fountain. There was a shady nook here with bushes of
bamboo, and a tree with a sweet flower like honeysuckle, and little red
roses, and a border of Parma violets, and a seat made of bright green
tiles--altogether a very retired and pleasant and suitable spot in which
to hold a committee meeting. Exactly behind the seat stood an enormous
jar of terra-cotta, colored red, and decorated with Greek figures in
black silhouette, rather blurred and rubbed off, but still
distinguishable. No doubt its original use had been to store water,
wine, or olive-oil, but nowadays it was merely an ornament to the
garden. A plant pot full of scarlet geraniums rested on its head, and an
arbutula twined up the sides.

Peachy climbed up the bank behind, and with the help of Jess removed
the pot of scarlet geraniums; then very cautiously and carefully she let
herself down inside the jar. It was just big enough to contain her, and
she lay concealed like one of the forty thieves in the story of _Ali
Baba_. She had one advantage, however, over the famous brigands. There
was a little round hole broken in the front of the jar, and by putting
her eye to this she had an excellent view of her surroundings.

"Are you all right?" asked Irene anxiously.

"Fixed splendidly, thanks. Stick that flower-pot back on the top and
nobody'll ever guess I'm inside. Now scoot, quick, for it won't do for
them to see you haunting round. The place must look absolutely innocent
when they arrive."

"We won't go too far. Shout for us if you get so you can't bear it any
longer," said Jess, putting the geraniums on like a stopper, and
dragging Irene away.

Peachy's position was certainly not one of comfort, squatting at the
bottom of the great jar, and she was relieved that she had not long to
wait before the rival sorority arrived to hold its meeting. The girls
came scurrying, flushed after their games of tennis, and flung
themselves down, some on the marble steps and some on the tiled seat.
Bertha, as the Camellia Buds had suspected, was evidently the high
priestess, and opened the ceremony without delay.

"Members of the Starry Circle," she began hurriedly, "repeat your oath."

"We vow to be loyal to one another and to our President, and never to
reveal the secrets of our society," recited seven voices in reply.

("Aha!" chuckled Peachy to herself, in the depths of the gigantic jar.
"Got the name of your precious sorority slap-bang off!")

"We've met together t