"It's the bugle call to the Council," one explained, "and here comes Miss Anne." Laura glanced curiously at her friend's dress. It was a long loose garment of dark brown, fringed at the bottom and the sleeves. A band of beadwork was fastened over her forehead, and she wore a long necklace of bright-coloured beads. "What is it--a robe of state?" Laura inquired. "Yes, the ceremonial dress," Anne told her, "but you can't see in this light how pretty it is. Come on, we must join the procession." "What has become of your girls?" Laura asked. "They were here a moment ago." "They have gone to get their necklaces," Anne returned. "My girls are all Wood Gatherers as yet--we've not been organised long, you know; but they've been working hard for honours, and for every honour they are entitled to add a bead to their necklaces." "Yours then must represent a great many honours." "Yes," Anne replied. "You see it incites the girls to work for honours when they see that their Guardians have worked and won them. The red beads show that the wearer has won health honours by keeping free from colds, headaches, etc., for a number of months, or by sleeping out of doors, or doing some sort of athletics--walking, swimming, rowing, and the like. The blue ones are for nature study, the black and gold for business, and so on. Each bead has a meaning for the girl--it tells a story--and the more she wins, the finer her record, of course." "What a splendid idea! And how the girls will prize their necklaces by-and-by, and enjoy recalling the stories connected with them!" "Yes," Anne agreed, "they will hand them down to their daughters as a new kind of heirloom, but----" with a laugh she added, "that's looking a long way ahead, isn't it?" By this time the two were in the midst of a merry procession of girls from twelve to twenty, perhaps a third of them wearing the ceremonial dress. "What a gay company they are!" Laura commented, as the procession followed a winding path through the woods, a few carrying lanterns. "Is there anything in the world, Anne, lovelier than a crowd of happy girls?" "Nothing," her friend assented in a low tone. "And, Laura, if you could only see the difference a few days here make in some of the girls who have had all work and no play--like some of mine! It is so delightful to see them grow merry and glad day by day. But here we are. This is our Council Chamber." "I want as many eyes as a spider so that I can look every way at once," Laura cried as the girls arranged themselves in a large circle. "What are those girls over there doing?" "They are the Fire Makers. They were Wood Gatherers for over three months, and have met the requirements for the second class. Some of the others are to be made Fire Makers to-night. Watch Mary Walsh--the one rubbing two sticks. She will make fire without matches--or at least she will try to."