ich the injunction is obeyed. To some
people, "make yourself at home" is a free permit to take possession of
everything on the premises; to cut the choicest roses in the garden, to
call for the carriage at capricious will, to consult no one's comfort
but their own, and to impose upon the polite forbearance of every one
else, regardless--in short, to behave as no one can behave at home for
any length of time without disrupting that home.

To _make one's self_ at home is to _adapt one's self_ to one's
environment. If things are different from what we are accustomed to,
we must try to accustom ourselves to _them_, and the mannerly guest
will strive to do this, not as a cross, but as a pleasure. She will
meet cordially the friends of her hostess who are introduced to her,
however little they attract her; she will cheerfully accompany the
family to their church, even though it be of a different faith from her
own; and she will listen respectfully to the sermon, and refrain from
ungracious criticism of the choir or the minister. She will take an
interest in any local happenings that are of vital interest to her
entertainers; she will show lively appreciation of everything done for
her entertainment, even though it may be but a commonplace and dull
affair, in her private judgment. She will measure her grateful duty to
them, not so much by the degree of pleasure which they actually give
her, as by the amount of effort which they obviously make. It is very
ungracious for a guest of wide social experience to be apathetic when
some unsophisticated little hostess offers what to her seems a novel
treat, but which to her worldly-wise guest is a threadbare device. No
matter if the device is threadbare; the spirit of kindness which
prompts the effort is immortal; and though we have seen "rainbow teas"
until we are weary of them, we will enter cheerfully into the spirit of
this one, because our little hostess in the innocence of her heart has
worked so hard to make it ready in our honor.

The guest should avoid giving extra trouble to the hostess, or to the
servants. She may offer assistance when circumstances warrant her
doing so, but must refrain from meddling with household matters when
her help is evidently not desired. She should entertain herself easily
when the hostess is otherwise busy, yet never seem to have any
absorbing occupation that would prevent her from being ready at once to
join the family in any project. If