own their portraits, that is, as
many as had displayed any conspicuous peculiarities.

"O Pom-pom! O dear Pom-pom, O _darling_ Pom-pom!" gushed Jo, rolling
her eyes in ecstasy, and Bengal Virden, laughing sheepishly, went
forward.

Miss Amesbury watched the performance with tears of merriment rolling
down her cheeks. "I never saw anything so funny!" she exclaimed to Mary
Sylvester. "That phrase, 'who else _could_ it be' is a perfect gem."

Agony was somewhat disappointed that her portrait was not painted; it
would have drawn her into more notice. So far she was only "among those
present" at camp. None of the old girls had paid any attention to her.

After all the portraits had been painted the rest of the girls were
called upon to do individual stunts. Some sang, some made speeches, some
danced, and the worse the performance the greater the applause from the
initiators. One slender, dark-eyed girl with short hair whistled, with
two fingers in her mouth. At the first note Migwan and Gladys started
and clasped each other's hands. The mystery of the fairy piping they had
heard in the woods that first afternoon was solved. The same clear,
sweet notes came thrilling out between her fingers, alluring as the
pipes of Pan. The whistler was a girl named Noel Carrington; she was one
of the younger girls whom nobody had noticed particularly before. Her
whistling brought wild applause which was perfectly sincere; her
performance delighted the audience beyond measure. She was called back
again and again until at last, quite out of breath, she begged for
mercy, when she was allowed to retire on the condition that she would
whistle some more as soon as she got her breath back.

Noel's performance closed the stunts. When she had sat down Miss Judy
rose and said that she guessed the Alley dwellers were pretty well
acquainted with each other, and would now go for a swim in the
moonlight. Soon all but Carmen Chadwick were splashing in the silvery
water, playing hide and seek with the moonbeams on the ripples and
feeling a thrill and a magic in the river which was never there in the
daylight. After a glorious frolic they came out to stand around the fire
and eat marshmallows until it was time to go back to camp.

"Initiation wasn't so terrible after all," Carmen confided to Katherine
in the launch.

"Heaps of fun," replied Katherine, laughing reminiscently.

"Isn't Miss Peckham a prune?" whispered Sybil's voice behind Katherine.
"