Come behind this screen and you will see
A cat with her head where her tail ought to be.
One by one, the guests may go, and each must observe a discreet silence, so that the rest may not guess what the trick is.
As each goes behind the screen, a table is seen on which is a cat with her tail towards a saucer of milk, where, were it not for the showman’s efforts, her head would naturally be. This foolish trick will always cause a hearty laugh.
A BOAT RACE.
Girls who do not care to row should act as umpires. A grand stand may be a massive rock ornamented with a tangle of vines and for a canopy a wide-branched tree.
There should be three races, one between the girls, another between the boys, and a third between the girls and boys together. Two large willows or other trees, conspicuously overhanging the water, and therefore impossible to mistake, should be selected as the points to start and end the race, the prow of the boat should be even with the centre of the tree trunk at starting, and the stern of the boat should be even with the centre of the tree trunk on closing. Only one person should be in the boat at a time, and no person can have a second chance.
As the water is frequently too narrow for all boats to be out at once, it is wiser to try two boats at a time, and then two more should row and so on. After the race is over the victors must row again, two and two, as at the first, and so determine the winners. When the winning girl and the winning boy are known, they should race together, and thus the champion rower will be discovered. Whoever is champion should be rewarded with a wreath of laurel, after the fashion of the great Roman victors; if laurel cannot be found, use oak leaves and tell the hero they are meant for laurel. The wreath must be made and at the grand stand before the race opens. The coronation should take place at the stand.
While gathering the leaves for the crown it would prove a pleasure to gather quantities of wild flowers, with which to decorate the boats. A simple and pretty trimming would be to carpet the boat with moss and edge it around with fern leaves. Another way would be to canopy a boat with apple blossoms; the branches are easily held in place between the narrow strip of wood that forms the border, and the boat itself. But a canopy retards motion, and the rowers must consider speed before they decide on decoration.