208 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
the Geranium leaf, and, as a sign that it is 
fresh, rub it against a wall, or anything upon 
which it can leave a mark. If it fails to make 
a green spot, or if the party has left it at home, 
he must either pay the specified penalty, or 
pledge himself to do so. Thus, too, this en¬ 
gagement gives each a right to enter without 
ceremony the apartment of the other, to rub 
his green leaf against the wall, and to put his 
playmate to the same test. The game generally 
lasts for some weeks, and is more common 
among the higher classes than the lower. It 
presupposes an intimate acquaintance between 
the parties, or is designed to produce one. An 
engagement of this kind, therefore, cannot well 
be concluded with an unmarried lady without 
the consent of her parents, and, as it is often a 
prelude to marriage, it is not decorous for a 
single lady to offer the challenge. The penalties 
are determined by the more or less intimate 
footing upon which the parties stand ; in some 
cases they are kisses, in others sweetmeats or 
sonnets. Sometimes the person who has most 
pledges to redeem gives, at the conclusion of 
the game, a ball or supper. The progress of 
