“What do you mean?” asked one of the girls.

“I mean that there is something peculiar about the whole affair,” continued Patricia.  “What was there to hinder those two girls from going out there in the woods and raising a commotion just to attract attention to themselves?  They have been posing ever since they arrived at Camp Wau-Wau.  Some folks like to be martyrs.”

“Oh, I don’t think that is possible,” objected a girl.  “They appear to be such nice girls.”

“Mind you, I am not saying that they did purposely raise a commotion,” hastily explained Patricia.  “I am simply saying that they might have done so.  However, we shall see this evening.  I hope they will confess their part in the affair and save us all from suspicion.”

Harriet’s face burned.  She had overheard the entire conversation, though she felt quite certain that it had not been intended for her ears.  She walked away with head erect, a look in her eyes that might have caused certain of the young women in camp to feel apprehensive, had they observed that expression.

Tommy hurried to the tree on which the notice had been posted a few moments later.  She turned up her nose after having read the order to be present at the Council Fire and wanted to know if the Camp Girls were too poor to buy paper.  She said she had plenty of writing paper and declared that she would offer it to Mrs. Livingston so the Chief Guardian would not have to write her orders on bark in the future.

This brought a smile to the faces of those who heard it, and caused them to exchange significant nods.  Later in the afternoon, one by one, several girls might have been seen entering the tent of the Chief Guardian, their actions indicating that they sought to escape observation.  They were not wholly unobserved, however, for there were many pairs of bright, keen eyes in Camp Wau-Wau, but those girls who did observe their companions enter Mrs. Livingston’s tent were discreet enough not to mention what they had seen.

Dinner that evening brought with it an atmosphere of expectancy.  It was the still atmosphere before the storm when the fall of a knife or a fork caused nearly every girl at the tables to start nervously.  Just before darkness descended four Fire Makers had piled wood on the Council Fire until it blazed brightly throwing out considerable heat and a light that reached far in among the trees.

One by one the girls began to appear from their tents, clad in their ceremonial costumes.  These were of khaki colored galatea cloth.  They were trimmed with fringes of genuine leather, shells and beads.  About her neck each girl wore a string of gayly colored beads.  Some of the strings contained more beads than others, for each bead represented an “honor” fairly earned by the girl who wore it.  On the sleeve of each Camp Girl’s costume was worked an emblem.  On those of the Wood Gatherers were the crossed logs; on the arms of the Fire Makers might be seen the orange and gold colors representing fire.  On the sleeves of the Torch Bearers, the third grade, a dash of white was added, representing smoke from the flames.