AN EVENING PARTY. 
for he thinks as far as regards dress, he looks very 
like the waiter at the Royal who served table at dinner, 
but his friend would never be guilty of such a mean 
joke as this, it must just be the custom of the country, 
for gentlemen to dress like waiters when the}^ go out 
on ceremony ; either that, or that w'aiters ape the 
gentemen. He calls a cab, and drives off to his destina- 
tion. On arrival he rings the door-bell, and is ushered 
into the lobby by a gentleman dressed exactly similar 
to himself : he is under the impression that one of the 
company must have risen, and have come to the door to 
receive him, possibly the host himself ; but having been 
told he must not speak to any one, without being intro- 
duced, he keeps quiet, and watches the course of events. 
The gentleman who opened the door now asks his nam% 
and is told, “Mr. Strange.’ After some fumbling in an 
open basket from amongst a number of others, a card is 
produced, about the size of a common visitino one, on 
which is written, “ Mr. Strange and Miss Stiff.” This is 
handed to our friend, who gazes upon it in mute as- 
tonishpfient. He gets very nervous, and a hot prickly 
heat is breaking out all over his body. “ Upon my 
word,” mutters he to himself, “ this is rather sharp ; 
my friends have been telling me I ought lo get married, 
but I have not had time to think of it yet ; besides it 
would naturally be considered advisable to seetbelidy 
Jffrfet. It is really a very great liberty to take wi.h a 
visitor for the first time, I won’t stand it. 1 ll go away,” 
and, whileturning round for h s bat, the dour of the 
drawing-room is throwui wide open and be almost me- 
chanically follows, or rather is elbowed in by the 
gentlemen in black, who shouts out with a full voice, 
“ Mr. Strange.” The host and hostess come up and 
shake hands with him. After bidding him welcome, 
they indroduce him to Miss Stiff, and beckon to him 
to be seated on a vacant chair, no doubt left pur- 
posely for him, beside that lady. He siis down, casts 
his eyes roufid the room, and regains confidence on 
seeing all the -gentlemen dressed exactly similar <o him- 
self, and ponders in his own mind the curious fact that 
it should be the custom of the country for men to 
dress for an evening entertainment and merry-making 
feast exactly the same as they would do for a funeral, 
only without the crape and weepers ; indeed if it had 
not been for the presence of the ladies with their gay 
dresses, it looked very like a funeral meeting, for all 
the men seemed very melancholy, and spoke never a 
word. Our friend could not see any fun in this sort of 
thing, but seeing at all events he was introduced to one 
lady, and having been told that the more you talked to 
ladies the better you pleased them, in fact that gr- at 
talkers were specially called “ ladies’ men,” and that 
