There was a succession of archways on the lawn, built about ten feet apart—the frames, twelve feet high and six broad at their widest, being temporary, and only strong enough to support the various vines, mosses, and rose climbers with which they were covered. Through these arches various games were given, among them,
NAMING THE ROSES.
The musicians played something between a march and a reel, and immediately each boy signalled out the girl that matched his rose, and keeping time to the music, they walked through the first arch, and so on to the second, thus in rotation going through all. It was quite a long procession, for each couple kept about two feet back of the other. When all had thus passed through the last arch, they joined hands, thus forming a circle, and commencing with the first couple, entered the ring two by two. Two only being in at a time, when they came out the two that followed them in the march went in, and so on. When in the circle the boy asked the girl, "Which rose are you?" she answered. "Tell me, and I'll tell you." Oftener than otherwise his answer was, "I don't know," though once in a while he made a correct guess. When his answer was right, he asked the girl the language of her rose; but if he had made a mistake, he was obliged to leave the girl in the ring and stand under one of the arches; if the girl could not answer his question, she had to stand under an arch. If the boy left the ring before inquiring the roses' language, those forming the ring put the same question, and if the girl did not properly reply, she had to pay the same penalty as when not replying to the boy. When both questions were answered correctly, the boy and girl again joined the hands of the others forming the circle. When each couple has left the ring the game was concluded.
Among the rose-buds and their meaning are: White rose-bud, girlhood; red rose-bud, loveliness; white and red together, unity.
Another game was,
FINDING THE HARE.
The hare was nothing more nor less than a box made in exact copy of a hare, about six inches long. When opened it was found to be full of rose-colored and rose-flavored confectionery.
The company were told that a hare was hidden between two arches, and whoever found it was the owner. It was a most bewitching sight to see the merry hunt—such laughing faces, half hidden at times with long fluffy curls or broad-brimmed hats.
The florist had taken up a piece of sod, and underneath it, wrapped in white waxed paper, he laid the hare. When he replaced the sod, the hare's head was the only part left out, and the grass blades were so thick and long that it took considerable patience and sharp eyes to discover it.
The games closed with a visit to