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October 437 |
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the leaf of an apple-tree proved one of the most puzzling to name.
When all the leaves had been examined, the hostess read her numbered list aloud, holding each specimen aloft in turn, and the players corrected their own lists. The one whose observation of nature was proved to have been the most accurate was given the prize of a little etching of a woodland scene, which might recall one described by Victor Hugo's "as rustling as a nest, as fragrant as a bouquet, as dark as a cathedral." The second prize was a "palm of victory," and the booby prize a palm-leaf fan.
An artistic setting was given the little feast that awaited the guests in the dining-room. The table was covered with a cloth woven apparently of leaves. A piece of green tarletan formed the foundation, upon which green leaves were thickly sewn, overlapping each other and radiating from the centre in all directions. A single stitch in the centre of each held it in place.
Upon this were set dishes lined with vine leaves, holding clusters of grapes—purple and yellow—pineapples, filberts in their green sheaths, and apples with glowing cheeks. The salad was served in a nest of lettuce leaves, the ices were of pistache in the form of oak leaves, and each had upon it one or two of the little cakes that are so cleverly made to represent acorns.
The guests took leave with such unconventional and hearty assurances of their enjoyment as left their hostess in no doubt of their sincerity. |
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