268. Count nine stars for nine successive nights. (If a rainy or cloudy night intervene, the charm is broken, and the project must be begun again.) The person you dream of on the ninth night will be your future partner in life. Prince Edward Island.
269. Count nine stars for nine consecutive nights, and the person you dream of the last night is your intended. Prince Edward Island and Alabama.
270. Count nine stars for nine nights in succession, and the first young gentleman with whom you shake hands is to be your future husband. Eastern Massachusetts.
271. For three successive nights look out of the window and name three stars. Walk to bed backward and without speaking. The one you dream of two nights out of three will be your husband. Central Maine.
272. Have some one call a star which you have picked out, by the name of a young man. The next time you meet this man, if his face is toward you, he loves you; if his side, he likes you; if his back, he hates you. Province of Quebec and Bedford, Mass.
TEA-LEAVES.
273. After drinking tea, turn the cup upside down, whirl it round three times, set it down in the saucer, whirl again, take it up, turn right side up, and look at the grounds. If all are settled in the bottom of the cup, you will be married right off. If they stay on the side, the number of grounds will be the number of years before marriage. The fine dust in the bottom means trouble, a wish, a letter, or a journey. Somewhat general in the United States.
274. Take a "beau" (a little stem) from the tea and put it in your shoe. The first man you meet you will marry. St. John, N.B.
275. Sticks of tea in the teacup denote beaux. Name them, and bite them, and the hardest loves you best. Massachusetts.
WALKING ABROAD.
276. Go to walk and turn back. The first man you meet you'll marry. Massachusetts.
277. If you walk the length of seven rails of a railroad track, the first man that speaks to you after you get off will be your future husband. Bedford, Mass.
278. Take a looking-glass and walk backwards to the wall, and you will see your future husband's picture. Nashua, N.H.
279. If you walk with a gentleman (for the first time), and have on new shoes and go over a bridge, you will marry him. Eastern Massachusetts.
280. If a young woman walking into a strange place picks up three pebbles and puts them under her pillow, she will marry the young man she dreams of. Carbonear, N.F.
281. Run three times around the house, and on the third round a vision of your husband will rise before you. Alabama.
WATER.
282. Float two cambric needles on water and name them. If they float together, they'll marry. If they float apart, they won't marry. Petit Codiac, N.B.
283. Girls prepare basins of dirty and of clean water. If a blindfolded girl puts a stick, with which she reaches about, into the dirty water, she will marry a widower. If into clean water, she will marry a young man. Labrador.
284. Place three basins on the floor, one containing dirty water, another clear water, and the third empty. Let the (blindfolded?) person crawl up to them on her hands and knees. The one she touches will foretell her fate. The clear water means she is to marry a rich man, the dirty water, a poor man, and the empty basin no man at all.
285. Make ready a mirror, a lamp, a basin of water, a towel and soap. Go to bed backward, not speaking afterwards, and lie awake till midnight. If your sweetheart comes and washes, combs his hair, and looks at you, you'll be married. If you don't see him, you'll see your coffin. (Both sexes.) Labrador.
286. When a pot is boiling over, put a small stick in one of the ears and name it for the one you like best. If he loves you in return, the water will cease to boil over; if not, it will continue. Double Creek, Md.
