ed.

A few older persons, whom Mrs. Fulton had invited to help entertain the
children, were stationed in the various rooms. Dressed in queer
costumes, they played bits of weird music on the piano, or struck
occasional clanging notes from muffled gongs.

All of this greatly pleased Marjorie, who loved make-believe, and she
fell into the spirit of the occasion, and went about on tiptoe with a
solemn, awed face. Indeed she made the ghosts and witches laugh in spite
of their wish to be awesome. The rooms were decorated to befit the day,
and great jack-o'-lanterns grinned from mantels or brackets. Autumn
leaves were in profusion, and big black cats cut from paper adorned the
walls.

Soon the party were all assembled, and then the games began.

First, all were led out to the kitchen, which was decorated with ears of
corn, sheaves of grain, and other harvest trophies.

On a table were dishes of apples and nuts, not for eating purposes, but
to play the games with.

There were several tubs half filled with water, and in these the young
people were soon "bobbing for apples." On the apples were pinned papers
on which were written various names, and the merry guests strove to
grasp an apple with their teeth, either by its stem or by biting into
the fruit itself. This proved to be more difficult than it seemed, and
it was soon abandoned for the game of apple-parings. After an apple was
pared in one continuous strip, the paring was tossed three times round
the head, and then thrown to the floor. The initial it formed there was
said to represent the initial of the fate of the one who threw it.

"Pshaw!" said Marjorie, as she tried for the third time, "it always
makes E, and I don't know anybody who begins with E."

"Perhaps you'll meet some one later," said Mrs. Fulton, smiling. "You're
really too young to consider these 'fates' entirely trustworthy."

Then they all tried blowing out the candle. This wasn't a "Fate" game,
but there were prizes for the successful ones.

Each guest was blindfolded, led to a table where stood a lighted candle,
turned round three times, and ordered to blow it out. Only three
attempts were allowed, and not everybody won the little witches, owls,
black cats, bats, and tiny pumpkins offered as prizes.

Marjorie, though securely blindfolded, was fortunate enough to blow
straight and hard, and out went the candle-flame. Her prize was a gay
little chenille imp, which she stuck in her hair with great