she raises the patch. As he approaches her again on his beat she puts the patch on again, and he suddenly twitches it off her eye, exposing the imposture. She, with a scream, rushes away, pursued by the officer. Sound, if not spelling (eye-scream), will suggest a favourite dish. A boy with spectacles on nose is next seen seated at a table whereon are many vials to suggest a physician's office. He gravely consults a huge volume when a patient enters, violently coughing. The doctor feels the patient's pulse, listens at his chest and back, and finally produces from a closet an India-rubber ball marked "Magic Pill." This the patient pretends to swallow. He coughs no more, and, after a moment of delighted surprise, takes to his heels, pursued by the doctor, who cries, "My fee; where's my fee?" When the name of the fragrant bean has been guessed the feast has reached its conclusion. It will act as a stimulus to the histrionic instincts of the performers if it is known that prizes will be awarded to the boy and girl who shall be voted the best actor and actress. At the close of the performance a huge pumpkin may be brought in, mounted upon gilt wheels, as Cinderella's coach, drawn by four rats of gray canton flannel, and with a mouse in three-cornered hat as coachman. A cheap toy wagon may furnish the wheels, and the children will not be hypercritical of the anatomy of the rats. The pumpkin should contain all the prizes. The girl's prize will be, of course, a little doll, dressed in silver tissue or white gauze covered with tiny gilt spangles, to represent Cinderella herself. A boy would be pleased with a pair of white mice in a small cage. All the other actors should receive prizes as well. Glass slippers are not always to be found, but it may be explained to the children that "Cinderella," originally written in French, has through a mistranslation been given to English-speaking children as the story of a glass slipper. The word in the original was "pantouffle de vert," meaning "miniver”—a fur resembling ermine and worn only by royalty. The translator, not knowing the meaning of the word, ventured to take liberties with it. Bonbonnières, therefore, in the form of slippers, made of white canton flannel dotted with black worsted spots, with red soles, and red silk fitted bag-shape in the interior to hold the bonbons, may be withdrawn from the pumpkin and distributed to the actors. If the pumpkin seeds be preserved and washed, it may amuse the children to see which can come nearest to guessing their number. BARMECIDE FEAST FOR THE ELDER CHILDREN Give to each one a numbered tally-card and pencil. Pin about the room, to draperies and furniture, slips of paper upon which are typewritten conundrums bearing upon a Thanksgiving feast, thoroughly mixed up. A stated time is given for the guessing and a prize awarded to the one whose card shows the most correct answers. 1. Emblems of silence.-Oysters. 2. The penalty of looking backward.-Salt. 3. Made keen by its mother.-Vinegar. 4. Boston diet.-Beans. 5. Forbidden to Jews.-Pork. 6. Emblem of stupidity.-Goose. 7. Universal crown.-Hare. 8. Largest part of the foot.-Sole. 9. To shrink from danger.-Quail. 10. Ludicrous situations.-Pickles. |