is not "raised." Mrs. Dollings then says to you, "I am counting
on your spades to help me out," at which you look at the only spade in
your hand (the three) and answer, "Ha! Ha! Ha!" There is then a wait
of four minutes, at the end of which Mrs. Dollings wearily says, "It is
your first lead, is it not, Mrs. Watts?" Mrs. Watts then blushes, says,
"Oh, I beg your pardon!" and leads the four of hearts. You then lay down
your "dummy" hand. Before Mrs. Dollings has had time to discover just
what you have done to her, you should rise quickly and say, "Excuse me,
but I want to use the telephone a minute." You should then go into the
next room and wait ten or fifteen minutes. When you return Mrs. Dollings
will have disappeared, Mrs. Watts will be looking fixedly at Mr. Watts,
and Mr. Watts will be saying, "Well, it's a silly game, anyway."

You and Mr. and Mrs. Watts can then have a nice game of twenty-five cent
limit stud poker for the rest of the evening, and it would certainly be
considered a thoughtful and gracious "gesture" if, during the next two
or three weeks, you should call occasionally at the hospital to see how
Mrs. Dollings is "getting on," or you might even send some flowers or a
nice potted plant.

FORMAL AND INFORMAL DRINKING

"Drinking" has, of course, always been a popular sport among the members
of the better classes of society, but never has the enthusiasm for this
pastime been so great in America as since the advent of "prohibition."
Gentlemen and ladies who never before cared much for "drinking" have now
given up almost all other amusements in favor of this fascinating sport;
young men and debutantes have become, in the last few years, fully
as expert in the game as their parents. In many cities "drinking" has
become more popular than "bridge" or dancing and it is predicted that,
with a few more years of "prohibition," "drinking" will supersede golf
and baseball as the great American pastime.

The effect of this has been to change radically many of the fundamental
rules of the sport, and the influence on the etiquette of the game has
been no less marked. What was considered "good form" in this pastime
among our forefathers now decidedly demode, and the correct drinker
of 1910 is as obsolete and out of date in the present decade as the
"frock-coat."

The game today is divided into (a) formal and (b) informal drinking.
"Formal drinking" is usually played after dinner and is more and more
coming to ta