e shall have to put up with some
hardships. To-morrow you girls can fix us bough-beds; then we shall be
quite comfortable. But we shall have to cook out-of-doors, there being
no stove in the cabin."

"We shan't be able to cook on the bar. The breeze from the sea is so
strong there that it would blow the fire away."

"We must come to camp for our meals, then. Perhaps that would be
better after all. We don't wish to run away by ourselves; and besides
this, you are now a Torch Bearer and must take a more active part in
the affairs of the Camp, even if you are of the Meadow-Brook group,"
reminded the guardian.

Harriet nodded thoughtfully.

"How good and kind Mrs. Livingston is! And think of what she has done
for me. It is too good to be true."

"What is too good to be true?" questioned the Chief Guardian herself.

"Everything--all that you have done for me."

"We are still in your debt. Now you had better be getting along. Will
you need a light?"

"No, thank you. Harriet ith an owl. She can thee in the dark jutht ath
well ath in the light," answered Tommy, speaking for Harriet.

The Meadow-Brook party, after calling their good nights, started
toward the cabin, Harriet with the thought strong in her mind that
only one rank lay between her and the highest gift in the power of the
organization to bestow. She determined that one day she would be a
Guardian of the Fire, but she dared not even dream of ever rising to
the high office of Chief Guardian. Harriet's life would be too full of
other things, she felt.

They trooped, laughing and chatting, along the beach, and, reaching
the Lonesome Bar, followed it out. The bar was a narrow, sandy strip
that extended nearly a quarter of a mile out into the bay. About half
way out the cabin had been built and for some time occupied by a
Portsmouth man, who occasionally ran down there for a week-end fishing
trip. The cabin, as a camping place, possessed the double advantage of
being out of the mosquito zone and of being swept by ocean breezes
almost continuously. A fresh breeze was now blowing in from the sea,
and the white-crested rollers could be seen slipping past them on
either side. It was almost as though they were walking down an ocean
lane without even wetting their boots. The water was shallow on either
side, so that even though they stepped off they were in no danger of
going into deep water.

"We have forgotten all about a lamp!" exclaimed Harriet as they neared