A variation of the Irish snap-apple is a hoop hung by strings from the ceiling, round which at intervals are placed bread, apples, cakes, peppers, candies, and candles. The strings are twisted, then let go, and as the hoop revolves, each may step up and get a bite from whatever comes to him. By the taste he determines what the character of his married life will be,--whether wholesome, acid, soft, fiery, or sweet. Whoever bites the candle is twice unfortunate, for he must pay a forfeit too. An apple and a bag of flour are placed on the ends of a stick, and whoever dares to seize a mouthful of apple must risk being blinded by flour. Apples are suspended one to a string in a doorway. As they swing, each guest tries to secure his apple. To blow out a candle as it revolves on a stick requires attention and accuracy of aim. [Illustration: A WITCHES'-CALDRON TABLE. A BLACK-CAT TABLE. HALLOWE'EN TABLES, II.] The one who first succeeds in threading a needle as he sits on a round bottle on the floor, will be first married. Twelve candles are lighted, and placed at convenient distances on the floor in a row. As the guest leaps over them, the first he blows out will indicate his wedding-month. One candle only placed on the floor and blown out in the same way means a year of wretchedness ahead. If it still burns, it presages a year of joy. Among the quieter tests some of the most common are tried with apple-seeds. As in England a pair of seeds named for two lovers are stuck on brow or eyelids. The one who sticks longer is the true, the one who soon falls, the disloyal sweetheart. Seeds are used in this way to tell also whether one is to be a traveler or a stay-at-home. Apple-seeds are twice ominous, partaking of both apple and nut nature. Even the number of seeds found in a core has meaning. If you put them upon the palm of your hand, and strike it with the other, the number remaining will tell you how many letters you will receive in a fortnight. With twelve seeds and the names of twelve friends, the old rhyme may be repeated: "One I love, Two I love, Three I love, I say; Four I love with all my heart: Five I cast away. Six he loves, Seven she loves, Eight they both love; Nine he comes, Ten he tarries, Eleven he courts, and Twelve he marries." Nuts are burned in the open fire. It is generally agreed that the one for whom the first that pops is named, loves. "If he loves me, pop and fly; If he hates me, live and die." Often the superstition connected therewith is forgotten in the excitement of the moment. "When ebery one among us toe de smallest pickaninny Would huddle in de chimbley cohnah's glow, Toe listen toe dem chilly win's ob ole Novembah's Go a-screechin' lack a spook around de huts, 'Twell de pickaninnies' fingahs gits to shakin' o'er de embahs, An' dey laik ter roas' dey knuckles 'stead o' nuts."