to be
walking in a rather quiet part of the garden, a portion reserved mostly
for vegetables, which adjoined the great wall that separated the estate
from the highroad. As she sauntered along, doing nothing in particular,
she noticed Mabel, who was standing under an orange tree close to the
wall. At the same moment, advancing towards them came the sound of
Rachel's voice caroling an old English song. Now there is nothing in the
least wrong or unorthodox in standing under an orange tree, yet the
instant Irene glimpsed Mabel's face she was certain her schoolmate was
in that particular spot for some reason the reverse of good. She looked
uneasily at Irene, glanced in Rachel's direction, seemed to hesitate,
and finally took to her heels and bolted away through the bushes. Next
minute, over the top of the high wall descended a little parcel. It
caught in the branches of the orange tree, fell to the ground, and
rolled under a clump of cabbages. Irene took no notice, and sauntered on
in the direction of Rachel, but when the prefect had passed out of sight
she returned, groped among the vegetables, found the parcel, and slipped
it into her packet.

"Miss Mabel Hughes, I believe I've caught you tripping this time," she
chuckled. "I must send out the fiery cross and call an immediate meeting
of the Camellia Buds."

Among the secret practices of the sorority was a private signal only to
be used in times of urgent necessity. It had been suggested by Jess
Cameron, who took the idea from _The Lady of the Lake_, in which poem a
gathering of the clan is proclaimed by a runner bearing a cross of wood
charred in the fire. Two burnt matches fastened together with thread
served the Camellia Buds for their token, and it was the strictest rite
of their order that any one receiving this cryptic symbol must
immediately leave whatever she happened to be doing and proceed
post-haste to the rendezvous.

So promptly did the members of the society respond to the summons that
within ten minutes of the issue of the fiery cross they were assembled
in the summer-house in a state of much expectancy. Irene explained how a
parcel had been thrown over the wall, evidently for Mabel, who
undoubtedly had been standing waiting for it. It was not addressed to
Mabel, however, and as it bore no direction at all on the outside the
Camellia Buds considered themselves justified in opening it. It
contained a package of cheap chocolate, and a letter written in a
f