Lightly Miss Mason, as King Arthur, touched her upon the shoulder with the point of a silver sword, exclaiming:
“Bold Sir Bedivere, first made of all the Knights,
Strike, thou art worthy of the Table Round.”
Returning to her place, Joan Peters followed Margaret, repeating the little act of homage before the golden chair and hearing the words:
“Sir Percival, whom Arthur and his knighthood called the Pure.”
Tory Drew came forward to be appointed the third Knight. She looked as if she were dreaming, as if unaware that they were only going through a picturesque ceremony as an unusual Christmas entertainment. Of course they intended to add a new element of romance and of service to their work, but no one of the other girls appeared so deeply affected.
Miss Mason was conscious of this, so that Tory’s attitude influenced her own. Moreover, Tory’s short red-gold hair, her white face with the wide dark eyes and slender chin to-night wore an expression of singular ardor and intensity.
The Troop Captain and her friends knew that Tory through her vivid imagination had overleaped the bounds of centuries. She saw in vague outline not her own Girl Scouts and Miss Mason, not the dearly beloved room in the House in the Woods transformed to suit their purpose, but a castle in Britain, King Arthur and his famous Knights.
Miss Mason had chosen for Tory the one Knight in all the Table Round who seeks and finds the Holy Grail.