ur they return to the drawing room. Another half hour of
conversation, during which sometimes there is dancing, and the guests
make their adieus to their hostess and host and leave. On bidding
good-night, always assure your hostess of the pleasant evening which you
have enjoyed.

Progressive dinners are sometimes given, although now almost obsolete.
Small tables are arranged for these with parties of four or six at each
table. The guests change places at each course, the signal for this
being given by the hostess ringing a bell. The ladies remain in their
seats. As there will not be a fresh napkin provided at each course, a
man brings his with him from his first table.

Public dinners, except when given by certain church, debating, or
literary societies, are stag affairs. The guests assemble at the
restaurant, hotel, or hall where the banquet is to be held, and deposit
their hats, coats, and walking paraphernalia in the cloakroom. A ticket
is given with the number of your rack upon it, and a small fee--usually
twenty-five cents--is expected. The guests assemble in one of the
smaller drawing rooms, and each one is handed a plan of the tables with
the location of his cover designated by his name upon it. A procession
is formed, the guests of honor and reception committee leading, to the
banquet hall. After dessert, speeches are in order.

_Dinner dances_ are a form of entertainment where dinner is followed by
a dance, other guests coming in from other dinner parties and meeting at
one house which has been agreed upon as the place where the dance is to
take place. A short time after dinner, at each of the other houses, the
guests are conveyed therefrom in carriages, or, better yet, in stages,
to the general rendezvous. Calls are due within the week at the house
where you have dined as well as at the one at which you have danced.

Supper etiquette differs but little from that observed at dinners. The
occasion is a bit more informal and the _menu_ not so elaborate. The
etiquette of ball suppers is treated in the chapter on The Dance, and
suppers after the play, at restaurants and clubs, being favorite
bachelor entertainments, will be explained in that part of this book
reserved for the Bachelor as Host.

CHAPTER VIII.

A CODE OF TABLE MANNERS.

Many of the cautions contained in this chapter will seem elementary in
their nature. But one expects in a book of this kind to see the old
familiar "don'ts," and their