water mean.

Ducking for Apples.-Tie the hands of the contestants behind. Fill a tub with water and on the bottom place a dozen apples. In the centre of each apple is an initial. Each player may draw two apples. Or each player may try to draw as many apples as he can. The one winning most gets a prize. If the apples have initials, the initials are supposed to represent the initials of the loved one's name.

The Four Saucers.-Place four saucers on the table in a line. Into the first put dirt, into the second, water; into the third, a ring; into the fourth, a rag. The guests are blindfolded and are led round the table twice, then told to go alone and put fingers into a saucer. If they put into dirt, it means divorce; into water, a trip across the ocean; where the ring is, to marry; where the rag is, never to marry.

Apple Seeds.-Name two wet apple seeds and stick them on the forehead. The first seed to fall indicates that the person for whom the seed was named is not a true lover.

The Ring and the Goblet.-Tie a wedding-ring or a key to a silken thread or a horse-hair, and hold it suspended within a glass, then say the alphabet slowly; whenever the ring strikes the glass, begin over again and in this way spell the name of your future mate.

Sal and Water.-Fill mouth with water and hands with salt and run around the block or house without swallowing or spilling a drop. The first person of the opposite sex you meet will be your fate.

Testing Love.-Throw three nuts into the fire. Name two for lovers and one for yourself. If one bursts or jumps, that one is unfaithful. If one blazes or burns, that one is an admirer. If one burns steadily side by side with yours, it is self-evident that one is faithful and true, and you will marry.

Apple Seeds.-Cut open an apple and take out the seeds. If two seeds are found, it means early marriage; three, a gift; four, very wealthy; five, an ocean voyage; six, a distinguished speaker or singer; seven, anything the person wishes for; eight, a divorce.

Chestnuts Roasted.-Partner-guests place two chestnuts over the fire and side by side. If one hisses and steams, the owner of it is fretful and cross; if both do so, it means strife between them. If one or both pops away, it means sure separation. If both go to ashes peacefully, side by side, a long life of quiet happiness to the owners.

Halloween or All Hallow Even is the name given to the night of October 31, as the eve or vigil of All Saints' or All Hallow Day (November 1). Of all nights in the year this is the one upon which supernatural influences most prevail. The spirits of the dead wander abroad, together with witches, devils, and mischief-making elves, and in some cases the spirits of living persons have the temporary power to leave their bodies and join the ghostly crew. Children born on this day preserve through their youth the power to converse with these airy visitants. But often the latter reveal themselves to ordinary folk, to advise or warn them. Hence it is the night of all nights for divination. Impartially weighed against the others, it is the very best time of the whole year for discovering just what sort of a husband or wife one is to be blessed withal.

Halloween is a curious recrudescence of classic mythology, Druidic beliefs, and Christian superstitions. On November 1 the Romans had a feast to Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, and it was then that the stores laid up in the summer for use in the winter were opened. Hence the appropriateness of the use of nuts and apples at this time. November 1 or thereabouts was also the great autumn festival to the sun which the Druids celebrated in thanksgiving for their harvest.

November was also one of the quaternary periods when the Druids lighted their bonfires in honor of Baal. The custom was kept up in many portions of Great Britain until a comparatively recent period. Wales was especially tenacious of it, and the observances which marked the November fire may be held to have descended directly from the Druids. Each family used to make its own fire; and, as it was dying out, each member would throw a white stone into it, the stones being marked for future identification. Then all said their prayers and went to bed, and in the morning they tried to find all the stones again. If any stone was missing, it betokened that the owner of it would die within a year. Some superstitions are pretty and picturesque and attractive; this was one of the many that were cruel as well as picturesque. It would take but a slight accident to cause a fright that might be actually dangerous to a superstitious person, and it would not be hard for an enemy of such a person to cause that fright by stealing his stone from the fire.

These fires in Wales were commonly followed by feasting on nuts, apples and parsnips, and by games. Sometimes nuts were

thrown into the fires, in the belief that they indicated prosperity to those who threw them if they burned well, and the reverse if they simply smoldered and turned black. There were fires also in Scotland, and there, in some parts of the country at least, the ashes were carefully raked into a circle and just within this the stones were placed, one for each person present. If in the morning any of these appeared to have been disturbed, it betokened death. Sometimes it was the custom to make large torches by binding combustible material to the tops of poles and to bear them blazing about the village, lighting new ones as often as the old were burned out. Fires were also used at different times and places on All Saints' Night, which is the eve of All Souls' Day, and on All Souls' Day itself, the 2nd of November. In these cases the fires were regarded as typical of immortality, and were thought to be efficacious, as an outward and visible sign at least, for lighting souls from purgatory.

On this night the peasants in Ireland assemble with sticks and clubs, going from house to house, collecting money, breadcake, butter, cheese, eggs, etc., for the feast, repeating verses in honor of the solemnity, demanding preparations for the festival in the name of St. Columb Kill, desiring them to lay aside the fatted calf and to bring forth the black sheep. The good women are employed in making the griddlecakes and candles; these last are sent from house to house in the vicinity, and are lighted up on the (Saman) next day, before which they pray, or are supposed to pray, for the departed soul of the donor. Every house abounds in the best viands it can afford; apples and nuts are devoured in abundance; the nut-shells are burned and from the ashes many strange things are foretold; cabbages are torn up by the root; hempseed is sown by the maidens, and they believe that if they look back they will see the apparition of the man intended for their future spouse; they hang a smock before the fire, on the close of the feast, and sit up all night, concealed in a corner of the room, convinced that his apparition will come down the chimney and turn the smock; they throw a ball of yarn out of the window, and wind it on the reel within, convinced that if they repeat the Pater Noster backward, and look at the ball of yarn without, they will then also see his apparition: they dip for apples in a tub of water, and endeavor to bring one up in the mouth; they suspend a cord with a cross-stick, with apples at one point, and candles lighted at

the other, and endeavor to catch the apple, while it is in a circular motion, in the mouth.

If in the word Saman the Irish preserve a distinct evidence of Druidism, on the other hand in the drink called "lambswool" they equally confess the Roman intermixture. Lambswool is made by bruising roasted apples and mixing them with ale or sometimes with milk. The Gentleman's Magazine for May, 1784, says: "This is a constant ingredient at a merrymaking on Holy Eve." Vallency makes a shrewd etymological guess when he says: "The first day of November was dedicated to the angel presiding over fruits, seeds, etc., and was therefore named La Mas Ubhal-that is, the day of the apple fruit,-and being pronounced 'lamasool,' the English have corrupted the name to lambs-wool."" The "angel presiding over fruits, seeds, etc.," was obviously a reminiscence of Pomona.

Everybody is familiar with Burns's famous poem "Halloween," which gives a panoramic insight into the customs of Old Scotia on this night of mirth and mystery. Perhaps no influence has done more than this to preserve and spread these observances among English speaking folk.

But what was once a ceremony of belief has now become a thing of sport, of welcome sport in a day of such serious thought and work and sense of responsibility that any excuse for sport should be laid hold of; so that now its observances are all a jest which young people lay upon themselves, not in the least believing in the consequences, only half hoping there may be something in it, and saying to themselves that stranger things have happened.

ΤΗ

VII. HALLOWE'EN.

BY CARRIE STERN.

HE growing coals within the grate With pictured tales foreshadowed fate; For she who watched with tender eyes The glowing phantoms fall and rise Within her breast the wizard bore, To whom alone such fairy lore Will yield its tale of coming days. The elfin light about her plays With waving lines in shining maze; With dance fantastic weaves a charm To blind her eyes to shades of harm. Her hand her rounded chin supports, The flickering gleams her soft hair courts; And bright curls vagrant from their place Throw flitting shadows on her face; But light sinks deep in her sweet eyes, Where happy love a-dreaming lies.

IF

YOUR LUCKY JEWEL.

F you wish good luck to follow you throughout life, wear the stone belonging to the month in which you were born. January.

By her who in this month is born
No gem save Garnets should be worn;
They will insure her constancy,
True friendship and fidelity.
February.

The February born will find
Sincerity and peace of mind,
Freedom from passion and from care,
If they the Amethyst will wear.
March.

Who on this world of ours their eyes
In March first open shall be wise,
In days of peril firm and brave,
And wear a Bloodstone to their grave.

April.

She who from April dates her years Diamonds should wear, lest bitter tears For vain repentance flow; this stone Emblem of innocence is known.

May.

Who first beholds the light of day
In spring's sweet, flowery month of May
And wears an Emerald all her life,
Shall be a loved and happy wife.

June.

Who comes with summer to this earth
And owes to June her day of birth,
With ring of Agate on her hand
Can health, wealth and long life command.

July.

The glowing Ruby should adorn, Those who in warm July are born; Then will they be exempt and free From love's doubts and anxiety.

August.

Wear a Sardonyx, or for thee
No conjugal felicity;

The August-born without this stone,
'Tis said, must live unloved and lone.

September.

A maiden born when Autumn leaves
Are rustling in September's breeze
A Sapphire on her brow should bind-
'Twill cure diseases of the mind.

October.

October's child is born for woe,
And life's vicissitudes must know;
But lay an Opal on her breast
And hope will lull those woes to rest.

November.

Who first comes to this world below With drear November's fog and snow Should prize the Topaz amber hue— Emblem of friends and lovers true.

December.

If cold December gave you birth-
The month of snow and ice and mirth-
Place on your hand a Turquoise blue:
Success will bless whate'er you do.