When the afternoon set for the Council Fire arrived, had you happened to meet the fifteen merry, chattering girls, accompanied by two older girls, Mary and Lucy Robbins (the country school teacher), as chaperones, wending their way to the orchard, you, without a doubt, would have smiled and a question might naturally have arisen regarding their sanity.  They certainly possessed intelligent faces, but why those queer-shaped Indian dresses?  And such an awkward length for a young girl’s dress!  And why was their hair all worn hanging in one braid over each shoulder, with a band over the forehead?  Why so many strings of gaudy beads around their necks?  These questions may all be answered in one single sentence:  The girls are dressed in Ceremonial Costume.

[Illustration:  Elizabeth Schmidt “Laughing water”]

A great many delays along the way were caused by girls asking the names of the different wild flowers and weeds they noticed in passing.  One of the girls stopped to examine a prickly-looking plant about two feet high, with little, blue flowers growing along the stem, and asked if any one knew the name of it.  They were about to look it up in a small “Flower Guide” owned by one of the girls, when some one said:  “Why, that is a weed called ‘Vipers Bougloss,’” They also found cardinal flower, thorn apple, monkey flower and jewel-weed in abundance, wild sunflower, ginseng, early golden rod, “Joe-pie-weed,” marshallow, black cohosh and purple loose-trifle.  The girls also noticed various birds.

On a tall tree one of the girls espied a rose-breasted Grosbeak, rare in this part of Bucks County.  They all stopped and watched for a short time a white-bellied Nut-hatch.  The girls were startled as a Scarlet Tanger flew past to join his mate, and they at last reached their rendezvous, the orchard.

By half-past three they were all seated in a circle waiting for the ceremonies to begin.  Mary Midleton, their Guardian, stepped to the front, saying:  “Sunflower, light the fire.”  Sunflower, through several months of daily attainment, had become a Fire-maker and was very proud of the Fire-maker’s bracelet she was entitled to wear.  Sunflower was given that name because she always looked on the bright side of everything; she looked like a sunflower, too, with her tanned face and light, curly hair.

All the girls had symbolical names given them.  “Lark” was so named because of her sweet voice and because she loved to sing; “Sweet Tooth,” on account of her love for candy; “Quick Silver,” because she was quick, bright and witty; “Great Buffalo,” a girl who was very strong; Elizabeth Schmidt, “Laughing Water,” so named because she laughed and giggled at everybody and everything; “Babbling Brook,” because it seemed an utter impossibility for her to stop talking; “Burr,” because she sticks to ideas and friends; “Faith,” quiet and reserved; “Comet,” comes suddenly and brings a lot of light; “Black Hawk,” always eager at first, but inclined to let her eagerness wear off:  “Pocahontas,” because she never can hurry; “Ginger Foot,” a fiery temper, “Gypsy,” so named on account of her black hair; “Bright Eyes,” for her bright, blue eyes; “Rainbow,” for her many ways, and because she is pretty.