e, take pains to seek every possible opportunity of
cultivating poise.

The entering of a theater; the walking into a drawing-room; the
acknowledging of a woman's bow; every one of these things should be for
them a subject of careful study, and if, when evening comes, the daily
self-examination leaves them satisfied with themselves, it will be a
cause of much encouragement to them.

If, on the other hand, they have received a rebuff due to their lack of
poise, they should carefully examine into the reasons for this, in order
to guard against such an occurrence in the future.

A good preparatory exercise is to choose those of our friends whose
homes are unpretentious and who have few callers.

Let us make up our minds to pay them a visit, which, in view of the
quietude of its associations, is not likely to awaken in us any grave
emotions.

To carry this off well we should make all our preparations in advance.

One should say to oneself: "I will enter like this," while rehearsing
one's entrance, so as not to be caught napping at the outset.

One should go on to plan one's opening remarks, an easy enough matter
since one will be speaking to people one knows very well.

One should then decide as to the length of one's call.

One makes up one's mind, for instance, to get up and say good-by at the
end of a quarter of an hour.

One should foresee the rejoinder of one's host, whether sincere or
merely polite, which will urge one to prolong one's visit, and for this
purpose should have ready a plausible excuse, such as work to do or a
business engagement, and one should prepare beforehand the phrase
explaining this.

Finally, one should study to make one's good-bys gracefully.

It might be as well, while we are at it, to prepare a subject of
conversation.

Generally speaking, the events of the day form the topic of discussion
on such visits, whose good-will does not always prevent a certain amount
of boredom.

It will be, then, an easy matter to prepare a few remarks on the
happenings of the day, on the plays that are running, or on the salient
occurrences of the week.

It should be added that these remarks should express opinions of such a
nature as not to wound anybody's feelings.

The man who seeks the conquest of poise will not expose himself to the
risk of being involved in a discussion in which he will be compelled
either to remain silent or to make an exhibition of himself.

To do this would be to st