Slowly and impressively, Mrs. Royall explained to her the law, phrase by
phrase, and as she ceased speaking, the candidate repeated her promise
to keep it, and instantly every girl in the circle, placing her right
hand over her heart, chanted slowly,
"'This law of the fire I will strive to follow
With all the strength and endurance of my body,
The power of my will,
The keenness of my mind,
The warmth of my heart,
And the sincerity of my spirit.'"
And again after the last words--like a full stop in music--came the few
seconds of utter silence.
It was broken by the Chief Guardian. "With this sign you become a Wood
Gatherer," and she laid the fingers of her right hand across those of
her left. The candidate made the same sign; then she held out her hand,
and Mrs. Royall slipped on her finger the silver ring, which all Camp
Fire Girls are entitled to wear, and as she did so she said,
"'As fagots are brought from the forest
Firmly held by the sinews which bind them,
So cleave to these others, your sisters,
Whenever, wherever you find them.
Be strong as the fagots are sturdy;
Be pure in your deepest desire;
Be true to the truth that is in you;
And--follow the law of the fire.'"
The girl returned to her place in the circle, and at a sign from Anne
Wentworth, four of her girls followed her as she moved forward and stood
before Mrs. Royall. From a paper in her hand she read the names of the
four girls, and declared that they had all met the tests for the second
grade.
The Chief Guardian turned to the four.
"What is your desire?" she asked, and together they repeated,
"'As fuel is brought to the fire
So I purpose to bring
My strength,
My ambition,
My heart's desire,
My joy,
And my sorrow
To the fire
Of humankind.
For I will tend
As my fathers have tended,
And my father's fathers
Since time began,
The fire that is called
The love of man for man,
The love of man for God.'"
As the young earnest voices repeated the beautiful words, Laura Haven's
heart thrilled again with the solemn beauty of it all, and tears crowded
to her eyes in the silence that followed--a silence broken only by the
whispering of the night wind high in the treetops.
Then Mrs. Royall lifted her hand and soft and low the young voices
chanted,
"'Lay me to sleep in sheltering flame,
O Master of the Hidden Fire;
Wash pure my heart, and cleanse for me
My soul's desire.
In flame of service bathe my mind,
O Master of the Hidden Fire,
That when I wake clear-eyed may be
My soul's desire.'"
It was over, and the circle broke again into laughing, chattering
groups. Lanterns were lighted, every spark of the Council Fire carefully
extinguished, and then back through the woods the procession wound,
laughing, talking, sometimes breaking into snatches of song, the
lanterns throwing strange wavering patches of light into the dense
darkness of the woods on either side.