show them a list, with a penalty opposite each number; for instance, number one must wear two feathers in his hair; number two must have his face decorated with black circles; number three, face decorated with black stripes; number four, hair powdered white, with flour; number five, half face black, etc. Then tell them the list was made out by the Mad March Hare.
When All the Boys are Properly Decorated,
with blackened or whitened faces, coats wrong side out, etc., let them march to the table in the order of their numbers, and take the numbered seat which corresponds with the number they struck on the target. When the boys are seated the maid should bring in
Great Trays, Heaped with Raw Garden-Stuff.
This will cause a shout of surprise and disappointment; but after some lad has laboriously cut a great turnip in half, and discovered the concealed sweets, the fun will begin anew.
After this first course of vegetables
The Regular Spread May Be Served,
and when all have finished you must rise and say that you hope that your guests have still kept a little of their appetites for a piece of March Hare pie. Then you don a big white apron, thrust a table-knife in your belt, so as to look like a cook, and bring in
The Great “Fake” Cake
(Fig. 285). Place the cake in the centre of the table, with the ribbons carefully undone and one end stretched to each plate.