and when all have finished you must rise and say that you hope that your guests have still kept a little of their appetites for a piece of March Hare pie. Then you don a big white apron, thrust a table-knife in your belt, so as to look like a cook, and bring in The Great “Fake” Cake (Fig. 285). Place the cake in the centre of the table, with the ribbons carefully undone and one end stretched to each plate. [Illustration: FIG. 285.--Bring in the Cake.] At a Given Signal each guest gives a sharp pull upon his line, and out pop all the brightly-colored parcels, while the bran and flour fly, as if an explosion had occurred. [Illustration: Feast of the Mad March Hare.] The success of this last act depends entirely upon the host. He must caution each boy not to gather in any of the slack of his ribbon, but only take a firm hold of the end and wait until the word is given to pull. After the excitement and fun of demolishing the “fake” cake, then comes the fun of unrolling the bundles and reading the jokes attached to each trinket. CHAPTER XXIV. A WILD WEST SHOW IN THE HOUSE. There are many boys to-day who have never seen an Indian, and while it is impossible for us all to view the real Wild West, it is not difficult for us to get up a little Wild West show of our own, at home. Patterns Are Here Given, which any intelligent boy can copy. The fields of the patterns given are divided into small squares, and the dividing lines are numbered and lettered along two sides of the pattern. It is not hard to understand that, since every square, be it big or little, is exactly the same shape, by making the same number of larger squares you will have an enlarged field, similar to the one shown. How to Reproduce the Patterns. Place a clean piece of card-board on the table, and, with the aid of a straight-edged piece of board, rule a line close to the edge of the card-board and parallel to it. [Illustration: FIG. 286.--The Parts of Mounted Cowboy and Indian.] By means of a two-foot measure, or tape-line, mark off with your pencil a point at each half-inch, to correspond with the numbered lines on the field (Fig. 286). Number the lines from one to thirty-three, as they are numbered in Fig. 286. Replace the straight-edged board along the line, take a large flat book (your geography will do), see that the edge of the board is exactly parallel to the pencil line, and just far enough back of it to show the pencil dots, hold the board firmly in place, and slide the book along the edge of the board, until the edge of the book is exactly at the first pencil dot. Rule the First Line along the edge of the book, then move the book to the next dot and rule the line No. 1, then No. 2, and so on, until No. 33 is ruled. [Illustration: FIG. 287.--Mounted Indian.] Again Take Your Two-foot