located in a wigwam. A young brave entered, distinguished by the eagle
plume and wampum belt, the bow and hatchet, and threw down at the feet
of the eldest warrior a bundle of the scalps he had brought back from
battle. A hum of approbation rose from the assembly. The curtain fell.
The word _trophy_ had been thus indicated. The whole word was then
represented by an appropriate scene from the close of a popular
tragedy, and the spectators, cheering the performance, called out
_catastrophe_ to the actors.

"Well, they made out to guess it," said Blinks, when the curtain had
fallen, for the last time. "But now it's all over, you made one
confounded blunder."

"What was that?" asked the wicked young lady.

"You didn't act the second syllable."

"No?"

"No! indeed!" said Blinks, with a look of intense cunning. "You had
_cat_ and _trophy_--but where was the _ass_?"

"O, indeed!" said the young lady.

"You see, ladies and gentleman," said Blinks, enjoying his triumph,
"you can't get along without me. If I'd been here in the beginning,
you'd have had the ass."

"We certainly should," said the young lady, winking to her companions,
who could hardly suppress their laughter.

"And I move we repeat this charade to-morrow night," said Blinks--"and
mind, I'm the ass."

"Of course."

"I'll get a costume and disguise myself."

"Disguise yourself!" echoed his tormentor--"for Heaven's sake, don't
do that--they'd never guess it."

The next night the charade was ass-ass-in, and Blinks went on for the
first two syllables. He was perfectly at home--"Richard himself
again!" and the wicked young lady, in complimenting his performance,
declared it was "_perfectly natural_."

THE GREEN CHAMBER.

In my younger days, "ghost stories" were the most popular narratives
extant, and the lady or gentleman who could recite the most thrilling
adventure, involving a genuine spiritual visitant, was sure to be the
lion or lioness of the evening party he enlivened (?) with the dismal
details. The elder auditors never seemed particularly horrified or
terror-stricken, however much gratified they were, but the younger
members would drink in every word, "supping full of horrors." After
listening to one of these authentic narratives, we used to be very
reluctant to retire to our dormitories, and never ventured to get into
bed till we had examined suspicious-looking closets, old wardrobes,
and, indeed, every nook and corner that might b