“Come girls, be good,” said Nyoda, after a minute, sitting up and wiping her eyes. “Stand up and take your honors like men!”
And she proceeded to raise all the girls who had not already taken that honor, to the rank of Torchbearer, excepting, of course, Veronica. As she awarded the pins she spoke a few words to each girl, telling in what way she had become worthy of this highest rank. When she came to Katherine, she laid her hand on her shoulder. “Good wine needs no bush,” she said with a whimsical smile. “And Katherine needs no advocate. Her actions speak for themselves. Her masterly handling of that volley ball game the other day gives the keynote to her character. The ability to snatch victory from seeming defeat is a gift which will carry one far in the world. And do not forget that Katherine went into that game as a humble filler-in, simply to oblige the team, and without a thought of gaining any glory thereby. That is what I meant by losing one’s self in the common cause which is a necessary qualification for a Torchbearer. Katherine would go to any trouble to help somebody else get glory for themselves, or to help them out of trouble.” And Veronica almost burst with the desire to tell of the last great service Katherine had done her.
Katherine blushed at Nyoda’s words and winked back the tears and dropped the pin, and murmured brokenly that she would try to be a worthy Torchbearer, and would do her best to stop being so absent-minded. And then all the Torchbearers, new and old, joined hands in a circle and repeated their desire:
“The light that has been given to me
I desire to pass undimmed unto others.”
“And now a word about the future,” said Nyoda, putting wood on the fire and sending the flames roaring up the chimney. “You girls declare you do not want another Guardian. I heartily agree with you in this. That does not mean that I would be jealous of a possible successor. But I think the time has come when you no longer need a Guardian. For three years you have been bound together by ties stronger than sisterhood, and have had all the fun that it is possible for girls to have, working always as a unit. You have stood in a close circle, always facing inward. Now you must turn around and face outward. You have been leaders from the beginning, and I have trained you as leaders. And a leader must stand alone. Each one of you will have a different way of passing on the light. The time has come to begin. The old order has passed when you did every thing under my direction. You must kindle new Camp Fires now and teach to others the things you have learned.”
“Oh, Nyoda,” cried Gladys sorrowfully, “do you mean that all our good times together are over? That this is the end of it all?”
“No, dear, this is not the end,” said Nyoda cheerfully, “this is the ‘beginning of it all.’ I do not mean for a moment that you girls are not to meet and frolic together any more; but that must not be the main thing. You must begin leading groups of younger girls and teaching them to have a good time as you have learned to. What wonderful Guardians you will make in time!” she said musingly.
“Besides,” she added, after a moment’s silence, while the girls thoughtfully pondered the new idea she had given them, “you had come to the parting of the ways, although you didn’t seem to realize it. You have graduated from school, and next year Hinpoha and Gladys and Katherine are going away to college, each one to a different city, and Nakwisi is to travel with her aunt, and Veronica will be going to New York to study music sooner or later. That leaves only Sahwah and Medmangi here in the city. You couldn’t go on as you have in the past, even if I were not going away. But come,” she cried in an animated tone, “enough of solemn talk! We’ve had three years together, and nobody can take them away from us, never. And we’re all together now. Let the future take care of itself; this is today! Come, come, a song!”
And once more the rafters rang: