word we wanted,--the 'quest'
of the ring. Let's put it in."

"What does it mean?" asked Katherine.

"A search," Celia answered.

"Then why won't 'search' do?"

"But 'quest' sounds more like the Forest," Rosalind urged.

"More romantic," added Belle, adjusting her comb and tying her ribbon.

"One word is as good as another if it means what you want to say,"
insisted Jack. "They think they are so smart with their 'reciprocity,' and
they got it out of a book."

Rosalind glanced at him reproachfully. "We looked in the dictionary for
the meaning," she said.

"I see no objection to getting it out of a book. Most constitutions are
patterned after others, and reciprocity is a good word. Is there any
more?" Miss Celia spread her work on her knee and turned to Maurice.

"Just the watchword 'The Forest.'"

"I like your society very much and want to join if, as you suggested, I
can be an honorary member. I can try to bear hard things bravely, and
remember the Forest secret, although I haven't any time to give to the
quest of the ring."

"Then let her write her name under the magician's," said Rosalind,
clapping her hands. "Now we have seven members."

Maurice had his fountain-pen in his pocket, just as if he had expected a
new member this morning, and Celia signed her name in the book beneath
"C.J. Morgan, Magician."

"He wrote that for fun, because Rosalind calls him 'the magician,'" Belle
explained.

"I haven't heard that old title for many a year," Celia remarked, as she
waited for her signature to dry.

"Now we have to choose a badge," said Belle.

Rosalind spread out her collection of leaves. "We thought a leaf would be
appropriate," she added. There were beech, and maple, and poplar, and oak
in several varieties.

"I think I should choose this," and Celia pointed to a leaf from the
scarlet oak. "Not only because it is beautiful in shape, but because the
oak tree stands for courage. A 'heart of oak' has become a proverb, you
know."

Rosalind's eyes grew bright. "I didn't think of its having a meaning. I
like that."

"And in the fall we'll have scarlet badges instead of green ones," said
Jack.

There could be no better choice than this, they all agreed; and Jack
gathered a handful, that they might put on their badges at once.

"On our way home we must stop and tell the magician about it," Rosalind
said, as she pinned a leaf on Celia's dress.

CHAPTER SIXTEENTH.

RECIPROCITY.

"Take up