Country Picnic
let each guest bring his or her own little basket of lunch.
As your guests arrive, usher them into the house and do not let them even see the yard if it can be avoided; keep the grounds for a pleasant surprise a little later.
Form the girls and boys into a single file and lead them marching around the room while they join in singing some lively air. After winding in and out among the chairs and tables, open the door, let them look out into the pretty garden, and, while still singing,
Climb Over the Fence
and march among the flowers and fruit trees; end the procession by circling around the spot chosen for your dinner table, where all must deposit their lunch baskets. Of course you will not have an actual table, as the tablecloth must be spread on the ground and the girls and boys sit around it.
Mark the four corners of the space reserved as a table with sticks about forty-six inches high, decorated with bright flowers ([Fig. 146]), and the sharpened ends planted in the earth, or in flower pots.
Spread the Tablecloth,
bringing each corner to meet a garland pole; then let the guests take from their baskets the different articles. Reserve some space at the centre of the table for fruit, and let each boy and girl in turn walk about the grounds and select one piece of fruit, pick it, bring it to the table, and lay the chosen piece on the centre of the tablecloth. No person may pick more than one piece of fruit during one turn. Each player is privileged to place his fruit in any way he desires, remembering always that each piece goes to form the centre-piece, which should always be made as decorative as possible.