THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
23 
“ I’d like to—I’ll try. But if I could only see him ! ” 
More words of comfort and encouragement were 
spoken, and then the poor girl was left with the flowers 
in her hand. 
The cool faces of the Pansies seemed almost to smile 
in her eyes in sympathy. As she pressed her flushed 
face against the Heliotropes and Sweet Peas, to feel their 
freshness and to breathe their sweetness, something less 
soft than they touched her cheek. Looking curiously, 
she drew out a scrap of paper, crumpled, and partly wet 
with the sprinkling the flowers had received. 
If writing had been on the paper she could not have read 
it, but smoothing it carefully out, she spelled the 
“With Bessie's dear love.” 
“Who could ’a’ put it there?” 
The hours dragged heavily, and even so small a ripple 
of excitement was welcome. She gazed at it with feel¬ 
ings which grew more and more serious. Who was 
Bessie? Whom did she love, and why? Could it be 
herself? Bessie must be a child, she knew; grown 
people did not print letters that way. And as she pic¬ 
tured to herself the little fingers which must have tied 
in the message at the dictates of such a far-reaching love, 
the tears came to her eyes. This child’s loving thoughts 
had surely followed wherever her flowers might go. 
How the sick girl wished the little thing might come to 
her, so that she could tell her bow she loved her! 
And then into her softened heart came crowding 
thoughts of Him who had given her not only a bunch of 
flowers, but everthing—Himself—the hope of heaven. 
How could she refuse to say she loved Him ? 
When her kind friend came to her again, there was a 
new expression of peace on her wasted face. 
“I can love Him without seeing Him,” she said 
quietly ; “but Ho comes so near to me sometimes that 
I think I can almost see Him?” 
Little Bessie continues to write her love messages to 
unknown sufferers, taking to herself great comfort in 
the full confidence that they' must sometimes reach some 
one who will be glad to know she loves them. And her 
faith will not be shaken even though she may never hear 
again of any of her sweet words until she and those to 
whose sorrowing hearts they have reached shall meet 
before the Throne of Him whom not having seen we yet 
love.— Selected. 
Some Amusements. 
The holiday season is here, and as the children gather 
around the fireside to spend the long evenings the great 
question seems to be “What shall we do? Do tell us 
what to play ?” so perhaps some troubled aunt or cousin 
who has been resorted to for advice may be glad of a few 
suggestions for making the time pass pleasantly to all. 
A favorite play among the little ones is known by the 
name of Oranges and Lemons, and is played in this way: 
Two of the children arrange with each other which 
one shall be Oranges and which Lemons, without 
letting the rest know. They then join hands to form an 
arch, and the rest, taking hold of each other’s dresses, 
sing the following words as they pass through the arch: 
“ ‘ Oranges and Lemons,’ say the bells of St. Clement’s; 
‘ You owe me five farthings, ’ say the bells of St. Martin’s; 
< When will you pay me?’ say thebeUsof Old Bailey; 
‘ When I grow rich,’ say the bells of Shoreditch ; 
I When will that be?’ say the bells of Dundee; 
I I do not know, says the great bell of Bow; 
‘ Here comes a candle to light you to bed, and here comes 
a chopper to chop off your head.’ ” 
At the last word the two children who are hold¬ 
ing up their arms drop them on the child’s neck w T hO' 
happens to be at the arch when the last word is sung ; 
they then ask her which she will be, Oranges or Lemons; 
whichever she chooses, she is to go behind the girl who- ■ 
takes that name until all are caught. 
In another game called Pantomime, one of the com¬ 
pany must leave the room while the others select a word 
which she is to guess on her return. When she re-enters 
the room the others do not speak, but represent in pan¬ 
tomime some word which shall rhyme with the one se¬ 
lected ; as, for instance, should the word chosen be heat, 
the first person goes through with the motion to eat, the 
second carefully examines his feet, the third takes a 
stick and makes believe beat, while the third and fourth 
advance to meet, and so each one exercises his own in¬ 
genuity in finding and acting a rhyme with the chosen 
word, until it has been guessed, when thp last actor must 
go out. 
“ How Do you Like it ” is a very amusing play andean 
be participated in by any number of persons. One of the 
company is sent out of the room, while the rest agree 
upon some word which has more than one meaning, as 
pain, pane, aunt, ant, etc., when the person returns to 
the room she asks each one in succession “ How do you 
like it? ” “When do you like it?” and “Where would you 
put it ? ” and from the answers the word is to be guessed. 
Acrostics.—One member of the party leaves the room, 
while the others think of some celebrated character, 
whether real or fictitious ; each player then in turn rep¬ 
resents a well known character whose name begins with 
one of the letters of the word chosen; for instance, if 
Grant should be the word selected, the first person thinks 
of some one whose name begins with G as Garfield, and 
the next with R as Ruskin, the third with A as Agassiz, 
the fourth N, as Napoleon, the fifth T, as Tennyson 
when these have been decided upon the one who is to 
guess returns, and turning to the first character to discover 
whom she represents_ asks, ‘ ‘Are you still living ? ” ‘ ‘Are 
youapoet?”“W ere you famous in war ?” etc., and when it 
is found out the word begins with G, by repeating the- 
questions to the next one they can each be guessed in 
turn, unless the word becomes known before question¬ 
ing all the participants. 
A very delightful evening entertainment can be gotten 
up, by having some interesting story read or poem re¬ 
cited, and illustrating its most picturesque portions by a 
tableaux,-the reader pausing while the curtain draws- 
back revealing the-grouped figures, then continuing the 
stoxy until there is another opportunity for an illustra¬ 
tion. Of course, the management of the tableaux re¬ 
quires taste and skill, but with a little practice can be 
rendered very effective. The arrangement for stage and 
curtain is simply done by laying on the floor blocks of 
wood the required height, placing over them planks in. 
such a way as they will not tip, and then covering the 
whole with carpet or rugs. In front of this platform 
extend a heavy wire fastened to small hooks screwed 
in the wall; the curtain, made of any dark material, is 
attached to the wire by rings. F. C. S. 
