The march having been resumed and finished, they stood thus blindfolded before the High Priestess in order to be tested for courage and fortitude. Each applicant was led by the guide before her, who, for fortitude, administered the angle worm, and for courage trailed the mouse over their limbs. It is perhaps unnecessary to mention that macaroni was substituted for the angle worm and that an artificial mouse served as a lively rodent. When these sacred and solemn rites were performed the applicants were taken through numerous evolutions of a march to the centre of the room, in front of a table, whereon rested in the folds of American and British colors the Constitution and By-laws of the Order. There the oath of Allegiance was administered and at a thunderous outburst of music, the bandages were cut asunder and the applicants found themselves in the glow of a diffused light. Standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by rows of graceful girls arrayed in immaculate Grecian costumes, were all the other members of the Order. While the High Priestess, majestically waving her sceptred arm, proclaimed them tried and true members of D. N. A. The ceremonies were concluded by the singing of the National Anthems. CHAPTER III THE MOONLIGHT SOIRÉE Margaret was reclining on a divan in her luxurious study, perusing a letter. The room was redolent with the perfume of June roses, and the warm rays of the afternoon sun, filtering through the stained glass windows--now and then obscured by the swaying leaves and branches of the trees--were flitting across her lovely form as if playing hide and seek. Suddenly the door burst open and Aurora, somewhat flushed, holding in her hand a note, entered the room, exclaiming excitedly: "Horrible! Margie, horrible! I do not know what to do! It will be extremely h'embawassing aw, don't you know." "What is it Aurora, is that Jewsky after you again?" [1] asked Margaret with a rougish smile, glancing toward her chum. "I do not think he is a 'Ebrew, my dear, his signature aw, is some foreign sounding name. Carlos Do-Do-Do-Don Seville." "Well, I don't care what he is. The dodo is an extinct bird you know. He looks like a Jewsky anyway. The idea, pray what has he to say?" questioned Margaret, contracting her eyebrows to a frown. "He writes that he will grace aw, our moonlight reception with 'is presence. Horrid, Margie, horrid! I hate him!" "Fiddlesticks! Rats!" retorted Margaret. "It is up to us then. If he bobs up tomorrow night at the show, there will be something doing. That Dago is positively the limit. He is perfectly horrid. If I see him ogling me once that night, I'll 'cut the chains of my tongue loose' at him, the wretch!"