As she touched the tinder beneath the fire
Eleanor raised her hand, and, as the flames began to crackle, she
lowered it, and at once the girls began the song of Wo-he-lo:

Wo-he-lo means love.
Wo-he-lo, wo-he-lo, wo-he-lo.
We love love, for love is the heart of life.
It is light and joy and sweetness,
Comradeship and all dear kinship.
Love is the joy of service so deep
That self is forgotten.
Wo-he-lo means love.

Outside the circle now other and unseen voices joined them in the
chorus:

Wo-he-lo for aye,
Wo-he-lo for aye,
Wo-he-lo, wo-he-lo, wo-he-lo for aye!

Then for a moment utter silence, so that the murmur of the waves seemed
amazingly loud. Then, their voices hushed, half the Manasquan girls
chanted:

Wo-he-lo for work!

And the others, their voices rising gradually, answered with:

Wo-he-lo for health!

And without a break in the rhythm, all the girls joined in the final

Wo-he-lo, wo-he-lo, wo-he-lo for love!

Then Margery, her torch still raised above her head, while she swung it
slowly in time to the music of her song, sang alone:

O Fire!
Long years ago when our fathers fought with great animals you
were their great protection.
When they fought the cold of the cruel winter you saved them.
When they needed food you changed the flesh of beasts into savory
meat for them.
During all the ages your mysterious flame has been a symbol to
them for Spirit,
So, to-night, we light our fire in grateful remembrance of the
Great Spirit who gave you to us.

Then Margery took her place in the circle, and Eleanor called the roll,
giving each girl the name she had chosen as her fire name.

Then Mary Turner, in her new ceremonial robe, fringed with beads,
slipped into the circle of the firelight, bright and vivid now.

"Oh, Wanaka," she said, calling Eleanor by her ceremonial name, "I bring
to-night these newcomers to the Camp Fire, to tell you their Desire, and
to receive from you their rings."

One by one the girls of the Halsted Camp Fire stepped forward, and each
repeated her Desire to be a Wood-Gatherer, and was received by Eleanor,
who explained to each some new point of the Law of the Fire, so that all
might learn. And to each, separately, as she slipped the silver ring of
the Camp Fire on her finger, she repeated the beautiful exhortation:

Firmly held by the sinews which bind them,