"Burn Fire, Burn," Hazel Edwards proposed.
"Marion, you start it," Miss Ladd suggested, for Marion Stanlock was the "star" soprano of the Fire.
In a moment the well-trained voices of fourteen Camp Fire Girls were sending the clear operatic strains of a special adaptation of the fire chant of the Camp Fire ritual. The music had been composed and arranged by Marion Stanlock and Helen Nash a few months previously, and diligent practice had qualified the members of the Camp Fire to render the production impressively.
This song was succeeded by a chorus-rendering of a similar adaptation of the Fire Maker's Song. Then followed an impromptu program of miscellaneous songs, interspersed here and there with such musical expressions of patriotism as "America," "Star Spangled Banner," and "Over There," in evidence of a mindfulness of the part of the United States in the great international struggle for democracy.
Meanwhile dusk gathered heavier and heavier, the stars came out, and still the fire blazed up brightly and the girls continued to sing songs and tell stories and drink in the vigor and inspiration of the scene. At last, however, the Guardian announced that it was 9 o'clock, which was Flamingo's curfew, and there was a general move to extinguish the fire, which by this time had been allowed to burn low.
Suddenly all were startled by an astonishing occurrence. A heavy object, probably a stone as large as a man's fist, fell in the heap of embers, scattering sparks and burning sticks in all directions. There was a chorus of screams, and a frantic examination, by the girls, of one another's clothes to see if any of them were afire.
CHAPTER XXI
"SH!"
"Who in the world do you suppose did that?" Hazel Edwards exclaimed, as she hastily examined her own clothes and then quickly struck out a spark that clung to the skirt of Azalia Atwood.
"Quick, girls," cried Miss Ladd; "did any of you do that?"