Evening star., 1917-05-27

the room in which the questioning took
place. but from the house. and hur-
riedly at that. AN stay away" he
concluded.
Verman. being tongue -tied-not with
out advantage in this case. and surely
an ideal qualification for membership
was not so apprehensive. He voted
with Sam and Penrod. carrying the day.
New rules were adopted at every
meeting tthough it cannot be said that
all Of them were practicable). Tor. in
addition to the information possessed
by Sam and Penrod. Herman and Ner-
man had many ideas of their own,
founded upon remarks overhead at
home. Both their parents belonged to
secret orders their father to the lima
penent 'Nerolent Lodge 80 stated by
Hcrman). and their mother to the
Order of White Doves
From these and other sources Penrod
found no difficulty in compiling ma
teria1 for what came to be known as
the "rixuar: and it was the rixuaI he
was reading to the members When Mrs.
Williams happened to observe the cere-
monial raising of the emblem OF the
order.
The ritual contained the oatn. key
to the secret language. or code tdeVised
10y Penrod for use in uncertain emer-
genciesD. and passwords for admission
TO the shack, also instructions Tor rec
ogniZing brother member m the darh,
and a rather alarming sketch OF the
things to he done during the initiation
of candidate.
This last was employed for the benefit
of Master Roderick Magsworth Bits. 1r,
on the Saturday following the fa&-rals-
ing. He presented himself in Sans yard,
not for initiation, Understanding no pre-
yious knowledge of the Society OF the
In-or-In-but for the general purposes or
sport and pastime. At first sight or the
shack he expressed anticipation OF
pleasure. adding some suggestions for i'm
proving the architectural effect Being
prevented. however from entering, ana
even from standing in the vicinity OF the
sacred building. lie plaintively demanded
an explanation: whereupon he was COM
manded to withdraw to the front yard for
a time, and the members held meeting in
the shack. Roddy was elected. and con-
sented to undergo the initiation.
He was not the only new member that
day. a short time after Roddy had been
taken into the shack for the reading OF
the ritual and other ceremonies, little
Maurice Levy entered the Williams gate
and strolled round TO the back yard. look
ing for Sam. He was surprised and de-
lighted to behold the promising shack.
and, like Roddy. entertained fair hopes
for the future.
The door of the shack was closed:
board covered the window. but a mur-
mur OF voices came from within Maurice
stole close and listened. Through
crack he could the flicker OF can
die flame and he heard the voice or ZEN
rod Schofeld:
.'Roddy Bits. do you solemnly swear"
well, all right" said the voice of Rod
dy. some what breathless.
How many fingers you see before your
eyes,"
Cant see any," Roddy returned. "How
could /. with this thing over my eyes.
and laying down on my stummick. any
way?''
"Then the time has come" Penrod an
nounced in solemn tones. 1.-THE time has
come
Whack:
was thereupon applied to Roddy.
''Ow.' complained the candidate.
NO nose!'' said Penrod. sternly. and
added: "Roddy Bits must now say the
oath. Say exactly what I say. Roddy,
and if you dont-well. you better, be-
cause you'll see! Now. say solernnly
swear"
u solemnly swear" said Roddy.
ITO keep the secrets-
ITO keep the secrets" Roddy re-
peated.
ITO keep the secrets in infadelaty and
violate and sanctuary"
'sWhat?" Roddy naturally inquired.
Whack,
"ow.' cried Roddy. That's no fair.''
you got to say just what l say" Pen
rod was heard informing him.. That's
the ritual. and anyway. even II you do
get it right, Verman's got to hit you
every now and then. because that's part
of the ritual. too. Now go on and say it.
L solemnly swear to keep the secrets in
infadelaty and violate and sanctuary.
'I solemnly Swear@ Roddy began.
But Maurice Levy was tired of being
no party to such fascinating proceedings,
and he began to hammer upon the door.
Sam! Sam Williams he shouted.
"Lemme in there, I know lots about
'nishiatin. Lemme ini''
The door was flung open, revealing
Roddy Bits, blindfolded and bound, ly-
ing face down upon the floor of the
shack: but Maurice had only fugitive
oil of ma hot haf
he. too. was recumbent. Four boys
flung themselves Indignantly upon him
and bore him to earth.
Hi! he squealed. What you doin?
Haven't you got any sense?'
And. from within the shack. Roddy
added his own protest.
Let me up. can't you?" he cried. 1T
got to see what's goin' on out there.
haven't ]? Guess I'm got goin' to lay
here all day. What you think I'm made
off,
You hush up" Penrod commanded
This is nice hiznuss!" he continued.
deeply agEreved. What kind Of a
nishiation do You expect this is. any
how"
well. here's Maurice Levy gone and
seen part of the secrets" said Sam. in
voice of equal plaintveness "Yes;
and ] bet he was Iistenin' out here,
too"
"Lemme up"' begged Maurice. half
stifled. Il didn't do any harm to your
- 1
soon be nishiated myself l amt
afrad. SO if you 'nishiate me, what
difference Will it make if l did hear
littleo"
Struck with this idea. which seemed
reasonable. Penrod Obtained silence
from every one except Roddy and 1t
was decided to allow Maurice to rise
and retire to the front yard The
brother members then Withdrew within
the shack, elected Maurice to the fell
lowship. and completed the initiation of
Mr.. Bits. After that. Maurice was
summoned and underwent the ordeal
with fortitude. though the newest
brother-still tingling with his own
experiences-helped to make certain
parts Of the riXual unprecedentedly Sc
we're.
Once endowed with full membership.
Maurice and Roddy accepted the obIi-
cations and privileges of the order with
enthusiasm. Both interested them
selves Immediately in improvements
for the shack. and made excursions to
their homes to obtain materials Roddy
returned with a pair of Iensless moth
er-oi-peari opera glasses, Il contribution
which led to the creation of a new Of
hce. called the warner" 1t was his
duty to climb upon the back fence once
every fifteen minutes and search the
horlzon for lntruders or ANYBODY that
hasn't got any biZnuss around here"
Ih1s post proved so popular at first
that II was found necessary to provide
for rotation in Office, and to shorten
the interval from fifteen minutes to an
INDEFINITE but much briefer period de-
sermined principally by argument be-
tween me incumbent and his successor.
ana Maurice Levy contributed a de-
md