"Now pare your peels in one piece, girls," Miss Betsy advised, "and then
whirl 'em to find the _initials_ o' your sweethearts' names."

"You, too, Miss Betsy!" cried Sally, "we must find out the widower's
name!"

"The widower's name," Miss Betsy gravely repeated, as she took a knife.

With much mirth the parings were cut, slowly whirled three times around
the head, and then let fly over the left shoulder. Miss Betsy's was
first examined and pronounced to be an A.

"Who's A?" she asked.

"Alfred!" said Sally. "Now, Martha, here's yours--an S, no it's a G!"

"The curl is the wrong way," said Martha, gravely, "it's a figure 3; so,
I have three of them, have I?"

"And mine," Sally continued, "is a W!"

"Yes, if you look at it upside down. The inside of the peel is
uppermost: you must turn it, and then it will be an M."

Sally snatched it up in affected vexation, and threw it into the fire.
"Oh, I know a new way!" she cried; "did you ever try it, Martha--with
the key and the Bible!"

"Old as the hills, but awful sure," remarked Miss Lavender. "When it's