“Won’t you shake hands with all the girls, Miss Proctor?” she suggested. Doris advanced a trembling hand, but Alice put hers behind her stubbornly. She had no intention of accepting this freak, except under pressure. “Oh, take off your glove, and give the scout handshake,” commanded Marjorie. As the woman complied with her request, both Marjorie and Lily noticed the large, boyish hand she put forth. But the other scouts were all too nervous or too angry to observe this. “I’m not going to shake hands!” said Alice, firmly. “I’ll get out of the scouts first!” Marjorie looked dismayed; this was just what the joker, whoever she was, wanted. She sighed wearily; then a sudden idea came to her. “Go ahead, Alice,” she whispered, “we’ll make her life pretty hot for her once we get her on the ranch. We’ll make her change her attitude, and wish that she had never seen the members of Pansy troop! One poor old lady hasn’t much chance with eight scouts!” Alice’s face brightened at the suggestion, and she hastened to do as Marjorie wished. “And now, Doris, will you get the flag out of my trunk, and we’ll salute it with our new officer. But you must take your hat off, Miss Proctor.” Marjorie had been standing beside the stranger’s chair, and with a sudden movement, she reached over for her hat, and, as if by accident, pulled off her wig. The short, black hair of a young man was visible underneath. “Now, Walter Brooks!” she cried, triumphantly, “suppose you ’fess up!” The boy, who had encountered difficulty all along in controlling his laughter, now let himself go, and burst into hysterical mirth. The girls, too, dropped into chairs, holding their sides, and wiping the tears from their eyes. “I was trying so desperately to get away,” he said, “before Miss Wilkinson was sure of her suspicion. But she was too quick for me!” “What ever made you guess, Marj?” asked Alice. “I was too mad to think of anything like that.” “I guessed,” replied Marjorie, slowly, “because Lily and I knew there was no real Miss Proctor, so somebody must be playing a joke on us.” “No real Miss Proctor?” repeated Ethel, in the most relieved tone. “Then we have no awful lieutenant--” “Yes, you have a lieutenant, and she’s pretty awful,” interrupted Marjorie, her eyes twinkling mysteriously. “Who? Tell us quick, Marj!” demanded Alice. “Well, she’s just passed her eighteenth birthday,” said Marjorie,--“and--and--oh, you tell them, Lil!” Lily stepped forward, and proudly put her arm about her chum. “The long and the short of it is, girls,” she said, “that Marj is our new lieutenant!” The gasps of happiness, together with the congratulations that followed this announcement removed any doubts which Marjorie might have entertained as to the approval of the other girls. Amid the confusion Walter Brooks made an effort to escape unnoticed. But Marjorie detained him.