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WHEN YOUNG PEOPLE GET TOGETHER 191
friend?".said one, as she snuggled down on the grass beside Laura. "I' mso glad that you came down to our Council Fire night!"
Laura's eyes swept the group. "You must have good times here—you all look so happy," she answered.
They chatted of camp plans and happenings until the talk was interrupted by a clear musical call that floated softly out of the gathering dusk.
"How beautiful! What is it?" Laura asked, as all the girls started up.
"It's the bugle call to the Council," one explained, "and here comes Miss Anne."
Laura glanced curiously at her friend's dress. It was a long loose garment of dark brown, fringed at the bottom and the sleeves. A band of beadwork was fastened over her forehead, and she wore a long necklace of bright-colored beads.
"What it it—a robe of state?" inquired Laura.
"Yes, the ceremonial dress," Anne told her, "but you can't • see in this light how pretty it is. Come on, we must join the procession."
"What has become of your girls?" asked Laura. "They were here a moment ago."
"They have gone to get their necklaces," replied Anne. "My girls are all Wood Gatherers as yet—we've not been organized long, you know; but they've been working hard for honors, and for every honor they are entitled to add a bead to their necklaces."
"Yours then must represent a great many honors."
"Yes," said Anne, "you see it incites the girls to work for honors when they see that their Guardians have worked and won them. The red beads show that the wearer has won health-honors by keeping free from colds, headaches, etc., for a number of months, or by sleeping out of doors, or by engaging in some sort of athletics—walking, swimming, rowing, or the like. The blue ones are for nature study; the black and gold, for business; and so on. Each bead has a meaning for the girl—it tells a story—and the more she wins, the finer her record, of course." |
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