Have small tables numbered and arranged to seat four or six persons. Select for each table a judge, who will distribute the cards and blanks. These judges hold the keys to the contests, so that they may be able to mark the players correctly.

Give each player a card attached to a piece of baby ribbon that may be fastened in the buttonhole. Upon these cards the number of points gained may be written, punched with a ticket punch, or marked with fancy wafers of different colors. The cards must be numbered to correspond with the tables, and as many number one cards provided as there are players at table number one, and so on.

When the players are seated at the tables which correspond in number with the number upon their cards, let the judges distribute blank paper and pencils, also copies of the questions comprised in the several contests, among the players at their respective tables.

A different contest must be prepared for each one of the tables.

When everything is ready the hostess of the evening should tap a bell for "silence," and announce that ten minutes will be given for each contest; that at the first tap of the bell all must begin to write their answers out, numbering them according to the numbers on the questions; at the second tap the judges are to collect the answers at their respective tables and mark on each player's card the number of points made. The system of marking is as follows: Each player is given as many marks as he has answered questions correctly, and the totals are summed up at the end of the game.

During the progress of the game there must be no talking nor any questions asked. At the third tap of the bell the players at table number one go to table number two, and so on, those at the last table moving up to table number one. This progression continues until all the players have had their opportunity to answer all the questions in the contests. At each change blank paper is distributed, and a bell rung as in the first instance. When the round has been completed the points are counted and the prizes awarded. A popular book makes an excellent first prize; a box of candy in the shape of a book, a second; and a "Primer," a third.

The following are the various contests:

Contest No. 1

• The charming heroine, my friends,
• Was known as —— ("Alice of Old Vincennes").
• She lived when Indians were a power,
• And not —— ("When Knighthood was in Flower").
• And in those past times, quaint and olden,
• She fell in love with —— ("Eben Holden").
• Then, while her friends began to marvel
• A rival came, named —— ("Richard Carvel").
• Each rival his keen sword did draw,
• And heeded not —— ("The Reign of Law").
• They slew each other, alas! and then
• She married a man named —— ("Crittenden").
• The merry bells rang loud in the steeple
• And loudly cheered —— ("The Voice of the People").
• The two rode away on a double bike
• And lived in —— ("Stringtown on the Pike").
• They did not gossip with each neighbor,
• But each one did —— ("The Portion of Labor").

Contest No. 2

Write out the following quotations correctly:

1. Beauty is always a thing of joy.
2. Let us therefore get up and go to work.
3. The man who steals my pocketbook gets very little.
4. Every one who knows you, loves you.
5. Do pretty and you'll be pretty.
6. God keeps the shorn lamb from the wind.

KEY

1. A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
2. Let us then be up and doing.
3. Who steals my purse steals trash.
4. None knew thee but to love thee.
5. Handsome is that handsome does.
6. God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.

Contest No. 3

Heroes and heroines—in what books do they figure?

Contest No. 4

Fill blank spaces with titles of popular novels

In the little village of S—— o— t— P——, F—— f— t—— M—— C——, lived the H——. P—— S——. With him resided his lovely ward, J—— M——. She was A—— O—— F—— G——, and knew little of T—— W——, W—— W——. She had, however, A P—— o—— B—— E—— and G—— E——. Among her admirers were R—— C——, J—— H——, and T—— L—— M——.

KEY

In the little village of "Stringtown on the Pike," "Far from the Madding Crowd," lived the "Hon. Peter Sterling." With him resided his lovely ward, "Janice Meredith." She was "An Old-Fashioned Girl," and knew little of "The Wide, Wide World." She had, however, "A Pair of Blue Eyes" and "Great Expectations." Among her admirers were "Richard Carvel," "John Halifax," and "The Little Minister."

Contest No. 5

Synonyms for names of literary men

Contest No. 6

The answers to these questions are the names of authors

Contest No. 7

Give the name of—

Again, the hostess may prepare a certain number of blank cards, with the heading on each one "Who and What?" On a second lot of cards she can have pasted the pictures of some noted writers—Thackeray, Dickens, Scott, Dumas, Balzac, Tolstoi, Browning, George Eliot, Carlyle, Longfellow, Cooper, Emerson, Bryant, Holmes. The pictures of more recent writers will answer her purpose just as well. These pictures can be obtained from illustrated catalogues of books. Of these cards there should be as many as there are guests if the company be a small one, or as many cards as the hostess may desire; a dozen is a very good number.

Supply each guest with one of the blank cards and a pencil and then start into circulation the cards on which are pasted the pictures of the authors. Let the guests pass the cards from one to another, and write down, according to the number on the picture-card, and opposite the corresponding number on their own, the name of each author and some book he has written. This will be found a more difficult task than one imagines, and numerous guesses will doubtless go wide of the mark. The one whose card is filled out correctly, or the nearest to it, may be presented with a copy of some late popular book, and a toy book might be used as a booby prize.