It sounds like an Indian cry, but it is not. It is a call made up of parts of three important English words, and is addressed to American girls of the present time. This Wohelo, “Wo-he-lo,” is a new word composed of the first two letters of the important watchwords of the Camp-Fire Girls—work, health, love, these really comprising about all there is to life. The call, therefore, is not only euphonious, but is followed by a long, rolling echo when sung in the right tone where the echoes live. Try it sometime on the bank of a lake, in a valley, and hear the sound come ringing back from the rugged hills in a hearty response from old Mother Nature, reciprocating your desire to work, to have health, and to let your whole life be permeated by a spirit of loving, kindly regard for your associates. Therein is the secret of the great success of the Camp-Fire Girls. It combines the development of a knowledge and love of nature with regard for others.
“THE FIRST DEGREE IS THAT OF WOOD-GATHERER.”
The symbol of the Camp-Fire Girls is also admirable. It is fire, as one would naturally expect from the term, and the fire means more than the ordinary flame for cooking or heating. The intense heat of fire is a symbol of enthusiasm. Anything that is worth doing at all is worth doing well and heartily. We are inspired to good works by seeing the work of others, and here is the first step in the life of a Camp-Fire Girl. She never finds the fire ready-made. She must learn to be independent of every one else. The first degree is that of wood-gatherer, and the emblem, crossed logs. She must go alone when the others go, each into her own section of the woods, to find her contribution to the general
