heart-shaped things which were the delight of our school-days.

The Persians remember the day with gifts of eggs--literally a "lay
out!"

In rural Russia, the day begins as a children's holiday. The village
boys get up at sunrise and fill their pockets with peas and wheat.
They go from house to house and as the doors are never locked,
entrance is easy. They throw the peas upon their enemies and sprinkle
the wheat softly upon their sleeping friends.

After breakfast, the finest horse in the little town is decorated with
evergreens and berries and led to the house of the greatest nobleman,
followed by the pea and wheat shooters of the early morning. The lord
admits both horse and people to his house, where the whole family is
gathered, and the children of his household make presents of small
pieces of silver money to those who come with the horse. This is the
greeting of the peasants to their lord and master.

Next comes a procession of domestic animals, an ox, cow, goat, and
pig, all decorated with evergreens and berries. These do not enter the
house but pass slowly up and down outside, that the master and his
family may see. Then the old women of the village bring barnyard fowls
to the master as presents, and these are left in the house which the
horse has only recently vacated. Even the chickens are decorated with
strings of berries around their necks and bits of evergreen fastened
to their tails.

The Russians have also a ceremony which is more agreeable. On each New
Year's Day, a pile of sheaves is heaped up over a large pile of grain,
and the father, after seating himself behind it, asks the children if
they can see him. They say they cannot, and he replies that he hopes
the crops for the coming year will be so fine that he will be hidden
in the fields.

In the cities there is a grand celebration of mass in the morning and
the rest of the day is devoted to congratulatory visits. Good wishes
which cannot be expressed in person are put into the newspapers in the
form of advertisements, and in military and official circles
ceremonial visits are paid.

The Russians are very fond of fortune-telling, and on New Year's eve
the young ladies send their servants into the street to ask the names
of the first person they meet, and many a bashful lover has hastened
his suit by taking good care to be the first one who is met by the
servant of his lady love. At midnight, each member of the family
salutes every other memb