“Well,” said Kathleen, “I am queen, and I have my Cabinet.  Now the girls of my Cabinet are the following:  Ruth Craven is my Prime Minister; Kate Rourke comes next in importance; then follow Susy Hopkins, Clara Sawyer, Hannah Johnson, Rosy Myers, and Mary Rand.  Now all of you girls whom I have named are expected to uphold order—­such order as is alone necessary for the Wild Irish Girls.  You are expected on all occasions to uphold the authority of me, your queen.  You are never under any circumstances to breathe a word against dear old Ireland.  The other girls who join the society will be looked after by you; you will instruct them in our rules, and you will help them to be good members of a most important society.  I believe there are a great many girls willing to join.  If so, will they hold up their hands?”

Immediately a great show of hands was visible.

“Now, Kate Rourke,” cried Kathleen, “please take down the names of the girls who intend to become members of the Wild Irish Girls.”

The girls came forward one by one, and Kate took down their names; and it was quickly discovered that, out of the hundred foundationers who belonged to the Great Shirley School, sixty had joined Kathleen’s society.

“We shall soon get the remaining forty,” said Mary Rand.  “They will be all agog to come on.  Their positions are not so very pleasant as it is, poor things!”

“Perhaps sixty are about as many as we can manage for the present,” said Kathleen.  “Now, girls, I intend to present you each with a tiny badge.  I have a bag full of them here.  Will you each come forward and accept the badge of membership?”

Kathleen’s badges were very much admired, the eager girls bending down towards the light of the lamps in order to examine them more thoroughly.  She had strung narrow green ribbon through each of the little silver hearts, and the girls could therefore slip them over their heads at once.

“You must hide them,” said Kathleen.  “The thing about these badges is that you will always feel them pressing against your hearts, and nobody else will know anything about them.  They belong to Ireland and to me—­to the home of the free and to Kathleen O’Hara.  They seal you as my loving friends and followers for ever and ever.”

Girls are easily impressed, and Kathleen’s words were so fervent that some of them felt quite choky about the throat.  They received their badges with hands that very nearly trembled.  Kathleen next handed a slightly handsomer badge, but with exactly the same device, to the members of her Cabinet.  Finally, she took the box of pale-blue cashmere blouses and opened it in the light of the lamps.  The enthusiasm, which had been extremely keen before the appearance of the blouses, now rose to fever-height.  Whom were these exquisite creations meant for?  Kathleen smiled as she handed one to Mary Rand, another to Ruth Craven, another to Kate Rourke, and finally to each member of her Cabinet.