As fagots are brought from the forest
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!

One by one as they received their rings, the newcomers slipped into
seats about the fire, each one finding a place between two of the
Manasquan girls. Marcia Bates, flushed with pleasure, took a seat
between Bessie and Dolly.

"Oh, how beautiful it all is!" she said. "I don't see how any of us
could ever have laughed at the Camp Fire! But, of course, we didn't
know, about all this, or we never would have laughed as we did."

"I love the part about 'So cleave to these others, your sisters,'" said
Dolly. "It's so fine to feel that wherever you go, you'll find friends
wherever there's a Camp Fire--that you can show your ring, and be sure
that there'll be someone who knows the same thing you know, and believes
in the same sort of things!"

"Yes, that's lovely, Dolly. Of course, we've all read about this, but
you have to do it to know how beautiful it is. I'm so glad you girls
were here for this first Council Fire of ours. You know how everything
should be done, and that seems to make it so much better."

"It would have pleased you just as much, and been just as lovely if
you'd done it all by yourselves, Marcia. It's the words, and the
ceremony that are so beautiful--not the way we do it. Every Camp Fire
has its own way of doing things. For instance, some Camp Fires sing the
Ode to Fire all together, but we have Margery do it alone because she
has such a lovely voice."

"I think it was splendid. I never had any idea she could sing so well."

"Her voice is lovely, but it sounds particularly soft and true out in
the open air this way, and without a piano to accompany her. Mine
doesn't--I'm all right to sing in a crowd, but when I try to sing by
myself, it's just a sort of screech. There isn't any beauty to my tones
at all, and I know it and don't try to sing alone."

"Aren't they all in now?" asked Bessie.

There had been a break in the steady appearance of new candidates before
Eleanor. But, even as she spoke, another figure glided into the light.

"No. There's Gladys Cooper," said Marcia, with a little start.

"I wonder if she sees what there is to the Camp Fire now," said Dolly,
speculatively.

"What is your desire?" asked Eleanor.