pant deposited a part of the value of a thing in consideration of the chance of gaining. There were no very valuable prizes at stake so the losers were not much out of pocket; it was usually for the enjoy- ment of it. The prizes were some useful article or a supper. Fre- quently the wager was for a goose or a turkey, and the winner was ex- pected to hand it over for a treat for the party. This was invariably done and the hostess and cooks made haste to prepare the feast. It would be morning before the jolly time concluded. The long even- ings in fall and winter were spent in one and another of the homes in some kind of merry-making.

Checkers and chess were better games than cards. Any game re— quiring skill is good mental discipline, while a game of chance affects. one’s mind and life injuriously. We have a natural inclination to get things without working for them; to depend on chance or luck for success. This tendency is strengthened by games of chance. They destroy the power of initiative and resourcefulness without which we cannot succeed in life. They take away the joy and inspiration of effort and the fine sense of nobility that comes by honest labour. They leave one dissatisfied with life. If willingness to do real work is not acquired in youth, it will not likely develop later in life.

H allowe’en ‘ ':

Hallowe’en is so called because it is the eve of the Christian fes- tival of All Saints, which falls on November first. It means Holy Eve, and is a time which was set apart, as Lowell expressed it in his poem, "All Saints,” to honor the memory of—all saints—the un- known good that rest

"In God’s still memory folded deep The bravely dumb who did their deed, And scorned t0 blot it with a name; Men of the plain heroic breed,

Thus loved Heaven’s silence more than fame.”

The building of bonfires, cracking of nuts, bobbing for apples floating in tubs of water, and telling fortunes, and ghost stories, are all relics of paganism. About thirteen centuries ago pagans celebrated

95