We gave a Hallowe'en party to the folks… We all were masked, [of] course, and dressed like ghosts and goblins, n' everything. We did lots of stunts that folks [always] do at such parties. When they first came we assembled in the reception hall and held Ghost Court. Mama and I were on the "landing" acting as judges, and one by one we tried, convicted and sentenced the folks to some idiotic kind of sentence. It was a huge joke to hear Fred sing "Perfect Day," to Ernest's accompaniment, and Martha and Julie gave us the latest thing in social dancing. That was good too. The most fun of all was watching the folks try to pick me out of the crowd. Ella and I are nearly the same height, and I had Helen receive at the door and Ella show thru to their rooms. No one would answer them save with a groan, and we bobbed up and down the back stairs appearing so often & in so many places that they didn't know really how many we were. Malen got quite familiar with Ella and called her Dingbat, which worried him to death later when he discovered his error. We all blew horns and whistles and it's a wonder the "place wasn't pulled." We had it decorated without as well as within, tho, by ye sign of ye black cat, so I guess folks knew we weren't really being murdered. It was fun to watch them take a "leap in the dark." You know the stunt, of course. We had an old fashioned, very high lamp, a huge wash bowl of water, & several lighted candles in a line on the floor. One by one we admitted the company and told them they must jump over the mess. While I blindfolded them, and talked a lot of guff about holding up their costumes, etc., Mama quietly removed the stuff from the floor. There were some who evidently [thought] I'd have the house burned down, because it would be out of the question to jump over that lamp, etc. I remember how peeved Fred was, but after several false starts, he jumped the full length of the kitchen and then shrieked like a maniac when he lit. When he was able to see what a fool he'd made of himself, he joined in and helped "do" the rest of the crowd. Martha surprised me by her jump. She didn't hold her skirts much higher than her knees, but she nearly jumped thru the window. We gave each one a string which they had to follow up, and which led them all over the house, from the basement to the third floor, and which finally terminated in a little paper containing their fortune. It was fun to see them climbing over each other, roaring at each other when strings became tangled together, and climbing up the side of the house to follow their fortune over the tops of pictures, thru key holes, under rugs, behind the piano and -- oh -- everywhere. I watched Ernest and nearly killed myself laughing. His string led from the reception hall round and round the legs of the dining room table, and thru the butler's pantry. Here he decided it followed the chains to the furnace so he leaned against the swinging door to consider the matter. The door hooks at the bottom, but when he leaned on it, it unhooked, swung back and cracked him on the head. He muttered something that I didn't catch and stooped to hook it. Here came the rub. That door is a temperamental thing and it must be in the proper mood to be hooked. Ernest worked fully fifteen minutes and then, for the first time, I heard him cuss. I exploded and then he saw me. When he had recovered his good nature he fixed the door, and then followed his string up the back stairs. I don't remember just where he landed, but it was some place in the bathroom. We had apples hanging in the doorway between the living & dining rooms and everyone had to earn their suppers by getting a bite out of an apple. We had cider and doughnuts, of course, and popcorn balls, and -- lets see -- oh yes, stick candy, too. We had little favors for everyone, and that meant more whistling and hooting. Everyone told fortunes with apples, and then we turned out the lights & passed some [scary] things around. We had the stuff on ice, and it certainly brought howls out of the ladies. We had the porcupines made from apples & spuds stuffed full of toothpicks…and we had sausage casing blown up that twisted around your hands and felt [dreadfully scary]. Then we had a snake made of weiners, and a kid glove stuffed with damp sawdust. That was the most popular. It spent most of its time flying thru the air. No one seemed to be stingey about keeping it. … Then I brought in [our cat] Lemo and my stuffed dog and they fought three rounds on the table. It was great sport. Lemo fights that dog all day, and pretends to be about to go into fits if he sees it, but at night he curls up and purrs to it.
