“We were wondering so much about that,” said Marcia. “We could make out the word Wo-he-lo, but we couldn’t understand it. It sounded like an Indian word, but the others didn’t seem to fit in with that idea.”
“It’s just made up from the first syllables of work and health and love, you see,” said Eleanor. “We make up a lot of the words we use. A good many of the ceremonial names that the girls choose are made that way.”
“Then they have a real meaning, haven’t they?”
“Yes. You see, one of the things that we preach and try to teach in the Camp Fire is that things ought to be useful as well as beautiful. And it’s very easy to be both.”
“But tell me about the Indian sound of Wo-he-lo. Was that just an accident, or was it chosen that way on purpose?”
“Both, I think, Marcia. You see, the Indians in this country had a lot of good qualities that a great many people have forgotten or overlooked completely. Of course they were savages, in a way, but they had a civilization of their own, and a great many of their practices are particularly well adapted to this country.”
“Oh, I see! You don’t want them to be forgotten.”
“That’s just it. It’s a good way to keep the memory of earlier times alive, and there seems to be something romantic and picturesque about the Indian names and the Indian things.”
“That’s one of the things I like best that I’ve found out about the Camp Fire since you came to Camp Sunset. We used to think the Camp Fire meant being goody-goody and learning to sew and cook and all sorts of things like that. But you have a lot of fun and good times, too, don’t you?”
“Yes, and there really isn’t anything goody-goody about us, Marcia. You’d soon find that out if you were with us.”