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THE RING.

by masquerades and balls, and in the circular towns, where too people are now ashamed of these innocent amusements, what has superseded them?—cards and the incessant rattle of glasses; the one as commendable as the other. But I have involved myself here in an unseasonable digression, and resume the thread of my narrative.

The Christmas holidays began in this manner:—Whole families of acquaintances assembled in the evenings, to bury gold, to sing riddle-songs,[1] to play at forfeits, and to disguise themselves. Glafira shared, as usual, in these amusements, but seemed to take less interest in them than formerly; she cared not about selecting any one whom she wished to please, or in whose hand she desired to put the gold ring more frequently than into that of any other.

"New-year's day will soon be here, and Miss has not yet had her fortune told," observed the sly nurse one evening. "Why should I?" replied Glafira. "Am I not already betrothed?"

"Well, and is not this the very time to learn whether your bridegroom is well, what he is

  1. ↑ The nature of this amusement is as follows:—While the whole company sing an appropriate song, any one who chooses puts some article or other belonging to him into a covered dish, and thinks of something. Another verse is then sung, the dish is shaken, one of the covered articles is taken out, and the fortune of the owner is predicted amid laughter and merriment from the subject of the song.
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