only be eaten with a fork. In New
Orleans boiled _shrimps_ are often served at small dinners. The skins
and heads are on, and you remove these with your fingers. After this
course finger bowls with orange leaves are passed around, and the
perfume of the water will remove the odor of fish from your fingers.

_Black coffee_ is served after dinner. Milk or cream does not accompany
it, except in the country, where sometimes a little silver pitcher of
cream is placed on the tray. Coffee is drunk from small cups. Coffee and
milk are never served during dinner, nor again is iced milk. These are
barbarisms. Chartreuse, kuemmel, curacoa, and cognac are the _liqueurs_
usually served after dinner.

_Claret_, in many French families, especially those of the middle class,
is placed on the table in decanters. You are expected to help yourself.
There are also _carafons_ or decanters of water to mix with the wine.
The claret decanters are called _carafes_. Claret is drunk at the twelve
o'clock _dejeuner_ as well as at dinner.

_Tea_ is passed around in old-fashioned English houses about an hour
after dinner. In some places buttered muffins accompany it, but this
extra refreshment is only seen now in very old-fashioned houses.

_Scotch whisky_ and hot water or mineral waters are served in country
houses before bedtime.

CHAPTER IX.

THE CITY BACHELOR AS HOST.

LUNCHEONS, DINNERS, THEATER PARTIES, CLUB AND RESTAURANT SUPPERS,
AND OTHER BACHELOR ENTERTAINMENTS.

The bachelor who entertains is a most popular member of society. It does
not cost a fortune to return in some manner the civilities once
received, and every man, even if his income be limited, can once in a
while entertain, even if it be on a very small scale and in a very
modest way. Bachelor functions are always enjoyable. For a host of
moderate income, I would suggest a luncheon, a dinner, or a party to the
play, followed by a little supper.

A bachelor luncheon can be given either at the host's apartments or
chambers, at a restaurant, or in the ladies' annex of his club, if that
organization possesses such an institution.

At all entertainments given under a bachelor's vine and fig tree,
extreme simplicity should be a characteristic. The table linen should be
of the finest damask, or the best material his income will allow; the
glass perfectly plain, clear crystal, the china of a rich but quiet
pattern, the silver good but absolutely without ornamental dev