Part 16 (1/2)
”Gather round the council fire, The chieftain waits you there,”
chanted the runner, circling the camp after having gone straight through the center from her own tent. The girls began moving toward a dark spot in the young forest where the wood for the fire had been piled, but not yet lighted.
”What are we going to do?” questioned Tommy.
Miss Elting said she could not say; that the Chief Guardian had called the council. Silent figures took their places, sitting on the ground, curling their feet underneath them, speaking no words, waiting for the flame that would open the Wau-Wau council. At last all were seated.
From among the number there stepped forward a dark figure who halted before the pile of dry wood, then, stooping, began rubbing two sticks together, while the circle of Camp Girls chanted:
”Flicker, flicker, flicker, flame; Burn, fire, burn!”
A tiny blaze sprang from the two sticks, then the chant rose higher and higher, figures rose up, swaying their bodies from side to side in unison as the blaze grew into a flame and the flame into a roaring fire, the tongues of which reached almost to the tops of the slender trees that surrounded the camp of the Wau-Wau Girls.
”I light the light of health for Wau-Wau,” announced the firemaker, turning her back to the flames and facing part of the circle of expectant faces on which the lights and shadows from the fire were playing weirdly.
This completed the opening ceremony. The council fire was in order, the purpose of the meeting would soon be explained, thus relieving the curiosity of some fifty girls who were burning to know what it was all about. Not the least curious of these was Tommy Thompson.
CHAPTER XI
A REWARD WELL-EARNED
”I'm just peris.h.i.+ng to know what it's about,” confided Margery Brown to the girl next to her. ”What do you suppose it is?”
”I think it has something to do with last night,” answered the Camp Girl.
”Oh! you mean about Harriet and Tommy?”
”Yes. Be quiet, the C.G. is going to say something.”
The Chief Guardian had already risen. Pa.s.sing about the circle, she extended a hand to each of the girls there a.s.sembled. There were no other greetings than the warm clasp of friends.h.i.+p and good-fellows.h.i.+p, but it meant much to these brown-faced, strong-limbed young women who had been members of the organization for a year or more.
The Chief Guardian took her place by the fire.
”My daughters,” she said, ”we have gathered this evening about the council fire, that ancient inst.i.tution, to speak of matters that are near to the heart of each of us. Last night two of your number gave a marked demonstration of what a Camp Girl may do, of what pluck will do, an exhibition of sheer moral courage, one of the greatest a.s.sets of a Camp Girl.”
”That ith uth,” whispered Tommy to Harriet Burrell, who sat beside her. Harriet's face was flushed. She feared the guardian was about to speak of her achievements, which Harriet was not at all eager to hear.
”I refer to the thrilling experiences of Miss Burrell and Miss Thompson in battling with the big seas far out there in the darkness, and with every reason to believe that their efforts would prove of no avail. It is not the battle of despair to which I refer. There was no such. Rather, it was that dogged courage that never even permits a suggestion of give-up to enter the mind of the fighter. It was a courage such as this, combined with rare judgment and physical ability, that makes it possible for Miss Burrell and Miss Thompson to be present with us at the council fire this evening.
”They have not told the story willingly. I had to draw it from them bit by bit, which I venture to say is more than any of my girls have succeeded in doing.” The guardian smiled as she glanced about at the eager, flushed faces of the Camp Girls.
”Yes, yes!” they cried.
”As you all know, Miss Burrell, seeing the danger of her companion, hurried to her rescue, with the result that both girls went into the sea. They were quickly carried out to sea by the undertow, which they fought away from and propelled themselves to the surface. Then they began swimming, but in the darkness were unable to see the sh.o.r.e.
After a time, Miss Thompson, less strong than her companion, gave out.
Then began the real battle, and though Miss Burrell was benumbed with cold, exhausted by her efforts, she managed by a great effort to keep herself and her companion afloat. Fortunately for them, the wind had s.h.i.+fted and they swam and drifted into the bay and eventually to the sh.o.r.e. We have no means of telling how long our two plucky Wau-Wau Girls were in the water, because they themselves cannot tell when they reached the sh.o.r.e--but, think of it! cast away on a dark and stormy ocean in a black night such as that was. That is a triumph, an act of courage and heroism that should be held up as an example to every Camp Girl in America. However, I should not advise any of you to attempt to emulate the example set by our two young friends,” added the Chief Guardian warningly.