“The boys said that the ‘Seven Sibyls’ would be better, with S. S. for our initials, but I told them that we expected to be more than seven members after a while.”
“I’d suggest ‘sans souci,’ ‘without a care,’ then, for those initials,” said Mrs. Gordon. The judge was out of the house by this time.
“We have to stay S. P., Mother, for a very good reason,” said Jean, thinking of Billy and her first committing of the girls to a club, “but the sibyl part is only for initiations and things like that. Each sibyl has charge of a department, and it is a very good scheme. But you mustn’t tell anything I tell you.”
“Never,” promised Mrs. Gordon.
Some of the girls were not so much in favor of making the motto the name of the club, but they were agreed that even if sans peur remained only the motto, it gave the excuse for calling themselves the S. P. Club. “I move,” said Phoebe, “that we decide on our pin and have it an American eagle, because we have so many around our lakes, and then have a little pennant or banner or some little place in the pin with ‘Sans Peur’ on it.”
“The eagle will stand for our bird hunting, too,” said Bess.
“It is a good motto, too,” said Molly, “if we are off camping. We can add it all if we want to, ‘Sans peur et sans reproche.’ Not to be afraid and not to do anything to bring reproach isn’t so bad for us to remember. Girls, Mother said to-day that she thought it pretty sure, maybe she said sure, that everybody will let us go!”
Thursday came, with its graduation exercises. Friday saw the girls going after their reports. There seemed to be some repressed excitement among the Black Wizards, though everything was so irregular anyway that it was not particularly noticeable.
“I hope you girls have a good time to-morrow,” said Billy with a grin at Jean, as he left the schoolgrounds with Danny Pierce.
“We’re not going on a hike or anything, Billy,” replied Jean, but Billy just nodded and went on.