diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:16:04 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:16:04 -0700 |
| commit | c22255046e153666ce48348a494ccdd7d2a88565 (patch) | |
| tree | eeaa339eb3b3c9acd922f579f66741cdf533a92c /904-h | |
Diffstat (limited to '904-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 904-h/904-h.htm | 14551 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 904-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 246293 bytes |
2 files changed, 14551 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/904-h/904-h.htm b/904-h/904-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4487409 --- /dev/null +++ b/904-h/904-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14551 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title>Her Father’s Daughter | Project Gutenberg</title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + + body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + h1, h2 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; + } + + h2 {font-size: x-large;} + + /* === h2 Subheading === */ + .subheadc { + font-size: medium; + font-weight: bold; + font-variant: small-caps; + text-align: center; + margin: 1% 2%; + } + + p { + margin-top: .5em; + margin-bottom: .5em; + text-align: justify; + text-indent: 1em; + } + + /* === Continuation after illo or poetry === */ + p.noindent {text-indent: 0;} + + /* === Title page === */ + div.titlepage { + text-align: center; + page-break-before: always; + margin-top: 20%; + margin-bottom: 20%; + } + + div.titlepage p { + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0; + font-weight: bold; + line-height: 1.5; + margin-top: 3em; + } + + div.chapter { + clear: both; + margin-top: 10%; + margin-bottom: 3%; + page-break-before: always; + } + + hr.chap {width: 65%; margin: 5% 17.5%;} + .x-ebookmaker hr.chap {visibility: hidden;} + @media print {hr.chap {visibility: hidden;}} + + /* === Fonts === */ + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + /* === Alignment === */ + .mt5 {margin-top: 5%;} + .center {text-align: center;} + .right {text-align: right; margin-right: 2%;} + + blockquote { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + /* === Lists === */ + ul {list-style-type: none;} + + /* === Tables === */ + table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + } + + table.autotable {border-collapse: collapse;} + table.autotable td {padding-left: 0.5em;} + + .tdr {text-align: right;} + + .tdr div {text-align: right;} + .tdc div {text-align: center;} + + /* === Poetry === */ + .poetry-container { + display: flex; + justify-content: center; + } + + .poetry { + text-align: left; + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%; + } + + .stanza { + margin: 0.75em auto; + text-indent: -3em; + } + .stanza div.i0 {padding-left: 3em;} + .stanza div.i1 {padding-left: 3.5em;} + .stanza div.i2 {padding-left: 4em;} + + </style> +</head> + +<body> +<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Her Father’s Daughter, by Gene Stratton-Porter</p> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Her Father’s Daughter</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Gene Stratton-Porter</div> +<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: May, 1997 [eBook #904]<br> +[Most recently updated: June 9, 2023]</p> +<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> + <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: + Dianne Bean and David Widger, updated by Robert Tonsing</p> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HER FATHER’S DAUGHTER ***</div> + +<div class="titlepage"> + <h1>HER<br>FATHER’S<br>DAUGHTER</h1> + + <div>BY<br> + GENE STRATTON-PORTER</div> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2>Contents</h2> +</div> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tbody> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_I">I.</a></div></td> + <td>“What Kind of Shoes are the Shoes You Wear?”</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_II">II.</a></div></td> + <td>Cotyledon of Multiflores Canyon</td> + </tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_III">III.</a></div></td> + <td>The House of Dreams</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_IV">IV.</a></div></td> + <td>Linda Starts a Revolution</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_V">V.</a></div></td> + <td>The Smoke of Battle</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_VI">VI.</a></div></td> + <td>Jane Meredith</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_VII">VII.</a></div></td> + <td>Trying Yucca</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_VIII">VIII.</a></div></td> + <td>The Bear-cat</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_IX">IX.</a></div></td> + <td>One Hundred Per Cent Plus</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_X">X.</a></div></td> + <td>Katy to the Rescue</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XI">XI.</a></div></td> + <td>Assisting Providence</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XII">XII.</a></div></td> + <td>The Lay of the Land</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XIII">XIII.</a></div></td> + <td>Leavening the Bread of Life</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XIV">XIV.</a></div></td> + <td>Saturday’s Child</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XV">XV.</a></div></td> + <td>Linda’s Hearthstone</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XVI">XVI.</a></div></td> + <td>Producing the Evidence</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XVII">XVII.</a></div></td> + <td>A Rock and a Flame</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XVIII">XVIII.</a></div></td> + <td>Spanish Iris</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XIX">XIX.</a></div></td> + <td>The Official Bug-Catcher</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XX">XX.</a></div></td> + <td>The Cap Sheaf</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XXI">XXI.</a></div></td> + <td>Shifting the Responsibility</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XXII">XXII.</a></div></td> + <td>The End of Marian’s Contest</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XXIII">XXIII.</a></div></td> + <td>The Day of Jubilee</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XXIV">XXIV.</a></div></td> + <td>Linda’s First Party</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XXV">XXV.</a></div></td> + <td>Buena Moza</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XXVI">XXVI.</a></div></td> + <td>A Mouse Nest</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XXVII">XXVII.</a></div></td> + <td>The Straight and Narrow</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XXVIII">XXVIII.</a></div></td> + <td>Putting It Up to Peter</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XXIX">XXIX.</a></div></td> + <td>Katy Unburdens Her Mind</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XXX">XXX.</a></div></td> + <td>Peter’s Release</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XXXI">XXXI.</a></div></td> + <td>The End of Donald’s Contest</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XXXII">XXXII.</a></div></td> + <td>How the Wasp Built Her Nest</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdr"><div><a href="#ch_XXXIII">XXXIII.</a></div></td> + <td>The Lady of the Iris</td> +</tr> +</tbody> +</table> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2>List of Characters</h2> +</div> + +<ul> +<li><span class="smcap">Linda Strong</span>, her Father’s Daughter</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Dr. Alexander Strong</span>, a great Nerve Specialist</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Mrs. Strong</span>, his Wife</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Eileen Strong</span>, having Social Aspirations</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Mr. and Mrs. Thorne</span>, neighbors of the Strongs</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Marian Thorne</span>, a Dreamer of Houses</li> +<li><span class="smcap">John Gilman</span>, a Man of Law</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Peter Morrison</span>, an Author</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Henry Anderson</span>, an Architect</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Donald Whiting</span>, a High School Senior</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Mary Louise Whiting</span>, his Sister</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Judge and Mrs. Whiting</span>, a Man of Law and a Woman of Culture</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Katherine O’Donovan</span>, the Strong Cook</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Oka Sayye</span>, a High School Senior</li> +<li><span class="smcap">JAmes Heitman</span>, accidentally rich</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Mrs. Caroline Heitman</span>, his Wife</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_I">CHAPTER I</h2> +<div class="subheadc">“What Kind of Shoes Are the Shoes You Wear?”</div> +</div> + +<p>“What makes you wear such funny shoes?”</p> + +<p>Linda Strong thrust forward a foot and critically examined the narrow +vamp, the projecting sole, the broad, low heel of her well-worn brown +calf-skin shoe. Then her glance lifted to the face of Donald Whiting, +one of the most brilliant and popular seniors of the High School. Her +eyes narrowed in a manner habitual to her when thinking intently.</p> + +<p>“Never you mind my shoes,” she said deliberately. “Kindly fix your +attention on my head piece. When you see me allowing any Jap in my +class to make higher grades than I do, then I give you leave to say +anything you please concerning my head.”</p> + +<p>An angry red rushed to the boy’s face. It was an irritating fact that +in the senior class of that particular Los Angeles high school a +Japanese boy stood at the head. This was embarrassing to every senior.</p> + +<p>“I say,” said Donald Whiting, “I call that a mean thrust.”</p> + +<p>“I have a particular reason,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“And I have ‘a particular reason’,” said Donald, “for being interested +in your shoes.”</p> + +<p>Linda laughed suddenly. When Linda laughed, which was very seldom, +those within hearing turned to look at her. Hers was not a laugh that +can be achieved. There were a few high places on the peak of Linda’s +soul, and on one of them homed a small flock of notes of rapture; notes +as sweet as the voice of the white-banded mocking-bird of Argentina.</p> + +<p>“How surprising!” exclaimed Linda. “We have been attending the same +school for three years; now, you stop me suddenly to tell me that you +are interested in the shape of my shoes.”</p> + +<p>“I have been watching them all the time,” said Donald. “I can’t +understand why any girl wants to be so different. Why don’t you dress +your hair the same as the other girls and wear the same kind of clothes +and shoes?”</p> + +<p>“Now look here,” interposed Linda “You are flying the track. I am +willing to justify my shoes, if I can, but here you go including my +dress and a big psychological problem, as well; but I think perhaps the +why of the shoes will explain the remainder. Does the name ‘Alexander +Strong’ mean anything to you?”</p> + +<p>“The great nerve specialist?” asked Donald.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Linda. “The man who was the author of half-dozen books +that have been translated into many foreign tongues and are used as +authorities all over the world. He happened to be my father. There are +two children in our family. I have a sister four years older than I +am who is exactly like Mother, and she and Mother were inseparable. I +am exactly like Father; because we understood each other, and because +both of us always knew, although we never mentioned it, that Mother +preferred my sister Eileen to me, Father tried to make it up to me, so +from the time I can remember I was at his heels. It never bothered him +to have me playing around in the library while he was writing his most +complicated treatise. I have waited in his car half a day at a time, +playing or reading, while he watched a patient or delivered a lecture +at some medical college. His mental relaxation was to hike or to motor +to the sea, to the mountains, to the canyons or the desert, and he +very seldom went without me even on long trips when he was fishing or +hunting with other men. There was not much to know concerning a woman’s +frame or her psychology that Father did not know, so there were two +reasons why he selected my footwear as he did. One was because he be +believed high heels and pointed toes an outrage against the nervous +system of a woman that would in time bring her within his province, and +the other was that I could not possibly have kept pace with him except +in shoes like these. No doubt, they are the same kind I shall wear all +my life, for walking. You probably don’t know it, but my home lies near +the middle of Lilac Valley and I walk over a mile each morning and +evening to and from the cars. Does this sufficiently explain my shoes?”</p> + +<p>“I should think you’d feel queer,” said Donald.</p> + +<p>“I suspect I would if I had time to brood over it,” Linda replied, “but +I haven’t. I must hustle to get to school on time in the morning. It’s +nearly or quite dark before I reach home in the evening. My father +believed in having a good time. He had superb health, so he spent most +of what he made as it came to him. He counted on a long life. It never +occurred to him that a little piece of machinery going wrong would +plunge him into Eternity in a second.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I remember!” cried the boy.</p> + +<p>Linda’s face paled slightly.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” she said, “it happened four years ago and I haven’t gotten away +from the horror of it yet, enough ever to step inside of a motor car; +but I am going to get over that one of these days. Brakes are not all +defective, and one must take one’s risks.”</p> + +<p>“You just bet I would,” said Donald. “Motoring is one of the greatest +pleasures of modern life. I’ll wager it makes some of the gay old boys, +like Marcus Aurelius for example, want to turn over in their graves +when they see us flying along the roads of California the way we do.”</p> + +<p>“What I was getting at,” said Linda, “was a word of reply to the +remainder of your indictment against me. Dad’s income stopped with him, +and household expenses went on, and war came, so there isn’t enough +money to dress two of us as most of the High-School girls are dressed. +Eileen is so much older that it’s her turn first, and I must say she +is not at all backward about exercising her rights. I think that will +have to suffice for the question of dress; but you may be sure that I +am capable of wearing the loveliest dress imaginable, that would be +suitable for a school girl, if I had it to wear.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, there’s the little ‘fly in your ointment’—‘dress that would be +suitable.’ I bet in your heart you think the dresses that half the +girls in high school are wearing are <i>not suitable</i>!”</p> + +<p>“Commendable perspicacity, O learned senior,” said Linda, “and +amazingly true. In the few short years I had with Daddy I acquired +a fixed idea as to what kind of dress is suitable and sufficiently +durable to wear while walking my daily two miles. I can’t seem to +become reconciled to the custom of dressing the same for school as for +a party. You get my idea?”</p> + +<p>“I get it all right enough,” said Donald, “but I must think awhile +before I decide whether I agree with you. Why should you be right, and +hundreds of other girls be wrong?”</p> + +<p>“I’ll wager your mother would agree with me,” suggested Linda.</p> + +<p>“Did yours?” asked Donald.</p> + +<p>“Half way,” answered Linda. “She agreed with me for me, but not for +Eileen.”</p> + +<p>“And not for my sister,” said Donald. “She wears the very foxiest +clothes that Father can afford to pay for, and when she was going to +school she wore them without the least regard as to whether she was +going to school or to a tea party or a matinée. For that matter she +frequently went to all three the same day.”</p> + +<p>“And that brings us straight to the point concerning you,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“Sure enough!” said Donald. “There is me to be considered! What is it +you have against me?”</p> + +<p>Linda looked at him meditatively.</p> + +<p>“You <i>seem</i> exceptionally strong,” she said. “No doubt are good in +athletics. Your head looks all right; it indicates brains. What I want +to know is why in the world you don’t use them.”</p> + +<p>“What are you getting at, anyway?” asked Donald, with more than a hint +of asperity in his voice.</p> + +<p>“I am getting at the fact,” said Linda, “that a boy as big as you and +as strong as you and with as good brain and your opportunities has +allowed a little brown Jap to cross the Pacific Ocean and in a totally +strange country to learn a language foreign to him, and, and, with the +same books and the same chances, to beat you at your own game. You +and every other boy in your classes ought to thoroughly ashamed of +yourselves. Before I would let a Jap, either boy or girl, lead in my +class, I would give up going to school and go out and see if I could +beat him growing lettuce and spinach.”</p> + +<p>“It’s all very well to talk,” said Donald hotly.</p> + +<p>“And it’s better to make good what you say,” broke in Linda, with equal +heat. “There are half a dozen Japs in my classes but no one of them is +leading, you will notice, if I do wear peculiar shoes.”</p> + +<p>“Well, you would be going some if you beat the leading Jap in the +senior class,” said Donald.</p> + +<p>“Then I would go some,” said Linda. “I’d beat him, or I’d go straight +up trying. You could do it if you’d make up your mind to. The trouble +with you is that you’re wasting your brain on speeding an automobile, +on dances, and all sorts of foolishness that is not doing you any +good in any particular way. Bet you are developing nerves smoking +cigarettes. You are not concentrating. Oka Sayye is not thinking of a +thing except the triumph of proving to California that he is head man +in one of the Los Angeles high schools. That’s what I have got against +you, and every other white boy in your class, and in the long run it +stacks up bigger than your arraignment of my shoes.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, darn your shoes!” cried Donald hotly. “Forget ’em! I’ve got to +move on or I’ll be late for trigonometry, but I don’t know when I’ve +had such a tidy little fight with a girl, and I don’t enjoy feeling +that I have been worsted. I propose another session. May I come out to +Lilac Valley Saturday afternoon and flay you alive to pay up for my +present humiliation?”</p> + +<p>“Why, if your mother happened to be motoring that way and would care to +call, I think that would be fine,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“Well, for the Lord’s sake!” exclaimed the irate senior. “Can’t a +fellow come and fight with you without being refereed by his mother? +Shall I bring Father too?”</p> + +<p>“I only thought,” said Linda quietly, “that you would like your mother +to see the home and environment of any girl whose acquaintance you +made, but the fight we have coming will in all probability be such a +pitched battle that when I go over the top, you won’t ever care to +follow me and start another issue on the other side. You’re dying right +now to ask why I wear my hair in braids down my back instead of in +cootie coops over my ears.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t give a hang,” said Donald ungallantly, “as to how you wear +your hair, but I am coming Saturday to fight, and I don’t think Mother +will take any greater interest in the matter than to know that I am +going to do battle with a daughter of Doctor Strong.”</p> + +<p>“That is a very nice compliment to my daddy, thank you, said Linda, +turning away and proceeding in the direction of her own classrooms. +There was a brilliant sparkle in her eyes and she sang in a muffled +voice, yet distinctly enough to be heard:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="i0">“The shoes I wear are common-sense shoes,</div> + <div class="i1">And you may wear them if you choose.”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>“By gracious! She’s no fool,” he said to himself. In three minutes’ +unpremeditated talk the “Junior Freak,” as he mentally denominated her, +had managed to irritate him, to puncture his pride, to entertain and +amuse him.</p> + +<p>“I wonder——” he said as he went his way; and all day he kept on +wondering, when he was not studying harder than ever before in all his +life.</p> + +<p>That night Linda walked slowly along the road toward home. She was +not seeing the broad stretch of Lilac Valley, on every hand green +with spring, odorous with citrus and wild bloom, blue walled with +lacy lilacs veiling the mountain face on either side; and she was not +thinking of her plain, well-worn dress or her common-sense shoes. What +she was thinking was of every flaying, scathing, solidly based argument +she could produce the following Saturday to spur Donald Whiting in some +way to surpass Oka Sayye. His chance remark that morning, as they stood +near each other waiting a few minutes in the hall, had ended in his +asking to come to see her, and she decided as she walked homeward that +his first visit in all probability would be his last, since she had +not time to spare for boys, when she had so many different interests +involved; but she did decide very firmly in her own mind that the would +make that visit a memorable one for him.</p> + +<p>In arriving at this decision her mind traveled a number of devious +roads. The thought that she had been criticized did not annoy her as +to the kind of criticism, but she did resent the quality of truth +about it. She was right in following the rules her father had laid +down for her health and physical well-being, but was it right that +she should wear shoes scuffed, resoled, and even patched, when there +was money enough for Eileen to have many pairs of expensive laced +boots, walking shoes, and fancy slippers? She was sure she was right +in wearing dresses suitable for school, but was it right that she must +wear them until they were sun-faded, stained, and disreputable? Was +it right that Eileen should occupy their father’s and mother’s suite, +redecorated and daintily furnished according to her own taste, to keep +the parts of the house that she cared to use decorated with flowers and +beautifully appointed, while Linda must lock herself in a small stuffy +bedroom room, dingy and none too comfortable, when in deference to her +pride she wished to work in secret until she learned whether she could +succeed.</p> + +<p>Then she began thinking, and decided that the only available place in +the house for her use was the billiard room. She made up her mind that +she would demand the sole right to this big attic room. She would sell +the table and use the money to buy herself a suitable work table and +a rug. She would demand that Eileen produce enough money for better +clothing for her, and then she remembered what she had said to Donald +Whiting about conquering her horror for a motor car. Linda turned in +at the walk leading to her home, but she passed the front entrance +and followed around to the side. As she went she could hear voices in +the living room and she knew that Eileen was entertaining some of her +many friends; for Eileen was that peculiar creature known as a social +butterfly. Each day of her life friends came, or Eileen went—mostly the +latter, for Eileen had a knack of management and she so managed her +friends that, without their realizing it, they entertained her many +times while she entertained them once. Linda went to the kitchen, laid +her books and package of mail on the table, and, walking over to the +stove, she proceeded deliberately and heartily to kiss the cook.</p> + +<p>“Katy, me darlin’,” she said, “look upon your only child. Do you notice +a ‘lean and hungry look’ on her classic features?”</p> + +<p>Katy turned adoring eyes to the young girl.</p> + +<p>“It’s growing so fast ye are, childie,” she said. “It’s only a little +while to dinner, and there’s company to-night, so hadn’t ye better wait +and not spoil your appetite with piecing?”</p> + +<p>“Is there going to be anything ‘jarvis’?” inquired Linda.</p> + +<p>“I’d say there is,” said Katy. “John Gilman is here and two friends of +Eileen’s. It’s a near banquet, lassie.”</p> + +<p>“Then I’ll wait,” said Linda. “I want the keys to the garage.”</p> + +<p>Katy handed them to her and Linda went down the back walk beneath an +arch of tropical foliage, between blazing walls of brilliant flower +faces, unlocked the garage, and stood looking at her father’s runabout.</p> + +<p>In the revolution that had taken place in their home after the passing +of their father and mother, Eileen had dominated the situation and done +as she pleased, with the exception of two instances. Linda had shown +both temper and determination at the proposal to dismantle the library +and dispose of the cars. She had told Eileen that she might take the +touring car and do as she pleased with it. For her share she wanted her +father’s roadster, and she meant to have it. She took the same firm +stand concerning the library. With the rest of the house Eileen might +do as she would. The library was to remain absolutely untouched and +what it contained was Linda’s. To this Eileen had agreed, but so far +Linda had been content merely to possess her property.</p> + +<p>Lately, driven by the feeling that she must find a way in which she +could earn money, she had been secretly working on some plans that she +hoped might soon yield her small returns. As for the roadster, she as +well as Eileen had been horror-stricken when the car containing their +father and mother and their adjoining neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Thorne, +driven by Marian Thorne, the playmate and companion from childhood +of the Strong girls, had become uncontrollable and plunged down the +mountain in a disaster that had left only Marian, protected by the +steering gear, alive. They had simply by mutual agreement begun using +the street cars when they wanted to reach the city.</p> + +<p>Linda stood looking at the roadster, jacked up and tucked under a heavy +canvas tent that she and her father had used on their hunting and +fishing trips. After a long time she laid strong hands on the canvas +and dragged it to one side. She looked the car over carefully and then, +her face very white and her hands trembling, she climbed into it and +slowly and mechanically went through the motions of starting it. For +another intent period she sat with her hands on the steering gear, +staring straight ahead, and then she said slowly: “Something has got +to be done. It’s not going to be very agreeable, but I am going to do +it. Eileen has had things all her own way long enough. I am getting +such a big girl I ought to have a few things in my life as I want them. +Something must be done.”</p> + +<p>Then Linda proceeded to do something. What she did was to lean forward, +rest her head upon the steering wheel and fight to keep down deep, +pitiful sobbing until her whole slender body twisted in the effort.</p> + +<p>She was yielding to a breaking up after four years of endurance, for +the greater part in silence. As the months of the past year had rolled +their deliberate way, Linda had begun to realize that the course her +elder sister had taken was wholly unfair to her, and slowly a tumult +of revolt was growing in her soul. Without a doubt the culmination +had resulted from her few minutes’ talk with Donald Whiting in the +hall that morning. It had started Linda to thinking deeply, and the +more deeply she thought the clearly she saw the situation. Linda was a +loyal soul and her heart was honest. She was quite willing that Eileen +should exercise her rights as head of the family, that she should take +the precedence to which she was entitled by her four years’ seniority, +that she should spend the money which accrued monthly from their +father’s estate as she saw fit, up to a certain point. That point was +where things ceased to be fair or to be just. If there had been money +to do no more for Eileen than had been done for Linda, it would not +have been in Linda’s heart to utter a complaint. She could have worn +scuffed shoes and old dresses, and gone her way with her proud young +head held very high and a jest on her lips; but when her mind really +fastened on the problem and she began to reason, she could not feel +that Eileen was just to her or that she was fair in her administration +of the money which should have been divided more nearly equally between +them, after the household expenses had been paid. Once rebellion burned +in her heart the flames leaped rapidly, and Linda began to remember a +thousand small things that she had scarcely noted at the time of their +occurrence.</p> + +<p>She was leaning on the steering wheel, tired with nerve strain, when +she heard Katy calling her, and realized that she was needed in the +kitchen. As a matter of economy Eileen, after her parents’ passing, had +dismissed the housemaid, and when there were guests before whom she +wished to make a nice appearance Linda had been impressed either to +wait on the table or to help in the kitchen in order that Katy might +attend the dining room, so Linda understood what was wanted when Katy +called her. She ran her fingers over the steering wheel, worn bright +by the touch of her father’s and her own hands, and with the buoyancy +of youth, found comfort. Once more she mechanically went through the +motions of starting the car, then she stepped down, closed the door, +and stood an instant thinking.</p> + +<p>“You’re four years behind the times,” she said slowly. “No doubt +there’s a newer and a better model; I suspect the tires are rotten, +but the last day I drove you for Daddy you purred like a kitten, and +ran like a clock, and if you were cleaned and oiled and put in proper +shape, there’s no reason in the world why I should not drive you again, +as I have driven you hundreds of miles when Daddy was tired or when +he wanted to teach me the rules of good motoring, and the laws of the +road. I can do it all right. I have got to do it, but it will be some +time before I’ll care to tackle the mountains.”</p> + +<p>Leaving the cover on the floor, she locked the door and returned to the +kitchen.</p> + +<p>“All right, Katy, what is the programme?” she inquired as lightly as +she could.</p> + +<p>Katy had been cook in the Strong family ever since they had moved to +Lilac Valley. She had obeyed Mrs. Strong and Eileen. She had worshiped +the Doctor and Linda. It always had been patent to her eyes that Mrs. +Strong was extremely partial to Eileen, so Katy had joined forces with +the Doctor in surreptitiously doing everything her warm Irish heart +prompted to prevent Linda from feeling neglected. Her quick eyes saw +the traces of tears on Linda’s face, and she instantly knew that the +trip the girl had made to the garage was in some way connected with +some belongings of her father’s, so she said: “I am serving to-night +but I want you to keep things smoking hot and to have them dished up +ready for me so that everything will go smoothly.”</p> + +<p>“What would happen,” inquired Linda, “if everything did <i>not</i> go +smoothly? Katy, do you think the roof would blow straight up if I had +<i>my</i> way about something, just for a change?”</p> + +<p>“No, I think the roof would stay right where it belongs,” said Katy +with a chuckle, “but I do think its staying there would not be because +Miss Eileen wanted it to.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Linda, deliberately, “we won’t waste any time on thinking +We are going to have some positive knowledge on the subject pretty +immediately. I don’t feel equal to starting any domestic santana +to-day, but the forces are gathering and the blow is coming soon. To +that I have firmly made up my mind.”</p> + +<p>“It’s not the least mite I’m blaming you, honey,” said Katy.</p> + +<p>“Ye’ve got to be such a big girl that it’s only fair things in this +house should go a good deal different.”</p> + +<p>“Is Marian to be here?” asked Linda as she stood beside the stove +peering into pans and kettles.</p> + +<p>“Miss Eileen didn’t say,” replied Katy.</p> + +<p>Linda’s eyes reddened suddenly. She slammed down a lid with vicious +emphasis.</p> + +<p>“That is another deal Eileen’s engineered,” she said, “that is just +about as wrong as anything possibly can be. What makes me the maddest +about it is that John Gilman will let Eileen take him by the nose and +lead him around like a ringed calf. Where is his common sense? Where is +his perception? Where is his honour?”</p> + +<p>“Now wait, dearie,” said Katy soothingly, “wait. John Gilman is a +mighty fine man. Ye know how your father loved him and trusted him and +gave him charge of all his business affairs. Ye mustn’t go so far as to +be insinuating that he is lacking in honour.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Linda, “that was not fair. I don’t in the least know that he +ever <i>asked</i> Marian to marry him; but I do know that as long as he +was a struggling, threadbare young lawyer Marian was welcome to him, +and they had grand times together. The minute he won the big Bailey +suit and came into public notice and his practice increased until he +was independent, that minute Eileen began to take notice, and it looks +to me now as if she very nearly had him.”</p> + +<p>“And so far as I can see,” said Katy, “Miss Marian is taking it without +a struggle. She is not lifting a finger or making a move to win him +back.”</p> + +<p>“Of course she isn’t!” said Linda indignantly. “If she thought he +preferred some other girl to her, she would merely say: ‘If John has +discovered that he likes Eileen the better, why, that is all right’; +but there wouldn’t be anything to prevent seeing Eileen take John from +hurting like the deuce. Did you ever lose a man you loved, Katy?”</p> + +<p>“That I did not!” said Katy emphatically. “We didn’t do any four or +five years’ philanderin’ to see if a man ‘could make good’ when I was a +youngster. When a girl and her laddie stood up to each other and looked +each other straight in the eye and had the great understanding, there +weren’t no question of whether he could do for her what her father and +mither had been doing, nor of how much he had to earn before they would +be able to begin life together. They just caught hands and hot-footed +it to the praste and told him to read the banns the next Sunday, and +when the law allowed they was man and wife and taking what life had for +them the way it came, and together. All this philanderin’ that young +folks do nowadays is just pure nonsense, and waste of time.”</p> + +<p>“Sure!” laughed Linda. “When my brave comes along with his blanket I’ll +just step under, and then if anybody tries to take my man I’ll have the +right to go on the warpath and have a scalping party that would be some +satisfaction to the soul.”</p> + +<p>Then they served the dinner, and when the guests had left the dining +room, Katy closed the doors, and brought on the delicacies she had +hidden for Linda and patted and cajoled her while she ate like any +healthy, hungry young creature.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_II">CHAPTER II</h2> +<div class="subheadc">Cotyledon of Multiflores Canyon</div> +</div> + +<p>“‘<i>Ave, atque vale!</i>’ Cotyledon!”</p> + +<p>Linda slid down the side of the canyon with the deftness of the expert. +At the first available crevice she thrust in her Alpine stick, and +bracing herself, gained a footing. Then she turned and by use of her +fingers and toes worked her way back to the plant, she had passed. She +was familiar with many members of the family, but such a fine specimen +she seldom had found and she could not recall having seen it in all +of her botanies. Opposite the plant she worked out a footing, drove +her stick deep at the base of a rock to brace herself, and from the +knapsack on her back took a sketch-book and pencil and began rapidly +copying the thick fleshy leaves of the flattened rosette, sitting +securely at the edge of a rock. She worked swiftly and with breathless +interest. When she had finished the flower she began sketching in the +moss-covered face of the boulder against which it grew, and other bits +of vegetation near.</p> + +<p>“I think, Coty,” she said, “it is very probable that I can corner a few +simoleons with you. You are becoming better looking every minute.”</p> + +<p>For a touch of colour she margined one side of her drawing with a +little spray of Pentstemon whose bright tubular flowers the canyon knew +as “humming-bird’s dinner horn.” That gave her the idea of introducing +a touch of living interest, so bearing down upon the flowers from +the upper right-hand corner of her drawing she deftly sketched in a +ruby-throated humming bird, and across the bottom of the sheet the lace +of a few leaves of fern. Then she returned the drawing and pencil to +her knapsack, and making sure of her footing, worked her way forward. +With her long slender fingers she began teasing the plant loose from +the rock and the surrounding soil. The roots penetrated deeper than she +had supposed and in her interest she forgot her precarious footing and +pulled hard. The plant gave way unexpectedly, and losing her balance, +Linda plunged down the side of the canyon catching wildly at shrubs and +bushes and bruising herself severely on stones, finally landing in a +sitting posture on the road that traversed the canyon.</p> + +<p>She was not seriously hurt, but she did not present a picturesque +figure as she sprawled in the road, her booted feet thrust straight +before her, one of her long black braids caught on a bush at her back, +her blouse pulled above her breeches, the contents of her knapsack +decorating the canyon side and the road around her; but high in one +hand, without break or blemish, she triumphantly held aloft the rare +Cotyledon. She shrugged her shoulders, wiggled her toes, and moved her +arms to assure herself that no bones were broken; then she glanced at +her drawings and the fruits of her day’s collecting scattered on the +roadside around her. She was in the act of rising when a motor car +containing two young men shot around a curve of the canyon, swerved to +avoid running over her, and stopped as abruptly as possible.</p> + +<p>“It’s a girl!” cried the driver, and both men sprang to the road +and hurried to Linda’s assistance. Her dark cheeks were red with +mortification, but she managed to recover her feet and tuck in her +blouse before they reached her.</p> + +<p>“We heard you coming down,” said the elder of the young men, “and we +thought you might be a bear. Are you sure you’re not hurt?”</p> + +<p>Linda stood before them, a lithe slender figure, vivid with youth and +vitality.</p> + +<p>“I am able to stand,” she said, “so of course I haven’t broken any +bones. I think I am fairly well battered, but you will please to +observe that there isn’t a scratch on Cotyledon, and I brought her +down—at least I think it’s she—from the edge of that boulder away up +there. Isn’t she a beauty? Only notice the delicate frosty ‘bloom’ on +her leaves!”</p> + +<p>“I should prefer,” said the younger of the men, “to know whether you +have any broken bones.”</p> + +<p>“I’m sure I am all right,” answered Linda. “I have falling down +mountains reduced to an exact science. I’ll bet you couldn’t slide that +far and bring down Coty without a scratch.”</p> + +<p>“Well, which is the more precious,” said the young man. “Yourself or +the specimen?”</p> + +<p>“Why, the specimen!” answered Linda, in impatience. “California is full +of girls; but this is the finest Cotyledon of this family I have ever +seen. Don’t mistake this for any common stonecrop. It looks to me like +an Echeveria. I know what I mean to do with the picture I have made of +her, and I know exactly where she is going to grow from this day on.”</p> + +<p>“Is there any way we can help you?” inquired the elder of the two men.</p> + +<p>For the first time Linda glanced at him, and her impression was that he +was decidedly attractive.</p> + +<p>“No, thank you!” she answered briskly. “I am going to climb back up to +the boulder and collect the belongings I spilled on the way down. Then +I am going to carry Coty to the car line in a kind of triumphal march, +because she is the rarest find that I have ever made. I hope you have +no dark designs on Coty, because this is ‘what the owner had to do to +redeem her.’”</p> + +<p>Linda indicated her trail down the canyon side, brushed soil and twigs +from her trousers, turned her straight young back, carefully set down +her specimen, and by the aid of her recovered stick began expertly +making her way up the canyon side. “Here, let me do that,” offered the +younger man. “You rest until I collect your belongings.” Linda glanced +back over her shoulder. “Thanks,” she said. “I have a mental inventory +of all the pencils and knives and trowels I must find. You might +overlook the most important part of my paraphernalia; and really I am +not damaged. I’m merely hurt. Good-bye!”</p> + +<p>Linda started back up the side of the canyon, leaving the young men +to enter their car and drive away. For a minute both of them stood +watching her.</p> + +<p>“What will girls be wearing and doing next?” asked the elder of the two +as he started his car.</p> + +<p>“What would you have a girl wear when she is occupied with coasting +down canyons?” said his friend. “And as for what she is doing, it’s +probable that every high-school girl in Los Angeles has a botanical +collection to make before she graduates.”</p> + +<p>“I see!” said the man driving. “She is only a high-school kid, but did +you notice that she is going to make an extremely attractive young +woman?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I noticed just that; I noticed it very particularly,” answered +the younger man. “And I noticed also that she either doesn’t know it, +or doesn’t give a flip.”</p> + +<p>Linda collected her belongings, straightened her hair and clothing, +and, with her knapsack in place, and leaning rather on heavily on her +walking stick, made her way down the road to the abutment of a small +rustic bridge where she stopped to rest. The stream at her feet was +noisy and icy cold. It rushed through narrow defiles in the rock, +beat itself to foam against the faces a of the big stones, fell over +jutting cliffs, spread in whispering pools, wound back and forth +across the road at its will, singing every foot of its downward way +and watering beds of crisp, cool miners’ lettuce, great ferns, and +heliotrope, climbing clematis, soil and blue-eyed grass. All along +its length grew willows, and in a few places white-bodied sycamores. +Everywhere over the walls above it that vegetation could find a footing +grew mosses, vines, flowers, and shrubs. On the shadiest side homed +most of the ferns and the Cotyledon. In the sun, larkspur, lupin, and +monkey flower; everywhere wild rose, holly, mahogany, gooseberry, and +bayoneted yucca all intermingling in a curtain of variegated greens, +brocaded with flower arabesques of vivid red, white, yellow, and blue. +Canyon wrens and vireos sang as they nested. The air was clear, cool, +and salty from the near-by sea. Myriad leaf shadows danced on the black +roadbed, level as a barn floor, and across it trailed the wavering +image of hawk and vulture, gull and white sea swallow. Linda studied +the canyon with intent eyes, but bruised flesh pleaded, so reluctantly +she arose, shouldered her belongings, and slowly followed the road +out to the car line that passed through Lilac Valley, still carefully +bearing in triumph the precious Cotyledon. An hour later she entered +the driveway of her home. She stopped to set her plant carefully in the +wild garden she and her father had worked all her life at collecting, +then followed the back porch and kitchen route.</p> + +<p>“Whatever have ye been doing to yourself, honey?” cried Katy.</p> + +<p>“I came a cropper down Multiflores Canyon where it is so steep +that it leans the other way. I pretty well pulverized myself for a +pulverulenta, Katy, which is a poor joke.”</p> + +<p>“Now ain’t that just my luck!” wailed Katy, snatching a cake cutter and +beginning hurriedly to stamp out little cakes from the dough before her.</p> + +<p>“Well, I don’t understand in exactly what way,” said Linda, absently +rubbing her elbows and her knees. “Seems to me it’s my promontories +that have been knocked off, not yours, Katy.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, and ain’t it just like ye,” said Katy, “to be coming in late, +and all banged up when Miss Eileen has got sudden notice that there is +going to be company again and I have an especial dinner to serve, and +never in the world can I manage if ye don’t help me!”</p> + +<p>“Why, who is coming now?” asked Linda, seating herself on the nearest +chair and beginning to unfasten her boots slowly.</p> + +<p>“Well, first of all, there is Mr. Gilman, of course.”</p> + +<p>“‘Of course,’” conceded Linda. “If he tried to get past our house, +Eileen is perfectly capable of setting it on fire to stop him. She’s +got him ‘vamped’ properly.”</p> + +<p>“Oh I don’t know that ye should say just that,” said Katy “Eileen is a +mighty pretty girl, and she is <i>some</i> manager.”</p> + +<p>“You can stake your hilarious life she is,” said Linda, viciously +kicking a boot to the center of the kitchen. “She can manage to go down +town for lunch and be invited out to dinner thirteen times a week, and +leave us at home to eat bread and milk, bread heavily stressed. She +can manage to get every cent of the income from the property in her +fingers, and a great big girl like me has to go to high school looking +so tacky that even the boys are beginning to comment on it. Manage? +I’ll say she can manage, not to mention managing to snake John Gilman +right out of Marian’s fingers. I doubt if Marian fully realizes yet +that she’s lost her man; and I happen to know that she just plain loved +John!”</p> + +<p>The second boot landed beside the first, then Linda picked them both up +and started toward the back hall.</p> + +<p>“Honey, are ye too bad hurt to help me any?” asked Katy, as she passed +her.</p> + +<p>“Of course not,” said Linda. “Give me a few minutes to take a bath and +step into my clothes and then I’ll be on the job.”</p> + +<p>With a black scowl on her face, Linda climbed the dingy back stairway +in her stocking-feet. At the head of the stairs she paused one minute, +glanced at the gloom of her end of the house, then she turned and +walked to the front of the hall where there were potted ferns, dainty +white curtains, and bright rugs. The door of the guest room stood open +and she could see that it was filled with fresh flowers and ready for +occupancy. The door of her sister’s room was slightly ajar and she +pushed it open and stood looking inside. In her state of disarray +she made a shocking contrast to the flower-like figure busy before a +dressing table. Linda was dark, narrow, rawboned, overgrown in height, +and forthright of disposition. Eileen was a tiny woman, delicately +moulded, exquisitely coloured, and one of the most perfectly successful +tendrils from the original clinging vine in her intercourse with men, +and with such women as would tolerate the clinging-vine idea in the +present forthright days. With a strand of softly curled hair in one +hand and a fancy pin in the other, Eileen turned a disapproving look +upon her sister.</p> + +<p>“What’s the great idea?” demanded Linda shortly.</p> + +<p>“Oh, it’s perfectly splendid,” answered Eileen. “John Gilman’s best +friend is motoring around here looking for a location to build a home. +He is an author and young and good looking and not married, and he +thinks he would like to settle somewhere near Los Angeles. Of course +John would love to have him in Lilac Valley because he hopes to build +a home here some day for himself. His name is Peter Morrison and John +says that his articles and stories have horse sense, logic, and humor, +and he is making a lot of money.”</p> + +<p>“Then God help John Gilman, if he thinks now that he is in love with +<i>you</i>,” said Linda dryly.</p> + +<p>Eileen arched her eyebrows, thinned to a hair line, and her lips drew +together in disapproval.</p> + +<p>“What I can’t understand,” she said, “is how you can be so unspeakably +vulgar, Linda.”</p> + +<p>Linda laughed sharply.</p> + +<p>“And this Peter Morrison and John are our guests for dinner?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Eileen. “I am going to show them this valley inside and +out. I’m so glad it’s spring. We’re at our very best. It would be +perfectly wonderful to have an author for a neighbor, and he must be +going to build a real house, because he has his architect with him; +and John says that while he is young, he has done several awfully good +houses. He has seen a couple of them in San Francisco.”</p> + +<p>Linda shrugged her shoulders.</p> + +<p>“Up the flue goes Marian’s chance of drawing the plans for John +Gilman’s house,” she said. “I have heard him say a dozen times he would +not build a house unless Marian made the plans.”</p> + +<p>Eileen deftly placed the strand of hair and set the jewelled pin with +precision.</p> + +<p>“Just possibly things have changed slightly,” she suggested.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Linda, “I observe that they have. Marian has sold the home +she adored. She is leaving friends she loved and trusted, and who were +particularly bound to her by a common grief, without realizing exactly +how it is happening. She certainly must know that you have taken her +lover, and I have not a doubt but that is the reason she has discovered +she can no longer work at home, that she must sell her property and +spend the money cooped up in a city, to study her profession further.”</p> + +<p>“Linda,” said Eileen, her face pale with anger, “you are positively +insufferable. Will you leave my room and close the door after you?”</p> + +<p>“Well, Katy has just informed me,” said Linda, “that this dinner party +doesn’t come off without my valued assistance, and before I agree to +assist, I’ll know <i>one</i> thing. Are you proposing to entertain +these three men yourself, or have you asked Marian?”</p> + +<p>Eileen indicated an open note lying on her dressing table.</p> + +<p>“I did not know they were coming until an hour ago,” she said. +“<i>I</i> barely had time to fill the vases and dust, and then I ran up +to dress so that there would be someone presentable when they arrive.”</p> + +<p>“All right then, we’ll agree that this is a surprise party, but if John +Gilman has told you so much about them, you must have been expecting +them, and in a measure prepared for them at any time. Haven’t you +talked it over with Marian, and told her that you would want her when +they came?”</p> + +<p>Eileen was extremely busy with another wave of hair. She turned her +back and her voice was not quite steady as she answered. “Ever since +Marian got this ‘going to the city to study’ idea in her head I have +scarcely seen her. She had an awful job to empty the house, and pack +such things as she wants to keep, and she is working overtime on a very +special plan that she thinks maybe she’ll submit in a prize competition +offered by a big firm of San Francisco architects, so I have scarcely +seen her for six weeks.”</p> + +<p>“And you never once went over to help her with her work, or to +encourage her or to comfort her? You can’t think Marian can leave this +valley and not be almost heartbroken,” said Linda. “You just make me +almost wonder at you. When you think of the kind of friends that Marian +Thorne’s father and mother, and our father and mother were, and how we +children were reared together, and the good times we have had in these +two houses—and then the awful day when the car went over the cliff, and +how Marian clung to us and tried to comfort us, when her own heart was +broken—and Marian’s the same Marian she has always been, only nicer +every day—how you can sit there and say you have scarcely seen her in +six of the hardest weeks of her life, certainly surprises me. I’ll tell +you this: I told Katy I would help her, but I won’t do it if you don’t +go over and make Marian come to-night.”</p> + +<p>Eileen turned to her sister and looked at her keenly. Linda’s brow was +sullen, and her jaw set.</p> + +<p>“A bed would look mighty good to me and I will go and get into mine +this minute if you don’t say you will go and ask her, in such a way +that she comes,” she threatened.</p> + +<p>Eileen hesitated a second and then said: “All right, since you make +such a point of it I will ask her.”</p> + +<p>“Very well,” said Linda. “Then I’ll help Katy the very best I can.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_III">CHAPTER III</h2> +<div class="subheadc">The House of Dreams</div> +</div> + +<p>In less than an hour, Linda was in the kitchen, dressed in an old green +skirt and an orange blouse. Katy pinned one of her aprons on the girl +and told her that her first job was to set the table.</p> + +<p>“And Miss Eileen has given most particular orders that I use the very +best of everything. Lay the table for four, and you are to be extremely +careful in serving not to spill the soup.”</p> + +<p>Linda stood very quietly for a second, her heavy black brows drawn +together in deep thought.</p> + +<p>“When did Eileen issue these instructions?” she inquired.</p> + +<p>“Not five minutes ago,” said Katy. “She just left me kitchen and I’ll +say I never saw her lookin’ such a parfect picture. That new dress of +hers is the most becoming one she has ever had.”</p> + +<p>Almost unconsciously, Linda’s hand reached to the front of her +well-worn blouse, and she glanced downward at her skirt and shoes.</p> + +<p>“Um-hm,” she said meditatively, “another new dress for Eileen, which +means that I will get nothing until next month’s allowance comes in, +if I do then. The table set for four, which, interpreted, signifies +that she has asked Marian in such a way that Marian won’t come. And the +caution as to care with the soup means that I am to serve my father’s +table like a paid waitress. Katy, I have run for over three years on +Eileen’s schedule, but this past year I am beginning to use my brains +and I am reaching the place of self-assertion. That programme won’t do, +Katy. It’s got to be completely revised. You just watch me and see how +I follow those instructions.”</p> + +<p>Then Linda marched out of the kitchen door and started across the lawn +in the direction of a big brown house dimly outlined through widely +spreading branches of ancient live oaks, palm, and bamboo thickets. +She entered the house without knocking and in the hall uttered a low +penetrating whistle. It was instantly answered from upstairs. Linda +began climbing, and met Marian at the top.</p> + +<p>“Why, Marian,” she cried, “I had no idea you were so far along. The +house is actually empty.”</p> + +<p>“Practically everything went yesterday,” answered Marian. “Those things +of Father’s and Mother’s and my own that I wish to keep I have put in +storage, and the remainder went to James’s Auction Rooms. The house is +sold, and I am leaving in the morning.”</p> + +<p>“Then that explains,” questioned Linda, “why you refused Eileen’s +invitation to dinner to-night?”</p> + +<p>“On the contrary,” answered Marian, “an invitation to dinner to-night +would be particularly and peculiarly acceptable to me, since the +kitchen is barren as the remainder of the house, and I was intending to +slip over when your room was lighted to ask if I might spend the night +with you.”</p> + +<p>Linda suddenly gathered her friend in her arms and held her tight.</p> + +<p>“Well, thank heaven that you felt sufficiently sure of me to come to me +when you needed me. Of course you shall spend the night with me; and I +must have been mistaken in thinking Eileen had been here. She probably +will come any minute. There are guests for the night. John is bringing +that writer friend of his. Of course you know about him. It’s Peter +Morrison.”</p> + +<p>Marian nodded her head. “Of course! John has always talked of him. He +had some extremely clever articles in <i>The Post</i> lately.”</p> + +<p>“Well, he is one,” said Linda, “and an architect who is touring with +him is two; they are looking for a location to build a house for the +writer. You can see that it would be a particularly attractive feather +in our cap if he would endorse our valley sufficiently to home in it. +So Eileen has invited them to sample our brand of entertainment, and in +the morning no doubt she will be delighted to accompany them and show +them all the beautiful spots not yet preëmpted.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, heavens,” cried Marian, “I’m glad I never showed her my spot!”</p> + +<p>“Well, if you are particular about wanting a certain place I sincerely +hope you did not,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“I am sure I never did,” answered Marian. “I so love one spot that I +have been most secretive about it. I am certain I never went further +than to say there was a place on which I would love to build for myself +the house of my dreams. I have just about finished getting that home +on paper, and I truly have high hopes that I may stand at least a fair +chance of winning with it the prize Nicholson and Snow are offering. +That is one of the reasons why I am hurrying on my way to San Francisco +much sooner than I had expected to go. I haven’t a suitable dinner +dress because my trunks have gone, but among such old friends it won’t +matter. I have one fussy blouse in my bag, and I’ll be over as soon as +I can see to closing up the house and dressing.”</p> + +<p>Linda hurried home, and going to the dining room, she laid the table +for six in a deft and artistic manner. She filled a basket with +beautiful flowers of her own growing for a centerpiece, and carefully +followed Eileen’s instruction to use the best of everything. When she +had finished she went to the kitchen.</p> + +<p>“Katy,” she said, “take a look at my handiwork.”</p> + +<p>“It’s just lovely,” said Katy heartily.</p> + +<p>“I quite agree with you,” answered Linda, “and now in pursuance of a +recently arrived at decision, I have resigned, vamoosed, quit, dead +stopped being waitress for Eileen. I was seventeen my last birthday. +Hereafter when there are guests I sit at my father’s table, and you +will have to do the best you can with serving, Katy.”</p> + +<p>“And it’s just exactly right ye are,” said Katy. “I’ll do my best, and +if that’s not good enough, Miss Eileen knows what she can do.”</p> + +<p>“Now listen to you,” laughed Linda. “Katy, you couldn’t be driven to +leave me, by anything on this earth that Eileen could do; you know you +couldn’t.”</p> + +<p>Katy chuckled quietly. “Sure, I wouldn’t be leaving ye, lambie,” she +said. “We’ll get everything ready, and I can serve six as nicely as any +one. But you’re not forgetting that Miss Eileen said most explicit to +lay the table for <i>four</i>?’</p> + +<p>“I am not forgetting,” said Linda. “For Eileen’s sake I am I sorry to +say that her ship is on the shoals. She is not going to have clear +sailing with little sister Linda any longer. This is the year of +woman’s rights, you know, Katy, and I am beginning to realize that +my rights have been badly infringed upon for lo these many years. If +Eileen chooses to make a scene before guests, that is strictly up to +Eileen. Now what is it you want me to do?”</p> + +<p>Katy directed and Linda worked swiftly. Soon they heard a motor stop, +and laughing voices told them that the guests had arrived.</p> + +<p>“Now I wonder,” said Linda, “whether Marian is here yet.”</p> + +<p>At that minute Marian appeared at the kitchen door.</p> + +<p>“Linda,” she said breathlessly, “I am feeling queer about this. Eileen +hasn’t been over.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, that’s all right,” said Linda casually. “The folks have come, and +she was only waiting to make them a bit at home before she ran after +you.”</p> + +<p>Marian hesitated.</p> + +<p>“She was not allowing me much time to dress.”</p> + +<p>“That’s ’cause she knew you did not need it,” retorted Linda. “The more +you fuss up, the less handsome you are, and you never owned anything in +your life so becoming as that old red blouse. So farewell, Katy, we’re +due to burst into high society to-night. We’re going to help Eileen +vamp a lawyer, and an author, and an architect, one apiece. Which do +you prefer, Marian?”</p> + +<p>“I’ll take the architect,” said Marian. “We should have something in +common since I am going to be a great architect myself one of these +days.”</p> + +<p>“Why, that is too bad,” said Linda. “I’ll have to rearrange the table +if you insist, because I took him, and left you the author, and it was +for love of you I did it. I truly wanted him myself, all the time.”</p> + +<p>They stopped in the dining room and Marian praised Linda’s work in +laying the table; and then, together they entered the living room.</p> + +<p>At the moment of their entrance, Eileen was talking animatedly about +the beauties of the valley as a location for a happy home. When she saw +the two girls she paused, the colour swiftly faded from her face, and +Linda, who was watching to see what would happen, noticed the effort +she made at self-control, but she was very sure that their guests did +not.</p> + +<p>It never occurred to Linda that anyone would consider good looks in +connection with her overgrown, rawboned frame and lean face, but +she was accustomed to seeing people admire Marian, for Marian was a +perfectly modelled woman with peach-bloom cheeks, deep, dark eyes, her +face framed in a waving mass of hair whose whiteness dated from the day +that the brakes of her car failed and she plunged down the mountain +with her father beside her, and her mother and Doctor and Mrs. Strong +in the back seat. Ten days afterward Marian’s head of beautiful dark +hair was muslin white. Now it framed a face of youth and beauty with +peculiar pathos. “Striking” was perhaps the one adjective which would +best describe her.</p> + +<p>John Gilman came hastily to greet them. Linda, after a swift glance +at Eileen, turned astonished eyes on their guests. For one second +she looked at the elder of them, then at the younger. There was no +recognition in her eyes, and there was a decided negative in a swift +movement of her head. Both men understood that she did not wish them to +mention that they ever had seen her previously. For an instant there +was a strained situation. Eileen was white with anger. John Gilman was +looking straight at Marian, and in his soul he must have wondered if +he had been wise in neglecting her for Eileen. Peter Morrison and his +architect, Henry Anderson, had two things to think about. One was the +stunning beauty of Marian Thorne as she paused in the doorway, the +light misting her white hair and deepening the tints of her red waist. +The other was why the young girl facing them had forbidden them to +reveal that two hours before they had seen her in the canyon. Katy, +the efficient life-saver of the Strong family, announced dinner, and +Linda drew back the curtains and led the way to the dining room, saying +when they had arrived: “I didn’t have time in my hour’s notice to make +elaborate place cards as I should have liked to do, so these little pen +sketches will have to serve.”</p> + +<p>To cover his embarrassment and to satisfy his legal mind, John Gilman +turned to Linda, asking: “Why ‘an hour’? I told Eileen a week ago I was +expecting the boys to-day.”</p> + +<p>“But that does not prove that Eileen mentioned it to me,” answered +Linda quietly; “so you must find your places from the cards I could +prepare in a hurry.”</p> + +<p>This same preparation of cards at the round table placed Eileen between +the architect and the author, Marian between the author and John +Gilman, and Linda between Gilman and the architect, which added one +more tiny gale to the storm of fury that was raging in the breast of +white-faced Eileen. The situation was so strained that without fully +understanding it, Marian, who was several years older than either of +the Strong sisters, knew that although she was tired to the point of +exhaustion she should muster what reserve force she could to the end +of making the dinner party particularly attractive, because she was +deeply interested in drawing to the valley every suitable home seeker +it was possible to locate there. It was the unwritten law of the valley +that whenever a home seeker passed through, every soul who belonged +exerted the strongest influence to prove that the stars hung lower and +shone bigger and in bluer heavens than anywhere else on earth; that +nowhere could be found air to equal the energizing salt breezes from +the sea, snow chilled, perfumed with almond and orange; that the sun +shone brighter more days in the year, and the soil produced a greater +variety of vegetables and fruits than any other spot of the same size +on God’s wonderful footstool. This could be done with unanimity and +enthusiasm by every resident of Lilac Valley for the very simple reason +that it was the truth. The valley stood with its steep sides raying +blue from myriad wild lilacs; olives and oranges sloped down to the +flat floor, where cultivated ranches and gardens were so screened by +eucalyptus and pepper trees, palm and live oak, myriads of roses of +every colour and variety, and gaudy plants gathered there from the +entire girth of the tropical world, that to the traveler on the highway +trees and flowers predominated. The greatest treasure of the valley was +the enthusiastic stream of icy mountain water that wandered through the +near-by canyon and followed the length of the valley on its singing, +chuckling way to the ocean. All the residents of Lilac Valley had to do +to entrance strangers with the location was to show any one of a dozen +vantage points, and let visitors test for themselves the quality of +the sunshine and air, and study the picture made by the broad stretch +of intensively cultivated valley, walled on either side by mountains +whose highest peaks were often cloud-draped and for ever shifting their +delicate pastel shades from gray to blue, from lavender to purple, from +tawny yellow to sepia, under the play of the sun and clouds.</p> + +<p>They had not been seated three minutes before Linda realized from her +knowledge of Eileen that the shock had been too great, if such a thing +might be said of so resourceful a creature as Eileen. Evidently she +was going to sulk in the hope that this would prove that any party +was a failure at which she did not exert herself to be gracious. It +had not been in Linda’s heart to do more than sit quietly in the +place belonging by right to her, but when she realized what was going +to happen, she sent Marian one swift appealing glance, and then +desperately plunged into conversation to cover Eileen’s defection.</p> + +<p>“I have been told,” she said, addressing the author, “that you are +looking for a home in California. Is this true, or is it merely that +every good Californian hopes this will happen when any distinguished +Easterner comes our way?”</p> + +<p>“I can scarcely answer you,” said Peter Morrison, “because my ideas on +the subject are still slightly nebulous, but I am only too willing to +see them become concrete.”</p> + +<p>“You have struck exactly the right place,” said Linda. “We have +concrete by the wagon load in this valley and we are perfectly willing +to donate the amount required to materialize your ideas. Do you dream +of a whole ranch or only a nest?”</p> + +<p>“Well, the fact is,” answered Peter Morrison with a most attractive +drawl in his slow speech, “the fact is the dimensions of my dream must +fit my purse. Ever since I finished college I have been in newspaper +work and I have lived in an apartment in New York except while I was +abroad. When I came back my paper sent me to San Francisco and from +there I motored down to see for myself if the wonderful things that are +written about Los Angeles County are true.”</p> + +<p>“That is not much of a compliment to us,” said Linda slowly. “How do +you think we would dare write them if they were not true?”</p> + +<p>This caused such a laugh that everyone felt much easier. Marian turned +her dark eyes toward Peter Morrison.</p> + +<p>“Linda and I are busy people,” she said. “We waste little time +in indirections, so I hope it’s not out of the way for me to ask +straight-forwardly if you are truly in earnest, about wanting a home in +Lilac Valley?”</p> + +<p>“Then I’ll have to answer you,” said Peter, “that I have an attractive +part of the ‘makin’s’ and I am in deadly earnest about wanting a home +somewhere. I am sick in my soul of narrow apartments and wheels and +the rush and roar of the city. There was a time when I ate and drank +it. It was the very breath of life to me. I charged on Broadway like +a caterpillar tank charging in battle; but it is very remarkable +how quickly one changes in this world. I have had some success in +my work, and the higher I go, the better work I feel I can do in a +quiet place and among less enervating surroundings. John and I were +in college together, room-mates, and no doubt he has told you that +we graduated with the same class. He has found his location here +and I would particularly enjoy having a home near him. They tell me +there are well-trained servants to look after a house and care for a +bachelor, so I truly feel that if I can find a location I would like, +and if Henry can plan me a house, and I can stretch my purse to cover +the investment, that there is a very large possibility that somewhere +within twenty miles of Los Angeles I may find the home of my dreams.”</p> + +<p>“One would almost expect,” said Marian, “that a writer would say +something more original. This valley is filled with people who came +here saying precisely what you have said; and the lure of the land won +them and here they are, shameless boosters of California.”</p> + +<p>“Why shameless?” inquired Henry Anderson.</p> + +<p>“Because California so verifies the wildest statement that can be made +concerning her that one may go the limit of imagination without shame,” +laughed Marian. “I try in all my dealings to stick to the straight and +narrow path.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Kid, don’t stick to the straight and narrow,” broke in Linda, +“there’s no scenery.”</p> + +<p>Eileen laid down her fork and stared in white-lipped amazement at the +two girls, but she was utterly incapable of forgetting herself and +her neatly arranged plans to have the three cultivated and attractive +young men all to herself for the evening. She realized too, from the +satisfaction betrayed in the glances these men were exchanging among +each other, the ease with which they sat, and the gusto with which they +ate the food Katy was deftly serving them, that something was happening +which never had happened at the Strong table since she had presided as +its head, her sole endeavor having been to flatter her guests or to +extract flattery for herself from them.</p> + +<p>“That is what makes this valley so adorable,” said Marian when at last +she could make herself heard. “It is neither straight nor narrow. The +wing of a white sea swallow never swept a lovelier curve on the breast +of the ocean than the line of this valley. My mother was the dearest +little woman, and she used to say that this valley was outlined by a +gracious gesture from the hand of God in the dawn of Creation.”</p> + +<p>Peter Morrison deliberately turned in his chair, his eyes intent on +Marian’s earnest face.</p> + +<p>“You almost make me want to say, in the language of an old hymn I used +to hear my mother sing, ‘Here will I set up my rest.’ With such a name +as Lilac Valley and with such a thought in the heart concerning it, I +scarcely feel that there is any use in looking further. How about it, +Henry? Doesn’t it sound conclusive to you?”</p> + +<p>“It certainly does,” answered Henry Anderson, “and from what I could +see as we drove in, it looks as well as it sounds.”</p> + +<p>Peter Morrison turned to his friend.</p> + +<p>“Gilman,” he said, “you’re a lawyer; you should know the things I’d +like to. Are there desirable homesites still to be found in the valley, +and does the inflation of land at the present minute put it out of my +reach?”</p> + +<p>“Well, that is on a par with the average question asked a lawyer,” +answered Gilman, “but part of it I can answer definitely and at once. +I think every acre of land suitable for garden or field cultivation is +taken. I doubt if there is much of the orchard land higher up remaining +and what there is would command a rather stiff price; but if you would +be content with some small plateau at the base of a mountain where you +could set any sort of a house and have—say two or three acres, mostly +of sage and boulders and greasewood and yucca around it——”</p> + +<p>“Why in this world are you talking about stones and sage and +greasewood?” cried Linda. “Next thing they’ll be asking about mountain +lions and rattlesnakes.”</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon,” said Gilman, “I fear none of us has remembered to +present Miss Linda as a coming naturalist. She got her start from her +father who was one of the greatest nerve specialists the world ever +has known. She knows every inch of the mountains, the canyons and the +desert. She always says that she cut her teeth on a chunk of adobe, +while her father hunted the nests of trap-door spiders out in Sunland. +What should I have said when describing a suitable homesite for Peter, +Linda?”</p> + +<p>“You should have assumed that immediately, Peter,”—Linda lifted her +eyes to Morrison’s face with a sparkle of gay challenge, and by way of +apology interjected—“I am only a kid, you know, so I may call John’s +friend Peter—you should have assumed that sage and greasewood would +simply have vanished from any home location chosen by Peter, leaving +it all lacy blue with lilac, and misty white with lemonade bush, and +lovely gold with monkey flower, and purple with lupin, and painted +blood red with broad strokes of Indian paint brush, and beautifully +lighted with feathery flames from Our Lord’s Candles, and perfumy as +altar incense with wild almond.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, my soul,” said Peter Morrison. “Good people, I have located. I +have come to stay. I would like three acres but I could exist with +two; an acre would seem an estate to me, and my ideas of a house, +Henry, are shriveling. I did have a dream of something that must have +been precious near a home. There might have been an evanescent hint of +flitting draperies and inexperienced feet in it, but for the sake of +living and working in such a location as Miss Linda describes, I would +gladly cut my residence to a workroom and a sleeping room and kitchen.”</p> + +<p>“Won’t do,” said Linda. “A house is not a house in California without +a furnace and a bathroom. We are cold as blue blazes here when the sun +goes down and the salty fog creeps up from the sea, and the icy mist +rolls down from the mountains to chill our bones; and when it has not +rained for six months at a stretch, your own private swimming pool is +a comfort. This to add verisimilitude to what everyone else in Lilac +Valley is going to tell you.”</p> + +<p>“I hadn’t thought I would need a fire,” said Peter, “and I was +depending on the ocean for my bath tub. I am particularly fond of a +salt rub.”</p> + +<p>So far, Eileen had not deigned to enter the conversation. It was all so +human, so far from her ideas of entertaining that the disapproval on +her lips was not sufficiently veiled to be invisible, and John Gilman, +glancing in her direction, realized that he was having the best time he +had ever had in the Strong household since the passing of his friends, +Doctor and Mrs. Strong, vaguely wondered why. And it occurred to him +that Linda and Marian were dominating the party. He said the most +irritating thing possible in the circumstances: “I am afraid you are +not feeling well this evening, Eileen.”</p> + +<p>Eileen laughed shortly.</p> + +<p>“The one perfect thing about me,” she said with closely cut precision, +“is my health. I haven’t the faintest notion what it means to be ill. +I am merely waiting for the conversation to take a I turn where I can +join in it intelligently.”</p> + +<p>“Why, bless the child!” exclaimed Linda. “Can’t you talk intelligently +about a suitable location for a home? On what subject is a woman +supposed to be intelligent if she is not at her best on the theme of +home? If you really are not interested you had better begin to polish +up, because it appeals to me that the world goes just so far in one +direction, and then it whirls to the right-about and goes equally +as far in the opposite direction. If Daddy were living I think he +would say we have reached the limit with apartment house homes minus +fireplaces, with restaurant dining minus a blessing, with jazz music +minus melody, with jazz dancing minus grace, with national progress +minus cradles.”</p> + +<p>“Linda!” cried Eileen indignantly.</p> + +<p>“Good gracious!” cried Linda. “Do I get the shillalah for that? Weren’t +all of us rocked in cradles? I think that the pendulum has swung far +and it is time to swing back to where one man and one woman choose +any little spot on God’s footstool, build a nest and plan their lives +in accord with personal desire and inclination instead of aping their +neighbors.”</p> + +<p>“Bravo!” cried Henry Anderson. “Miss Linda, if you see any suitable +spot, and you think I would serve for a bug-catcher, won’t you please +stake the location?”</p> + +<p>“Well, I don’t know about that,” said Linda. “Would it be the old case +of ‘I furnish the bread and you furnish the water’?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Peter Morrison, “it would not. Henry is doing mighty well. I +guarantee that he would furnish a cow that would produce real cream.”</p> + +<p>“How joyous!” said Linda. “I feel quite competent to manage the bread +question. We’ll call that settled then. When I next cast an appraising +eye over my beloved valley, I shan’t select the choicest spot in it for +Peter Morrison to write a book in; and I want to warn you people when +you go hunting to keep a mile away from Marian’s plot. She has had her +location staked from childhood and has worked on her dream house until +she has it all ready to put the ice in the chest and scratch the match +for the living room fire-logs. The one thing she won’t ever tell is +where her location is, but wherever it is, Peter Morrison, don’t you +dare take it.”</p> + +<p>“I wouldn’t for the world,” said Peter Morrison gravely. “If Miss +Thorne will tell me even on which side of the valley her location lies, +I will agree to stay on the other side.”</p> + +<p>“Well there is one thing you can depend upon,” said the irrepressible +Linda before Marian had time to speak. “It is sure to be on the sunny +side. Every living soul in California is looking for a place in the +sun.”</p> + +<p>“Then I will make a note of it,” said Peter Morrison. “But isn’t there +enough sun in all this lovely valley that I may have a place in it too?”</p> + +<p>“You go straight ahead and select any location you like,” said Marian. +“I give you the freedom of the valley. There’s not one chance in ten +thousand that you would find or see anything attractive about the one +secluded spot I have always hoped I might some day own.”</p> + +<p>“This is not fooling, then?” asked Peter Morrison. “You truly have a +place selected where you would like to live?”</p> + +<p>“She truly has the spot selected and she truly has the house on paper +and it truly is a house of dreams,” said Linda. “I dream about it +myself. When she builds it and lives in it awhile and finds out all the +things that are wrong with it, then I am going to build one like it, +only I shall eliminate all the mistakes she has made.”</p> + +<p>“I have often wondered,” said Henry Anderson, “if such a thing ever +happened as that people built a house and lived in it, say ten years, +and did not find one single thing about it that they would change if +they had it to build over again. I never have heard of such a case. +Have any of you?”</p> + +<p>“I am sure no one has,” said John Gilman meditatively, “and it’s a +queer thing. I can’t see why people don’t plan a house the way they +want it before they build.”</p> + +<p>Marian turned to him—the same Marian he had fallen in love with when +they were children.</p> + +<p>“Mightn’t it be,” she asked, “that it is due to changing conditions +caused by the rapid development of science and invention? If one had +built the most perfect house possible five years ago and learned to-day +that infinitely superior lighting and heating and living facilities +could be installed at much less expense and far greater convenience, +don’t you think that one would want to change? Isn’t life a series of +changes? Mustn’t one be changing constantly to keep abreast of one’s +day and age?”</p> + +<p>“Why, surely,” answered Gilman, “and no doubt therein lies at least +part of the answer to Anderson’s question.”</p> + +<p>“And then,” added Marian, “things happen in families. Sometimes more +babies than they expect come to newly married people and they require +more room.”</p> + +<p>“My goodness, yes!” broke in Linda. “Just look at Sylvia Townsend—twins +to begin with.”</p> + +<p>“Linda!” breathed Eileen, aghast.</p> + +<p>“So glad you like my name, dear,” murmured Linda sweetly.</p> + +<p>“And then,” continued Marian, “changes come to other people as they +have to me. I can’t say that I had any fault to find with either the +comforts or the conveniences of Hawthorne House until Daddy and Mother +were swept from it at one cruel sweep; and after that it was nothing +to me but a haunted house, and I don’t feel that I can be blamed for +wanting to leave it. I will be glad to know that there are people +living in it who won’t see a big strong figure meditatively smoking +before the fireplace and a gray dove of a woman sitting on the arm +of his chair. I will be glad, if Fate is kind to me and people like +my houses, to come back to the valley when I can afford to and build +myself a home that has no past—a place, in fact, where I can furnish my +own ghost, and if I meet myself on the stairs then I won’t be shocked +by me.</p> + +<p>“I don’t think there is a soul in the valley who blames you for selling +your home and going, Marian,” said Linda soberly. “I think it would be +foolish if you did not.”</p> + +<p>The return to the living room brought no change. Eileen pouted while +Linda and Marian thoroughly enjoyed themselves and gave the guests a +most entertaining evening. So disgruntled was Eileen, when the young +men had gone, that she immediately went to her room, leaving Linda +and Marian to close the house and make their own arrangements for the +night. Whereupon Linda deliberately led Marian to the carefully dusted +and flower-garnished guest room and installed her with every comfort +and convenience that the house afforded. Then bringing her brushes from +her own room, she and Marian made themselves comfortable, visiting far +into the night.</p> + +<p>“I wonder,” said Linda, “if Peter Morrison will go to a real estate man +in the morning and look over the locations remaining in Lilac Valley.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I think he will,” said Marian conclusively.</p> + +<p>“It seems to me,” said Linda, “that we did a whole lot of talking about +homes to-night; which reminds me, Marian, in packing have you put in +your plans? Have you got your last draught with you?”</p> + +<p>“No,” answered Marian, “it’s in one of the cases. I haven’t anything +but two or three pencil sketches from which I drew the final plans as +I now think I’ll submit them for the contest. Wouldn’t it be a tall +feather in my cap, Linda, if by any chance l I should win that prize?”</p> + +<p>“It would be more than a feather,” said Linda. “It would be a whole +cap, and a coat to wear with it, and a dress to match the coat, and +slippers to match the dress, and so forth just like ‘The House That +Jack Built.’ Have you those sketches, Marian?”</p> + +<p>Opening her case, Marian slid from underneath the garments folded in +it, several sheets on which were roughly penciled sketches of the +exterior of a house—on the reverse, the upstairs and downstairs floor +plans; and sitting down, she explained these to Linda. Then she left +them lying on a table, waiting to be returned to her case before she +replaced her clothes in the morning. Both girls were fast asleep when a +mischievous wind slipped down the valley, and lightly lifting the top +sheet, carried it through the window, across the garden, and dropped it +at the foot of a honey dripping loquat.</p> + +<p>Because they had talked until late in the night of Marian’s plans and +prospects in the city, of Peter Morrison’s proposed residence in the +valley, of how lonely Linda would be without Marian, of everything +concerning their lives except the change in Eileen and John Gilman, the +two girls slept until late in the morning, so that there were but a few +minutes remaining in which Marian might dress, have a hasty breakfast +and make her train. In helping her, it fell to Linda to pack Marian’s +case. She put the drawings she found on the table in the bottom, the +clothing and brushes on top of them, and closing the case, carried +it herself until she delivered it into the porter’s hands as Marian +boarded her train.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_IV">CHAPTER IV</h2> +<div class="subheadc">Linda Starts a Revolution</div> +</div> + +<p>The last glimpse Marian Thorne had of Linda was as she stood alone, +waving her hand, her cheeks flushed, her eyes shining, her final word +cheery and encouraging. Marian smiled and waved in return until the +train bore her away. Then she sat down wearily and stared unseeingly +from a window. Life did such very dreadful things to people. Her +girlhood had been so happy. Then came the day of the Black Shadow, but +in her blackest hour she had not felt alone. She had supposed she was +leaning on John Gilman as securely as she had leaned on her father. She +had learned, with the loss of her father, that one cannot be sure of +anything in this world least of all of human life. Yet in her darkest +days she had depended on John Gilman. She had every reason to believe +that it was for her that he struggled daily to gain a footing in his +chosen profession. When success came, when there was no reason that +Marian could see why they might not have begun life together, there +had come a subtle change in John, and that change had developed so +rapidly that in a few weeks’ time, she was forced to admit that the +companionship and loving attentions that once had been all hers were +now all Eileen’s.</p> + +<p>She sat in the train, steadily carrying her mile after mile farther +from her home, and tried to think what had happened and how and why +it had happened. She could not feel that she had been wrong in her +estimate of John Gilman. Her valuation of him had been taught her +by her father and mother and by Doctor and Mrs. Strong and by John +Gilman himself. Dating from the time that Doctor Strong had purchased +the property and built a home in Lilac Valley beside Hawthorne House, +Marian had admired Eileen and had loved her. She was several years +older than the beautiful girl she had grown up beside. Age had not +mattered; Eileen’s beauty had not mattered. Marian was good looking +herself.</p> + +<p>She always had known that Eileen had imposed upon her and was selfish +with her, but Eileen’s impositions were so skillfully maneuvered, +her selfishness was so adorably taken for granted that Marian in +retrospection felt that perhaps she was responsible for at least a +small part of it. She never had been able to see the inner workings +of Eileen’s heart. She was not capable of understanding that when +John Gilman was poor and struggling Eileen had ignored him. It had +not occurred to Marian that when the success for which he struggled +began to come generously, Eileen would begin to covet the man she had +previously disdained. She had always striven to find friends among +people of wealth and distinction. How was Marian to know that when John +began to achieve wealth and distinction, Eileen would covet him also?</p> + +<p>Marian could not know that Eileen had studied her harder than she +ever studied any book, that she had deliberately set herself to make +the most of every defect or idiosyncrasy in Marian, at the same time +offering herself as a charming substitute. Marian was prepared to be +the mental, the spiritual, and the physical mate of a man.</p> + +<p>Eileen was not prepared to be in truth and honour any of these. She +was prepared to make any emergency of life subservient to her own +selfish desires. She was prepared to use any man with whom she came in +contact for the furtherance of any whim that at the hour possessed her. +What she wanted was unbridled personal liberty, unlimited financial +resources.</p> + +<p>Marian, almost numbed with physical fatigue and weeks of mental strain, +came repeatedly against the dead wall of ignorance when she tried to +fathom the change that had taken place between herself and John Gilman +and between herself and Eileen.</p> + +<p>Daniel Thorne was an older man than Doctor Strong. He had accumulated +more property. Marian had sufficient means at her command to make it +unnecessary for her to acquire a profession or work for her living, but +she had always been interested in and loved to plan houses and help her +friends with buildings they were erecting. When the silence and the +loneliness of her empty home enveloped her, she had begun, at first as +a distraction, to work on the drawings for a home that an architect had +made for one of her neighbors. She had been able to suggest so many +comforts and conveniences, and so to revise these plans that, at first +in a desultory way, later in real earnest, she had begun to draw plans +for houses. Then, being of methodical habit and mathematical mind, she +began scaling up the plans and figuring on the cost of building, and so +she had worked until she felt that she was evolving homes that could be +built for the same amount of money and lived in with more comfort and +convenience than the homes that many of her friends were having planned +for them by architects of the city.</p> + +<p>To one spot in the valley she had gone from childhood as a secret +place in which to dream and study. She had loved that retreat until it +had become a living passion with her. The more John Gilman neglected +her, the more she concentrated upon her plans, and when the hour came +in which she realized what she had lost and what Eileen had won, she +reached the decision to sell her home, go to the city, and study until +she knew whether she really could succeed at her chosen profession.</p> + +<p>Then she would come back to the valley, buy the spot she coveted, build +the house of which she dreamed, and in it she would spend the remainder +of her life making homes for the women who knew how to hold the love of +men. When she reached the city she had decided that if one could not +have the best in life, one must be content with the next best, and for +her the next best would be homes for other people, since she might not +materialize the home she had dreamed for John Gilman and herself. She +had not wanted to leave the valley. She had not wanted to lose John +Gilman. She had not wanted to part with the home she had been reared +in. Yet all of these things seemed to have been forced upon her. All +Marian knew to do was to square her shoulders, take a deep breath, put +regrets behind her, and move steadily toward the best future she could +devise for herself.</p> + +<p>She carried letters of introduction to the San Francisco architects, +Nicholson and Snow, who had offered a prize for the best house that +could be built in a reasonable time for fifteen thousand dollars. She +meant to offer her plans in this competition. Through friends she had +secured a comfortable place in which to live and work. She need undergo +no hardships in searching for a home, in clothing herself, in paying +for instruction in the course in architecture she meant to pursue.</p> + +<p>Concerning Linda she could not resist a feeling of exultation. Linda +was one of the friends in Lilac Valley about whom Marian could think +whole-heartedly and lovingly. Sometimes she had been on the point of +making a suggestion to Linda, and then she had contented herself with +waiting in the thought that very soon there must come to the girl a +proper sense of her position and her rights. The experience of the +previous night taught Marian that Linda had arrived. She would no +longer be the compliant little sister who would run Eileen’s errands, +wait upon her guests and wear disreputable clothing. When Linda reached +a point where she was capable of the performance of the previous night, +Marian knew that she would proceed to live up to her blue china in +every ramification of life. She did not know exactly how Linda would +follow up the assertion of her rights that she had made, but she did +know that in some way she would follow it up, because Linda was a very +close reproduction of her father.</p> + +<p>She had been almost constantly with him during his life, very much +alone since his death. She was a busy young person. From Marian’s +windows she had watched the business of carrying on the wild flower +garden that Linda and her father had begun. What the occupation was +that kept the light burning in Linda’s room far into the night Marian +did not know. For a long time she had supposed that her studies +were difficult for her, and when she had asked Linda if it were not +possible for her to prepare her lessons without so many hours of +midnight study she had caught the stare of frank amazement with which +the girl regarded her, and in that surprised, almost grieved look +she had realized that very probably a daughter of Alexander Strong, +so resembling him as Linda resembled him, would not be compelled to +overwork to master the prescribed course of any city high school. +What Linda was doing during those midnight hours Marian did not know, +but she did know that she was not wrestling with mathematics and +languages—at least not all of the time. So Marian, knowing Linda’s +gift with a pencil, had come to the conclusion that she was drawing +pictures; but circumstantial evidence was all she had as a basis +for her conviction. Linda went her way silently and alone. She was +acquainted with everyone living in Lilac Valley, frank and friendly +with all of them; aside from Marian she had no intimate friend. Not +another girl in the valley cared to follow Linda’s pursuits or to +cultivate the acquaintance of the breeched, booted girl, constantly +devoting herself to outdoor study with her father during his lifetime, +afterward alone.</p> + +<p>For an instant after Marian had boarded her train Linda stood looking +at it, her heart so heavy that it pained acutely. She had not said one +word to make Marian feel that she did not want her to go. Not once had +she put forward the argument that Marian’s going would leave her to +depend entirely for human sympathy upon the cook, and her guardian, +also administrator of the Strong estate, John Gilman. So long as he was +Marian’s friend Linda had admired John Gilman. She had gone to him for +some measure of the companionship she had missed in losing her father. +Since Gilman had allowed himself to be captivated by Eileen, Linda had +harbored a feeling concerning him almost of contempt. Linda was so +familiar with every move that Eileen made, so thoroughly understood +that there was a motive back of her every action, that she could not +see why John Gilman, having known her from childhood, should not +understand her also.</p> + +<p>She had decided that the time had come when she would force Eileen to +give her an allowance, however small, for her own personal expenses, +that she must in some way manage to be clothed so that she was not a +matter of comment even among the boys of her school, and she could see +no reason why the absolute personal liberty she always had enjoyed so +long as she disappeared when Eileen did not want her and appeared when +she did, should not extend to her own convenience as well as Eileen’s.</p> + +<p>Life was a busy affair for Linda. She had not time to watch Marian’s +train from sight. She must hurry to the nearest street car and make all +possible haste or she would be late for her classes. Throughout the day +she worked with the deepest concentration, but she could not keep down +the knowledge that Eileen would have things to say, possibly things to +do, when they met that evening, for Eileen was capable of disconcerting +hysteria. Previously Linda had remained stubbornly silent during any +tirade in which Eileen chose to indulge. She had allowed herself to +be nagged into doing many things that she despised, because she would +not assert herself against apparent injustice. But since she had come +fully to realize the results of Eileen’s course of action for Marian +and for herself, she was deliberately arriving at the conclusion that +hereafter she would speak when she had a defense, and she would make it +her business to let the sun shine on any dark spot that she discovered +in Eileen.</p> + +<p>Linda knew that if John Gilman were well acquainted with Eileen, he +could not come any nearer to loving her than she did. Such an idea as +loving Eileen never had entered Linda’s thoughts. To Linda, Eileen was +not lovable. That she should be expected to love her because they had +the same parents and lived in the same home seemed absurd. She was +slightly disappointed, on reaching home, to find that Eileen was not +there.</p> + +<p>“Will the lady of the house dine with us this evening?” she asked as +she stood eating an apple in the kitchen.</p> + +<p>“She didn’t say,” answered Katy. “Have ye had it out about last night +yet?”</p> + +<p>“No,” answered Linda. “That is why I was asking about her. I want to +clear the atmosphere before I make my new start in life.”</p> + +<p>“Now, don’t ye be going too far, lambie,” cautioned Katy “Ye young +things make such an awful serious business of life these days. In your +scramble to wring artificial joy out of it you miss all the natural joy +the good God provided ye.”</p> + +<p>“It seems to me, Katy,” said Linda slowly, “that you should put that +statement the other way round. It seems that life makes a mighty +serious business for us young things, and it seems to me that if we +don’t get the right start and have a proper foundation, life Is going +to be spoiled for us. One life is all I’ve got to live in this world; +and I would like it to be the interesting and the beautiful kind of +life that Father lived.”</p> + +<p>Linda dropped to a chair.</p> + +<p>“Katy,” she said, leaning forward and looking intently into the earnest +face of the woman before her, “Katy, I have been thinking an awful lot +lately. There is a question you could answer for me if you wanted to.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I don’t see any raison,” said Katy, “why I shouldn’t answer ye +any question ye’d be asking me.”</p> + +<p>Linda’s eyes narrowed as they did habitually in deep thought She was +looking past Katy down the sunlit spaces of the wild garden that was +her dearest possession, and then her eyes strayed higher to where the +blue walls that shut in Lilac Valley ranged their peaks against the sky.</p> + +<p>“Katy,” she said, scarcely above her breath, “was Mother like Eileen?”</p> + +<p>Katy stiffened. Her red face paled slightly. She turned her back and +slowly slid into the oven the pie she was carrying. She closed the door +with more force than was necessary and then turned and deliberately +studied Linda from the top of her shining black head to the tip of her +shoe.</p> + +<p>“Some,” she said tersely.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I know ‘some’,” said Linda, “but you know I was too young to pay +much attention, and Daddy managed always to make me so happy that I +never realized until he was gone that he not only had been my father +but my mother as well. You know what I mean, Katy.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Katy deliberately, “I know what ye mean, lambie, and I’ll +tell ye the truth as far as I know it. She managed your father, she +pampered him, but she deceived him every day, just about little things. +She always made the household accounts bigger than they were, and used +the extra money for Miss Eileen and herself—things like that. I’m +thinkin’ he never knew it. I’m thinking he loved her deeply and trusted +her complete. I know what ye’re getting at. She was not enough like +Eileen to make him unhappy with her. He might have been if he had known +all there was to know, but for his own sake I was not the one to give +her away, though she constantly made him think that I was extravagant +and wasteful in me work.”</p> + +<p>Linda’s eyes came back from the mountains and met Katy’s straightly.</p> + +<p>“Katy,” she said, “did you ever see sisters as different as Eileen and +I are?”</p> + +<p>“No, I don’t think I ever did,” said Katy.</p> + +<p>“It puzzles me,” said Linda slowly. “The more I think about it, the +less I can understand why, if we are sisters, we would not accidentally +resemble each other a tiny bit in some way, and I must say I can’t see +that we do physically or mentally.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Katy, “ye were just as different as ye are now when I came +to this house new and ye were both little things.”</p> + +<p>“And we are going to be as different and to keep on growing more +different every day of our lives, because red war breaks out the minute +Eileen comes home. I haven’t a notion what she will say to me for what +I did last night and what I am going to do in the future, but I have a +definite idea as to what I am going to say to her.”</p> + +<p>“Now, easy; ye go easy, lambie,” cautioned Katy.</p> + +<p>“I wouldn’t regret it,” said Linda, “if I took Eileen by the +shoulders and shook her till I shook the rouge off her cheek, and the +brilliantine off her hair, and a million mean little subterfuges out +of her soul. You know Eileen is lovely when she is natural, and if +she would be straight-off-the-bat square, I would be proud to be her +sister. As it is, I have my doubts, even about this sister business.”</p> + +<p>“Why, Linda, child, ye are just plain crazy,” said Katy. “What kind of +notions are you getting into your head?”</p> + +<p>“I hear the front door,” said Linda, “and I am going to march straight +to battle. She’s going up the front stairs. I did mean to short-cut up +the back, but, come to think of it, I have served my apprenticeship +on the back stairs. I believe I’ll ascend the front myself. Good-bye, +darlin’, wish me luck.”</p> + +<p>Linda swung Katy around, hugged her tight, and dropped a kiss on the +top of her faithful head.</p> + +<p>“Ye just stick right up for your rights,” Katy advised her. “Ye’re a +great big girl. ’Tain’t going to be long till ye’re eighteen. But mind +your old Katy about going too far. If ye lose your temper and cat-spit, +it won’t get ye anywhere. The fellow that keeps the coolest can always +do the best headwork.”</p> + +<p>“I get you,” said Linda, “and that is good advice for which I thank +you.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_V">CHAPTER V</h2> +<div class="subheadc">The Smoke of Battle</div> +</div> + +<p>Then Linda walked down the hall, climbed the front stairs, and +presented herself at Eileen’s door, there to receive one of the +severest shocks of her young life. Eileen had tossed her hat and fur +upon a couch, seated herself at her dressing table, and was studying +her hair in the effort to decide whether she could fluff it up +sufficiently to serve for the evening or whether she must take it down +and redress it. At Linda’s step in the doorway she turned a smiling +face upon her and cried: “Hello, little sister, come in and tell me the +news.”</p> + +<p>Linda stopped as if dazed. The wonderment in which she looked at Eileen +was stamped all over her. A surprised braid of hair hung over one of +her shoulders. Her hands were surprised, and the skirt of her dress, +and her shoes flatly set on the floor.</p> + +<p>“Well, I’ll be darned!” she ejaculated, and then walked to where she +could face Eileen, and seated herself without making any attempt to +conceal her amazement.</p> + +<p>“Linda,” said Eileen sweetly, “you would stand far better chance +of being popular and making a host of friends if you would not be +so coarse. I am quite sure you never heard Mama or me use such an +expression.”</p> + +<p>For one long instant Linda was too amazed to speak. Then she recovered +herself.</p> + +<p>“Look here, Eileen, you needn’t try any ‘perfect lady’ business on me,” +she said shortly. “Do you think I have forgotten the extent of your +vocabulary when the curling iron gets too hot or you fail to receive an +invitation to the Bachelors’ Ball?”</p> + +<p>Linda never had been capable of understanding Eileen. At that minute +she could not know that Eileen had been facing facts through the long +hours of the night and all through the day, and that she had reached +the decision that for the future her only hope of working Linda to her +will was to conciliate her, to ignore the previous night, to try to put +their relationship upon the old basis by pretending that there never +had been a break. She laughed softly.</p> + +<p>“On rare occasions, I grant it. Of course a little swear slips out +sometimes. What I am trying to point out is that you do too much of it.”</p> + +<p>“How did you ever get the idea,” said Linda, “that I wanted to be +popular and have hosts of friends? What would I do with them if I had +them?”</p> + +<p>“Why, use them, my child, use them,” answered Eileen promptly.</p> + +<p>“Let’s cut this,” said Linda tersely. “I am not your child. I’m getting +to the place where I have serious doubt as to whether I am your sister +or not. If I am, it’s not my fault, and the same clay never made two +objects quite so different. I came up here to fight, and I’m going to +see it through. I’m on the war-path, so you may take your club and +proceed to battle.”</p> + +<p>“What have we to fight about?” inquired Eileen.</p> + +<p>“Every single thing that you have done that was unfair to me all my +life,” said Linda. “Since all of it has been deliberate you probably +know more about the details than I do, so I’ll just content myself with +telling you that for the future, last night marked a change in the +relations between us. I am going to be eighteen before so very long, +and I have ceased to be your maid or your waitress or your dupe. You +are not going to work me one single time when I have got brains to +see through your schemes after this. Hereafter I take my place in my +father’s house and at my father’s table on an equality with you.”</p> + +<p>Eileen looked at Linda steadily, trying to see to the depths of her +soul. She saw enough to convince her that the young creature in front +of her was in earnest.</p> + +<p>“Hm,” she said, “have I been so busy that I have failed to notice what +a great girl you are getting?”</p> + +<p>“Busy!” scoffed Linda. “Tell that to Katy. It’s a kumquat!”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps you are too big,” continued Eileen, “to be asked to wait on +the table any more.”</p> + +<p>“I certainly am,” retorted Linda, “and I am also too big to wear such +shoes or such a dress as I have on at the present minute. I know all +about the war and the inflation of prices and the reduction in income, +but I know also that if there is enough to run the house, and dress +you, and furnish you such a suite of rooms as you’re enjoying right +now, there is enough to furnish me suitable clothes, a comfortable +bedroom and a place where I can leave my work without putting away +everything I am doing each time I step from the room. I told you four +years ago that you might take the touring car and do what you pleased +with it. I have never asked what you did or what you got out of it, so +I’ll thank you to observe equal silence about anything I choose to do +now with the runabout, which I reserved for myself. I told you to take +this suite, and this is the first time that I have ever mentioned to +you what you spent on it.”</p> + +<p>Linda waved an inclusive hand toward the fully equipped, dainty +dressing table, over rugs of pale blue, and beautifully decorated +walls, including the sleeping room and bath adjoining.</p> + +<p>“So now I’ll ask you to keep off while I do what I please about the +library and the billiard room. I’ll try to get along without much money +in doing what I desire there, but I must have some new clothes. I want +money to buy me a pair of new shoes for school. I want a pair of pumps +suitable for evenings when there are guests to dinner. I want a couple +of attractive school dresses. This old serge is getting too hot and too +worn for common decency. And I also want a couple of dresses something +like you are wearing, for afternoons and evenings.”</p> + +<p>Eileen stared aghast at Linda.</p> + +<p>“Where,” she inquired politely, “is the money for all this to come +from?”</p> + +<p>“Eileen,” said Linda in a low tense voice, “I have reached the place +where even the <i>boys</i> of the high school are twitting me about how +I am dressed, and that is the limit. I have stood it for three years +from the girls. I am an adept in pretending that I don’t see, and I +don’t hear. I have got to the point where I am perfectly capable of +walking into your wardrobe and taking out enough of the clothes there +and selling them at a second-hand store to buy me what I require to +dress me just plainly and decently. So take warning. I don’t know where +you are going to get the money, but you are going to get it. If you +would welcome a suggestion from me, come home only half the times you +dine yourself and your girl friends at tearooms and cafes in the city, +and you will save my share that way. I am going to give you a chance +to total your budget, and then I demand one half of the income from +Father’s estate above household expenses; and if I don’t get it, on the +day I am eighteen I shall go to John Gilman and say to him what I have +said to you, and I shall go to the bank and demand that a division be +made there, and that a separate bank book be started for me.”</p> + +<p>Linda’s amazement on entering the room had been worthy of note. +Eileen’s at the present minute was beyond description. Dumbfounded was +a colourless word to describe her state of mind.</p> + +<p>“You don’t mean that,” she gasped in a quivering voice when at last she +could speak.</p> + +<p>“I can see, Eileen, that you are taken unawares,” said Linda. “I have +had four long years to work up to this hour. Hasn’t it even dawned on +you that this worm was ever going to turn? You know exquisite moths and +butterflies evolve in the canyons from very unprepossessing and lowly +living worms. You are spending your life on the butterfly stunt. Have I +been such a weak worm that it hasn’t ever occurred to you that I might +want to try a plain, every-day pair of wings sometime myself?”</p> + +<p>Eileen’s face was an ugly red, her hands were shaking, her voice was +unnatural, but she controlled her temper.</p> + +<p>“Of course,” she said, “I have always known that the time would come, +after you finished school and were of a proper age, when you would want +to enter society.”</p> + +<p>“No, you never knew anything of the kind,” said Linda bluntly, “because +I have not the slightest ambition to enter society either now or then. +All I am asking is to enter the High School in a commonly decent, +suitable dress; to enter our dining room as a daughter; to enter a +workroom decently equipped for my convenience. You needn’t be surprised +if you hear some changes going on in the billiard room and see some +changes going on in the library. And if I feel that I can muster the +nerve to drive the runabout, it’s my car, it’s up to me.”</p> + +<p>“Linda!” wailed Eileen, “how can you think of such a thing? You +wouldn’t dare.”</p> + +<p>“Because I haven’t dared till the present is no reason why I should +deprive myself of every single pleasure in life,” said Linda. “You +spend your days doing exactly what you please; driving that runabout +for Father was my one soul-satisfying diversion. Why shouldn’t I do the +thing I love most, if I can muster the nerve?”</p> + +<p>Linda arose, and walking over to a table, picked up a magazine lying +among some small packages that Eileen evidently had placed there on +entering her room.</p> + +<p>“Are you subscribing to this?” she asked.</p> + +<p>She turned in her hands and leafed through the pages of a most +attractive magazine, <i>Everybody’s Home</i>. It was devoted to +poetry, good fiction, and everything concerning home life from beef to +biscuits, and from rugs to roses.</p> + +<p>“I saw it on a news-stand,” said Eileen. “I was at lunch with some +girls who had a copy and they were talking about some articles by +somebody named something—Meredith, I think it was—Jane Meredith, maybe +she’s a Californian, and she is advocating the queer idea that we go +back to nature by trying modern cooking on the food the aborigines +ate. If we find it good then she recommends that we specialize on the +growing of these native vegetables for home use and for export—as a new +industry.”</p> + +<p>“I see,” said Linda. “Out-Burbanking Burbank, as it were.”</p> + +<p>“No, not that,” said Eileen. “She is not proposing to evolve new forms. +She is proposing to show us how to make delicious dishes for luncheon +or dinner from wild things now going to waste. What the girls said was +so interesting that I thought I’d get a copy and if I see anything good +I’ll turn it over to Katy.”</p> + +<p>“And where’s Katy going to get the wild vegetables?” asked Linda +sceptically.</p> + +<p>“Why you might have some of them in your wild garden, or you could +easily find enough to try—all the prowling the canyons you do ought to +result in something.”</p> + +<p>“So it should,” said Linda. “I quite agree with you. Did I understand +you to say that I should be ready to go to the bank with you to arrange +about my income next week?”</p> + +<p>Again the colour deepened in Eileen’s face, again she made a visible +effort at self-control.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Linda,” she said, “what is the use of being so hard? You will make +them think at the bank that I have not treated you fairly.”</p> + +<p>“<i>I</i>?” said Linda, “<i>I</i> will make them think? Don’t you think +it is <i>you</i> who will make them think? Will you kindly answer my +question?”</p> + +<p>“If I show you the books,” said Eileen, “if I divide what is left after +the bills are paid so that you say yourself that it is fair, what more +can you ask?”</p> + +<p>Linda hesitated.</p> + +<p>“What I ought to do is exactly what I have said I would do,” she said +tersely, “but if you are going to put it on that basis I have no desire +to hurt you or humiliate you in public. If you do that, I can’t see +that I have any reason to complain, so we’ll call it a bargain and +we’ll say no more about it until the first of the month, unless the +spirit moves you, after taking a good square look at me, to produce +some shoes and a school dress instanter.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll see what I can do,” answered Eileen.</p> + +<p>“All right then,” said Linda. “See you at dinner.”</p> + +<p>She went to her own room, slipped off her school dress, brushed her +hair, and put on the skirt and blouse she had worn the previous +evening, these being the only extra clothing she possessed. As she +straightened her hair she looked at herself intently.</p> + +<p>“My, aren’t you coming on!” she said to the figure in the glass. +“Dressing for dinner! First thing you know you’ll be a perfect lady.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_VI">CHAPTER VI</h2> +<div class="subheadc">Jane Meredith</div> +</div> + +<p>When Eileen came down to dinner that evening Linda understood at a +glance that an effort was to be made to efface thoroughly from the +mind of John Gilman all memory of the Eileen of the previous evening. +She had decided on redressing her hair, while she wore one of her most +becoming and attractive gowns. To Linda and Katy during the dinner she +was simply charming. Having said what she wanted to say and received +the assurance she desired, Linda accepted her advances cordially +and displayed such charming proclivities herself that Eileen began +covertly to watch her, and as she watched there slowly grew in her +brain the conviction that something had happened to Linda. At once she +began studying deeply in an effort to learn what it might be. There +were three paramount things in Eileen’s cosmos that could happen to a +girl: She could have lovely clothing. Linda did not have it. She could +have money and influential friends. Since Marian’s going Linda had +practically no friend; she was merely acquainted with almost everyone +living in Lilac Valley. She could have a lover. Linda had none. But +stay! Eileen’s thought halted at the suggestion. Maybe she had! She +had been left completely to her own devices when she was not wanted +about the house. She had been mingling with hundreds of boys and girls +in High School. She might have met some man repeatedly on the street +cars, going to and from school. In school she might have attracted +the son of some wealthy and influential family; which was the only +kind of son Eileen chose to consider in connection with Linda. Through +Eileen’s brain ran bits of the conversation of the previous evening. +She recalled that the men she had intended should spend the evening +waiting on her and paying her pretty compliments had spent it eating +like hungry men, laughing and jesting with Linda and Marian, giving +every evidence of a satisfaction with their entertainment that never +had been evinced with the best brand of attractions she had to offer.</p> + +<p>Eileen was willing to concede that Marian Thorne had been a beautiful +girl, and she had known, previous to the disaster, that it was quite +as likely that any man might admire Marian’s flashing dark beauty as +her blonde loveliness. Between them then it would have been merely a +question of taste on the part of the man. Since Marian’s dark head had +turned ashen, Eileen had simply eliminated her at one sweep. That white +hair would brand Marian anywhere as an old woman. Very likely no man +ever would want to marry her. Eileen was sure she would not want to if +she were a man. No wonder John Gilman had ceased to be attracted by a +girl’s face with a grandmother setting.</p> + +<p>As for Linda, Eileen never had considered her at all except as a +convenience to serve her own purposes. Last night she had learned that +Linda had a brain, that she had wit, that she could say things to which +men of the world listened with interest. She began to watch Linda. She +appraised with deepest envy the dark hair curling naturally on her +temples. She wondered how hair that curled naturally could be so thick +and heavy, and she thought what a crown of glory would adorn Linda’s +head when the day came to coil those long dark braids around it and +fasten them with flashing pins. She drew some satisfaction from the +sunburned face and lean figure before her, but it was not satisfaction +of soul-sustaining quality. There was beginning to be something +disquieting about Linda. A roundness was creeping over her lean frame; +a glow was beginning to colour her lips and cheek bones; a dewy look +could be surprised in her dark eyes occasionally. She had the effect of +a creature with something yeasty bottled inside it that was beginning +to ferment and might effervesce at any minute. Eileen had been so +surprised the previous evening and again before dinner, that she made +up her mind that hereafter one might expect almost anything from Linda. +She would no longer follow a suggestion unless the suggestion accorded +with her sense of right and justice. It was barely possible that it +might be required to please her inclinations. Eileen’s mind worked with +unbelievable swiftness. She tore at her subject like a vulture tearing +at a feast, and like a vulture she reached the vitals swiftly. She +prefaced her question with a dry laugh. Then she leaned forward and +asked softly: “Linda, dear, why haven’t you told me?”</p> + +<p>Linda’s eyes were so clear and honest as they met Eileen’s that she +almost hesitated.</p> + +<p>“A little more explicit, please,” said the girl quietly.</p> + +<p>“<i>Who is he?</i>” asked Eileen abruptly.</p> + +<p>“Oh, I haven’t narrowed to an individual,” said Linda largely. “You +have noticed a flock of boys following me from school and hanging +around the front door? I have such hosts to choose from that it’s going +to take a particularly splendid knight on a snow-white charger—I think +‘charger’ is the proper word—to capture my young affections.”</p> + +<p>Eileen was satisfied. There wasn’t any he. She might for a short +time yet cut Linda’s finances to the extreme limit. Whenever a man +appeared on the horizon she would be forced to make a division at least +approaching equality.</p> + +<p>Linda followed Eileen to the living room and sat down with a book +until John Gilman arrived. She had a desire to study him for a few +minutes. She was going to write Marian a letter that night. She wanted +to know if she could honestly tell her that Gilman appeared lonely +and seemed to miss her. Katy had no chance to answer the bell when it +rang. Eileen was in the hall. Linda could not tell what was happening +from the murmur of voices. Presently John and Eileen entered the room, +and as Linda greeted him she did have the impression that he appeared +unusually thoughtful and worried. She sat for half an hour, taking +slight part in the conversation. Then she excused herself and went to +her room, and as she went she knew that she could not honestly write +Marian what she had hoped, for in thirty minutes by the clock Eileen’s +blandishments had worked, and John Gilman was looking at her as if she +were the most exquisite and desirable creature in existence.</p> + +<p>Slowly Linda climbed the stairs and entered her room. She slid the +bolt of her door behind her, turned on the lights, unlocked a drawer, +and taking from it a heap of materials she scattered them over a small +table, and picking up her pencil, she sat gazing at the sheet before +her for some time. Then slowly she began writing:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>It appeals to me that, far as modern civilization has gone in +culinary efforts, we have not nearly reached the limits available +to us as I pointed out last month. We consider ourselves capable +of preparing and producing elaborate banquets, yet at no time are +we approaching anything even to compare in lavishness and delicacy +with the days of Lucullus. We are not feasting on baked swans, +peacock tongues and drinking our pearls. I am not recommending +that we should revive the indulgence of such lavish and useless +expenditure, but I would suggest that if we tire with the sameness +of our culinary efforts, we at least try some of the new dishes +described in this department, established for the sole purpose of +their introduction. In so doing we accomplish a multiple purpose. +We enlarge the resources of the southwest. We tease stale appetites +with a new tang. We offer the world something different, yet native +to us. We use modern methods on Indian material and the results +are most surprising. In trying these dishes I would remind you +that few of us cared for oysters, olives, celery—almost any fruit +or vegetable one could mention on first trial. Try several times +and be sure you prepare dishes exactly right before condemning +them as either fad or fancy. These are very real, nourishing and +delicious foods that are being offered you. Here is a salad that +would have intrigued the palate of Lucullus, himself. If you do +not believe me, try it. The vegetable is slightly known by a few +native mountaineers and ranchers. Botanists carried it abroad where +under the name of winter-purslane it is used in France and England +for greens or salad, while remaining practically unknown at home. +Boiled and seasoned as spinach it makes equally good greens. But it +is in salad that it stands pre-eminent.</p> + +<p>Go to any canyon—I shall not reveal the name of my particular +canyon—and locate a bed of miner’s lettuce (<i>Montia +perfoliata</i>). Growing in rank beds beside a cold, clean stream, +you will find these pulpy, exquisitely shaped, pungent round +leaves from the center of which lifts a tiny head of misty white +lace, sending up a palate-teasing, spicy perfume. The crisp, +pinkish stems snap in the fingers. Be sure that you wash the +leaves carefully so that no lurking germs cling to them. Fill your +salad bowl with the crisp leaves, from which the flowerhead has +been plucked. For dressing, dice a teacup of the most delicious +bacon you can obtain and fry it to a crisp brown together with +a small sliced onion. Add to the fat two tablespoons of sugar, +half a teaspoon of mustard; salt will scarcely be necessary, the +bacon will furnish that. Blend the fat, sugar, and mustard, and +pour in a measure of the best apple vinegar, diluted to taste. +Bring this mixture to the boiling point, and when it has cooled +slightly pour it over the lettuce leaves, lightly turning with a +silver fork. Garnish the edge of the dish with a deep border of +the fresh leaves, bearing their lace of white bloom intact, around +the edge of the bowl, and sprinkle on top the sifted yolks of two +hard-boiled eggs, heaping the diced whites in the center.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Linda paused and read this over carefully.</p> + +<p>“That is all right,” she said. “I couldn’t make that much better.”</p> + +<p>She made a few corrections here and there, and picking up a coloured +pencil, she deftly sketched in a head piece of delicate sprays of +miners’ lettuce tipped at differing angles, fringy white with bloom. +Below she printed: “A delicious Indian salad. The second of a series +of new dishes to be offered made from materials used by the Indians. +Compounded and tested in her own diet kitchen by the author.” Swiftly +she sketched a tail piece representing a table top upon which sat a +tempting-looking big salad bowl filled with fresh green leaves, rimmed +with a row of delicate white flowers, from which you could almost scent +a teasing delicate fragrance arising; and beneath, in a clear, firm +hand, she stroked in the name, Jane Meredith. She went over her work +carefully, then laid it flat on a piece of cardboard, shoved it into an +envelope, directed it to the editor of <i>Everybody’s Home</i>, laid it +inside her geometry, and wrote her letter to Marian before going to bed.</p> + +<p>In the morning on her way to the street car she gaily waved to a +passing automobile going down Lilac Valley, in which sat John Gilman +and Peter Morrison and his architect, and as they were driving in +the direction from which she had come, Linda very rightly surmised +that they were going to pick up Eileen and make a tour of the valley, +looking for available building locations; and she wondered why Eileen +had not told her that they were coming. Linda had been right about the +destination of the car. It turned in at the Strong driveway and stopped +at the door. John Gilman went to ring the bell and learn if Eileen were +ready. Peter followed him. Henry Anderson stepped from the car and +wandered over the lawn, looking at the astonishing array of bushes, +vines, flowers, and trees.</p> + +<p>From one to another he went, fingering the waxy leaves, studying the +brilliant flower faces. Finally turning a corner and crossing the +wild garden, to which he paid slight attention, he started down the +other side of the house. Here an almost overpowering odour greeted his +nostrils, and he went over to a large tree covered with rough, dark +green, almost brownish, lance-shaped leaves, each branch terminating in +a heavy spray of yellowish-green flowers, whose odour was of cloying +sweetness. The bees were buzzing over it. It was not a tree with which +he was familiar, and stepping back, he looked at it carefully. Then at +its base, wind-driven into a crevice between the roots, his attention +was attracted to a crumpled sheet of paper, upon which he could see +lines that would have attracted the attention of any architect. He went +forward instantly, picked up the sheet, and straightening it out he +stood looking at it.</p> + +<p>“Holy smoke!” he breathed softly. “What a find!”</p> + +<p>He looked at the reverse of the sheet, his face becoming more intent +every minute. When he heard Peter Morrison’s voice calling him he +hastily thrust the paper into his coat pocket; but he had gone only +a few steps when he stopped, glanced keenly over the house and lawn, +turned his back, and taking the sheet from his pocket, he smoothed +it out, folded it carefully, and put it in an inside pocket. Then he +joined the party.</p> + +<p>At once they set out to examine the available locations that yet +remained in Lilac Valley. Nature provided them a wonderful day of +snappy sunshine and heady sea air. Spring favoured them with lilac +walls at their bluest, broken here and there with the rose-misted white +mahogany. The violet nightshade was beginning to add deeper colour to +the hills in the sunniest wild spots. The panicles of mahonia bloom +were showing their gold colour. Wild flowers were lifting leaves of +feather and lace everywhere, and most agreeable on the cool morning +air was a faint breath of California sage. Up one side of the valley, +weaving in and out, up and down, over the foothills they worked their +way. They stopped for dinner at one of the beautiful big hotels, +practically filled with Eastern tourists. Eileen never had known a +prouder moment than when she took her place at the head of the table +and presided over the dinner which was served to three most attractive +specimens of physical manhood, each of whom was unusually well endowed +with brain, all flattering her with the most devoted attention. This +triumph she achieved in a dining room seating hundreds of people, its +mirror-lined walls reflecting her exquisite image from many angles, to +the click of silver, and the running accompaniment of many voices. What +she had expected to accomplish in her own dining room had come to her +before a large audience, in which, she had no doubt, there were many +envious women. Eileen rayed loveliness like a Mariposa lily, and purred +in utter contentment like a deftly stroked kitten.</p> + +<p>When they parted in the evening Peter Morrison had memoranda of three +locations that he wished to consider. That he might not seem to be +unduly influenced or to be giving the remainder of Los Angeles County +its just due, he proposed to motor around for a week before reaching +an ultimate decision, but in his heart he already had decided that +somewhere near Los Angeles he would build his home, and as yet he had +seen nothing nearly so attractive as Lilac Valley.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_VII">CHAPTER VII</h2> +<div class="subheadc">Trying Yucca</div> +</div> + +<p>On her way to school that morning Linda stopped at the post office and +pasted the required amount of stamps upon the package that she was +mailing to New York. She hurried from her last class that afternoon to +the city directory to find the street and number of James Brothers, +figuring that the firm with whom Marian dealt would be the proper +people for her to consult. She had no difficulty in finding the place +for which she was searching, and she was rather agreeably impressed +with the men to whom she talked. She made arrangements with their buyer +to call at her home in Lilac Valley at nine o’clock the following +Saturday morning to appraise the articles with which she wished to part.</p> + +<p>Then she went to one of the leading book stores of the city and made +inquiries which guided her to a reliable second-hand book dealer, and +she arranged to be ready to receive his representative at ten o’clock +on Saturday.</p> + +<p>Reaching home she took a note book and pencil, and studied the billiard +room and the library, making a list of the furniture which she did not +actually need. After that she began on the library shelves, listing +such medical works as were of a technical nature. Books of fiction, +history, art, and biography, and those books written by her father she +did not include. She found that she had a long task which would occupy +several evenings. Her mind was methodical and she had been with her +father through sufficient business transactions to understand that in +order to drive a good bargain she must know how many volumes she had to +offer and the importance of their authors as medical authorities; she +should also know the exact condition of each set of books. Since she +had made up her mind to let them go, and she knew the value of many of +the big, leather-bound volumes, she determined that she would not sell +them until she could secure the highest possible price for them.</p> + +<p>Two months previously she would have consulted John Gilman and asked +him to arrange the transaction for her. Since he had allowed himself to +be duped so easily—or at least it had seemed easy to Linda; for, much +as she knew of Eileen, she could not possibly know the weeks of secret +plotting, the plans for unexpected meetings, the trumped-up business +problems necessary to discuss, the deliberate flaunting of her physical +charms before him, all of which had made his conquest extremely hard +for Eileen, but Linda, seeing only results, had thought it contemptibly +easy—she would not ask John Gilman anything. She would go ahead on the +basis of her agreement with Eileen and do the best she could alone.</p> + +<p>She counted on Saturday to dispose of the furniture. The books might +go at her leisure. Then the first of the week she could select such +furniture as she desired in order to arrange the billiard room for her +study. If she had a suitable place in which to work in seclusion, there +need be no hurry about the library. She conscientiously prepared all +the lessons required in her school course for the next day and then, +stacking her books, she again unlocked the drawer opened the previous +evening, and taking from it the same materials, set to work. She wrote:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Botanists have failed to mention that there is any connection +between asparagus, originally a product of salt marshes, and +Yucca, a product of the alkaline desert. Very probably there is no +botanical relationship, but these two plants are alike in flavor. +From the alkaline, sunbeaten desert where the bayonet plant thrusts +up a tender bloom head six inches in height, it slowly increases in +stature as it travels across country more frequently rain washed, +and winds its way beside mountain streams to where in more fertile +soil and the same sunshine it develops magnificent specimens from +ten to fifteen and more feet in height. The plant grows a number +of years before it decides to flower. When it reaches maturity it +throws up a bloom stem as tender as the delicate head of asparagus, +thick as one’s upper arm, and running to twice one’s height. +This bloom stem in its early stages is coloured the pale pink of +asparagus, with faint touches of yellow, and hints of blue. At +maturity it breaks into a gorgeous head of lavender-tinted, creamy +pendent flowers covering the upper third of its height, billowing +out slightly in the centre, so that from a distance the waxen +torch takes on very much the appearance of a flaming candle. For +this reason, in Mexico, where the plant flourishes in even greater +abundance than in California, with the exquisite poetry common +to the tongue and heart of the Spaniard, Yucca Whipplei has been +commonly named “Our Lord’s Candle.” At the most delicate time of +their growth these candlesticks were roasted and eaten by the +Indians. Based upon this knowledge, I would recommend two dishes, +almost equally delicious, which may be prepared from this plant.</p> + +<p>Take the most succulent young bloom stems when they have exactly +the appearance of an asparagus head at its moment of delicious +perfection. With a sharp knife, cut them in circles an inch in +depth. Arrange these in a shallow porcelain baking dish, sprinkle +with salt, dot them with butter, add enough water to keep them +from sticking and burning. Bake until thoroughly tender. Use a +pancake turner to slide the rings to a hot platter, and garnish +with circles of hard-boiled egg. This you will find an extremely +delicate and appetizing dish.</p> + +<p>The second recipe I would offer is to treat this vegetable +precisely as you would creamed asparagus. Cut the stalks in +six-inch lengths, quarter them to facilitate cooking and handling, +and boil in salted water. Drain, arrange in a hot dish, and pour +over a carefully made cream sauce. I might add that one stalk would +furnish sufficient material for several families. This dish should +be popular in southwestern states where the plant grows profusely; +and to cultivate these plants for shipping to Eastern markets +would be quite as feasible as the shipping of asparagus, rhubarb, +artichokes, or lettuce.</p> + +<p>I have found both these dishes peculiarly appetizing, but I should +be sorry if, in introducing Yucca as a food, I became instrumental +in the extermination of this universal and wonderfully beautiful +plant. For this reason I have hesitated about including Yucca among +these articles; but when I see the bloom destroyed ruthlessly by +thousands who cut it to decorate touring automobiles and fruit and +vegetable stands beside the highways, who carry it from its native +location and stick it in the parching sun of the seashore as a +temporary shelter, I feel that the bloom stems might as well be +used for food as to be so ruthlessly wasted.</p> + +<p>The plant is hardy in the extreme, growing in the most unfavourable +places, clinging tenaciously to sheer mountain and canyon walls. +After blooming and seeding the plant seems to have thrown every +particle of nourishment it contains into its development, it dries +out and dies (the spongy wood is made into pin-cushions for the art +stores); but from the roots there spring a number of young plants, +which, after a few years of growth, mature and repeat their life +cycle, while other young plants develop from the widely scattered +seeds. The Spaniards at times call the plant Quiota. This word +seems to be derived from <i>quiotl</i>, which is the Aztec name for +Agave, from which plant a drink not unlike beer is produced, and +suggests the possibility that there might have been a time when the +succulent flower stem of the Yucca furnished drink as well as food +for the Indians.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>After carefully re-reading and making several minor corrections, Linda +picked up her pencil, and across the top of a sheet of heavy paper +sketched the peaks of a chain of mountains. Across the base she drew a +stretch of desert floor, bristling with the thorns of many different +cacti brilliant with their gold, pink, and red bloom, intermingled with +fine grasses and desert flower faces. At the left she painstakingly +drew a huge plant of yucca with a perfect circle of bayonets, from the +center of which uprose the gigantic flower stem the length of her page, +and on the misty bloom of the flaming tongue she worked quite as late +as Marian Thorne had ever seen a light burning in her window. When she +had finished her drawing she studied it carefully a long time, adding a +touch here and there, and then she said softly: “There, Daddy, I feel +that even you would think that a faithful reproduction To-morrow night +I’ll paint it.”</p> + +<p>John Gilman saw the light from Linda’s window when he brought Eileen +home that night, and when he left he glanced that way again, and was +surprised to see the room still lighted, and the young figure bending +over a work table. He stood very still for a few minutes, wondering +what could keep Linda awake so far into the night, and while his +thoughts were upon her he wondered, too, why she did not care to +have beautiful clothes such as Eileen wore; and then he went further +and wondered why, when she could be as entertaining as she had been +the night she joined them at dinner, she did not make her appearance +oftener; and then, because the mind is a queer thing, and he had +wondered about a given state of affairs, he went a step further, and +wondered whether the explanation lay in Linda’s inclinations or in +Eileen’s management, and then his thought fastened tenaciously upon the +subject of Eileen’s management.</p> + +<p>He was a patient man. He had allowed his reason and better judgment +to be swayed by Eileen’s exquisite beauty and her blandishments. He +did not regret having discovered before it was too late that Marian +Thorne was not the girl he had thought her. He wanted a wife cut after +the clinging-vine pattern. He wanted to be the dominating figure in +his home. It had not taken Eileen long to teach him that Marian was +self-assertive and would do a large share of dominating herself. He had +thought that he was perfectly satisfied and very happy with Eileen; yet +that day he repeatedly had felt piqued and annoyed with her. She had +openly cajoled and flirted with Henry Anderson past a point which was +agreeable for any man to see his sweetheart go with another man. With +Peter Morrison she had been unspeakably charming in a manner with which +John was very familiar.</p> + +<p>He turned up his coat collar, thrust his hands in his pockets, and +swore softly. Looking straight ahead of him, he should have seen a +stretch of level sidewalk, bordered on one hand by lacy, tropical +foliage, on the other, by sheets of level green lawn, broken everywhere +by the uprising boles of great trees, clumps of rare vines, and rows +of darkened homes, attractive in architectural design, vine covered, +hushed for the night. What he really saw was a small plateau, sun +illumined, at the foot of a mountain across the valley, where the lilac +wall was the bluest, where the sun shone slightly more golden than +anywhere else in the valley, where huge live oaks outstretched rugged +arms, where the air had a tang of salt, a tinge of sage, an odour of +orange, shot through with snowy coolness, thrilled with bird song, and +the laughing chuckle of a big spring breaking from the foot of the +mountain. They had left the road and followed a narrow, screened path +by which they came unexpectedly into this opening. They had stood upon +it in wordless enchantment, looking down the slope beneath it, across +the peace of the valley, to the blue ranges beyond.</p> + +<p>“Just where are we?” Peter Morrison had asked at last.</p> + +<p>John Gilman had been looking at a view which included Eileen. She +lifted her face, flushed and exquisite, to Peter Morrison and answered +in a breathless undertone, yet John had distinctly heard her:</p> + +<p>“How wonderful it would be if we were at <i>your</i> house. Oh, I envy +the woman who shares this with you!”</p> + +<p>It had not been anything in particular, yet all day it had teased John +Gilman’s sensibilities. He felt ashamed of himself for not being more +enthusiastic as he searched records and helped to locate the owner of +that particular spot. To John, there was a new tone in Peter’s voice, +a possessive light in his eyes as he studied the location, and made +excursions in several directions, to fix in his mind the exact position +of the land.</p> + +<p>He had indicated what he considered the topographical location for a +house—stood on it facing the valley, and stepped the distance suitably +far away to set a garage and figured on a short private road down to +the highway. He very plainly was deeply prepossessed with a location +John Gilman blamed himself for not having found first. Certainly nature +had here grown and walled a dream garden in which to set a house of +dreams. So, past midnight, Gilman stood in the sunshine, looking at +the face of the girl he had asked to marry him and who had said that +she would; and a small doubt crept into his heart, and a feeling that +perhaps life might be different for him if Peter Morrison decided to +come to Lilac Valley to build his home. Then the sunlight faded, night +closed in, but as he went his homeward way John Gilman was thinking, +thinking deeply and not at all happily.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</h2> +<div class="subheadc">The Bear-cat</div> +</div> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="i0">“Friday’s child is loving and giving,</div> + <div class="i1">But Saturday’s child must work for a living,”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Linda was chanting happily as she entered the kitchen early Saturday +morning.</p> + +<p>“Katy, me blessing,” she said gaily, “did I ever point out to you the +interesting fact that I was born on Saturday? And a de’ilish piece of +luck it was, for I have been hustling ever since. It’s bad enough to +have been born on Monday and spoiled wash day, but I call Saturday the +vanishing point, the end of the extreme limit.”</p> + +<p>Katy laughed, and, as always, turned adoring eyes on Linda.</p> + +<p>“I am not needing ye, lambie,” she said. “Is it big business in the +canyon ye’re having to-day? Shall I be ready to be cooking up one of +them God-forsaken Red Indian messes for ye when ye come back?”</p> + +<p>Linda held up a warning finger.</p> + +<p>“Hist, Katy,” she said. “That is a dark secret. Don’t you be forgetting +yourself and saying anything like that before anyone, or I would be +ruined entirely.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I did think when ye began it,” said Katy, “that of all the wild +foolishness ye and your pa had ever gone through with, that was the +worst, but that last mess ye worked out was so tasty to the tongue that +I thought of it a lot, and I’m kind o’ hankering for more.”</p> + +<p>Linda caught Katy and swung her around the kitchen in a wild war dance. +Her gayest laugh bubbled clear from the joy peak of her soul.</p> + +<p>“Katy,” she said, “if you had lain awake all night trying to say +something that would particularly please me, you couldn’t have done +better. That was a quaint little phrase and a true little phrase, and I +know a little spot that it will fit exactly. What am I doing the day? +Well, several things, Katy. First, anything you need about the house. +Next, I am going to empty the billiard room and sell some of the excess +furniture of the library, and with the returns I am going to buy me a +rug and a table and some tools to work with, so I won’t have to clutter +up my bedroom with my lessons and things I bring in that I want to +save. And then I am going to sell the technical stuff from the library +and use that money where it will be of greatest advantage to me. And +then, Katy, I am going to manicure the Bear-cat and I am going to drive +it again.”</p> + +<p>Linda hesitated. Katy stood very still, thinking intently, but finally +she said: “That’s all right; ye have got good common sense; your nerves +are steady; your pa drilled ye fine. Many’s the time he has bragged +to me behind your back what a fine little driver he was making of ye. +I don’t know a girl of your age anywhere that has less enjoyment than +ye. If it would be giving ye any happiness to be driving that car, ye +just go ahead and drive it, lambie, but ye promise me here and now that +ye will be mortal careful. In all my days I don’t think I have seen a +meaner looking little baste of a car.”</p> + +<p>“Of course I’ll be careful, Katy,” said Linda. “That car was not bought +for its beauty. Its primal object in this world was to arrive. Gee, +how we shot curves, and coasted down the canyons, and gassed up on the +level when some poor soul went batty from nerve strain! The truth is, +Katy, that you can’t drive very slowly. You have got to go the speed +for which it was built. But I have had my training. I won’t forget. I +adore that car, Katy, and I don’t know how I have ever kept my fingers +off it this long. To-day it gets a bath and a facial treatment, and +when I have thought up some way to meet my big problem, you’re going to +have a ride, Katy, that will quite uplift your soul. We’ll go scooting +through the canyons, and whizzing around the mountains, and roaring +along the beach, as slick as a white sea swallow.”</p> + +<p>“Now, easy, lambie, easy,” said Katy. “Ye’re planning to speed that +thing before ye’ve got it off the jacks.”</p> + +<p>“No, that was mere talk,” said Linda. “But, Katy, this is my great day. +I feel in my bones that I shall have enough money by night to get me +some new tires, which I must have before I can start out in safety.”</p> + +<p>“Of course ye must, honey. I would just be tickled to pieces to let ye +have what ye need.”</p> + +<p>Linda slid her hand across Katy’s lips and gathered her close in her +arms.</p> + +<p>“You blessed old darling,” she said. “Of course you would, but I don’t +need it, Katy. I can sit on the floor to work, if I must, and instead +of taking the money from the billiard table to buy a work table, I +can buy tires with that. But here’s another thing I want to tell you, +Katy. This afternoon a male biped is coming to this house, and he’s not +coming to see Eileen. His name is Donald Whiting, and when he tells +you it is, and stands very straight and takes off his hat, and looks +you in the eye and says, ‘Calling on Miss Linda Strong,’ walk him into +the living room, Katy, and seat him in the best chair and put a book +beside him and the morning paper; and don’t you forget to do it with a +flourish. He is nothing but a high-school kid, but he’s the first boy +that ever in all my days asked to come to see me so it’s a big event; +and I wish to my soul I had something decent to wear.”</p> + +<p>“Well, with all the clothes in this house,” said Katy; and then she +stopped and shut her lips tight and looked at Linda with belligerent +Irish eyes.</p> + +<p>“I know it,” nodded Linda in acquiescence; “I know what you think; but +never mind. Eileen has agreed to make me a fair allowance the first of +the month, and if that isn’t sufficient, I may possibly figure up some +way to do some extra work that will bring me a few honest pennies, so +I can fuss up enough to look feminine at times, Katy. In the meantime, +farewell, oh, my belovedest. Call me at half-past eight, so I will be +ready for business at nine.”</p> + +<p>Then Linda went to the garage and began operations. She turned the +hose on the car and washed the dust from it carefully. Then she dried +it with the chamois skins as she often had done before. She carefully +examined the cushioning, and finding it dry and hard, she gave it a +bath of olive oil and wiped and manipulated it. She cleaned the engine +with extreme care. At one minute she was running to Katy for kerosene +to pour through the engine to loosen the carbon. At another she was +telephoning for the delivery of oil, gasoline, and batteries for which +she had no money to pay, so she charged them to Eileen, ordering the +bill to be sent on the first of the month. It seemed to her that she +had only a good start when Katy came after her.</p> + +<p>The business of appraising the furniture was short, and Linda was well +satisfied with the price she was offered for it. After the man had +gone she showed Katy the pieces she had marked to dispose of, and told +her when they would be called for. She ate a few bites of lunch while +waiting for the book man, and the results of her business with him +quite delighted Linda. She had not known that the value of books had +risen with the price of everything else. The man with whom she dealt +had known her father. He had appreciated the strain in her nature which +made her suggest that he should number and appraise the books, but she +must be allowed time to go through each volume in order to remove any +scraps of paper or memoranda which her father so frequently left in +books to which he was referring. He had figured carefully and he had +made Linda a far higher price than could have been secured by a man. As +the girl went back to her absorbing task in the garage, she could see +her way clear to the comforts and conveniences and the material that +she needed for her work. When she reached the car she patted it as if +it had been a living creature.</p> + +<p>“Cheer up, nice old thing,” she said gaily. “I know how to get new +tires for you, and you shall drink all the gasoline and oil your tummy +can hold. Now let me see. What must I do next? I must get you off your +jacks; and oh, my gracious! there are the grease cups, and that’s a +nasty job, but it must be done; and what is the use of Saturday if I +can’t do it? Daddy often did.”</p> + +<p>Linda began work in utter absorption. She succeeded in getting the car +off the jacks. She was lying on her back under it, filling some of the +most inaccessible grease cups, and she was softly singing as she worked:</p> + +<p>“The shoes I wear are common-sense shoes——”</p> + +<p>At that minute Donald Whiting swung down the street, turned in at the +Strong residence, and rang the bell. Eileen was coming down the stairs, +dressed for the street. She had inquired for Linda, and Katy had told +her that she thought Miss Linda had decided to begin using her car, and +that she was in the garage working on it. To Eileen’s credit it may be +said that she had not been told that a caller was expected. Linda never +before had had a caller and, as always, Eileen was absorbed in her own +concerns. Had she got the rouge a trifle brighter on one cheek than +on the other? Was the powder evenly distributed? Would the veil hold +the handmade curls in exactly the proper place? When the bell rang her +one thought might have been that some of her friends were calling for +her. She opened the door, and when she learned that Linda was being +asked for, it is possible that she mistook the clean, interesting, and +well-dressed youngster standing before her for a mechanician. What she +said was: “Linda’s working on her car. Go around to the left and you +will find her in the garage, and for heaven’s sake, get it right before +you let her start out, for we’ve had enough horror in this family from +motor accidents.”</p> + +<p>Then she closed the door before him and stood buttoning her gloves; a +wicked and malicious smile spreading over her face.</p> + +<p>“Just possibly,” she said, “that youngster is from a garage, but if he +is, he’s the best imitation of the real thing that I have seen in these +chaotic days.”</p> + +<p>Donald Whiting stopped at the garage door and looked in, before Linda +had finished her grease cups, and in time to be informed that he might +wear common-sense shoes if he chose. At his step, Linda rolled her +black head on the cement floor and raised her eyes. She dropped the +grease cup, and her face reddened deeply.</p> + +<p>“Oh, my Lord!” she gasped breathlessly. “I forgot to tell Katy when to +call me!”</p> + +<p>In that instant she also forgot that the stress of the previous four +years had accustomed men to seeing women do any kind of work in any +kind of costume; but soon Linda realized that Donald Whiting was not +paying any particular attention either to her or to her occupation. He +was leaning forward, gazing at the car with positively an enraptured +expression on his eager young face.</p> + +<p>“Shades of Jehu!” he cried. “It’s a Bear-cat!”</p> + +<p>Linda felt around her head for the grease cup.</p> + +<p>“Why, sure it’s a Bear-cat,” she said with the calmness of complete +recovery. “And it’s just about ready to start for its very own cave in +the canyon.”</p> + +<p>Donald Whiting pitched his hat upon the seat, shook off his coat, and +sent it flying after the hat. Then he began unbuttoning and turning +back his sleeves.</p> + +<p>“Here, let me do that,” he said authoritatively. “Gee! I have never yet +ridden in a Bear-cat. Take me with you, will you, Linda?”</p> + +<p>“Sure,” said Linda, pressing the grease into the cup with a little +paddle and holding it up to see if she had it well filled. “Sure, but +there’s no use in you getting into this mess, because I have only got +two more. You look over the engine. Did you ever grind valves, and do +you think these need it?”</p> + +<p>“Why, they don’t need it,” said Donald, “if they were all right when it +was jacked up.”</p> + +<p>“Well, they were,” said Linda. “It was running like a watch when it +went to sleep. But do we dare take it out on these tires?”</p> + +<p>“How long has it been?” asked Donald, busy at the engine.</p> + +<p>“All of four years,” answered Linda.</p> + +<p>Donald whistled softly and started a circuit of the car, kicking the +tires and feeling them.</p> + +<p>“Have you filled them?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Linda. “I did not want to start the engine until I had +finished everything else.”</p> + +<p>“All right,” he said, “I’ll look at the valves first and then, if +it is all ready, there ought to be a garage near that we can run to +carefully, and get tuned up.”</p> + +<p>“There is,” said Linda. “There is one only a few blocks down the street +where Dad always had anything done that he did not want to do himself.”</p> + +<p>“That’s that, then,” said Donald.</p> + +<p>Linda crawled from under the car and stood up, wiping her hands on a +bit of waste.</p> + +<p>“Do you know what tires cost now?” she asked anxiously.</p> + +<p>“They have ’em at the garage,” answered Donald, “and if I were you, +I wouldn’t get a set; I would get two. I would put them on the rear +wheels. You might be surprised at how long some of these will last. +Anyway, that would be the thing to do.”</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said Linda, in a relieved tone. “That <i>would</i> be the +thing to do.”</p> + +<p>“Now,” she said, “I must be excused a few minutes till I clean up so I +am fit to go on the streets. I hope you won’t think I forgot you were +coming.”</p> + +<p>Donald laughed drily.</p> + +<p>“When ‘shoes’ was the first word I heard,” he said, “I did not for a +minute think you had forgotten.”</p> + +<p>“No, I didn’t forget,” said Linda. “What I did do was to become so +excited about cleaning up the car that I let time go faster than I +thought it could. That was what made me late.”</p> + +<p>“Well, forget it!” said Donald. “Run along and jump into something, and +let us get our tires and try Kitty out.”</p> + +<p>Linda reached up and released the brakes. She stepped to one side of +the car and laid her hands on it.</p> + +<p>“Let us run it down opposite the kitchen door,” she said, “then you go +around to the front, and I’ll let you in, and you can read something a +few minutes till I make myself presentable.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I’ll stay out here and look around the yard and go over the car +again,” said the boy. “What a bunch of stuff you have got growing here; +I don’t believe I ever saw half of it before.”</p> + +<p>“It’s Daddy’s and my collection,” said Linda. “Some day I’ll show you +some of the things, and tell you how we got them, and why they are +rare. To-day I just naturally can’t wait a minute until I try my car.”</p> + +<p>“Is it really yours?” asked Donald enviously.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Linda. “It’s about the only thing on earth that is +peculiarly and particularly mine. I haven’t a doubt there are improved +models, but Daddy had driven this car only about nine months. It was +going smooth as velvet, and there’s no reason why it should not keep +it up, though I suspect that by this time there are later models that +could outrun it.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I don’t know,” said the boy. “It looks like some little old car to +me. I bet it can just skate.”</p> + +<p>“I know it can,” said Linda, “if I haven’t neglected something. We’ll +start carefully, and we’ll have the inspector at the salesrooms look it +over.”</p> + +<p>Then Linda entered the kitchen door to find Katy with everything edible +that the house afforded spread before her on the table.</p> + +<p>“Why, Katy, what are you doing?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“I was makin’ ready,” explained Katy, “to fix ye the same kind of lunch +I would for Miss Eileen. Will ye have it under the live oak, or in the +living room?”</p> + +<p>“Neither,” said Linda. “Come upstairs with me, and in the storeroom +you’ll find the lunch case and the thermos bottles; and don’t stint +yourself, Katy. This is a rare occasion. It never happened before. +Probably it will never happen again. Let’s make it high altitude while +we are at it.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll do my very best with what I happen to have,” said Katy; “but I +warn you right now I am making a good big hole in the Sunday dinner.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t give two whoops,” said Linda, “if there isn’t any Sunday +dinner. In memory of hundreds of times that we have eaten bread and +milk, make it a banquet, Katy, and we’ll eat bread and milk to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>Then she took the stairway at a bound, and ran to her room. In a very +short time she emerged, clad in a clean blouse and breeches’ her +climbing boots, her black hair freshly brushed and braided.</p> + +<p>“I ought to have something,” said Linda, “to shade my eyes. The glare’s +hard on them facing the sun.”</p> + +<p>Going down the hall she came to the storeroom, opened a drawer, and +picked out a fine black felt Alpine hat that had belonged to her +father. She carried it back to her room and, standing at the glass, +tried it on, pulling it down on one side, turning it up at the other, +and striking a deep cleft across the crown. She looked at herself +intently for a minute, and then she reached up and deliberately +loosened the hair at her temples.</p> + +<p>“Not half bad, all things considered, Linda,” she said. “But, oh, how +you do need a tich of colour.”</p> + +<p>She ran down the hall and opened the door to Eileen’s room, and going +to her chiffonier, pulled out a drawer containing an array of gloves, +veils, and ribbons. At the bottom of the ribbon stack, her eye caught +the gleam of colour for which she was searching, and she deftly slipped +out a narrow scarf of Roman stripes with a deep black fringe at the +end. Sitting down, she fitted the hat over her knee, picked up the +dressing-table scissors, and ripped off the band. In its place she +fitted the ribbon, pinning it securely and knotting the ends so that +the fringe reached her shoulder. Then she tried the hat again. The +result was blissfully satisfactory. The flash of orange, the blaze of +red, the gleam of green, were what she needed.</p> + +<p>“Thank you very much, sister mine,” she said, “I know you would be +perfectly delighted to loan me this.”</p>\ + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_IX">CHAPTER IX</h2> +<div class="subheadc">One Hundred Per Cent Plus</div> +</div> + +<p>Then she went downstairs and walked into the kitchen, prepared for what +she would see, by what she heard as she approached.</p> + +<p>With Katy’s apron tied around his waist, Donald Whiting was occupied in +squeezing orange, lemon, and pineapple juice over a cake of ice in a +big bowl, preparatory to the compounding of Katy’s most delicious brand +of fruit punch. Without a word, Linda stepped to the bread board and +began slicing the bread and building sandwiches, while Katy hurried her +preparations for filling the lunch box. A few minutes later Katy packed +them in the car, kissed Linda good-bye, and repeatedly cautioned Donald +to make her be careful.</p> + +<p>As the car rolled down the driveway and into the street, Donald looked +appraisingly at the girl beside him.</p> + +<p>“Is it the prevailing custom in Lilac Valley for young ladies to kiss +the cook?” inquired Donald laughingly.</p> + +<p>“Now, you just hush,” said Linda. “Katy is <i>not</i> the cook, alone. +Katy’s my father, and my mother, and my family, and my best friend——”</p> + +<p>“Stop right there,” interposed Donald. “That is quite enough for any +human to be. Katy’s a multitude. She came out to the car with the +canteen, and when I offered to help her, without any ‘polly foxin’,’ +she just said: ‘Sure. Come in and make yourself useful.’ So I went, and +I am expecting amazing results from the job she gave me.”</p> + +<p>“Come to think of it,” said Linda, “I have small experience with +anybody’s cooking except Katy’s and my own, but so far as I know, she +can’t very well be beaten.”</p> + +<p>Carefully she headed the car into the garage adjoining the salesrooms. +There she had an ovation. The manager and several of the men remembered +her. The whole force clustered around the Bear-cat and began to examine +it, and comment on it, and Linda climbed out and asked to have the +carburetor adjusted, while the mechanician put on a pair of tires. When +everything was satisfactory, she backed to the street, and after a few +blocks of experimental driving, she headed for the Automobile Club to +arrange for her license and then turned straight toward Multiflores +Canyon, but she did not fail to call Donald Whiting’s attention to +every beauty of Lilac Valley as they passed through. When they had +reached a long level stretch of roadway leading to the canyon, Linda +glanced obliquely at the boy beside her.</p> + +<p>“It all comes back as natural as breathing,” she said. “I couldn’t +forget it any more than I could forget how to walk, or to swim. Sit +tight. I am going to step on the gas for a bit, just for old sake’s +sake.”</p> + +<p>“That’s all right,” said Donald, taking off his hat and giving his head +a toss so that the wind might have full play through his hair. “But +remember our tires are not safe. Better not go the limit until we get +rid of these old ones, and have a new set all around.”</p> + +<p>Linda settled back in her seat, took a firm grip on the wheel, and +started down the broad, smooth highway, gradually increasing the speed. +The colour rushed to her cheeks. Her eyes were gleaming.</p> + +<p>“Listen to it purr!” she cried to Donald. “If you hear it begin to +growl, tell me.”</p> + +<p>And then for a few minutes they rode like birds on the path of the +wind. When they approached the entrance to the canyon, gradually Linda +slowed down. She turned an exultant flashing face to Donald Whiting.</p> + +<p>“That was a whizzer,” said the boy. “I’ll tell you I don’t know what +I’d give to have a car like this for my very own. I’ll bet not another +girl in Los Angeles has a car that can go like that.”</p> + +<p>“And I don’t believe I have any business with it,” said Linda; “but +since circumstances make it mine, I am going to keep it and I am going +to drive it.”</p> + +<p>“Of course you are,” said Donald emphatically. “Don’t you ever let +anybody fool you out of this car, because if they wanted to, it would +be just because they are jealous to think they haven’t one that will go +as fast.”</p> + +<p>“There’s not the slightest possibility of my giving it up so long as I +can make the engine turn over,” she said. “I told you how Father always +took me around with him, and there’s nothing in this world I am so sure +of as I am sure that I am spoiled for a house cat. I have probably +less feminine sophistication than any girl of my age in the world, and +I probably know more about camping and fishing and the scientific why +and wherefore of all outdoors than most of them. I just naturally had +such a heavenly time with Daddy that it never has hurt my feelings to +be left out of any dance or party that ever was given. The one thing +that has hurt is the isolation. Since I lost Daddy I haven’t any one +but Katy. Sometimes, when I see a couple of nice, interesting girls +visiting with their heads together, a great feeling of envy wells up in +my soul, and I wish with all my heart that I had such a friend.”</p> + +<p>“Ever try to make one?” asked Donald. “There are mighty fine girls in +the High School.”</p> + +<p>“I have seen several that I thought I would like to be friends with,” +said Linda, “but I am so lacking in feminine graces that I haven’t +known how to make advances, in the first place, and I haven’t had the +courage, in the second.”</p> + +<p>“I wish my sister were not so much older than you,” said Donald.</p> + +<p>“How old is your sister?” inquired Linda.</p> + +<p>“She will be twenty-three next birthday,” said Donald; “and of all the +nice girls you ever saw, she is the queen.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” she assented, “I am sure I have heard your sister mentioned. But +didn’t you tell me she had been reared for society?”</p> + +<p>“No, I did not,” said Donald emphatically. “I told you Mother believed +in dressing her as the majority of other girls were dressed, but I +didn’t say she had been reared for society. She has been reared with an +eye single to making a well-dressed, cultured, and gracious woman.”</p> + +<p>“I call that fine,” said Linda. “Makes me envious of you. Now forget +everything except your eyes and tell me what you see. Have you ever +been here before?”</p> + +<p>“I have been through a few times before, but seems to me I never saw it +looking quite so pretty.”</p> + +<p>Linda drove carefully, but presently Donald uttered an exclamation as +she swerved from the road and started down what appeared to be quite a +steep embankment and headed straight for the stream.</p> + +<p>“Sit tight,” she said tersely. “The Bear-cat just loves its cave. It +knows where it is going.”</p> + +<p>She broke through a group of young willows and ran the car into a tiny +plateau, walled in a circle by the sheer sides of the canyon reaching +upward almost out of sight, topped with great jagged overhanging +boulders. Crowded to one side, she stopped the car and sat quietly, +smiling at Donald Whiting.</p> + +<p>“How about it?” she asked in a low voice.</p> + +<p>The boy looked around him, carefully examining the canyon walls, and +then at the level, odorous floor where one could not step without +crushing tiny flowers of white, cerise, blue, and yellow. Big ferns +grew along the walls, here and there “Our Lord’s Candles” lifted high +torches not yet lighted, the ambitious mountain stream skipped and +circled and fell over its rocky bed, while many canyon wrens were +singing.</p> + +<p>“Do you think,” she said, “that anyone driving along here at an +ordinary rate of speed would see that car?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Donald, getting her idea, “I don’t believe they would.”</p> + +<p>“All right, then,” said Linda. “Toe up even and I’ll race YoU to the +third curve where you see the big white sycamore.”</p> + +<p>Donald had a fleeting impression of a flash of khaki, a gleam of red, +and a wave of black as they started. He ran with all the speed he had +ever attained at a track meet. He ran with all his might. He ran until +his sides strained and his breath came short; but the creature beside +him was not running; she was flying; and long before they neared the +sycamore he knew he was beaten, so he laughingly cried to her to stop +it. Linda turned to him panting and laughing.</p> + +<p>“I make that dash every time I come to the canyon, to keep my muscle +up, but this is the first time I have had anyone to race with in a long +time.”</p> + +<p>Then together they slowly walked down the smooth black floor between +the canyon walls. As they crossed a small bridge Linda leaned over and +looked down.</p> + +<p>“Anyone at your house care about ‘nose twister’?” she asked lightly.</p> + +<p>“Why, isn’t that watercress?” asked Donald.</p> + +<p>“Sure it is,” said Linda. “Anyone at your house like it?”</p> + +<p>“Every one of us,” answered Donald. “We’re all batty about cress +salad—and, say, that reminds me of something! If you know so much about +this canyon and everything in it, is there any place in it where a +fellow could find a plant, a kind of salad lettuce, that the Indians +used to use?”</p> + +<p>“Might be,” said Linda carelessly. “For why?”</p> + +<p>“Haven’t you heard of the big sensation that is being made in feminine +circles by the new department in <i>Everybody’s Home</i>?” inquired +Donald. “Mother and Mary Louise were discussing it the other day at +lunch, and they said that some of the recipes for dishes to be made +from stuff the Indians used sounded delicious. One reminded them of +cress, and when we saw the cress I wondered if I could get them some of +the other.”</p> + +<p>“Might,” said Linda drily, “if you could give me a pretty good idea of +what it is that you want.”</p> + +<p>“When you know cress, it’s queer that you wouldn’t know other things in +your own particular canyon,” said Donald.</p> + +<p>Linda realized that she had overdone her disinterestedness a trifle.</p> + +<p>“I suspect it’s miners’ lettuce you want,” she said. “Of course I know +where there’s some, but you will want it as fresh as possible if you +take any, so we’ll finish our day first and gather it the last thing +before we leave.”</p> + +<p>How it started neither of them noticed, but they had not gone far +before they were climbing the walls and hanging to precarious footings. +Her cheeks flushed, her eyes brilliant, her lips laughing, Linda was +showing Donald thrifty specimens of that Cotyledon known as “old hen +and chickens,” telling him of the rare Echeveria of the same family, +and her plunge down the canyon side while trying to uproot it, exulting +that she had brought down the plant without a rift in the exquisite +bloom on its leaves.</p> + +<p>Linda told about her fall, and the two men who had passed at that +instant, and how she had met them later, and who they were, and what +they were doing. Then Donald climbed high for a bunch of larkspur, and +Linda showed him how to turn his back to the canyon wall and come down +with the least possible damage to his person and clothing. When at last +both of them were tired they went back to the car. Linda spread an +old Indian blanket over the least flower-grown spot she could select, +brought out the thermos bottles and lunch case, and served their lunch. +With a glass of fruit punch in one hand and a lettuce sandwich in the +other, Donald smiled at Linda.</p> + +<p>“I’ll agree about Katy. She knows how,” he said appreciatively.</p> + +<p>“Katy is more than a cook,” said Linda quietly. “She is a human being. +She has the biggest, kindest heart. When anybody’s sick or in trouble +she’s the greatest help. She is honest; she has principles; she is +intelligent. In her spare time she reads good books and magazines. She +knows what is going on in the world. She can talk intelligently on +almost any subject. It’s no disgrace to be a cook. If it were, Katy +would be unspeakable. Fact is, at the present minute there’s no one in +all the world so dear to me as Katy. I always talk Irish with her.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I call that rough on your sister,” said Donald.</p> + +<p>“Maybe it is,” conceded Linda. “I suspect a lady wouldn’t have said +that, but Eileen and I are so different. She never has made the +slightest effort to prove herself lovable to me, and so I have never +learned to love her. Which reminds me—how did you happen to come to the +garage?”</p> + +<p>“The very beautiful young lady who opened the door mistook me for a +mechanician. She told me I would find you working on your car and for +goodness’ sake to see that it was in proper condition before you drove +it.”</p> + +<p>Linda looked at him with wide, surprised eyes in which a trace of +indignation was plainly discernible.</p> + +<p>“Now listen to me,” she said deliberately. “Eileen is a most +sophisticated young lady. If she saw you, she never in this world, +thought you were a mechanic sent from a garage presenting yourself at +our front door.”</p> + +<p>“There might have been a spark of malice in the big blue-gray I eyes +that carefully appraised me,” said Donald.</p> + +<p>“Your choice of words is good,” said Linda, refilling the punch glass. +“‘Appraise’ fits Eileen like her glove. She appraises every thing on a +monetary basis, and when she can’t figure that it’s going to be worth +an appreciable number of dollars and cents to her—‘to the garage wid +it,’ as Katy would say.”</p> + +<p>When they had finished their lunch Linda began packing the box and +Donald sat watching her.</p> + +<p>“At this point,” said Linda, “Daddy always smoked. Do you smoke?”</p> + +<p>There was a hint of deeper colour in the boy’s cheeks.</p> + +<p>“I did smoke an occasional cigarette,” he said lightly, “up to the day, +not a thousand years ago, when a very emphatic young lady who should +have known, insinuated that it was bad for the nerves, and going on +the presumption that she knew, I haven’t smoked a cigarette since and +I’m not going to until I find out whether I can do better work without +them.”</p> + +<p>Linda folded napkins and packed away accessories thoughtfully. Then she +looked into the boy’s eyes.</p> + +<p>“Now we reach the point of our being here together,” she said. “It’s +time to fight, and I am sorry we didn’t go at it gas and bomb the +minute we met. You’re so different from what I thought you were. If +anyone had told me a week ago that you would take off your coat and +mess with my automobile engine, or wear Katy’s apron and squeeze lemons +in our kitchen I would have looked him over for Daddy’s high sign of +hysteria, at least. It’s too bad to I have such a good time as I have +had this afternoon, and then end with a fight.”</p> + +<p>“That’s nothing,” said Donald. “You couldn’t have had as good a time as +I have had. You’re like another boy. A fellow can be just a fellow with +you, and somehow you make everything you touch mean something it never +meant before. You have made me feel that I would be about twice the man +I am if I had spent the time I have wasted in plain jazzing around, +hunting Cotyledon or trap-door spiders’ nests.”</p> + +<p>“I get you,” said Linda. “It’s the difference between a girl reared in +an atmosphere of georgette and rouge, and one who has grown up in the +canyons with the oaks and sycamores. One is natural and the other is +artificial. Most boys prefer the artificial.”</p> + +<p>“I thought I did myself,” said Donald, “but to-day has taught me that I +don’t. I think, Linda, that you would make the finest friend a fellow +ever had. I firmly and finally decline to fight with you; but for God’s +sake, Linda, tell me how I can beat that little cocoanut-headed Jap.”</p> + +<p>Linda slammed down the lid to the lunch box. Her voice was smooth and +even but there was battle in her eyes and she answered decisively: +“Well, you can’t beat him calling him names. There is only one way on +God’s footstool that you can beat him. You can’t beat him legislating +against him. You can’t beat him boycotting him. You can’t beat him with +any tricks. He is as sly as a cat and he has got a whole bag full of +tricks of his own, and he has proved right here in Los Angeles that +he has got a brain that is hard to beat. All you can do, and be a man +commendable to your own soul, is to take his subject and put your brain +on it to such purpose that you cut pigeon wings around him. What are +you studying in your classes, anyway?”</p> + +<p>“Trigonometry, Rhetoric, Ancient History, Astronomy,” answered Donald.</p> + +<p>“And is your course the same as his?” inquired Linda.</p> + +<p>“Strangely enough it is,” answered Donald. “We have been in the same +classes all through high school. I think the little monkey——”</p> + +<p>“Man, you mean,” interposed Linda.</p> + +<p>“‘Man,’” conceded Donald. “Has waited until I selected my course all +the way through, and then he has announced what he would take. He +probably figured that I had somebody with brains back of the course I +selected, and that whatever I studied would be suitable for him.”</p> + +<p>“I haven’t a doubt of it,” said Linda. “They are quick; oh! they are +quick; and they know from their cradles what it is that they have in +the backs of their heads. We are not going to beat them driving them to +Mexico or to Canada, or letting them monopolize China. That is merely +temporizing. That is giving them fertile soil on which to take the best +of their own and the level best of ours, and by amalgamating the two, +build higher than we ever have. There is just one way in all this world +that we can beat Eastern civilization and all that it intends to do to +us eventually. The white man has dominated by his colour so far in the +history of the world, but it is written in the Books that when the men +of colour acquire our culture and combine it with their own methods of +living and rate of production, they are going to bring forth greater +numbers, better equipped for the battle of life, than we are. When they +have got our last secret, constructive or scientific, they will take +it, and living in a way that we would not, reproducing in numbers we +don’t, they will beat us at any game we start, if we don’t take warning +while we are in the ascendancy, and keep there.”</p> + +<p>“Well, there is something to think about,” said Donald Whiting, staring +past Linda at the side of the canyon as if he had seen the same +handwriting on the wall that dismayed Belshazzar at the feast that +preceded his downfall.</p> + +<p>“I see what you’re getting at,” he said. “I had thought that there +might be some way to circumvent him.”</p> + +<p>“There is!” broke in Linda hastily. “There is. You can beat him, but +you have got to beat him in an honourable way and in a way that is open +to him as it is to you.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll do anything in the world if you will only tell me how,” said +Donald. “Maybe you think it isn’t grinding me and humiliating me +properly. Maybe you think Father and Mother haven’t warned me. Maybe +you think Mary Louise isn’t secretly ashamed of me. How can I beat him, +Linda?”</p> + +<p>Linda’s eyes were narrowed to a mere line. She was staring at the wall +back of Donald as if she hoped that Heaven would intercede in her +favour and write thereon a line that she might translate to the boy’s +benefit.</p> + +<p>“I have been watching pretty sharply,” she said. “Take them as a race, +as a unit—of course there are exceptions, there always are—but the +great body of them are mechanical. They are imitative. They are not +developing anything great of their own in their own country. They +are spreading all over the world and carrying home sewing machines +and threshing machines and automobiles and cantilever bridges and +submarines and aeroplanes—anything from eggbeaters to telescopes. They +are not creating one single thing. They are not missing imitating +everything that the white man can do anywhere else on earth. They are +just like the Germans so far as that is concerned.”</p> + +<p>“I get that, all right enough,” said Donald. “Now go on. What is your +deduction? How the devil am I to beat the best? He is perfect, right +straight along in everything.”</p> + +<p>The red in Linda’s cheeks deepened. Her eyes opened their widest. She +leaned forward, and with her closed fist, pounded the blanket before +him.</p> + +<p>“Then, by gracious,” she said sternly, “you have got to do something +new. You have got to be perfect, <i>plus</i>.”</p> + +<p>“‘Perfect, plus?’” gasped Donald.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir!” said Linda emphatically. “You have got to be perfect, plus. +If he can take his little mechanical brain and work a thing out till he +has got it absolutely right, you have got to go further than that and +discover something pertaining to it not hitherto thought of and start +something <i>new</i>. I tell you you must use your brains. You should +be more than an imitator. You must be a creator!”</p> + +<p>Donald started up and drew a deep breath.</p> + +<p>“Well, some job I call that,” he said. “Who do you think I am, the +Almighty?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Linda quietly, “you are not. You are merely His son, created +in His own image, like Him, according to the Book, and you have got +to your advantage the benefit of all that has been learned down the +ages. We have got to take up each subject in your course, and to find +some different books treating this same subject. We have got to get +at it from a new angle. We must dig into higher authorities. We have +got to coach you till, when you reach the highest note possible for +the parrot, you can go ahead and embellish it with a few mocking-bird +flourishes. All Oka Sayye knows how to do is to learn the lesson in +his book perfectly, and he is 100 per cent. I have told you what you +must do to add the plus, and you can do it if you are the boy I take +you for. People have talked about the ‘yellow peril’ till it’s got to +be a meaningless phrase. Somebody must wake up to the realization that +it’s the deadliest peril that ever has menaced white civilization. Why +shouldn’t you have your hand in such wonderful work?”</p> + +<p>“Linda,” said the boy breathlessly, “do you realize that you have been +saying ‘we’? Can you help me? Will you help me?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Linda, “I didn’t realize that I had said ‘we.’ I didn’t mean +two people, just you and me. I meant all the white boys and girls of +the High School and the city and the state and the whole world. If we +are going to combat the ‘yellow peril’ we must combine against it. We +have got to curb our appetites and train our brains and enlarge our +hearts till we are something bigger and finer and numerically greater +than this yellow peril. We can’t take it and pick it up and push it +into the sea. We are not Germans and we are not Turks. I never wanted +anything in all this world worse than I want to see you graduate ahead +of Oka Sayye. And then I want to see the white boys and girls of Canada +and of England and of Norway and Sweden and Australia, and of the whole +world doing exactly what I am recommending that you do in your class +and what I am doing personally in my own. I have had Japs in my classes +ever since I have been in school, but Father always told me to study +them, to play the game fairly, but to <i>beat</i> them in some way, in +some fair way, to beat them at the game they are undertaking.”</p> + +<p>“Well, there is one thing you don’t take into consideration,” said +Donald. “All of us did not happen to be fathered by Alexander Strong. +Maybe we haven’t all got your brains.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, pother!” said Linda. “I know of a case where a little Indian was +picked up from a tribal battlefield in South America and brought to +this country and put into our schools, and there was nothing that any +white pupil in the school could do that he couldn’t, so long as it was +imitative work. You have got to be constructive. You have got to work +out some way to get ahead of them; and if you will take the history +of the white races and go over their great achievements in mechanics, +science, art, literature—anything you choose—when a white man is +constructive, when he does create, he can simply cut circles around +the coloured races. The thing is to get the boys and girls of to-day +to understand what is going on in the world, what they must do as +their share in making the world safe for their grandchildren. Life is +a struggle. It always has been. It always will be. There is no better +study than to go into the canyons or the deserts and efface yourself +and watch life. It’s an all-day process of the stronger annihilating +the weaker. The one inexorable thing in the world is Nature. The eagle +dominates the hawk; the hawk, the falcon; the falcon, the raven; and so +on down to the place where the humming bird drives the moth from his +particular trumpet flower. The big snake swallows the little one. The +big bear appropriates the desirable cave.”</p> + +<p>“And is that what you are recommending people to do?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Linda, “it is not. That is wild. We go a step ahead of the +wild, or we ourselves become wild. We have brains, and with our brains +we must do in a scientific way what Nature does with tooth and claw. +In other words, and to be concrete, put these things in the car while +I fold the blanket. We’ll gather our miners’ lettuce and then we’ll go +home and search Daddy’s library and see if there is anything bearing in +a higher way on any subject you are taking, so that you can get from +it some new ideas, some different angle, some higher light, something +that will end in speedily prefacing Oka Sayye’s perfect with your +pluperfect!”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_X">CHAPTER X</h2> +<div class="subheadc">Katy to the Rescue</div> +</div> + +<p>Linda delivered Donald Whiting at his door with an armload of books +and a bundle of miners’ lettuce and then drove to her home in Lilac +Valley—in the eye of the beholder on the floor-level macadam road; in +her own eye she scarcely grazed it. The smooth, easy motion of the car, +the softly purring engine were thrilling. The speed at which she was +going was like having wings on her body. The mental stimulus she had +experienced in concentrating her brain on Donald Whiting’s problem had +stimulated her imagination. The radiant colour of spring; the chilled, +perfumed, golden air; the sure sense of having found a friend, had +ruffled the plumes of her spirit. On the home road Donald had plainly +indicated that he would enjoy spending the morrow with her, and she +had advised him to take the books she had provided and lock himself in +his room and sweat out some information about Monday’s lessons which +would at least arrest his professor’s attention, and lead his mind +to the fact that something was beginning to happen. And then she had +laughingly added: “To-morrow is Katy’s turn. I told the old dear I +would take her as soon as I felt the car was safe. Every day she does +many things that she hopes will give me pleasure. This is one thing I +can do that I know will delight her.”</p> + +<p>“Next Saturday, then?” questioned Donald. And Linda nodded.</p> + +<p>“Sure thing. I’ll be thinking up some place extra interesting. Come in +the morning if you want, and we’ll take a lunch and go for the day. +Which do you like best, mountains or canyons or desert or sea?”</p> + +<p>“I like it best wherever what you’re interested in takes you,” said +Donald simply.</p> + +<p>“All right, then,” answered Linda, “we’ll combine business and +pleasure.”</p> + +<p>So they parted with another meeting arranged.</p> + +<p>When she reached home she found Katy tearfully rejoicing, plainly +revealing how intensely anxious she had been. But when Linda told +her that the old tires had held, that the car ran wonderfully, that +everything was perfectly safe, that she drove as unconsciously as she +breathed, and that to-morrow Katy was to go for a long ride, her joy +was incoherent.</p> + +<p>Linda laughed. She patted Katy and started down the hallway, when she +called back: “What is this package?”</p> + +<p>“A delivery boy left it special only a few minutes ago. Must be +something Miss Eileen bought and thought she would want to-morrow, and +then afterward she got this invitation and went on as she was.”</p> + +<p>Linda stood gazing at the box. It did look so suspiciously like a dress +box.</p> + +<p>“Katy,” she said, “I have just about got an irresistible impulse to +peep. I was telling Eileen last night of a dress I saw that I thought +perfect. It suited me better than any other dress I ever did see. +It was at ‘The Mode.’ This box is from ‘The Mode.’ Could there be a +possibility that she sent it up specially for me?”</p> + +<p>“I think she would put your name on it if she meant it for ye,” said +Katy.</p> + +<p>“One peep would show me whether it is my dress or not,” said Linda, +“and peep I’m going to.”</p> + +<p>She began untying the string.</p> + +<p>“There’s one thing,” said Katy, “Miss Eileen’s sizes would never fit +ye.”</p> + +<p>“Might,” conceded Linda. “I am taller than she is, but I could wear +her waists if I wanted to, and she always alters her skirts herself +to save the fees. Glory be! This is my dress, and there’s a petticoat +and stockings to match it. Why, the nice old thing! I suggested hard +enough, but in my heart I hardly thought she would do it. Oh, dear, now +if I only had some shoes, and a hat.”</p> + +<p>Linda was standing holding the jacket in one hand, the stockings in the +other, her face flaming. Katy drew herself to full height. She reached +over and picked the things from Linda’s fingers.</p> + +<p>“If ye know that is your dress, lambie,” she said authoritatively, “ye +go right out and get into that car and run to town and buy ye a pair of +shoes.”</p> + +<p>“But I have no credit anywhere and I have no money, yet,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“Well, I have,” said Katy, “and this time ye’re going to stop your +stubbornness and take enough to get ye what you need. Ye go to the best +store in Los Angeles and come back here with a pair of shoes that just +match those stockings, and ye go fast, before the stores close. If +ye’ve got to speed a little, do it in the country and do it judacious.”</p> + +<p>“Katy, you’re arriving!” cried Linda. “‘Judicious speeding’ is one +thing I learned better than any other lesson about driving a motor +car. Three fourths of the driving Father and I did we were speeding +judiciously.”</p> + +<p>Katy held the skirt to Linda’s waist.</p> + +<p>“Well, maybe it’s a little shorter than any you have been wearing, but +it ain’t as short as Eileen and all the rest of the girls your age have +them, so that’s all right, honey. Slip on your coat.”</p> + +<p>Katy’s fingers were shaking as she lifted the jacket and Linda slipped +into it.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Lord,” she groaned, “ye can’t be wearing that! The sleeves don’t +come much below your elbows.”</p> + +<p>“You will please to observe,” said Linda, “that they are flowing +sleeves and they are not intended to come below the elbows; but it’s a +piece of luck I tried it on, for it reminds me that it’s a jacket suit +and I must have a blouse. When you get the shoe money, make it enough +for a blouse—two blouses, Katy, one for school and one to fuss up in a +little.”</p> + +<p>Without stopping to change her clothing, Linda ran to the garage and +hurried back to the city. It was less than an hour’s run, but she made +it in ample time to park her car and buy the shoes. She selected a pair +of low oxfords of beautiful colour, matching the stockings. Then she +hurried to one of the big dry-goods stores and bought the two waists +and an inexpensive straw hat that would harmonize with the suit; a hat +small enough to stick, in the wind, with brim enough to shade her eyes. +In about two hours she was back with Katy and they were in her room +trying on the new clothing.</p> + +<p>“It dumbfounds me,” said Linda, “to have Eileen do this for me.”</p> + +<p>She had put on the shoes and stockings, a plain georgette blouse of a +soft, brownish wood-gray, with a bit of heavy brown silk embroidery +decorating the front, and the jacket. The dress was of silky changeable +tricolette, the skirt plain. Where a fold lifted and was strongly +lighted, it was an exquisite silver-gray; where a shadow fell deeply +it was gray-brown. The coat reached half way to the knees. It had a +rippling skirt with a row of brown embroidery around it, a deep belt +with double buttoning at the waistline, and collar and sleeves in a +more elaborate pattern of the same embroidery as the skirt. Linda +perched the hat on her head, pulled it down securely, and faced Katy.</p> + +<p>“Now then!” she challenged.</p> + +<p>“And it’s a perfect dress!” said Katy proudly, “and you’re just the +colleen to wear it. My, but I wisht your father could be seeing ye the +now.”</p> + +<p>With almost reverent hands Linda removed the clothing and laid it away. +Then she read a letter from Marian that was waiting for her, telling +Katy scraps of it in running comment as she scanned the sheets.</p> + +<p>“She likes her boarding place. There are nice people in it. She has got +a wonderful view from the windows of her room. She is making friends. +She thinks one of the men at Nicholson and Snow’s is just fine; he is +helping her all he can, on the course she is taking. And she wants us +to look carefully everywhere for any scrap of paper along the hedge or +around the shrubbery on the north side of the house. One of her three +sheets of plans is missing. I don’t see where in the world it could +have gone, Katy.”</p> + +<p>Katy spread out her hands in despair.</p> + +<p>“There was not a scrap of a sheet of paper in the room when I cleaned +it,” she said, “not a scrap. And if I had seen a sheet flying around +the yard I would have picked it up. She just must be mistaken about +having lost it here. She must have opened her case on the train and +lost it there.”</p> + +<p>Linda shook her head.</p> + +<p>“I put that stuff in the case myself,” she said, “and the clothes on +top of it, and she wouldn’t have any reason for taking those things +out on the train. I can’t understand, but she did have three rough +sketches. She had her heart set on winning that prize and it would be +a great help to her, and certainly it was the most comprehensive and +convenient plan for a house of that class that I ever have seen. If I +ever have a house, she is going to plan it, even if she doesn’t get to +plan John Gilman’s as he always used to say that she should. And by the +way, Katy, isn’t it kind of funny for Eileen to go away over Sunday +when it’s his only holiday?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, she’ll telephone him,” said Katy, “and very like, he’ll go down, +or maybe he is with her. Ye needn’t waste any sympathy on him. Eileen +will take care that she has him so long as she thinks she wants him.”</p> + +<p>Later it developed that Eileen had secured the invitation because she +was able to produce three most eligible men. Not only was John Gilman +with the party, but Peter Morrison and Henry Anderson were there as +well. It was in the nature of a hastily arranged celebration, because +the deal for three acres of land that Peter Morrison most coveted on +the small plateau, mountain walled, in Lilac Valley, was in escrow. +He had made a payment on it. Anderson was working on his plans. +Contractors had been engaged, and on Monday work would begin. The house +was to be built as soon as possible, and Peter Morrison had arranged +that the garage was to be built first. This he meant to occupy as a +residence so that he could be on hand to superintend the construction +of the new home and to protect, as far as possible, the natural beauty +and the natural growth of the location.</p> + +<p>Early Sunday morning Linda and Katy, with a full lunch box and a full +gasolene tank, slid from the driveway and rolled down the main street +of Lilac Valley toward the desert.</p> + +<p>“We’ll switch over and strike San Fernando Road,” said Linda, “and I’ll +scout around Sunland a bit and see if I can find anything that will +furnish material for another new dish.”</p> + +<p>That day was wonderful for Katy. She trotted after Linda over sandy +desert reaches, along the seashore, up mountain trails, and through +canyons connected by long stretches of motoring that was more like +flying than riding. She was tired but happy when she went to bed. +Monday morning she was an interested spectator as Linda dressed for +school.</p> + +<p>“Sure, and hasn’t the old chrysalis opened up and let out the nicest +little lady-bird moth, Katy?” inquired Linda as she smoothed her +gray-gold skirts. “I think myself that this dress is a trifle too good +for school. When I get my allowance next week I think I’ll buy me a +cloth skirt and a couple of wash waists and save this for better; but +it really was good of Eileen to take so much pains and send it to me, +when she was busy planning a trip.”</p> + +<p>Katy watched Linda go, and she noted the new light in her eyes, the new +lift of her head, and the proud sureness of her step, and she wondered +if a new dress could do all that for a girl; she scarcely believed that +it could. And, too, she had very serious doubts about the dress. She +kept thinking of it during the day, and when Eileen came, in the middle +of the afternoon, at the first words on her lips: “Has my dress come?” +Katy felt a wave of illness surge through her. She looked at Eileen +so helplessly that that astute reader of human nature immediately +Suspected something.</p> + +<p>“I sent it special,” she said, “because I didn’t know at the time that +I was going to Riverside and I wanted to work on it. Isn’t it here yet?”</p> + +<p>Then Katy prepared to do battle for the child of her heart.</p> + +<p>“Was the dress ye ordered sent the one Miss Linda was telling ye +about?” she asked tersely.</p> + +<p>“Yes, it was,” said Eileen. “Linda has got mighty good taste. Any dress +she admired was sure to be right. She said there was a beautiful dress +at ‘The Mode’. I went and looked, and sure enough there was, a perfect +beauty.”</p> + +<p>“But she wanted the dress for herself,” said Katy.</p> + +<p>“It was not a suitable dress for school,” said Eileen.</p> + +<p>“Well, it strikes me,” said Katy, “that it was just the spittin’ image +of fifty dresses I’ve seen ye wear to school.</p> + +<p>“What do you know about it?” demanded Eileen.</p> + +<p>“I know just this,” said Katy with determination. “Ye’ve had one new +dress in the last few days and you’re not needin’ another. The blessed +Virgin only knows when Miss Linda’s had a dress. She thought ye’d done +yourself proud and sent it for her, and she put it on, and a becoming +and a proper thing it was too! I advanced her the money myself and sent +her to get some shoes to match it since she had her car fixed and could +go in a hurry. A beautiful dress it is, and on her back this minute it +is!”</p> + +<p>Eileen was speechless with anger. Her face was a sickly white and the +rouge spots on her cheeks stood a glaring admission.</p> + +<p>“Do you mean to tell me?——” she gasped.</p> + +<p>“Not again,” said the daughter of Erin firmly, “because I have already +told ye wance. Linda’s gone like a rag bag since the Lord knows when. +She had a right to the dress, and she thought it was hers, and she took +it. And if ye ever want any more respect or obedience or love from the +kiddie, ye better never let her know that ye didn’t intend it for her, +for nothing was ever quite so fair and right as that she should have +it; and while you’re about it you’d better go straight to the store +and get her what she is needin’ to go with it, or better still, ye had +better give her a fair share of the money of which there used to be +such a plenty, and let her get her things herself, for she’s that tasty +nobody can beat her when she’s got anything to do with.”</p> + +<p>Eileen turned on Katy in a gust of fury.</p> + +<p>“Katherine O’Donovan,” she said shrilly, “pack your trunk and see how +quick you can get out of this house. I have stood your insolence for +years, and I won’t endure it a minute longer!”</p> + +<p>Katy folded her red arms and lifted her red chin, and a steel-blue +light flashed from her steel-gray eyes.</p> + +<p>“Humph!” she said, “I’ll do nothing of the sort. I ain’t working for +ye and I never have been no more than I ever worked for your mother. +Every lick I ever done in this house I done for Linda and Doctor Strong +and for nobody else. Half of this house and everything in it belongs +to Linda, and it’s a mortal short time till she’s of age to claim it. +Whichever is her half, that half I’ll be staying in, and if ye manage +so as she’s got nothing to pay me, I’ll take care of her without pay +till the day comes when she can take care of me. Go to wid ye, ye +triflin’, lazy, self-possessed creature. Ten years I have itched to +tell ye what I thought of ye, and now ye know it.”</p> + +<p>As Katy’s rage increased, Eileen became intimidated. Like every +extremely selfish person she was a coward in her soul.</p> + +<p>“If you refuse to go on my orders,” she said, “I’ll have John Gilman +issue his.”</p> + +<p>Then Katy set her left hand on her left hip, her lower jaw shot past +the upper, her doubled right fist shook precious near the tip of +Eileen’s exquisite little nose.</p> + +<p>“I’m darin’ ye,” she shouted. “I’m just darin’ ye to send John Gilman +in the sound of my voice. If ye do, I’ll tell him every mean and +selfish thing ye’ve done to me poor lambie since the day of the Black +Shadow. Send him to me? Holy Mither, I wish ye would! If ever I get +my chance at him, don’t ye think I won’t be tellin’ him what he has +lost, and what he has got? And as for taking orders from him, I am +taking my orders from the person I am working for, and as I told ye +before, that’s Miss Linda. Be off wid ye, and primp up while I get my +supper, and mind ye this, if ye tell Miss Linda ye didn’t mean that +gown for her and spoil the happy day she has had, I won’t wait for ye +to send John Gilman to me; I’ll march straight to him. Put that in your +cigarette and smoke it! Think I’ve lost me nose as well as me sense?”</p> + +<p>Then Katy started a triumphal march to the kitchen and cooled down by +the well-known process of slamming pots and pans for half an hour. Soon +her Irish sense of humor came to her rescue.</p> + +<p>“Now, don’t I hear myself telling Miss Linda a few days ago to kape her +temper, and to kape cool, and to go aisy. Look at the aise of me when I +got started. By gracious, wasn’t I just itching to wallop her?”</p> + +<p>Then every art that Katy possessed was bent to the consummation of +preparing a particularly delicious dinner for the night.</p> + +<p>Linda came in softly humming something to herself about the kind of +shoes that you might wear if you chose. She had entered the high school +that morning with an unusually brilliant colour. Two or three girls, +who never had noticed her before, had nodded to her that morning, and +one or two had said: “What a pretty dress you have!” She had caught the +flash of approval in the eyes of Donald Whiting, and she had noted the +flourish with which he raised his hat when he saw her at a distance, +and she knew what he meant when he held up a book, past the covers of +which she could see protruding a thick fold of white paper. He had +foresworn whatever pleasure he might have thought of for Sunday. He +had prepared notes on some subject that he thought would further him. +The lift of his head, the flourish of his hat, and the book all told +Linda that he had struggled, and that he felt the struggle had brought +an exhilarating degree of success. That had made the day particularly +bright for Linda. She had gone home with a feeling of uplift and +exultation in her heart. As she closed the front door she cried up the +stairway: “Eileen, are you there?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” answered a rather sulky voice from above.</p> + +<p>Linda ascended, two steps at a bound.</p> + +<p>“Thank you over and over, old thing!” she cried as she raced down the +hallway. “Behold me! I never did have a more becoming dress, and Katy +loaned me money, till my income begins, to get shoes and a little scuff +hat to go with it. Aren’t I spiffy?”</p> + +<p>She pirouetted in the doorway. Eileen gripped the brush she was +wielding, tight.</p> + +<p>“You have good taste,” she said. “It’s a pretty dress, but You’re +always howling about things being suitable. Do you call that suitable +for school?”</p> + +<p>“It certainly is an innovation for me,” said Linda, “but there are +dozens of dresses of the same material, only different cut and colours +in the High School to-day. As soon as I get my money I’ll buy a skirt +and some blouses so I won’t have to wear this all the time; but I +surely do thank you very much, and I surely have had a lovely day. Did +you have a nice time at Riverside?”</p> + +<p>Eileen slammed down the brush and turned almost a distorted face to +Linda. She had temper to vent. In the hour’s reflection previous to +Linda’s coming, she realized that she had reached the limit with Katy. +If she antagonized her by word or look, she would go to John Gilman, +and Eileen dared not risk what she would say.</p> + +<p>“No, I did not have a lovely time,” she said. “I furnished the men for +the party and I expected to have a grand time, but the first thing +we did was to run into that inflated egotist calling herself Mary +Louise Whiting, and like a fool, Janie Brunson introduced her to Peter +Morrison. I had paired him with Janie on purpose to keep my eye on him.”</p> + +<p>Linda tried hard but she could not suppress a chuckle: “Of course you +would!” she murmured softly.</p> + +<p>Eileen turned her back. That had been her first confidence to +Linda. She was so aggrieved at that moment that she could have told +unanswering walls her tribulations. It would have been better if she +had done so. She might have been able to construe silence as sympathy. +Linda’s laughter she knew exactly how to interpret. “Served you right,” +was what it meant.</p> + +<p>“I hadn’t the least notion you would take an interest in anything +concerning me,” she said. “People can talk all they please about Mary +Louise Whiting being a perfect lady but she is a perfect beast. I have +met her repeatedly and she has always ignored me, and yesterday she +singled out for her special attention the most desirable man in my +party——”</p> + +<p>“‘Most desirable,’” breathed Linda. “Poor John! I see his second +fiasco. Lavender crystals, please!”</p> + +<p>Eileen caught her lip in mortification. She had not intended to say +what she thought.</p> + +<p>“Well, you can’t claim,” she hurried on to cover her confusion, “that +it was not an ill-bred, common trick for her to take possession of a +man of my party, and utterly ignore me. She has everything on earth +that I want; she treats me like a dog, and she could give me a glorious +time by merely nodding her head.”</p> + +<p>“I am quite sure you are mistaken,” said Linda. “From what I’ve heard +of her, she wouldn’t mistreat anyone. Very probably what she does +is merely to feel that she is not acquainted with you. You have an +unfortunate way, Eileen, of defeating your own ends. If you wanted to +attract Mary Louise Whiting, you missed the best chance you ever could +have had, at three o’clock Saturday afternoon, when you maliciously +treated her only brother as you would a mechanic, ordered him to our +garage, and shut our door in his face.”</p> + +<p>Eileen turned to Linda. Her mouth fell open. A ghastly greenish white +flooded her face.</p> + +<p>“What do you mean?” she gasped.</p> + +<p>“I mean,” said Linda, “that Donald Whiting was calling on me, and you +purposely sent him to the garage.”</p> + +<p>Crash down among the vanities of Eileen’s dressing table went her +lovely head, and she broke into deep and violent sobs. Linda stood +looking at her a second, slowly shaking her head. Then she turned and +went to her room.</p> + +<p>Later in the evening she remembered the Roman scarf and told Eileen of +what she had done, and she was unprepared for Eileen’s reply: “That +scarf always was too brilliant for me. You’re welcome to it if you want +it.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” said Linda gravely, “I want it very much indeed.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XI">CHAPTER XI</h2> +<div class="subheadc">Assisting Providence</div> +</div> + +<p>Linda went to the library to see to what state of emptiness it had been +reduced by the removal of several pieces of furniture she had ordered +taken away that day. As she stood on the threshold looking over the +room as usual, a throb of loving appreciation of Katy swept through +her heart. Katy had been there before her. The room had been freshly +swept and dusted, the rugs had been relaid, the furniture rearranged +skilfully, and the table stood at the best angle to be lighted either +by day or night. On the table and the mantel stood big bowls of lovely +fresh flowers. Linda was quite certain that anyone entering the room +for the first time would have felt it completely furnished, and she +doubted if even Marian would notice the missing pieces. Cheered in +her heart, she ran up to the billiard room, and there again Katy had +preceded her. The windows were shining. The walls and floor had been +cleaned. Everything was in readiness for the new furniture. Her heart +full of gratitude, Linda went to her room, prepared her lessons for the +next day, and then drew out her writing materials to answer Marian’s +letter. She wrote:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>I have an acute attack of enlargement of the heart. So many things +have happened since your leaving. But first I must tell you about +your sketch. We just know you did not leave it here. Katy says +there was not a scrap in our bedroom when she cleaned it; and +as she knows you make plans and how precious they are to you, I +guarantee she would have saved it if she had found anything looking +like a parallelogram on a piece of paper. And I have very nearly +combed the lawn, not only the north side, but the west, south, and +east; and then I broke the laws and went over to your house and +crawled through a basement window and worked my way up, and I have +hunted every room in it, but there is nothing there. You must have +lost that sketch after you reached San Francisco. I hope to all +that’s peaceful you did not lay it down in the offices of Nicholson +and Snow, or where you take your lessons. I know nothing about +architecture, but I do know something about comfort in a home, and +I thought that was the most comfortable and convenient-looking +house I ever had seen.</p> + +<p>Now I’ll go on and tell you all the news, and I don’t know which +is the bigger piece to burst on you first. Would you be more +interested in knowing that Peter Morrison has bought three acres +on the other side of the valley from us and up quite a way, or in +the astonishing fact that I have a new dress, a perfect love of a +dress, really too good for school? You know there was blood in my +eye when you left, and I didn’t wait long to start action. I have +managed to put the fear of God into Eileen’s heart so that she has +agreed to a reasonable allowance for me from the first of next +month; but she must have felt at least one small wave of contrition +when I told her about a peculiarly enticing dress I had seen at +The Mode. She sent it up right away, and Katy, blessed be her +loving footprints, loaned me money to buy a blouse and some shoes +to match, so I went to school to-day looking very like the Great +General Average, minus rouge, lip-stick, hair-dress, and French +heels.</p> + +<p>I do hope you will approve of two things I have done.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Then Linda recounted the emptying of the billiard room, the inroads in +the library, the listing of the technical books, and what she proposed +to do with the money. And then, her face slightly pale and her fingers +slightly trembling, she wrote:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>And, Marian dear, I hope you won’t be angry with me when I tell you +that I have put the Bear-cat into commission and driven it three +times already. It is running like the feline it is, and I am being +as careful as I can. I know exactly how you will feel. It is the +same feeling that has held me all these months, when I wouldn’t +even let myself think of it. But something happened at school one +day, Marian. You know the Whitings? Mary Louise Whiting’s brother +is in the senior class. He is a six-footer, and while he is not +handsome he is going to be a real man when he is fully developed, +and steadied down to work. One day last week he made it his +business to stop me in the hall and twit me about my shoes, and +incidentally to ask me why I didn’t dress like the other girls; and +some way it came rougher than if it had been one of the girls. The +more I thought about it the more wronged I felt, so I ended in a +young revolution that is to bring me an income, a suitable place +to work in and has brought me such a pretty dress. I think it has +brought Eileen to a sense of at least partial justice about money, +and it brought me back the Bear-cat. You know the proudest moment +of my life was when Father would let me drive the little beast, +and it all came back as natural as breathing. Please don’t worry, +Marian. Nothing shall happen, I promise you.</p> + +<p>It won’t be necessary to tell you that Katy is her darling old +self, loyal and steadfast as the sun, and quite as necessary and as +comforting to me. And I have a couple of other interests in life +that are going to—I won’t say make up for your absence, because +nothing could do that—but they are going to give me something +interesting to think about, something agreeable to work at, while +you are gone. But, oh, Marian, do hurry. Work all day and part of +the night. Be Saturday’s child yourself if you must, just so you +get home quick, and where your white head makes a beacon light for +the truest, lovingest pal you will ever have,</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Linda</span>.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Linda laid down the pen, slid down in her chair, and looked from the +window across the valley, and she wondered if in her view lay the +location that had been purchased by Peter Morrison. She glanced back at +her letter and sat looking at the closing lines and the signature.</p> + +<p>“Much good that will do her,” she commented. “When a woman loves a man +and loves him with all her heart, as Marian loved John, and when she +loses him, not because she has done a single unworthy thing herself, +but because he is so rubber spined that he will let another woman +successfully intrigue him, a lot of comfort she is going to get from +the love of a schoolgirl!”</p> + +<p>Linda’s eyes strayed to the window again, and traveled down to the +city and up the coast, all the way to San Francisco, and out of the +thousands of homes there they pictured a small, neat room, full of +Marian’s belongings, and Marian herself bending over a work table, +absorbed in the final draft of her precious plans. Linda could see +Marian as plainly as she ever had seen her, but she let her imagination +run, and she fancied that when Marian was among strangers and where no +one knew of John Gilman’s defection, that hers might be a very heavy +heart, that hers might be a very sad face. Then she went to planning. +She had been desolate, heart hungry, and isolated herself. First she +had endured, then she had fought; the dawn of a new life was breaking +over her hill. She had found work she was eager to do. She could put +the best of her brain, the skill of her fingers, the creative impulse +of her heart, into it.</p> + +<p>She was almost sure that she had found a friend. She had a feeling +that when the coming Saturday had been lived Donald Whiting would be +her friend. He would want her advice and her help in his work. She +would want his companionship and the stimulus of his mind, in hers. +What Linda had craved was a dear friend among the girls, but no girl +had offered her friendship. This boy had, so she would accept what the +gods of time and circumstance provided. It was a very wonderful thing +that had happened to her. Now why could not something equally wonderful +happen to Marian? Linda wrinkled her brows and thought deeply.</p> + +<p>“It’s the worst thing in all this world to work and work with nobody to +know about it and nobody to care,” thought Linda. “Marian could break a +record if she thought John Gilman cared now as he used to. It’s almost +a necessary element to her success. If he doesn’t care, she ought to be +made to feel that somebody cares. This thing of standing alone, since +I have found a friend, appeals to me as almost insupportable. Let me +think.”</p> + +<p>It was not long until she had worked out a scheme for putting an +interest in Marian’s life and giving her something for which to work, +until a more vital reality supplanted it. The result was that she took +some paper, went down to the library, and opening the typewriter, +wrote a letter. She read it over, making many changes and corrections, +and then she copied it carefully. When she came to addressing it she +was uncertain, but at last she hit upon a scheme of sending it in the +care of Nicholson and Snow because Marian had told her that she meant +to enter their contest immediately she reached San Francisco, and she +would have left them her address. On the last reading of the letter +she had written, she decided that it was a manly, straightforward +production, which should interest and attract any girl. But how was she +to sign it? After thinking deeply for a long time, she wrote “Philip +Sanders, General Delivery,” and below she added a postscript:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>To save you the trouble of inquiring among your friends as to who +Philip Sanders is, I might as well tell you in the beginning that +he isn’t. He is merely an assumption under which I shall hide my +personality until you let me know whether it is possible that you +could become even slightly interested in me, as a small return for +the very deep and wholesome interest abiding in my heart for you.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>“Abiding,” said Linda aloud. “It seems to me that there is nothing +in all the world quite so fine as a word. Isn’t ‘abiding’ a good +word? Doesn’t it mean a lot? Where could you find one other word +that means being with you and also means comforting you and loving +you and sympathizing with you and surrounding you with firm walls +and a cushioned floor and a starry roof? I love that word. I hope it +impresses Marian with all its wonderful meaning.”</p> + +<p>She went back to her room, put both letters into her Geometry, and in +the morning mailed them. She stood a long time hesitating with the +typewritten letter in her hand, but finally dropped it in the letter +box also.</p> + +<p>“It will just be something,” she said, “to make her think that some man +appreciates her lovely face and doesn’t care if her hair is white, and +sees how steadfast and fine she is.”</p> + +<p>And then she slowly repeated, “‘steadfast,’ that is another fine word. +It has pearls and rubies all over it.”</p> + +<p>After school that evening she visited James Brothers’ and was paid the +full amount of the appraisement of her furniture. Then she went to an +art store and laid in a full supply of the materials she needed for the +work she was trying to do. Her fingers were trembling as she handled +the boxes of water colours and selected the brushes and pencils for +her work, and sheets of drawing paper upon which she could do herself +justice. When the transaction was finished, she had a few dollars +remaining. As she put them in her pocket she said softly:</p> + +<p>“That’s gasolene. Poor Katy! I’m glad she doesn’t need her money, +because she is going to have to wait for the allowance or the sale of +the books or on Jane Meredith. But it’s only a few days now, so that’ll +be all right.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XII">CHAPTER XII</h2> +<div class="subheadc">The Lay of the Land</div> +</div> + +<p>Linda entered the street car for her daily ride to Lilac Valley. She +noticed Peter Morrison and Henry Anderson sitting beside each other, +deeply engrossed in a drawing. She had been accustomed to ride in the +open section of the car as she liked the fresh air. She had a fleeting +thought of entering the body of the car and sitting where they would +see her; and then a perverse spirit in Linda’s heart said to her:</p> + +<p>“That is precisely what Eileen would do. You sit where you belong.”</p> + +<p>Whereupon Linda dropped into the first vacant seat she could reach, +but it was only a few moments before Peter Morrison, looking up from +the plans he was studying, saw her, and lifting his hat, beckoned her +to come and sit with him. They made room for her between them and +spreading the paper across her lap, all three of them began to discuss +the plans for the foundation for Peter’s house. Anderson had roughly +outlined the grounds, sketching in the trees that were to be saved, +the spring, and the most available route for reaching the road. The +discussion was as to where the road should logically enter the grounds, +and where the garage should stand.</p> + +<p>“Which reminds me,” said Linda—“haven’t you your car with you? Or was +that a hired one you were touring in?”</p> + +<p>“Mine,” said Peter Morrison, “but we toured so far, it’s in the shop +for a general overhauling to-day.”</p> + +<p>“That being the case,” said Linda, “walk home with me and I’ll take you +to your place in mine and bring you back to the cars, if you only want +to stay an hour or two.”</p> + +<p>“Why, that would be fine,” said Peter. “You didn’t mention, the other +evening, that you had a car.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Linda, “I had been trying to keep cars out of my thought for +a long time, but I could endure it no longer the other day, so I got +mine out and tuned it up. If you don’t mind stacking up a bit, three +can ride in it very comfortably.”</p> + +<p>That was the way it happened that Linda walked home after school that +afternoon between Peter Morrison and his architect, brought out the +Bear-cat, and drove them to Peter’s location.</p> + +<p>All that day, workmen had been busy under the management of a +well-instructed foreman, removing trees and bushes and stones +and clearing the spot that had been selected for the garage and +approximately for the house.</p> + +<p>The soft brownish gray of Linda’s dress was exactly the colour to +intensify the darker brown of her eyes. There was a fluctuating red in +her olive cheeks, a brilliant red framing her even white teeth. Once +dressed so that she was satisfied with the results, Linda immediately +forgot her clothes, and plunged into Morrison’s plans.</p> + +<p>“Peter,” she said gravely, with Peter perfectly cognizant of the +twinkle in her dark eyes, “Peter, you may save money in a straight-line +road, but you’re going to sin against your soul if you build it. You’ll +have to economize in some other way, and run your road around the +base of those boulders, then come in straight to the line here, and +then you should swing again and run out on this point, where guests +can have one bewildering glimpse of the length of our blue valley, +and then whip them around this clump of perfumy lilac and elders, run +them to your side entrance, and then scoot the car back to the garage. +I think you should place the front of your house about here.” Linda +indicated where. “So long as you’re buying a place like this you don’t +want to miss one single thing; and you do want to make the very most +possible out of every beauty you have. And you mustn’t fail to open up +and widen the runway from that energetic, enthusiastic spring. Carry +it across your road, sure. It will cost you another little something +for a safe bridge, but there’s nothing so artistic as a bridge with a +cold stream running under it. And think what a joyful time I’ll have, +gathering specimens for you of every pretty water plant that grows in +my particular canyon. Any time when you’re busy in your library and you +hear my car puffing up the incline and around the corner and rattling +across the bridge, you’ll know that I am down here giving you a start +of watercress and miners’ lettuce and every lovely thing you could +mention that likes to be nibbled or loved-up, while it dabbles its toes +in the water.”</p> + +<p>Peter Morrison looked at Linda reflectively. He looked for such a long +moment that Henry Anderson reached a nebulous conclusion. “Fine!” he +cried. “Every one of those suggestions is valuable to an inexperienced +man. Morrison, shan’t I make a note of them?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, Henry, you shall,” said Peter. “I am going to push this thing +as fast as possible, so far as building the garage is concerned and +getting settled in it. After that I don’t care if I live on this spot +until we know each other by the inch, before I begin building my home. +At the present minute it appeals to me that ‘home’ is about the best +word in the language of any nation. I have a feeling that what I build +here is going to be my home, very possibly the only one I shall ever +have. We must find the spot on which the Lord intended that a house +should grow on this hillside, and then we must build that house so that +it has a room suitable for a workshop in which I may strive, under +the best conditions possible, to get my share of the joy of life and +to earn the money that I shall require to support me and entertain my +friends; and that sounds about as selfish as anything possibly could. +It seems to be mostly ‘me’ and ‘mine,’ and it’s not the real truth +concerning this house. I don’t believe there is a healthy, normal +man living who has not his dream. I have no hesitation whatever in +admitting that I have mine. This house must be two things. It has got +to be a concrete workshop for me, and it has got to be an abstract +abiding place for a dream. It’s rather difficult to build a dream house +for a dream lady, so I don’t know what kind of a fist I am going to +make of it.”</p> + +<p>Linda sat down on a boulder and contemplated her shoes for a minute. +Then she raised her ever-shifting, eager, young eyes to Peter, and it +seemed to him as he looked into them that there were little gold lights +flickering at the bottom of their darkness.</p> + +<p>“Why, that’s just as easy,” she said. “A home is merely a home. It +includes a front porch and a back porch and a fireplace and a bathtub +and an ice chest and a view and a garden around it; all the rest is +incidental. If you have more money, you have more incidentals. If you +don’t have so much, you use your imagination and think you have just as +much on less.”</p> + +<p>“Now, I wonder,” said Peter, “when I find my dream lady, if she will +have an elastic imagination.”</p> + +<p>“Haven’t you found her yet?” asked Linda casually.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Peter, “I haven’t found her, and unfortunately she hasn’t +found me. I have had a strenuous time getting my start in life. It’s +mostly a rush from one point of interest to another, dropping at +any wayside station for refreshment and the use of a writing table. +Occasionally I have seen a vision that I have wanted to follow, but I +never have had time. So far, the lady of this house is even more of a +dream than the house.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, well, don’t worry,” said Linda comfortingly. “The world is full of +the nicest girls. When you get ready for a gracious lady I’ll find you +one that will have an India-rubber imagination and a great big loving +heart and Indian-hemp apron strings so that half a dozen babies can +swing from them.”</p> + +<p>Morrison turned to Henry Anderson.</p> + +<p>“You hear, Henry?” he said. “I’m destined to have a large family. You +must curtail your plans for the workroom and make that big room back of +it into a nursery.”</p> + +<p>“Well, what I am going to do,” said Henry Anderson, “is to build a +place suitable for your needs. If any dream woman comes to it, she will +have to fit herself to her environment.”</p> + +<p>Linda frowned.</p> + +<p>“Now, that isn’t a bit nice of you,” she said, “and I don’t believe +Peter will pay the slightest attention to you. He’ll let me make you +build a lovely room for the love of his heart, and a great big bright +nursery on the sunny side for his small people.”</p> + +<p>“I never believed,” said Henry Anderson, “in counting your chickens +before they are hatched. There are a couple of acres around Peter’s +house, and he can build an addition as his needs increase.”</p> + +<p>“Messy idea,” said Linda promptly. “Thing to do, when you build a +house, is to build it the way you want it for the remainder of your +life, so you don’t have to tear up the scenery every few years, +dragging in lumber for expansion. And I’ll tell you another thing. If +the homemakers of this country don’t get the idea into their heads +pretty soon that they are not going to be able to hold their own with +the rest of the world, with no children, or one child in the family, +there’s a sad day of reckoning coming. With the records at the patent +office open to the world, you can’t claim that the brain of the white +man is not constructive. You can look at our records and compare them +with those of countries ages and ages older than we are, which never +discovered the beauties of a Dover egg-beater or a washing machine +or a churn or a railroad or a steamboat or a bridge. We are head +and shoulders above other nations in invention, and just as fast as +possible, we are falling behind in the birth rate. The red man and +the yellow man and the brown man and the black man can look at our +egg-beaters and washing machines and bridges and big guns, and go home +and copy them; and use them while rearing even bigger families than +they have now. If every home in Lilac Valley had at least six sturdy +boys and girls growing up in it with the proper love of country and the +proper realization of the white man’s right to supremacy, and if all +the world now occupied by white men could make an equal record, where +would be the talk of the yellow peril? There wouldn’t be any yellow +peril. You see what I mean?”</p> + +<p>Linda lifted her frank eyes to Peter Morrison.</p> + +<p>“Yes, young woman,” said Peter gravely, “I see what you mean, but this +is the first time I ever heard a high-school kid propound such ideas. +Where did you get them?”</p> + +<p>“Got them in Multiflores Canyon from my father to start with,” said +Linda, “but recently I have been thinking, because there is a boy in +High School who is making a great fight for a better scholarship record +than a Jap in his class. I brood over it every spare minute, day or +night, and when I say my prayers I implore high Heaven to send him an +idea or to send me one that I can pass on to him, that will help him to +beat that Jap.”</p> + +<p>“I see,” said Peter Morrison. “We’ll have to take time to talk this +over. It’s barely possible I might be able to suggest something.”</p> + +<p>“You let that kid fight his own battles,” said Henry Anderson roughly. +“He’s no proper bug-catcher. I feel it in my bones.”</p> + +<p>For the first time, Linda’s joy laugh rang over Peter Morrison’s +possession.</p> + +<p>“I don’t know about that,” she said gaily. “He’s a wide-awake specimen; +he has led his class for four years when the Jap didn’t get ahead of +him. But, all foolishness aside, take my word for it, Peter, you’ll be +sorry if you don’t build this house big enough for your dream lady and +for all the little dreams that may spring from her heart.”</p> + +<p>“Nightmares, you mean,” said Henry Anderson. “I can’t imagine a bunch +of kids muddying up this spring and breaking the bushes and using +slingshots on the birds.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Linda with scathing sarcasm, “and wouldn’t our government +be tickled to death to have a clear spring and a perfect bush and a +singing bird, if it needed six men to go over the top to handle a +regiment of Japanese!”</p> + +<p>Then Peter Morrison laughed.</p> + +<p>“Well, your estimate is too low, Linda,” he said in his nicest drawling +tone of voice. “Believe me, one U. S. kid will never march in a whole +regiment of Japanese. They won’t lay down their guns and walk to +surrender as bunches of Germans did. Nobody need ever think that. They +are as good fighters as they are imitators. There’s nothing for you +to do, Henry, but to take to heart what Miss Linda has said. Plan the +house with a suite for a dream lady, and a dining room, a sleeping +porch and a nursery big enough for the six children allotted to me.”</p> + +<p>“You’re not really in earnest?” asked Henry Anderson in doubting +astonishment.</p> + +<p>“I am in the deepest kind of earnest,” said Peter Morrison. “What Miss +Linda says is true. As a nation, our people are pampering themselves +and living for their own pleasures. They won’t take the trouble or +endure the pain required to bear and to rear children; and the day is +rolling toward us, with every turn of the planet one day closer, when +we are going to be outnumbered by a combination of peoples who can take +our own tricks and beat us with them. We must pass along the good word +that the one thing America needs above every other thing on earth is +<i>homes and hearts big enough for children</i>, as were the homes of +our grandfathers, when no joy in life equaled the joy of a new child +in the family, and if you didn’t have a dozen you weren’t doing your +manifest duty.”</p> + +<p>“Well, if that is the way you see the light, we must enlarge this +house. As designed, it included every feminine convenience anyway. But +when I build my house I am going to build it for myself.”</p> + +<p>“Then don’t talk any more about being my bug-catcher,” said Linda +promptly, “because when I build my house it’s going to be a nest that +will hold six at the very least. My heart is perfectly set on a brood +of six.”</p> + +<p>Linda was quite unaware that the two men were studying her closely, but +if she had known what was going on in their minds she would have had +nothing to regret, because both of them found her very attractive, and +both of them were wondering how anything so superficial as Eileen could +be of the same blood as Linda.</p> + +<p>“Are we keeping you too late?” inquired Peter.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Linda, “I am as interested as I can be. Finish everything +you want to do before we go. I hope you’re going to let me come over +often and watch you with your building. Maybe I can get an idea for +some things I want to do. Eileen and I have our house divided by a +Mason and Dixon line. On her side is Mother’s suite, the dining room, +the living room and the front door. On mine there’s the garage and the +kitchen and Katy’s bedroom and mine and the library and the billiard +room. At the present minute I am interested in adapting the library to +my requirements instead of Father’s, and I am emptying the billiard +room and furnishing it to make a workroom. I have a small talent with +a brush and pencil, and I need some bare walls to tack my prints on to +dry, and I need numerous places for all the things I am always dragging +in from the desert and the canyons; and since I have the Bear-cat +running, what I have been doing in that line with a knapsack won’t be +worthy of mention.”</p> + +<p>“How did it come,” inquired Henry Anderson, “that you had that car +jacked up so long?”</p> + +<p>“Why, hasn’t anybody told you,” asked Linda, “about our day of the +Black Shadow?”</p> + +<p>“John Gilman wrote me when it happened,” said Peter softly, “but I +don’t believe it has been mentioned before Henry. You tell him.”</p> + +<p>Linda turned to Henry Anderson, and with trembling lips and paling +cheeks, in a few brief sentences she gave him the details. Then she +said to Peter Morrison in a low voice: “And that is the why of Marian +Thorne’s white head. Anybody tell you that?”</p> + +<p>“That white head puzzled me beyond anything I ever saw,” he said. “I +meant to ask John about it. He used to talk to me and write to me often +about her, and lately he hasn’t; when I came I saw the reason, and so +you see I felt reticent on the subject.”</p> + +<p>“Well, there’s nothing the matter with my tongue,” said Linda. “It’s +loose at both ends. Marian was an expert driver. She drove with the +same calm judgment and precision and graceful skill that she does +everything else, but the curve was steep and something in the brakes +was defective. It broke with a snap and there was not a thing she could +do. Enough was left of the remains of the car to prove that. Ten days +afterward her head was almost as white as snow. Before that it was as +dark as mine. But her body is just as young and her heart is just as +young and her face is even more beautiful. I do think that a white +crown makes her lovelier than she was before. I have known Marian ever +since I can remember, and I don’t know one thing about her that I could +not look you straight in the eye and tell you all about. There is not a +subterfuge or an evasion or a small mean deceit in her soul. She is the +brainiest woman and the biggest woman I know.”</p> + +<p>“I haven’t a doubt of it,” said Peter Morrison. “And while you are +talking about nice women, we met a mighty fine one at Riverside on +Sunday. Her name is Mary Louise Whiting. Do you know her?”</p> + +<p>“Not personally,” said Linda. “I don’t recall that I ever saw her. I +know her brother, Donald. He is the high-school boy who is having the +wrestle with the Jap.”</p> + +<p>“I liked her too,” said Henry Anderson. “And by the way, Miss Linda, +haven’t bug-catchers any reputation at all as nest builders? Is it true +that among feathered creatures the hen builds the home?”</p> + +<p>“No, it’s not,” said Linda promptly. “Male birds make a splendid record +carrying nest material. What is true is that in the majority of cases +the female does the building.”</p> + +<p>“Well, what I am getting at,” said Henry Anderson, “is this. Is there +anything I can do to help you with that billiard room that you’re going +to convert to a workroom? What do you lack in it that you would like to +have? Do you need more light or air, or a fireplace, or what? When you +take us to the station, suppose you drive us past your house and give +me a look at that room and let me think over it a day or two. I might +be able to make some suggestion that would help you.”</p> + +<p>“Now that is positively sweet of you,” said Linda. “I never thought +of such a thing as either comfort or convenience. I thought I had to +take that room as it stands and do the best I could with it, but since +you mention it, it’s barely possible that more air might be agreeable +and also more light, and if there could be a small fireplace built in +front of the chimney where it goes up from the library fireplace, it +certainly would be a comfort, and it would add something to the room +that nothing else could. “No workroom really has a soul if you can’t +smell smoke and see red when you go to it at night.”</p> + +<p>“You little outdoor heathen,” laughed Peter Morrison. “One would think +you were an Indian.”</p> + +<p>“I am a fairly good Indian,” said Linda. “I have been scouting around +with my father a good many years. How about it, Peter? Does the road go +crooked?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Peter, “the road goes crooked.”</p> + +<p>“Does the bed of the spring curve and sweep across the lawn and drop +off to the original stream below the tree-tobacco clump there?”</p> + +<p>“If you say so, it does,” said Peter.</p> + +<p>“Including the bridge?” inquired Linda.</p> + +<p>“Including the bridge,” said Peter. “I’ll have to burn some midnight +oil, but I can visualize the bridge.”</p> + +<p>“And is this house where you ‘set up your rest,’ as you so beautifully +said the other night at dinner, going to lay its corner stone and grow +to its roof a selfish house, or is it going to be generous enough for a +gracious lady and a flight of little footsteps?”</p> + +<p>Peter Morrison took off his hat. He turned his face toward the length +of Lilac Valley and stood, very tall and straight, looking far away +before him. Presently he looked down at Linda.</p> + +<p>“Even so,” he said softly. “My shoulders are broad enough; I have a +brain; and I am not afraid to work. If my heart is not quite big enough +yet, I see very clearly how it can be made to expand.”</p> + +<p>“I have been told,” said Linda in a low voice, “that Mary Louise +Whiting is a perfect darling.”</p> + +<p>Peter looked at her from the top of her black head to the tips of her +brown shoes. He could have counted the freckles bridging her nose. The +sunburn on her cheeks was very visible; there was something arresting +in the depth of her eyes, the curve of her lips, the lithe slenderness +of her young body; she gave the effect of something smoldering inside +that would leap at a breath.</p> + +<p>“I was not thinking of Miss Whiting,” he said soberly.</p> + +<p>Henry Anderson was watching. Now he turned his back and commenced +talking about plans, but in his heart he said: “So that’s the lay of +the land. You’ve got to hustle yourself, Henry, or you won’t have the +ghost of a show.”</p> + +<p>Later, when they motored down the valley and stopped at the Strong +residence, Peter refused to be monopolized by Eileen. He climbed the +two flights of stairs with Henry Anderson and Linda and exhausted his +fund of suggestions as to what could be done to that empty billiard +room to make an attractive study of it. Linda listened quietly to all +their suggestions, and then she said:</p> + +<p>“It would be fine to have another window, and a small skylight would be +a dream, and as for the fireplace you mention, I can’t even conceive +how great it would be to have that; but my purse is much more limited +than Peter’s, and while I have my school work to do every day, my +earning capacity is nearly negligible. I can only pick up a bit here +and there with my brush and pencil—place cards and Easter cards and +valentines, and once or twice magazine covers, and little things like +that. I don’t see my way clear to lumber and glass and bricks and +chimney pieces.”</p> + +<p>Peter looked at Henry, and Henry looked at Peter, and a male high sign, +ancient as day, passed between them.</p> + +<p>“Easiest thing in the world,” said Peter. “It’s as sure as shooting +that when my three or four fireplaces, which Henry’s present plans call +for, are built, there is going to be all the material left that can +be used in a light tiny fireplace such as could be built on a third +floor, and when the figuring for the house is done it could very easily +include the cutting of a skylight and an extra window or two here, +and getting the material in with my stuff, it would cost you almost +nothing.”</p> + +<p>Linda’s eyes opened wide and dewy with surprise and pleasure.</p> + +<p>“Why, you two perfectly nice men!” she said. “I haven’t felt as I do +this minute since I lost Daddy. It’s wonderful to be taken care of. +It’s better than cream puffs with almond flavoring.”</p> + +<p>Henry Anderson looked at Linda keenly.</p> + +<p>“You’re the darndest kid!” he said. “One minute you’re smacking your +lips over cream puffs, and the next you’re going to the bottom of the +yellow peril. I never before saw your combination in one girl. What’s +the explanation?” For the second time that evening Linda’s specialty in +rapture floated free.</p> + +<p>“Bunch all the component parts into the one paramount fact that I am +Saturday’s child,” she said, “so I am constantly on the job of working +for a living, and then add to that the fact that I was reared by a +nerve specialist.”</p> + +<p>Then they went downstairs, and the men refused both Eileen’s and +Linda’s invitation to remain for dinner. When they had gone Eileen +turned to Linda with a discontented and aggrieved face.</p> + +<p>“In the name of all that’s holy, what are you doing or planning to do?” +she demanded.</p> + +<p>“Not anything that will cost you a penny beyond my natural rights,” +said Linda quietly.</p> + +<p>“That is not answering my question,” said Eileen. “You’re not of age +and you’re still under the authority of a guardian. If you can’t answer +me, possibly you can him. Shall I send John Gilman to ask what I want +to know of you?”</p> + +<p>“When did I ever ask you any questions about what you chose to +do?” asked Linda. “I am merely following the example that you have +previously set me. John Gilman and I used to be great friends. It might +help both of us to have a family reunion. Send him by all means.”</p> + +<p>“You used to take pride,” suggested Eileen, “in leading your class.”</p> + +<p>“And has anyone told you that I am not leading my class at the present +minute?” asked Linda.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Eileen, “but what I want to point out to you is that the +minute you start running with the boys you will quit leading your +class.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t you believe it,” said Linda quietly. “I’m not built that way. +I shan’t concentrate on any boy to the exclusion of chemistry and +geometry, never fear it.”</p> + +<p>Then she thoughtfully ascended the stairs and went to work.</p> + +<p>Eileen went to her room and sat down to think; and the more she +thought, the deeper grew her anger and chagrin; and to the indifference +that always had existed in her heart concerning Linda was added in that +moment a new element. She was jealous of her. How did it come that a +lanky, gangling kid in her tees had been paid a visit by the son of +possibly the most cultured and influential family of the city, people +of prestige, comfortable wealth, and unlimited popularity? For four +years she had struggled to gain an entrance in some way into Louise +Whiting’s intimate circle of friends, and she had ended by shutting +the door on the only son of the family. And why had she ever allowed +Linda to keep the runabout? It was not proper that a young girl should +own a high powered car like that. It was not proper that she should +drive it and go racing around the country, heaven knew where, and with +heaven knew whom. Eileen bit her lip until it almost bled. Her eyes +were hateful and her hands were nervous as she reviewed the past week. +She might think any mean thing that a mean brain could conjure up, but +when she calmed down to facts she had to admit that there was not a +reason in the world why Linda should not drive the car she had driven +for her father, or why she should not take with her Donald Whiting +or Peter Morrison or Henry Anderson. The thing that rankled was that +the car belonged to Linda. The touring car which she might have owned +and driven, had she so desired, lay in an extremely slender string of +pearls around her neck at that instant. She reflected that if she had +kept her car and made herself sufficiently hardy to drive it, she might +have been the one to have taken Peter Morrison to his home location and +to have had many opportunities for being with him.</p> + +<p>“I’ve been a fool,” said Eileen, tugging at the pearls viciously. “They +are nothing but a little bit of a string that looks as if I were trying +to do something and couldn’t, at best. What I’ve got to do is to think +more of myself. I’ve got to plan some way to prevent Linda from being +too popular until I really get my mind made up as to what I want to do.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</h2> +<div class="subheadc">Leavening the Bread of Life</div> +</div> + +<p>“‘A house that is divided against itself cannot stand,’” quoted Linda. +“I must keep in mind what Eileen said, not that there is the slightest +danger, but to fall behind in my grades is a thing that simply must not +happen. If it be true that Peter and Henry can so easily and so cheaply +add a few improvements in my workroom in connection with Peter’s +building, I can see no reason why they shouldn’t do it, so long as I +pay for it. I haven’t a doubt but that there will be something I can +do for Peter, before he finishes his building, that he would greatly +appreciate, while, since I’m handy with my pencil, I <i>might</i> be +able to make a few head and tail pieces for some of his articles that +would make them more attractive. I don’t want to use any friend of +mine: I don’t want to feel that I am not giving quite as much as I get, +but I think I see my way clear, between me and the Bear-cat, to pay for +all the favours I would receive in altering my study.</p> + +<p>“First thing I do I must go through Father’s books and get the money +for them, so I’ll know my limitation when I come to select furniture. +And I don’t know that I am going to be so terribly modest when it +comes to naming the sum with which I’ll be satisfied for my allowance. +Possibly I shall exercise my age-old prerogative and change my mind; +I may just say ‘half’ right out loud and stick to it. And there’s +another thing. Since the editor of <i>Everybody’s Home</i> has started +my department and promised that if it goes well he will give it to me +permanently, I can certainly depend on something from that. He has used +my Introduction and two instalments now. I should think it might be +fair to talk payments pretty soon. He should give me fifty dollars for +a recipe with its perfectly good natural history and embellished with +my own vegetable and floral decorations.</p> + +<p>“In the meantime I think I might buy my work table and possibly an +easel, so I can have real room to spread out my new material and see +how it would feel to do one drawing completely unhampered. I’ll order +the table to-night, and then I’ll begin on the books, because I must +have Saturday free; and I must be thinking about the most attractive +and interesting place I can take Donald to. I just have to keep him +interested until he gets going of his own accord, because he shall beat +Oka Sayye. I wouldn’t let Donald say it but I don’t mind saying myself +to myself with no one present except myself that in all my life I have +never seen anything so mask-like as the stolid little square head on +that Jap. I have never seen anything I dislike more than the oily, +stiff, black hair standing up on it like menacing bristles. I have +never had but one straight look deep into his eyes, but in that look +I saw the only thing that ever frightened me in looking into a man’s +eyes in my whole life. And there is one thing that I have to remember +to caution Donald about. He must carry on this contest in a perfectly +open, fair, and above-board way, and he simply must not antagonize Oka +Sayye. There are so many of the Japs. They all look so much alike, and +there’s a blood brotherhood between them that will make them protect +each other to the death against any white man. It wouldn’t be safe for +Donald to make Oka Sayye hate him. He had far better try to make him +his friend and put a spirit of honest rivalry into his heart; but come +to think of it, there wasn’t anything like that in my one look into +Oka Sayye’s eyes. I don’t know what it was, but whatever it was it was +something repulsive.”</p> + +<p>With this thought in her mind Linda walked slowly as she approached +the High School the next time. Far down the street, over the walks +and across the grounds, her eyes were searching eagerly for the tall +slender figure of Donald Whiting. She did not see him in the morning, +but at noon she encountered him in the hall.</p> + +<p>“Looking for you,” he cried gaily when he saw her. “I’ve got my pry in +on Trig. The professor’s interested. Dad fished out an old Trig that +he used when he was a boy and I have some new angles that will keep my +esteemed rival stirring up his gray matter for some little time.”</p> + +<p>“Good for you! Joyous congratulations! You’ve got the idea!” cried +Linda. “Go to it! Start something all along the line, but make it +something founded on brains and reason and common sense. But, Donald, I +was watching for you. I wanted to say a word.”</p> + +<p>Donald Whiting bent toward her. The faintest suspicion of a tinge of +colour crept into his cheeks.</p> + +<p>“That’s fine,” he said. “What was it you wanted?”</p> + +<p>“Only this,” she said in almost a breathless whisper. “There is nothing +in California I am afraid of except a Jap, and I am afraid of them, not +potentially, not on account of what all of us know they are planning +in the backs of their heads for the future, but right here and now, +personally and physically. Don’t antagonize Oka Sayye. Don’t be too +precipitate about what you’re trying to do. Try to make it appear that +you’re developing ideas for the interest and edification of the whole +class. Don’t incur his personal enmity. Use tact.”</p> + +<p>“You think I am afraid of that little <i>jiu-jitsu</i>?” he scoffed. “I +can lick him with one hand.”</p> + +<p>“I haven’t a doubt of it,” said Linda, measuring his height and +apparent strength and fitness. “I haven’t a doubt of it. But let me +ask you this confidentially: Have you got a friend who would slip in +and stab him in the back in case you were in an encounter and he was +getting the better of you?”</p> + +<p>Donald Whiting’s eyes widened. He looked at Linda amazed.</p> + +<p>“Wouldn’t that be going rather far?” he asked. “I think I have some +fairly good friends among the fellows, but I don’t know just whom I +would want to ask to do me that small favour.”</p> + +<p>“That is precisely the point,” cried Linda. “You haven’t a friend you +would ask; and you haven’t a friend who would do it, if you did. But +don’t believe for one second that Oka Sayye hasn’t half a dozen who +would make away with you at an unexpected time and in a secluded place, +and vanish, if it would in any way further Oka Sayye’s ambition, or +help establish the supremacy of the Japanese in California.”</p> + +<p>“Um-hm,” said Donald Whiting.</p> + +<p>He was looking far past Linda and now his eyes were narrowed in +thought. “I believe you’re <i>right</i> about it.”</p> + +<p>“I’ve thought of you so often since I tried to spur you to beat Oka +Sayye,” said Linda. “I feel a sort of responsibility for you. It’s to +the honour and glory of all California, and the United States, and the +white race everywhere for you to beat him, but if any harm should come +to you I would always feel that I shouldn’t have urged it.”</p> + +<p>“Now that’s foolishness,” said Donald earnestly. “If I am such a dub +that I didn’t have the ambition to think up some way to beat a Jap +myself, no matter what happens you shouldn’t regret having been the one +to point out to me my manifest duty. Dad is a Harvard man, you know, +and that is where he’s going to send me, and in talking about it the +other night I told him about you, and what you had said to me. He’s the +greatest old scout, and was mightily interested. He went at once and +opened a box of books in the garret and dug out some stuff that will be +a big help to me. He’s going to keep posted and see what he can do; he +said even worse things to me than you did; so you needn’t feel that you +have any responsibility; besides that, it’s not proved yet that I can +beat Oka Sayye.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, it is!” said Linda, sending a straight level gaze deep into his +eyes. “Yes, it is! Whenever a white man makes up his mind what he’s +going to do, and puts his brain to work, he beats any man, of any other +colour. Sure you’re going to beat him.”</p> + +<p>“Fat chance I have not to,” said Donald, laughing ruefully. “If I don’t +beat him I am disgraced at home, and with you; before I try very long +in this highly specialized effort I am making, every professor in the +High School and every member of my class is bound to become aware of +what is going on. You’re mighty right about it. I have got to beat him +or disgrace myself right at the beginning of my nice young career.”</p> + +<p>“Of course you’ll beat him,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“At what hour did you say I should come, Saturday?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, come with the lark for all I care,” said Linda. “Early morning in +the desert is a mystery and a miracle, and the larks have been there +just long enough to get their voices properly tuned for their purest +notes.”</p> + +<p>Then she turned and hurried away. Her first leisure minute after +reaching home she went to the library wearing one of Katy’s big aprons, +and carrying a brush and duster. Beginning at one end of each shelf, +she took down the volumes she intended to sell, carefully dusted them, +wiped their covers, and the place on which they had stood, and then +opened and leafed through them so that no scrap of paper containing +any notes or memoranda of possible value should be overlooked. It was +while handling these volumes that Linda shifted several of the books +written by her father, to separate them from those with which she meant +to part. She had grown so accustomed to opening each book she handled +and looking through it, that she mechanically opened the first one she +picked up and from among its leaves there fell a scrap of loose paper. +She picked it up and found it was a letter from the publishers of the +book. Linda’s eyes widened suddenly as she read:</p> + +<blockquote> +<div class="smcap">My dear Strong:</div> + +<p>Sending you a line of congratulations. You have gone to the head +of the list of “best sellers” among medical works, and the cheque +I draw you for the past six months’ royalties will be considerably +larger than that which goes to your most esteemed contemporary on +your chosen subject.</p> + +<p class="right">Very truly yours,</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The signature was that of Frederic Dickman, the editor of one of the +biggest publishing houses of the country.</p> + +<p>“Hm,” she said to herself softly. “Now that is a queer thing. That +letter was written nearly five years ago. I don’t know why I never +thought of royalties since Daddy went. I frequently heard him +mention them before. I suppose they’re being paid to John Gilman as +administrator, or to the Consolidated Bank, and cared for with Father’s +other business. There’s no reason why these books should not keep on +selling. There are probably the same number of young men, if not a +greater number, studying medicine every year. I wonder now, about these +royalties. I must do some thinking.”</p> + +<p>Then Linda began to examine books more carefully than before. The +letter she carried with her when she went to her room; but she made +a point of being on the lawn that evening when John Gilman came, and +after talking to him a few minutes, she said very casually: “John, as +Father’s administrator, does a royalty from his medical books come to +you?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Gilman. “It is paid to his bank.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t suppose,” said Linda casually, “it would amount to enough to +keep one in shoes these inflated days.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I don’t know about that,” said John testily. “I have seen a few of +those cheques in your Father’s time. You should be able to keep fairly +well supplied with shoes.”</p> + +<p>“So I should,” said Linda drily. “So I should.”</p> + +<p>Then she led him to the back of the house and talked the incident +out of his mind as cleverly as possible by giving him an intensive +botanical study of Cotyledon. But she could not interest him quite so +deeply as she had hoped, for presently he said: “Eileen tells me that +you’re parting with some of the books.”</p> + +<p>“Only technical ones for which I could have no possible use,” said +Linda. “I need clothes, and have found that had I a proper place to +work in and proper tools to work with, I could earn quite a bit with +my brush and pencil, and so I am trying to get enough money together +to fit up the billiard room for a workroom, since nobody uses it for +anything else.”</p> + +<p>“I see,” said John Gilman. “I suppose running a house is extremely +expensive these days, but even so the income from your estate should +be sufficient to dress a schoolgirl and provide for anything you would +want in the way of furnishing a workroom.”</p> + +<p>“That’s what I have always thought myself,” said Linda; “but Eileen +doesn’t agree with me, and she handles the money. When the first of the +month comes, we are planning to go over things together, and she is +going to make me a proper allowance.”</p> + +<p>“That is exactly as it should be,” said Gilman. “I never realized till +the other night at dinner that you have grown such a great girl, Linda. +That’s fine! Fix your workroom the way you would like to have it, and +if there’s anything I can do to help you in any way, you have only to +command me. I haven’t seen you often lately.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Linda, “but I don’t feel that it is exactly my fault. Marian +and I were always pals. When I saw that you preferred Eileen, I kept +with Marian to comfort her all I could. I don’t suppose she cared, +particularly. She couldn’t have, or she would at least have made some +effort to prevent Eileen from monopolizing you. She probably was mighty +glad to be rid of you; but since you had been together so much, I +thought she might miss you, so I tried to cover your defection.”</p> + +<p>John Gilman’s face flushed. He stood very still, while he seemed deeply +thoughtful.</p> + +<p>“Of course you were free to follow your inclinations, or Eileen’s +machinations, whichever you did follow,” Linda said lightly, “but ‘them +as knows’ could tell you, John, as Katy so well puts it, that you have +made the mistake of your young life.”</p> + +<p>Then she turned and went to the garage, leaving John to his visit with +Eileen.</p> + +<p>The Eileen who took possession of John was an Eileen with whom he was +not acquainted. He had known, the night of the dinner party, that +Eileen was pouting, but there had been no chance to learn from her +what her grievance was, and by the next time they met she was a bundle +of flashing allurement, so he ignored the occurrence. This evening, +for the first time, it seemed to him that Eileen was not so beautiful +a woman as he had thought her. Something had roiled the blood in her +delicate veins until it had muddied the clear freshness of her smooth +satiny skin. There was discontent in her eyes, which were her most +convincing attraction. They were big eyes, wide open and candid. She +had so trained them through a lifetime of practice that she could meet +other eyes directly while manipulating her most dextrous evasion. +Whenever Eileen was most deceptively subtle, she was looking straight +at her victim with the innocent appeal of a baby in her gaze.</p> + +<p>John Gilman had had his struggle. He had succeeded. He had watched, and +waited, and worked incessantly, and when his opportunity came he was +ready. Success had come to such a degree that in a short time he had +assured himself of comfort for any woman he loved. He knew that his +appearance was quite as pleasing as that of his friend. He knew that +in manner and education they were equals. He was now handling large +business affairs. He had made friends in high places. Whenever Eileen +was ready, he would build and furnish a home he felt sure would be +equal, if not superior, to what Morrison was planning. Why had Eileen +felt that she would envy any woman who shared life with Peter Morrison?</p> + +<p>All that day she had annoyed him, because there must have been in the +very deeps of his soul “a still, small voice” whispering to him that he +had not lived up to the best traditions of a gentleman in his course +with Marian. While no definite plans had been made, there had been +endless assumption. Many times they had talked of the home they would +make together. When he reached the point where he decided that he never +had loved Marian as a man should love the woman he marries, he felt +justified in turning to Eileen, but in his heart he knew that if he had +been the man he was pleased to consider himself, he would have gone to +Marian Thorne and explained, thereby keeping her friendship, while he +now knew that he must have earned her contempt.</p> + +<p>The day at Riverside had been an enigma he could not solve. Eileen was +gay to a degree that was almost boisterous. She had attracted attention +and comment which no well-bred woman would have done.</p> + +<p>The growing discontent in John’s soul had increased under Linda’s +direct attack. He had known Linda since she was four years old and +had been responsible for some of her education. He had been a large +influence in teaching Linda from childhood to be a good sport, to be +sure she was right and then go ahead, and if she hurt herself in the +going, to rub the bruise, but to keep her path.</p> + +<p>A thing patent to the eye of every man who turned an appraising look +upon Linda always had been one of steadfast loyalty. You could depend +upon her. She was the counterpart of her father; and Doctor Strong had +been loved by other men. Wherever he had gone he had been surrounded. +His figure had been one that attracted attention. When he had spoken, +his voice and what he had to say had commanded respect. And then there +had emanated from him that peculiar physical charm which gives such +pleasing and distinguished personality to a very few people in this +world. This gift too had descended to Linda. She could sit and look +straight at you with her narrow, interested eyes, smile faintly, and +make you realize what she thought and felt without opening her lips. +John did not feel very well acquainted with the girl who had dominated +the recent dinner party, but he did see that she was attractive, that +both Peter Morrison and Henry Anderson had been greatly amused and very +much entertained by her. He had found her so interesting himself that +he had paid slight attention to Eileen’s pouting.</p> + +<p>To-night he was forced to study Eileen, for the sake of his own comfort +to try to conciliate her. He was uncomfortable because he was unable +to conduct himself as Eileen wished him to, without a small sickening +disgust creeping into his soul. Before the evening was over he became +exasperated, and ended by asking flatly: “Eileen, what in the dickens +is the matter with you?”</p> + +<p>It was a new tone and a new question on nerves tensely strung.</p> + +<p>“If you weren’t blind you’d know without asking,” retorted Eileen hotly.</p> + +<p>“Then I am ‘blind,’ for I haven’t the slightest notion. What have I +done?”</p> + +<p>“Isn’t it just barely possible,” asked Eileen, “that there might be +other people who would annoy and exasperate me? I have not hinted that +you have done anything, although I don’t know that it’s customary for a +man calling on his betrothed to stop first for a visit with her sister.”</p> + +<p>“For the love of Mike!” said John Gilman. “Am I to be found fault with +for crossing the lawn a minute to see how Linda’s wild garden is coming +on? I have dug and helped set enough of those plants to justify some +interest in them as they grow.”</p> + +<p>“And the garden was your sole subject of conversation?” inquired +Eileen, implied doubt conveyed nicely.</p> + +<p>“No, it was not,” answered Gilman, all the bulldog in his nature coming +to the surface.</p> + +<p>“As I knew perfectly,” said Eileen. “I admit that I’m not feeling +myself. Things began going wrong recently, and everything has gone +wrong since. I think it all began with Marian Thorne’s crazy idea of +selling her home and going to the city to try to ape a man.”</p> + +<p>“Marian never tried to ape a man in her life,” said John, instantly +yielding to a sense of justice. “She is as strictly feminine as any +woman I ever knew.”</p> + +<p>“Do you mean to say that you think studying architecture is a woman’s +work?” sneered Eileen.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I do,” said Gilman emphatically. “Women live in houses. They’re +in them nine tenths of the time to a man’s one tenth. Next to rocking +a cradle I don’t know of any occupation in this world more distinctly +feminine than the planning of comfortable homes for homekeeping people.”</p> + +<p>Eileen changed the subject swiftly. “What was Linda saying to you?” she +asked.</p> + +<p>“She was showing me a plant, a rare Echeveria of the Cotyledon family, +that she tobogganed down one side of Multiflores Canyon and delivered +safely on the roadway without its losing an appreciable amount of +‘bloom’ from its exquisitely painted leaves.”</p> + +<p>Eileen broke in rudely. “Linda has missed Marian. There’s not a +possible thing to make life uncomfortable for me that she is not doing. +You needn’t tell me you didn’t see and understand her rude forwardness +the other night!”</p> + +<p>“No, I didn’t see it,” said John, “because the fact is I thought the +kid was positively charming, and so did Peter and Henry because both +of them said so. There’s one thing you must take into consideration, +Eileen. The time has come when she should have clothes and liberty and +opportunity to shape her life according to her inclinations. Let me +tell you she will attract attention in georgette and laces.”</p> + +<p>“And where are the georgette and laces to come from?” inquired Eileen +sarcastically. “All outgo and no income for four years is leaving the +Strong finances in mighty precarious shape, I can tell you.”</p> + +<p>“All right,” said Gilman, “I’m financially comfortable now. I’m ready. +Say the word. We’ll select our location and build our home, and let +Linda have what there is of the Strong income till she is settled in +life. You have pretty well had all of it for the past four years.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Eileen furiously, “I have ‘pretty well’ had it, in a few +little dresses that I have altered myself and very frequently made +entirely. I have done the best I could, shifting and skimping, and it’s +not accomplished anything that I have really wanted. According to men, +the gas and the telephone and the electric light and the taxes and +food and cook pay for themselves. All a woman ever spends money on is +clothes!”</p> + +<p>“Eileen,” chuckled John Gilman, “this sounds exactly as if we were +married, and we’re not, yet.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Eileen, “thank heaven we’re not. If it’s come to the place +where you’re siding with everybody else against me, and where you’re +more interested in what my kid sister has to say to you than you are in +me, I don’t think we ever shall be.”</p> + +<p>Then, from stress of nerve tension and long practice, some big tears +gushed up and threatened to overflow Eileen’s lovely eyes. That never +should happen, for tears are salt water and they cut little rivers +through even the most carefully and skillfully constructed complexion, +while Eileen’s was looking its worst that evening. She hastily applied +her handkerchief, and John Gilman took her into his arms; so the +remainder of the evening it was as if they were not married. But when +John returned to the subject of a home and begged Eileen to announce +their engagement and let him begin work, she evaded him, and put him +off, and had to have time to think, and she was not ready, and there +were many excuses, for none of which Gilman could see any sufficient +reason. When he left Eileen that night, it was with a heavy heart.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</h2> +<div class="subheadc">Saturday’s Child</div> +</div> + +<p>Throughout the week Linda had worked as never during her life +previously, in order to save Saturday for Donald Whiting. She ran the +Bear-cat down to the garage and had it looked over once more to be sure +that everything was all right. Friday evening, on her way from school, +she stopped at a grocery where she knew Eileen kept an account, and for +the first time ordered a few groceries. These she carried home with +her, and explained to Katy what she wanted.</p> + +<p>Katy fully realized that Linda was still her child, with no thought in +her mind save standing at the head of her classes, carrying on the work +she had begun with her father, keeping up her nature study, and getting +the best time she could out of life in the open as she had been taught +to do from her cradle.</p> + +<p>Katy had not the slightest intention of opening her lips to say one +word that might put any idea into the head of her beloved child, but +she saw no reason why she herself should not harbor all the ideas she +pleased.</p> + +<p>Whereupon, actuated by a combination of family pride, love, ambition in +her chosen profession, Katy made ready to see that on the morrow the +son of Frederick Whiting should be properly nourished on his outing +with Linda.</p> + +<p>At six o’clock Saturday morning Linda ran the Bear-cat to the back +door, where she and Katy packed it. Before they had finished, Donald +Whiting came down the sidewalk, his cheeks flushed with the exercise of +walking, his eyes bright with anticipation, his cause forever won—in +case he had a cause—with Katy, because she liked the wholesome, hearty +manner in which he greeted Linda, and she was dumbfounded when he held +out his hand to her and said laughingly: “Blessed among women, did you +put in a fine large consignment of orange punch?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Katy, “I’ll just tell ye flat-footed there ain’t going to be +any punch, but, young sir, you’re eshcortin’ a very capable young lady, +and don’t ye bewail the punch, because ye might be complimenting your +face with something ye would like a hape better.”</p> + +<p>“Can’t be done, Katy,” cried Donald.</p> + +<p>“Ye must have a poor opinion of us,” laughed Katy, “if ye are thinking +ye can get to the end of our limitations in one lunch. Fourteen years +me and Miss Linda’s been on this lunch-box stunt. Don’t ye be thinkin’ +ye can exhaust us in any wan trip, or in any wan dozen.”</p> + +<p>So they said good-bye to Katy and rolled past Eileen’s room on the way +to the desert. Eileen stood at the window watching them, and never had +her heart been so full of discontent and her soul the abiding place +of such envy or her mind so busy. Just when she had thought life was +going to yield her what she craved, she could not understand how or why +things should begin to go wrong.</p> + +<p>As the Bear-cat traversed Lilac Valley, Linda was pointing out Peter +Morrison’s location. She was telling Donald Whiting where to find +Peter’s articles, and what a fine man he was, and that he had promised +to think how he could help with their plan to make of Donald a better +scholar than was Oka Sayye.</p> + +<p>“Well, I call that mighty decent of a stranger,” said Donald.</p> + +<p>“But he is scarcely more of a stranger than I am,” answered Linda. “He +is a writer. He is interested in humanity. It’s the business of every +man in this world to reach out and help every boy with whom he comes in +contact into the biggest, finest manhood possible. He only knows that +you’re a boy tackling a big job that means much to every white boy to +have you succeed with, and for that reason he’s just as interested as I +am. Maybe, when we come in this evening, I’ll run up to his place, and +you can talk it over with him. If your father helped you at one angle, +it’s altogether probable that Peter Morrison could help you at another.”</p> + +<p>Donald Whiting rubbed his knee reflectively. He was sitting half turned +in the wide seat so that he might watch Linda’s hands and her face +while she drove.</p> + +<p>“Well, that’s all right,” he said heartily. “You can write me down as +willing and anxious to take all the help I can get, for it’s going to +be no microscopic job, that I can tell you. One week has waked up the +Jap to the fact that there’s something doing, and he’s digging in and +has begun, the last day or two, to speak up in class and suggest things +himself. Since I’ve been studying him and watching him, I have come to +the conclusion that he is much older than I am. Something he said in +class yesterday made me think he had probably had the best schooling +Japan could give him before he came here. The next time you meet him +look for a suspicion of gray hairs around his ears. He’s too blamed +comprehensive for the average boy of my age. You said the Japs were the +best imitators in the world and I have an idea in the back of my head +that before I get through with him, Oka Sayye is going to prove your +proposition.”</p> + +<p>Linda nodded as she shot the Bear-cat across the streetcar tracks and +headed toward the desert. The engine was purring softly as it warmed +up. The car was running smoothly. The sun of early morning was shining +on them through bracing, salt, cool air, and even in the valley the +larks were busy, and the mocking birds, and from every wayside bush the +rosy finches were singing. All the world was coming to the exquisite +bloom of a half-tropical country. Up from earth swept the heavy odors +of blooming citrus orchards, millions of roses, and the overpowering +sweetness of gardens and cultivated flowers; while down from the +mountains rolled the delicate breath of the misty blue lilac, the +pungent odour of California sage, and the spicy sweet of the lemonade +bush. They were two young things, free for the day, flying down a +perfect road, adventuring with Providence. They had only gone a few +miles when Donald Whiting took off his hat, stuffed it down beside him, +and threw back his head, shaking his hair to the wind in a gesture +so soon to become familiar to Linda. She glanced across at him and +found him looking at her. A smile broke over her lips. One of her most +spontaneous laughs bubbled up in her throat.</p> + +<p>“Topping, isn’t it!” she cried gaily.</p> + +<p>“It’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” answered Donald Whiting +instantly. “Our car is a mighty good one and Dad isn’t mean about +letting me drive it. I can take it frequently and can have plenty of +gas and take my crowd; but lordy, I don’t believe there’s a boy or girl +living that doesn’t just positively groan when they see one of these +little gray Bear-cats go loping past. And I never even had a ride in +one before. I can’t get over the fact that it’s yours. It wouldn’t seem +so funny if it belonged to one of the fellows.”</p> + +<p>With steady hand and gradually increasing speed, Linda put the Bear-cat +over the roads of early morning. Sometimes she stopped in the shade of +pepper, eucalyptus, or palm, where the larks were specializing in their +age-old offertory. And then again they went racing until they reached +the real desert. Linda ran the car under the shade of a tall clump of +bloom-whitened alders. She took off her hat, loosened the hair at her +temples, and looked out across the long morning stretch of desert.</p> + +<p>“It’s just beginning to be good,” she said. She began pointing with +her slender hand. “That gleam you see over there is the gold of a +small clump of early poppies. The purple beyond it is lupin. All these +exquisite colours on the floor are birds’-eyes and baby blue eyes, and +the misty white here and there is forget-me-not. It won’t be long til +thousands and thousands of yucca plants will light their torches all +over the desert and all the alders show their lacy mist. Of course +you know how exquisitely the Spaniards named the yucca ‘Our Lord’s +Candles.’ Isn’t that the prettiest name for a flower, and isn’t it the +prettiest thought?”</p> + +<p>“It certainly is,” answered Donald.</p> + +<p>“Had any experience with the desert?” Linda asked lightly.</p> + +<p>“Hunted sage hens some,” answered Donald.</p> + +<p>“Oh, well, that’ll be all right,” said Linda. “I wondered if you’d go +murdering yourself like a tenderfoot.”</p> + +<p>“What’s the use of all this artillery?” inquired Donald as he stepped +from the car.</p> + +<p>“Better put on your hat. You’re taller than most of the bushes; you’ll +find slight shade,” cautioned Linda. “The use is purely a matter +of self-protection. The desert has got such a de’il of a fight for +existence, without shade and practically without water, that it can’t +afford to take any other chance of extermination, and so it protects +itself with needles here and spears there and sabers at other places +and roots that strike down to China everywhere. First thing we are +going to get is some soap.”</p> + +<p>“Great hat!” exclaimed Donald. “If you wanted soap why didn’t you bring +some?”</p> + +<p>“For all you know,” laughed Linda, “I may be going to education you up +a little. Dare you to tell me how many kinds of soap I can find to-day +that the Indians used, and where I can find it.”</p> + +<p>“Couldn’t tell you one to save my life,” said Donald.</p> + +<p>“And born and reared within a few miles of the desert!” scoffed Linda. +“Nice Indian you’d make. We take our choice to-day between finding +deer-brush and digging for amole, because the mock oranges aren’t ripe +enough to be nice and soapy yet. I’ve got the deer-brush spotted, and +we’ll pass an amole before we go very far. Look for a wavy blue-green +leaf like a wide blade of grass and coming up like a lily.”</p> + +<p>So together they went to the deer-brush and gathered a bunch of flowers +that Linda bound together with some wiry desert grass and fastened to +her belt. It was not long before Donald spied an amole, and having +found one, discovered many others growing near. Then Linda led the way +past thorns and brush, past impenetrable beds of cholla, until they +reached a huge barrel cactus that she had located with the glasses. +Beside this bristling monstrous growth Linda paused, and reached for +the axe, which Donald handed to her. She drew it lightly across the +armor protecting the plant.</p> + +<p>“Short of Victrola needles?” she inquired. “Because if you are, these +make excellent ones. A lot more singing quality to them than the steel +needles, not nearly so metallic.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I am surely going to try that,” said Donald. “Never heard of +such a thing.”</p> + +<p>Linda chopped off a section of plant. Then she picked one of the knives +from the bucket and handed it to him.</p> + +<p>“All right, you get what you want,” she said, “while I operate on the +barrel.”</p> + +<p>She set her feet firmly in the sand, swung the axe, and with a couple +of deft strokes sliced off the top of the huge plant, and from the +heart of it lifted up half a bucketful of the juicy interior, with her +dipper.</p> + +<p>“If we didn’t have drink, here is where we would get it, and mighty +good it is,” she said, pushing down with the dipper until she formed +a small pool in the heart of the plant which rapidly filled. “Have a +taste.”</p> + +<p>“Jove, that is good!” said Donald. “What are you going to do with it?”</p> + +<p>“Show you later,” laughed Linda. “Think I’ll take a sip myself.”</p> + +<p>Then by a roundabout route they started on their return to the car. +Once Linda stopped and gathered a small bunch of an extremely curious +little plant spreading over the ground, a tiny reddish vine with quaint +round leaves that looked as if a drop of white paint rimmed with maroon +had fallen on each of them.</p> + +<p>“I never saw that before,” said Donald. “What are you going to do with +it?”</p> + +<p>“Use it on whichever of us gets the first snake bite,” said Linda. +“That is rattlesnake weed and if a poisonous snake bites you, score +each side of the wound with the cleanest, sharpest knife you have and +then bruise the plant and bind it on with your handkerchief, and forget +it.”</p> + +<p>“Is that what you do?” inquired Donald.</p> + +<p>“Why sure,” said Linda, “that is what I would do if a snake were so +ungallant as to bite me, but there doesn’t seem to be much of the +antagonistic element in my nature. I don’t go through the desert +exhaling the odour of fright, and so snakes lie quiescent or slip away +so silently that I never see them.”</p> + +<p>“Now what on earth do you mean by that?” inquired Donald.</p> + +<p>“Why that is the very first lesson Daddy ever taught me when he took me +to the mountains and the desert. If you are afraid, your system throws +off formic acid, and the animals need only the suspicion of a scent of +it to make them ready to fight. Any animal you encounter or even a bee, +recognizes it. One of the first things that I remember about Daddy was +seeing him sit on the running board of the runabout buckling up his +desert boots while he sang to me,</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="i0">‘Let not your heart be troubled</div> + <div class="i1">Neither let it be afraid,’</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">as he got ready to take me on his back and go into the desert for our +first lesson; he told me that a man was perfectly safe in going to the +forest or the desert or anywhere he chose among any kind of animals +if he had sufficient self-control that no odour of fear emanated from +him. He said that a man was safe to make his way anywhere he wanted to +go, if he started his journey by recognizing a blood brotherhood with +anything living he would meet on the way; and I have heard Enos Mills +say that when he was snow inspector of Colorado he traveled the crest +of the Rockies from one end of the state to the other without a gun or +any means of self-defense.”</p> + +<p>“Now, that is something new to think about,” said Donald.</p> + +<p>“And it’s something that is very true,” said Linda. “I have seen it +work times without number. Father and I went quietly up the mountains, +through the canyons, across the desert, and we would never see a snake +of any kind, but repeatedly we would see men with guns and dogs out to +kill, to trespass on the rights of the wild, and they would be hunting +for sticks and clubs and firing their guns where we had passed never +thinking of lurking danger. If you start out in accord, at one with +Nature, you’re quite as safe as you are at home, sometimes more so. But +if you start out to stir up a fight, the occasion is very rare on which +you can’t succeed.”</p> + +<p>“And that reminds me,” said Donald, with a laugh, “that a week ago I +came to start a fight with you. What has become of that fight we were +going to have, anyway?”</p> + +<p>“You can search me,” laughed Linda, throwing out her hands in a +graceful gesture. “There’s not a scrap of fight in my system concerning +you, but if Oka Sayye were having a fight with you and I were anywhere +around, you’d have one friend who would help you to handle the Jap.”</p> + +<p>Donald looked at Linda thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>“By the great hocus-pocus,” he said, “you know, I believe you! If two +fellows were having a pitched battle most of the girls I know would +quietly faint or run, but I do believe that you would stand by and help +a fellow if he needed it.”</p> + +<p>“That I surely would,” said Linda; “but don’t you say ‘most of the +girls I know’ and then make a statement like that concerning girls, +because you prove that you don’t know them at all. A few years ago, I +very distinctly recall how angry many women were at this line in one of +Kipling’s poems:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="i0">The female of the species is more deadly than the male,</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">and there was nothing to it save that a great poet was trying to pay +womanhood everywhere the finest compliment he knew how. He always has +been fundamental in his process of thought. He gets right back to the +heart of primal things. When he wrote that line he was not really +thinking that there was a nasty poison in the heart of a woman or death +in her hands. What he was thinking was that in the jungle the female +lion or tiger or jaguar must go and find a particularly secluded cave +and bear her young and raise them to be quite active kittens before +she leads them out, because there is danger of the bloodthirsty father +eating them when they are tiny and helpless. And if perchance a male +finds the cave of his mate and her tiny young and enters it to do +mischief, then there is no recorded instance I know of in which the +female, fighting in defense of her young, has not been ‘more deadly +than the male.’ And that is the origin of the much-discussed line +concerning the female of the species, and it holds good fairly well +down the line of the wild. It’s even true among such tiny things as +guinea pigs and canary birds. There is a mother element in the heart of +every girl. Daddy used to say that half the women in the world married +the men they did because they wanted to mother them. You can’t tell +what is in a woman’s heart by looking at her. You must bring her face +to face with an emergency before you can say what she’ll do, but I +would be perfectly willing to stake my life on this: There is scarcely +a girl you know who would see you getting the worst of a fight, say +with Oka Sayye, or someone who meant to kill you or injure you, who +would not pick up the first weapon she could lay her hands on, whether +it was an axe or a stick or a stone, and go to your defense, and if she +had nothing else to fight with, I have heard of women who put up rather +a tidy battle with their claws. Sounds primitive, doesn’t it?”</p> + +<p>“It sounds true,” said Donald reflectively. “I see, young lady, where +one is going to have to measure his words and think before he talks to +you.”</p> + +<p>“Pretty thought!” said Linda lightly. “We’ll have a great time if you +must stop to consider every word before you say it.”</p> + +<p>“Well, anyway,” said Donald, “when are we going to have that fight +which was the purpose of our coming together?”</p> + +<p>“Why, we’re not ever going to have it,” answered Linda. “I have got +nothing in this world to fight with you about since you’re doing your +level best to beat Oka Sayye. I have watched your head above the +remainder of your class for three years and wanted to fight with you on +that point.”</p> + +<p>“Now that’s a queer thing,” said Donald, “because I have watched you +for three years and wanted to fight with you about your drygoods, and +now since I’ve known you only such a short while, I don’t care two +whoops what you wear. It’s a matter of perfect indifference to me. You +can wear French heels or baby pumps, or go barefoot. You would still be +you.”</p> + +<p>“Is it a truce?” asked Linda.</p> + +<p>“No, ma’am,” said Donald, “it’s not a truce. That implies war and we +haven’t fought. It’s not armed neutrality; it’s not even watchful +waiting. It’s my friend, Linda Strong. Me for her and her for me, if +you say so.”</p> + +<p>He reached out his hand. Linda laid hers in it, and looking into his +eyes, she said: “That is a compact. We’ll test this friendship business +and see what there is to it. Now come on; let’s run for the canyon.”</p> + +<p>It was only a short time until the Bear-cat followed its trail of +the previous Saturday, and, rushing across the stream, stopped at +its former resting place, while Linda and Donald sat looking at the +sheer-walled little room before them.</p> + +<p>“I can see,” said Linda, “a stronger tinge in the green. There are more +flowers in the carpet. There is more melody in the birds’ song. We are +going to have a better time than we had last Saturday. First let’s fix +up our old furnace, because we must have a fire to-day.”</p> + +<p>So they left the car, and under Linda’s direction they reconstructed +the old fireplace at which the girl and her father had cooked when +botanizing in Multiflores. In a corner secluded from wind, using the +wall of the canyon for a back wall, big boulders the right distance +apart on each side, and small stones for chinking, Linda superintended +the rebuilding of the fireplace.</p> + +<p>She unpacked the lunch box, set the table, and when she had everything +in readiness she covered the table, and taking a package, she carried +it on a couple of aluminium pie pans to where her fire was burning +crisply. With a small field axe she chopped a couple of small green +branches, pointed them to her liking, and peeled them. Then she made +a poker from one of the saplings they had used to move the rocks, and +beat down her fire until she had a bright bed of deep coals. When these +were arranged exactly to her satisfaction, she pulled some sprays of +deer weed bloom from her bundle and, going down to the creek, made +a lather and carefully washed her hands, tucking the towel she used +in drying them through her belt. Then she came back to the fire and, +sitting down beside it, opened the package and began her operations. +On the long, slender sticks she strung a piece of tenderloin beef, +about three inches in circumference and one fourth of an inch in +thickness, then half a slice of bacon, and then a slice of onion. This +she repeated until her skewer would bear no more weight. Then she +laid it across the rocks walling her fire, occasionally turning it +while she filled the second skewer. Then she brought from the car the +bucket of pulp she had taken from the barrel cactus, transferred it +to a piece of cheesecloth and deftly extracted the juice. To this she +added the contents of a thermos bottle containing a pint of sugar that +had been brought to the boiling point with a pint of water and poured +over some chopped spearmint to which had been added the juice of half +a dozen lemons and three or four oranges. From a small, metal-lined +compartment, Linda took a chunk of ice and dropped it into this mixture.</p> + +<p>She was sitting on the ground, one foot doubled under her, the other +extended. She had taken off her hat; the wind and the bushes had +roughened her hair. Exercise had brought deep red to her cheeks and +her lips. Happiness had brought a mellow glow to her dark eyes. She +had turned back her sleeves, and her slender hands were fascinatingly +graceful in their deft handling of everything she touched. They were +a second edition of the hands with which Alexander Strong had felt +out defective nerve systems and made delicate muscular adjustments. +She was wholly absorbed in what she was doing. Sitting on the blanket +across from her Donald Whiting was wholly absorbed in her and he was +thinking. He was planning how he could please her, how he could earn +her friendship. He was admitting to himself that he had very little, +if anything, to show for hours of time that he had spent in dancing, +at card games, beach picnics, and races. All these things had been +amusing. But he had nothing to show for the time he had spent or the +money he had wasted. Nothing had happened that in any way equipped +him for his battle with Oka Sayye. Conversely, this girl, whom he had +resented, whom he had criticized, who had claimed his notice only by +her radical difference from the other girls, had managed, during the +few minutes he had first talked with her in the hall, to wound his +pride, to spur his ambition, to start him on a course that must end +in lasting and material benefit to him even if he failed in making +a higher record of scholarship than Oka Sayye. It was very certain +that the exercise he was giving his brain must be beneficial. He had +learned many things that were intensely interesting to him and he had +not even touched the surface of what he could see that she had been +taught by her father or had learned through experience and personal +investigation. She had been coming to the mountains and the canyons +alone, for four years doing by herself what she would have done under +her father’s supervision had he lived. That argued for steadfastness +and strength of character. She would not utter one word of flattery. +She would say nothing she did not mean. Watching her intently, Donald +Whiting thought of all these things. He thought of what she had said +about fighting for him, and he wondered if it really was true that +any girl he knew would fight for him. He hardly believed it when +he remembered some of his friends, so entirely devoted to personal +adornment and personal gratification. But Linda had said that all +women were alike in their hearts. She knew about other things. She +must know about this. Maybe all women would fight for their young or +for their men, but he knew of no other girl who could drive a Bear-cat +with the precision and skill with which Linda drove. He knew no other +girl who was master of the secrets of the desert and the canyons +and the mountains. Certainly he knew no other girl who would tug at +great boulders and build a fireplace and risk burning her fingers and +scorching her face to prepare a meal for him. So he watched Linda and +so he thought.</p> + +<p>At first he thought she was the finest pal a boy ever had, and then he +thought how he meant to work to earn and keep her friendship; and then, +as the fire reddened Linda’s cheeks and she made running comments while +she deftly turned her skewers of brigand beefsteak, food that half the +Boy Scouts in the country had been eating for four years, there came an +idea with which he dallied until it grew into a luring vision.</p> + +<p>“Linda,” he asked suddenly, “do you know that one of these days you’re +going to be a beautiful woman?”</p> + +<p>Linda turned her skewers with intense absorption. At first he almost +thought she had not heard him, but at last she said quietly: “Do you +really think that is possible, Donald?”</p> + +<p>“You’re lovely right now!” answered the boy promptly.</p> + +<p>“For goodness’ sake, have an eye single to your record for truth and +veracity,” said Linda. “Doesn’t this begin to smell zippy?”</p> + +<p>“It certainly does,” said Donald. “It’s making me ravenous. But honest, +Linda, you <i>are</i> a pretty girl.”</p> + +<p>“Honest, your foot!” said Linda scornfully. “I am not a pretty girl. +I am lean and bony and I’ve got a beak where I should have a nose. +Speaking of pretty girls, my sister, Eileen, is a pretty girl. She is a +downright beautiful girl.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Donald, “she is, but she can’t hold a candle to you. How +did she look when she was your age?”</p> + +<p>“I can’t remember Eileen,” said Linda, “when she was not exquisitely +dressed and thinking more about taking care of her shoes than anything +else in the world. I can’t remember her when she was not curled, and +even when she was a tiny thing Mother put a dust of powder on her nose. +She said her skin was so delicate that it could not bear the sun. She +never could run or play or motor much or do anything, because she +has always had to be saved for the sole purpose of being exquisitely +beautiful. Talk about lilies of the field, that’s what Eileen is! She +is an improvement on the original lily of the field—she’s a lily of the +drawing room. Me, now, I’m more of a Joshua tree.”</p> + +<p>Donald Whiting laughed, as Linda intended that he should.</p> + +<p>A minute afterward she slid the savory food from a skewer upon one of +the pie pans, tossed back the cover from the little table, stacked +some bread-and-butter sandwiches beside the meat and handed the pan to +Donald.</p> + +<p>“Fall to,” she said, “and prove that you’re a man with an appreciative +tummy. Father used to be positively ravenous for this stuff. I like it +myself.”</p> + +<p>She slid the food from the second skewer to a pan for herself, settled +the fire to her satisfaction and they began their meal. Presently she +filled a cup from the bucket beside her and handed it to Donald. At the +same time she lifted another for herself.</p> + +<p>“Here’s to the barrel cactus,” she said. “May the desert grow enough +of them so that we’ll never lack one when we want to have a Saturday +picnic.”</p> + +<p>Laughingly they drank this toast; and the skewers were filled a second +time. When they could eat no more they packed away the lunch things, +buried the fire, took the axe and the field glasses, and started on a +trip of exploration down the canyon. Together they admired delicate +and exquisite ferns growing around great gray boulders. Donald tasted +hunters’ rock leek, and learned that any he found while on a hunting +expedition would furnish a splendid substitute for water. Linda told +him of rare flowers she lacked and what they were like and how he would +be able to identify what she wanted in case he should ever find any +when he was out hunting or with his other friends. They peeped into +the nesting places of canyon wrens and doves and finches, and listened +to the exquisite courting songs of the birds whose hearts were almost +bursting with the exuberance of spring and the joy of home making. When +they were tired out they went back to the dining room and after resting +a time, they made a supper from the remnants of their dinner. When they +were seated in the car and Linda’s hand was on the steering wheel, +Donald reached across and covered it with his own.</p> + +<p>“Wait a bit,” he said. “Before we leave here I want to ask you a +question and I want you to make me a promise.”</p> + +<p>“All right,” said Linda. “What’s your question?”</p> + +<p>“What is there,” said Donald, “that I can do that would give you such +pleasure as you have given me?”</p> + +<p>Linda could jest on occasions, but by nature she was a serious person. +She looked at Donald reflectively.</p> + +<p>“Why, I think,” she said at last, “that having a friend, having someone +who understands and who cares for the things I do, and who likes to go +to the same places and to do the same things, is the biggest thing that +has happened to me since I lost my father. I don’t see that you are in +any way in my debt, Donald.”</p> + +<p>“All right then,” said the boy, “that brings me to the promise I want +you to make me. May we always have our Saturdays together like this?”</p> + +<p>“Sure!” said Linda, “I would be mightily pleased. I’ll have to work +later at night and scheme, maybe. By good rights Saturday belongs to me +anyway because I am born Saturday’s child.”</p> + +<p>“Well, hurrah for Saturday! It always was a grand old day,” said +Donald, “and since I see what it can do in turning out a girl like you, +I’ve got a better opinion of it than ever. We’ll call that settled. +I’ll always ask you on Friday at what hour to come, and hereafter +Saturday is ours.”</p> + +<p>“Ours it is,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>Then she put the Bear-cat through the creek and on the road and, +driving swiftly as she dared, ran to Lilac Valley and up to Peter +Morrison’s location.</p> + +<p>She was amazed at the amount of work that had been accomplished. The +garage was finished. Peter’s temporary work desk and his cot were in +it. A number of his personal belongings were there. The site for his +house had been selected and the cellar was being excavated.</p> + +<p>Linda descended from the Bear-cat and led Donald before Peter.</p> + +<p>“Since you’re both my friends,” she said, “I want you to know each +other. This is Donald Whiting, the Senior I told you about, Mr. +Morrison. You know you said you would help him if you could.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly,” said Peter. “I am very glad to know any friend of yours, +Miss Linda. Come over to my workroom and let’s hear about this.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, go and talk it over between yourselves,” said Linda. “I am going +up here to have a private conversation with the spring. I want it to +tell me confidentially exactly the course it would enjoy running so +that when your house is finished and I come to lay out your grounds I +will know exactly how it feels about making a change.”</p> + +<p>“Fine!” said Peter. “Take your time and become extremely confidential, +because the more I look at the location and the more I hear the gay +chuckling song that that water sings, the more I am in love with your +plan to run it across the lawn and bring it around the boulder.”</p> + +<p>“It would be a downright sin not to have that water in a convenient +place for your children to play in, Peter,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“Then <i>that’s</i> all settled,” said Peter. “Now, Whiting, come this +way and we’ll see whether I can suggest anything that will help you +with your problem.”</p> + +<p>“Whistle when you are ready, Donald,” called Linda as she turned away.</p> + +<p>Peter Morrison glanced after her a second, and then he led Donald +Whiting to a nail keg in the garage and impaled that youngster on +the mental point of a mental pin and studied him as carefully as any +scientist ever studied a rare specimen. When finally he let him go, his +mental comment was: “He’s a mighty fine kid. Linda is perfectly safe +with him.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XV">CHAPTER XV</h2> +<div class="subheadc">Linda’s Hearthstone</div> +</div> + +<p>Early the following week Linda came from school one evening to find a +load of sand and a heap of curiously marked stones beside the back door.</p> + +<p>“Can it possibly be, Katy,” she asked, “that those men are planning +to begin work on my room so soon? I am scared out of almost seven of +my five senses. I had no idea they would be ready to begin work until +after I had my settlement with Eileen or was paid for the books.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t ye be worried,” said Katy. “There’s more in me stocking than me +leg, and you’re as welcome to it as the desert is welcome to rain, an’ +nadin’ it ’most as bad.”</p> + +<p>“Anyway,” said Linda, “it will surely take them long enough so that I +can pay by the time they finish.”</p> + +<p>But Linda was not figuring that back of the projected improvements +stood two men, each of whom had an extremely personal reason for +greatly desiring to please her. Peter Morrison had secured a slab of +sandstone. He had located a marble cutter to whom he meant to carry +it, and was spending much thought that he might have been using on an +article in trying to hit upon exactly the right line or phrase to build +in above Linda’s fire—something that would convey to her in a few words +a sense of friendship and beauty.</p> + +<p>While Peter gazed at the unresponsive gray sandstone and wrote line +after line which he immediately destroyed, Henry Anderson explored the +mountain and came in, red faced and perspiring, from miles of climbing +with a bright stone in each hand, or took the car to bring in small +heaps too heavy to carry that he had collected near the roads. They +were two men striving for the favour of the same girl. How Linda would +have been amused had she understood the situation, or how Eileen would +have been provoked, neither of the men knew nor did they care.</p> + +<p>The workmen came after Linda left and went before her return. Having +been cautioned to silence, Katy had not told her when work actually +began; and so it happened that, going to her room one evening, she +unlocked the door and stepped inside to face the completed fireplace. +The firebox was not very large but ample. The hearthstone was a +big sheet of smooth gray sandstone. The sides and top were Henry’s +collection of brilliant boulders, carefully and artistically laid +in blue mortar, and over the firebox was set Peter’s slab of gray +sandstone. On it were four deeply carved lines. The quaint Old English +lettering was filled even to the surface with a red mortar, while the +capitals were done in dull blue. The girl slowly read:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="i0">Voiceless stones, with Flame-tongues Preach</div> + <div class="i2">Sermons struck from Nature’s Lyre;</div> + <div class="i0">Notes of Love and Trust and Hope</div> + <div class="i2">Hourly sing in Linda’s Fire.</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>In the firebox stood a squat pair of black andirons, showing age and +usage. A rough eucalyptus log waited across them while the shavings +from the placing of the mantel and the cutting of the windows were +tucked beneath it. Linda stood absorbed a minute. She looked at the +skylight, flooding the room with the light she so needed coming from +the right angle. She went over to the new window that gave her a view +of the length of the valley she loved and a most essential draft. When +she turned back to the fireplace her hands were trembling.</p> + +<p>“Now isn’t that too lovely of them?” she said softly. “Isn’t that +altogether wonderful? How I wish Daddy were here to sit beside my fire +and share with me the work I hope to do here.”</p> + +<p>In order to come as close to him as possible she did the next best +thing. She sat down at her table and wrote a long letter to Marian, +telling her everything she could think of that would interest her. Then +she re-read with extreme care the letter she had found at the Post +Office that day in reply to the one she had written Marian purporting +to come from an admirer. Writing slowly and thinking deeply, she +answered it. She tried to imagine that she was Peter Morrison and she +tried to say the things in that letter that she thought Peter would +say in the circumstances, because she felt sure that Marian would be +entertained by such things as Peter would say. When she finished, she +read it over carefully, and then copied it with equal care on the +typewriter, which she had removed to her workroom.</p> + +<p>When she heard Katy’s footstep outside her door, she opened it and drew +her in, slipping the bolt behind her. She led her to the fireplace and +recited the lines.</p> + +<p>“Now ain’t they jist the finest gentlemen?” said Katy. “Cut right off +of a piece of the same cloth as your father. Now some way we must get +together enough money to get ye a good-sized rug for under your work +table, and then ye’ve got to have two bits of small ones, one for your +hearthstone and one for your aisel; and then ye’re ready, colleen, +to show what ye can do. I’m so proud of ye when I think of the grand +secret it’s keepin’ for ye I am; and less and less are gettin’ me +chances for the salvation of me soul, for every night I’m a-sittin’ +starin’ at the magazines ye gave me when I ought to be tellin’ me beads +and makin’ me devotions. Ain’t it about time the third was comin’ in?”</p> + +<p>“Any day now,” said Linda in a whisper. “And, Katy, you’ll be careful? +That editor must think that ‘Jane Meredith’ is full of years and +ripe experience. I probably wouldn’t get ten cents, no not even a +for-nothing chance, if he knew those articles were written by a Junior.”</p> + +<p>“Junior nothing!” scoffed Katy. “There was not a day of his life that +your pa did not spend hours drillin’ ye in things the rest of the girls +in your school never heard of. ’Tain’t no high-school girl that’s +written them articles. It’s Alexander Strong speakin’ through the +medium of his own flesh and blood.”</p> + +<p>“Why, so it is, Katy!” cried Linda delightedly. “You know, I never +thought of that. I have been so egoistical I thought I was doing them +myself.”</p> + +<p>“Paid ye anything yet?” queried Katy.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Linda, “they haven’t. It seems that the amount of interest +the articles evoke is going to decide what I am to be paid for them, +but they certainly couldn’t take the recipe and the comments and the +sketch for less than twenty-five or thirty dollars, unless recipes are +like poetry. Peter said the other day that if a poet did not have some +other profession to support him, he would starve to death on all he was +paid for writing the most beautiful things that ever are written in all +this world. Peter says even an effort to write a poem is a beautiful +thing.”</p> + +<p>“Well, maybe that used to be the truth,” said Katy as she started +toward the door, “but I have been reading some things labeled ‘poetry’ +in the magazines of late, and if the holy father knows what they mean, +he’s even bigger than ever I took him to be.”</p> + +<p>“Katy,” said Linda, “we are dreadful back numbers. We are letting this +world progress and roll right on past us without a struggle. We haven’t +either one been to a psycho-analyst to find out the colour of our +auras.”</p> + +<p>“Now God forbid,” said Katy. “I ain’t going to have one of them things +around me. The colours I’m wearin’ satisfy me entoirely.”</p> + +<p>“And mine are going to satisfy me very shortly, now,” laughed Linda, +“because to-morrow is my big day with Eileen. Next time we have a +minute together, old dear, I’ll have started my bank account.”</p> + +<p>“Right ye are,” said Katy, “jist exactly right. You’re getting such a +great girl it’s the proper thing ye should be suitably dressed, and +don’t ye be too modest.”</p> + +<p>“The unfortunate thing about that, Katy, is that I intimated the other +day that I would be content with less than half, since she is older and +she should have her chance first.”</p> + +<p>“Now ain’t that jist like ye?” said Katy. “I might have known ye would +be doing that very thing.”</p> + +<p>“After I have gone over the accounts,” said Linda, “I’ll know better +what to demand. Now fly to your cooking, Katy, and let me sit down at +this table and see if I can dig out a few dollars of honest coin; but +I’m going to have hard work to keep my eyes on the paper with that +fireplace before me. Isn’t that red and blue lettering the prettiest +thing, Katy, and do you notice that tiny ‘P. M.’ cut down in the lower +left-hand corner nearly out of sight? That, Katy, stands for ‘Peter +Morrison,’ and one of these days Peter is going to be a large figure on +the landscape. The next <i>Post</i> he has an article in I’ll buy for +you.”</p> + +<p>“It never does,” said Katy, “to be makin’ up your mind in this world so +hard and fast that ye can’t change it. In the days before John Gilman +got bewitched out of his senses I did think, barrin’ your father, that +he was the finest man the Lord ever made; but I ain’t thought so much +of him of late as I did before.”</p> + +<p>“Same holds good for me,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“I’ve studied this Peter,” continued Katy, “like your pa used to study +things under his microscope. He’s the most come-at-able man. He’s got +such a kind of a questionin’ look on his face, and there’s a bit of a +stoop to his shoulders like they had been whittled out for carryin’ +a load, and there’s a kind of a whimsy quiverin’ around his lips +that makes me heart stand still every time he speaks to me, because +I can’t be certain whether he is going to make me laugh or going to +make me cry, and when what he’s sayin’ does come with that little slow +drawl, I can’t be just sure whether he’s meanin’ it or whether he’s +jist pokin’ fun at me. He said the quarest thing to me the other day +when he was here fiddlin’ over the makin’ of this fireplace. He was +standin’ out beside your desert garden and I come aven with him and I +says to him: ‘Them’s the rare plants Miss Linda and her pa have been +goin’ to the deserts and the canyons, as long as he lived, to fetch in; +and then Miss Linda went alone, and now the son of Judge Whiting, the +biggest lawyer in Los Angeles, has begun goin’ with her. Ain’t it the +brightest, prettiest place?’ I says to him. And he stood there lookin’, +and he says to me: ‘No, Katy, that is a graveyard.’ Now what in the +name of raison was the man meanin’ by that?”</p> + +<p>Linda stared at the hearth motto reflectively.</p> + +<p>“A graveyard!” she repeated. “Well, if anything could come farther from +a graveyard than that spot, I don’t know how it would do it. I haven’t +the remotest notion what he meant. Why didn’t you ask him?”</p> + +<p>“Well, the truth is,” said Katy, “that I proide myself on being able to +kape me mouth shut when I should.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll leave to think over it,” said Linda. “At present I have no +more idea than you in what respect my desert garden could resemble a +graveyard. Oh! yes, there’s one thing I wanted to ask you, Katy. Has +Eileen been around while this room was being altered?”</p> + +<p>“She came in yesterday,” answered Katy, “when the hammerin’ and sawin’ +was goin’ full blast.”</p> + +<p>“What I wanted to find out’” said Linda, “was whether she had been here +and seen this room or not, because if she hasn’t and she wants to see +it, now is her time. After I get things going here and these walls are +covered with drying sketches this room is going to be strictly private. +You see that you keep your key where nobody gets hold of it.”</p> + +<p>“It’s on a string round me neck this blessed minute,” said Katy. “I +didn’t see her come up here, but ye could be safe in bettin’ anything +ye’ve got that she came.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I imagine she did,” said Linda. “She would be sufficiently +curious that she would come to learn how much I have spent if she had +no other interest in me.”</p> + +<p>She looked at the fireplace reflectively.</p> + +<p>“I wonder,” she said, “what Eileen thought of that and I wonder if she +noticed that little ‘P. M.’ tucked away down there in the corner.”</p> + +<p>“Sure she did,” said Katy. “She has got eyes like a cat. She can see +more things in a shorter time than anybody I ever knew.”</p> + +<p>So that evening at dinner Linda told Eileen that the improvements she +had made for her convenience in the billiard room were finished, and +asked her if she would like to see them.</p> + +<p>“I can’t imagine what you want to stick yourself off up there alone +for,” said Eileen. “I don’t believe I am sufficiently interested +in garret skylights and windows to climb up to look at them. What +everybody in the neighborhood can see is that you have absolutely +ruined the looks of the back part of the house.”</p> + +<p>“Good gracious!” said Linda. “Have I? You know I never thought of that.”</p> + +<p>“Of course! But all you’ve got to do is go on the east lawn and take +a look at that side and the back end of the house to see what you +have done,” said Eileen. “Undoubtedly you’ve cut the selling price of +the house one thousand, at least. But it’s exactly like you not to +have thought of what chopping up the roof and the end of the house +as you have done, would make it look like. You have got one of those +single-track minds, Linda, that can think of only one thing at a time, +and you never do think, when you start anything, of what the end is +going to be.”</p> + +<p>“Very likely there’s a large amount of truth in that,” said Linda +soberly. “Perhaps I do get an idea and pursue it to the exclusion of +everything else. It’s an inheritance from Daddy, this concentrating +with all my might on one thing at a time. But I am very sorry if I have +disfigured the house.”</p> + +<p>“What I want to know,” said Eileen, “is how in this world, at present +wages and cost of material, you’re expecting to pay men for the work +you have had done.”</p> + +<p>“I can talk more understandingly about that,” said Linda quietly, “day +after to-morrow. I’ll get home from school to-morrow as early as I can, +and then we’ll figure out our financial situation exactly.”</p> + +<p>Eileen made no reply.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</h2> +<div class="subheadc">Producing the Evidence</div> +</div> + +<p>When Linda hurried home the next evening, her first word to Katy was to +ask if Eileen were there.</p> + +<p>“No, she isn’t here,” said Katy, “and she’s not going to be.”</p> + +<p>“Not going to be!” cried Linda, her face paling perceptibly.</p> + +<p>“She went downtown this morning and she telephoned me about three +sayin’ she had an invoitation to go with a motor party to Pasadena this +afternoon, an’ she wasn’t knowin’ whether she could get home the night +or not.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t like it,” said Linda. “I don’t like it at all.”</p> + +<p>She liked it still less when Eileen came home for a change of clothing +the following day, and again went to spend the night with a friend, +without leaving any word whatever.</p> + +<p>“I don’t understand this,” said Linda, white lipped and tense. “She +does not want to see me. She does not intend to talk business with +me if she can possibly help it. She is treating me as if I were a +four-year-old instead of a woman with as much brain as she has. If she +appears while I am gone to-morrow and starts away again, you tell her—— +Come to think of it, you needn’t tell her anything; I’ll give you a +note for her.”</p> + +<p>So Linda sat down and wrote:</p> + +<blockquote> +<div class="smcap">Dear Eileen:</div> + +<p>It won’t be necessary to remind you of our agreement night before +last to settle on an allowance from Father’s estate for me. Of +course I realize that you are purposely avoiding seeing me, for +what reason I can’t imagine; but I give you warning, that if you +have been in this house and have read this note, and are not here +with your figures ready to meet me when I get home to-morrow night, +I’ll take matters into my own hands, and do exactly what I think +best without the slightest reference to what you think about it. If +you don’t want something done that you will dislike, even more than +you dislike seeing me, you had better heed this warning.</p> + +<p class="right smcap">Linda.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>She read it over slowly: “My, that sounds melodramatic!” she commented. +“It’s even got a threat in it, and it’s a funny thing to threaten +my own sister. I don’t think that it’s a situation that occurs very +frequently, but for that matter I sincerely hope that Eileen isn’t the +kind of sister that occurs frequently.”</p> + +<p>Linda went up to her room and tried to settle herself to work, but +found that it was impossible to fix her attention on what she was +doing. Her mind jumped from one thing to another in a way that totally +prohibited effective work of any kind. A sudden resolve came into her +heart. She would not wait any longer. She would know for herself just +how she was situated financially. She wrote a note to the editor of +<i>Everybody’s Home</i>, asking him if it would be convenient to let +her know what reception her work was having with his subscribers, +whether he desired her to continue the department in his magazines, +and if so, what was the best offer he could make her for the recipes, +the natural history comments accompanying them, and the sketches. Then +she went down to the telephone book and looked up the location of the +Consolidated Bank. She decided that she would stop there on her way +from school the next day and ask to be shown the Strong accounts.</p> + +<p>While she was meditating these heroic measures the bell rang and Katy +admitted John Gilman. Strangely enough, he was asking for Linda, not +for Eileen. At the first glimpse of him Linda knew that something was +wrong; so without any prelude she said abruptly: “What’s the matter, +John? Don’t you know where Eileen is either?”</p> + +<p>“Approximately,” he answered. “She has ’phoned me two or three times, +but I haven’t seen her for three days. Do you know where she is or +exactly why she is keeping away from home as she is?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Linda, “I do. I told you the other day the time had come +when I was going to demand a settlement of Father’s estate and a fixed +income. That time came three days ago and I have not seen Eileen since.”</p> + +<p>They entered the living room. As Linda passed the table, propped +against a candlestick on it, she noticed a note addressed to herself.</p> + +<p>“Oh, here will be an explanation,” she said. “Here is a note for me. +Sit down a minute till I read it.”</p> + +<p>She seated herself on the arm of a chair, tore open the note, and +instantly began reading aloud.</p> + +<p>“Dear little sister——”</p> + +<p>“Pathetic,” interpolated Linda, “in consideration of the fact that I am +about twice as big as she is. However, we’ll let that go, and focus on +the enclosure.” She waved a slender slip of paper at Gilman. “I never +was possessed of an article like this before in all my tender young +life, but it seems to me that it’s a cheque, and I can’t tell you quite +how deeply it amuses me. But to return to business, at the present +instant I am:</p> + +<blockquote> +<div class="smcap">Dear little Sister:</div> + +<p>It seems that all the friends I have are particularly insistent on +seeing me all at once and all in a rush. I don’t think I ever had quite +so many invitations at one time in my life before, and the next two +or three days seem to be going to be equally as full. But I took time +to run into the bank and go over things carefully. I find that after +the payment of taxes and insurance and all the household expenses, +that by wearing old clothes I have and making them over I can afford +to turn over at least seventy-five dollars a month to you for your +clothing and personal expenses. As I don’t know exactly when I can get +home, I am enclosing a cheque which is considerably larger than I had +supposed I could make it, and I can only do this by skimping myself; +but of course you are getting such a big girl and beginning to attract +attention, so it is only right that you should have the very best that +I can afford to do for you. I am not taking the bill from The Mode into +consideration. I paid that with last month’s expenses.</p> + +<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 4em;">With love,</span><br> +<span class="smcap">Eileen.</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Linda held the letter in one hand, the cheque in the other, and stared +questioningly at John Gilman.</p> + +<p>“What do you think of that?” she inquired tersely.</p> + +<p>“It seems to me,” said Gilman, “that a more pertinent question would +be, what do you think of it?”</p> + +<p>“Rot!” said Linda tersely. “If I were a stenographer in your office +I would think that I was making a fairly good start; but I happen to +be the daughter of Alexander Strong living in my own home with my +only sister who can afford to flit like the flittingest of social +butterflies from one party to another as well dressed as, and better +dressed than, the Great General Average. You have known us, John, ever +since Eileen sat in the sun to dry her handmade curls, while I was +leaving a piece of my dress on every busk in Multiflores Canyon. Right +here and now I am going to show you something!”</p> + +<p>Linda started upstairs, so John Gilman followed her. She went to the +door of Eileen’s suite and opened it.</p> + +<p>“Now then,” she said, “take a look at what Eileen feels she can +afford for herself. You will observe she has complete and exquisite +furnishings and all sorts of feminine accessories on her dressing +table. You will observe that she has fine rugs in her dressing room and +bathroom. Let me call your attention to the fact that all these drawers +are filled with expensive comforts and conveniences.”</p> + +<p>Angrily Linda began to open drawers filled with fancy feminine apparel, +daintily and neatly folded, everything in perfect order: gloves, +hose, handkerchiefs, ribbons, laces, all in separate compartments She +pointed to the high chiffonier, the top decorated with candlesticks and +silver-framed pictures. Here the drawers revealed heaps of embroidered +underclothing and silken garments. Then she walked to the closet and +threw the door wide.</p> + +<p>She pushed hangers on their rods, sliding before the perplexed and +bewildered man dress after dress of lace and georgette, walking suits +of cloth, street dresses of silk, and pretty afternoon gowns, heavy +coats, light coats, a beautiful evening coat. Linda took this down and +held it in front of John Gilman.</p> + +<p>“I see things marked in store windows,” she said. “Eileen paid not a +penny less than three hundred for this one coat. Look at the rows of +shoes, and pumps, and slippers, and what that box is for I don’t know.”</p> + +<p>Linda slid to the light a box screened by the hanging dresses, and +with the toe of her shoe lifted the lid, disclosing a complete smoking +outfit—case after case of cigarettes. Linda dropped the lid and shoved +the box back. She stood silent a second, then she looked at John Gilman.</p> + +<p>“That is the way things go in this world,” she said quietly. “Whenever +you lose your temper, you always do something you didn’t intend to do +when you started. I didn’t know that, and I wouldn’t have shown it to +you purposely if I had known it; but it doesn’t alter the fact that you +should know it. If you did know it no harm’s done but if you didn’t +know it, you shouldn’t be allowed to marry Eileen without knowing as +much about her as you did about Marian, and there was nothing about +Marian that you didn’t know. I am sorry for that, but since I have +started this I am going through with it. Now give me just one minute +more.”</p> + +<p>Then she went down the hall, threw open the door to her room, and +walking in said: “You have seen Eileen’s surroundings; now take a look +at mine. There’s my bed; there’s my dresser and toilet articles; and +this is my wardrobe.”</p> + +<p>She opened the closet door and exhibited a pair of overalls in which +she watered her desert garden. Next ranged her khaki breeches and +felt hat. Then hung the old serge school dress, beside it the extra +skirt and orange blouse. The stack of underclothing on the shelves was +pitifully small, visibly dilapidated. Two or three outgrown gingham +dresses hung forlornly on the opposite wall. Linda stood tall and +straight before John Gilman.</p> + +<p>“What I have on and one other waist constitute my wardrobe,” she said, +“and I told Eileen where to get this dress and suggested it before I +got it.”</p> + +<p>Gilman looked at her in a dazed fashion.</p> + +<p>“I don’t understand,” he said slowly. “If that isn’t the dress I saw +Eileen send up for herself, I’m badly mistaken. It was the Saturday we +went to Riverside. It surely is the very dress.”</p> + +<p>Linda laughed bleakly.</p> + +<p>“That may be,” she said. “The one time she ever has any respect for +me is in a question of taste. She will agree that I know when colours +are right and a thing is artistic. Now then, John, you are the +administrator of my father’s estate; you have seen what you have seen. +What are you going to do about it?”</p> + +<p>“Linda,” he said quietly, “what my heart might prompt me to do in +consideration of the fact that I am engaged to marry Eileen, and what +my legal sense tells me I must do as executor of your father’s wishes, +are different propositions. I am going to do exactly what you tell +me to. What you have shown me, and what I’d have realized, if I had +stopped to think, is neither right nor just.”</p> + +<p>Then Linda took her turn at deep thought.</p> + +<p>“John,” she said at last, “I am feeling depressed over what I have just +done. I am not sure that in losing my temper and bringing you up here I +have played the game fairly. You don’t need to do anything. I’ll manage +my affairs with Eileen myself. But I’ll tell you before you go, that +you needn’t practice any subterfuges. When she reaches the point where +she is ready to come home, I’ll tell her that you were here, and what +you have seen. That is the best I can do toward squaring myself with my +own conscience.”</p> + +<p>Slowly they walked down the hall together. At the head of the stairs +Linda took the cheque that she carried and tore it into bits. Stepping +across the hall, she let the little heap slowly flutter to the rug in +front of Eileen’s door. Then she went back to her room and left John +Gilman to his own reflections.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</h2> +<div class="subheadc">A Rock and a Flame</div> +</div> + +<p>The first time Linda entered the kitchen after her interview with +Gilman, Katy asked in deep concern, “Now what ye been doing, lambie?”</p> + +<p>“Doing the baby act, Katy,” confessed Linda. “Disgracing myself. Losing +my temper. I wish I could bring myself to the place where I would think +half a dozen times before I do a thing once.”</p> + +<p>“Now look here,” said Katy, beginning to bristle, “ain’t it the truth +that ye have thought for four years before ye did this thing once?”</p> + +<p>“Quite so,” said Linda. “But since I am the daughter of the finest +gentleman I ever knew, I should not do hasty, regrettable things. +On the living-room table I found a note sweeter than honey, and it +contained a cheque for me that wouldn’t pay Eileen’s bills for lunches, +candy, and theatres for a month; so in undue heat I reduced it to bits +and decorated the rug before her door. But before that, Katy, I led my +guardian into the room, and showed him everything. I meant to tell him +that, since he had neglected me for four years, he could see that I had +justice now, but when I’d personally conducted him from Eileen’s room +to mine, and when I took a good look at him there was something on his +face, Katy, that I couldn’t endure. So I told him to leave it to me; +that I would tell Eileen myself what I had done, and so I will. But I +am sorry I did it, Katy; I am awfully sorry. You always told me to keep +my temper and I lost it completely. From now on I certainly will try +to behave myself more like a woman than a spoiled child. Now give me a +dust cloth and brushes. I am almost through with my job in the library +and I want to finish, because I shall be forced to use the money from +the books to pay for my skylight and fireplace.”</p> + +<p>Linda went to the library and began work, efficiently, carefully, yet +with a precise rapidity habitual to her. Down the long line of heavy +technical books, she came to the end of the shelf. Three books from +the end she noticed a difference in the wall behind the shelf. Hastily +removing the other two volumes, she disclosed a small locked door +having a scrap of paper protruding from the edge which she pulled out +and upon which she read:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>In the event of my passing, should anyone move these books and +find this door, these lines are to inform him that it is to remain +untouched. The key to it is in my safety-deposit vault at the +Consolidated Bank. The Bank will open the door and attend to the +contents of the box at the proper time.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Linda fixed the paper back exactly as she had found it. She stood +looking at the door a long time, then she carefully wiped it, the wall +around it, and the shelf. Going to another shelf, she picked out the +books that had been written by her father and, beginning at the end +of the shelf, she ranged them in a row until they completely covered +the opening. Then she finished filling the shelf with other books that +she meant to keep, but her brain was working, milling over and over +the question of what that little compartment contained and when it was +to be opened and whether John Gilman knew about it, and whether the +Consolidated Bank would remember the day specified, and whether it +would mean anything important to her.</p> + +<p>She carried the dusters back to Katy, and going to her room, +concentrated resolutely upon her work; but she Was unable to do +anything constructive. Her routine lessons she could prepare, but she +could not even sketch a wild rose accurately. Finally she laid down +her pencil, washed her brushes, put away her material, and locking +her door, slipped the key into her pocket. Going down to the garage +she climbed into the Bear-cat and headed straight for Peter Morrison. +She drove into his location and blew the horn. Peter stepped from the +garage, and seeing her, started in her direction. Linda sprang down and +hurried toward him. He looked at her intently as she approached and +formed his own conclusions.</p> + +<p>“Sort of restless,” said Linda. “Couldn’t evolve a single new idea +with which to enliven the gay annals of English literature and Greek +history. A personal history seems infinitely more insistent and +unusual. I ran away from my lessons, and my work, and came to you, +Peter, because I had a feeling that there was something you could give +me, and I thought you would.”</p> + +<p>Peter smiled a slow curious smile.</p> + +<p>“I like your line of thought, Linda,” he said quietly. “It greatly +appeals to me. Any time an ancient and patriarchal literary man named +Peter Morrison can serve as a rock upon which a young thing can rest, +why he’ll be glad to be that rock.”</p> + +<p>“What were you doing?” asked Linda abruptly.</p> + +<p>“Come and see,” said Peter.</p> + +<p>He led the way to the garage. His work table and the cement floor +around it were littered with sheets of closely typed paper.</p> + +<p>“I’ll have to assemble them first,” said Peter, getting down on his +knees and beginning to pick them up.</p> + +<p>Linda sat on a packing case and watched him. Already she felt +comforted. Of course Peter was a rock, of course anyone could trust +him, and of course if the tempest of life beat upon her too strongly +she could always fly to Peter.</p> + +<p>“May I?” she inquired, stretching her hand in the direction of a sheet.</p> + +<p>“Sure,” said Peter.</p> + +<p>“What is it?” inquired Linda lightly. “The bridge or the road or the +playroom?”</p> + +<p>“Gad!” he said slowly. “Don’t talk about me being a rock! Rocks are +stolid, stodgy unresponsive things. I thought I was struggling with +one of the biggest political problems of the day from an economic and +psychological standpoint. If I’d had sense enough to realize that it +was a bridge I was building, I might have done the thing with some +imagination and subtlety. If you want a rock and you say I am a rock, a +rock I’ll be, Linda. But I know what you are, and what you will be to +me when we really become the kind of friends we are destined to be.”</p> + +<p>“I wonder now,” said Linda, “if you are going to say that I could be +any such lovely thing on the landscape as a bridge.”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Peter slowly, “nothing so prosaic. Bridges are common in +this world. You are going to be something uncommon. History records +the experiences of but one man who has seen a flame in the open. I am +a second Moses and you are going to be my burning bush. I intended to +read this article to you.”</p> + +<p>Peter massed the sheets, straightened them on the desk, and +deliberately ripped them across several times. Linda sprang to her feet +and stretched out her hands.</p> + +<p>“Why, Peter!” she cried in a shocked voice. “That is perfectly +inexcusable. There are hours and hours of work on that, and I have not +a doubt but that it was good work.”</p> + +<p>“Simple case of mechanism,” said Peter, reducing the bits to smaller +size and dropping them into the empty nail keg that served as his +wastebasket. “A lifeless thing without a soul, mere clock-work. I have +got the idea now. I am to build a bridge and make a road. Every way +I look I can see a golden-flame tongue of inspiration burning. I’ll +rewrite that thing and animate it. Take me for a ride, Linda.”</p> + +<p>Linda rose and walked to the Bear-cat. Peter climbed in and sat beside +her. Linda laid her hands on the steering wheel and started the car. +She ran it down to the highway and chose a level road leading straight +down the valley through cultivated country. In all the world there +was nothing to equal the panorama that she spread before Peter that +evening. She drove the Bear-cat past orchards, hundreds of acres +of orchards of waxen green leaves and waxen white bloom of orange, +grapefruit, and lemon. She took him where seas of pink outlined peach +orchards, and other seas the more delicate tint of the apricots. +She glided down avenues lined with palm and eucalyptus, pepper and +olive, and through unbroken rows, extending for miles, of roses, long +stretches of white, again a stretch of pink, then salmon, yellow, and +red. Nowhere in all the world are there to be found so many acres of +orchard bloom and so many miles of tree-lined, rose-decorated roadway +as in southern California. She sent the little car through the evening +until she felt that it was time to go home, and when at last she +stopped where they had started, she realized that neither she nor Peter +had spoken one word. As he stepped from the car she leaned toward him +and reached out her hand.</p> + +<p>“Thank you for the fireplace, Peter,” she said.</p> + +<p>Peter took the hand she extended and held it one minute in both his +own. Then very gently he straightened it out in the palm of one of his +hands and with the other hand turned back the fingers and laid his lips +to the heart of it.</p> + +<p>“Thank you, Linda, for the flame,” he said, and turning abruptly, he +went toward his workroom.</p> + +<p>Stopping for a bite to eat in the kitchen, Linda went back to her room. +She sat down at the table and picking up her pencil, began to work, +and found that she could work. Every stroke came true and strong. +Every idea seemed original and unusual. Quite as late as a light ever +had shone in her window, it shone that night, the last thing she did +being to write another anonymous letter to Marian, and when she re-read +it Linda realized that it was an appealing letter. She thought it +certainly would comfort Marian and surely would make her feel that +someone worth while was interested in her and in her work. She loved +some of the whimsical little touches she had put into it, and she +wondered if she had made it so much like Peter Morrison that it would +be suggestive of him to Marian. She knew that she had no right to do +that and had no such intention. She merely wanted a model to copy from +and Peter seemed the most appealing model at hand.</p> + +<p>After school the next day Linda reported that she had finished going +through the books and was ready to have them taken. Then, after a few +minutes of deep thought, she made her way to the Consolidated Bank. At +the window of the paying teller she explained that she wished to see +the person connected with the bank who had charge of the safety-deposit +boxes and who looked after the accounts pertaining to the estate of +Alexander Strong. The teller recognized the name. He immediately became +deferential.</p> + +<p>“I’ll take you to the office of the president,” he said. “He and Doctor +Strong were very warm friends. You can explain to him what it is you +want to know.”</p> + +<p>Before she realized what was happening, Linda found herself in an +office that was all mahogany and marble. At a huge desk stacked with +papers sat a man, considerably older than her father. Linda remembered +to have seen him frequently in their home, in her father’s car, and she +recalled one fishing expedition to the Tulare Lake region where he had +been a member of her father’s party.</p> + +<p>“Of course you have forgotten me, Mr. Worthington,” she said as she +approached his desk. “I have grown such a tall person during the past +four years.”</p> + +<p>The white-haired financier rose and stretched out his hand.</p> + +<p>“You exact replica of Alexander Strong,” he said laughingly, “I +couldn’t forget you any more than I could forget your father. That fine +fishing trip where you proved such a grand little scout is bright in my +memory as one of my happiest vacations. Sit down and tell me what I can +do for you.”</p> + +<p>Linda sat down and told him that she was dissatisfied with the manner +in which her father’s estate was being administered.</p> + +<p>He listened very carefully to all she had to say, then he pressed a +button and gave a few words of instruction to the clerk who answered +it. When several ledgers and account books were laid before him, with +practiced hand he turned to what he wanted. The records were not +complicated. They covered a period of four years. They showed exactly +what monies had been paid into the bank for the estate. They showed +what royalties had been paid on the books. Linda sat beside him and +watched his pencil running up and down columns, setting down a list of +items, and making everything plain. Paid cheques for household expenses +I and drygoods bills were all recorded and deducted. With narrow, +alert eyes, Linda was watching, and her brain was keenly alive. As she +realized the discrepancy between the annual revenue from the estate +and the totalling of the expenses, she had an inspiration. Something +she never before had thought of occurred to her. She looked the banker +in the eye and said very quietly: “And now, since she is my sister +and I am going to be of age very shortly and these things must all be +gone into and opened up, would it be out of place for me to ask you +this afternoon to let me have a glimpse at the private account of Miss +Eileen Strong?”</p> + +<p>The banker drew a deep breath and looked at Linda keenly.</p> + +<p>“That would not be customary,” he said slowly.</p> + +<p>“No?” said Linda. “But since Father and Mother went out at the same +time and there was no will and the property would be legally divided +equally between us upon my coming of age, would my sister be entitled +to a private account?”</p> + +<p>“Had she any sources of obtaining money outside the estate?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Linda. “At least none that I know of. Mother had I some +relatives in San Francisco who were very wealthy people, but they never +came to see us and we never went there. I know nothing about them. I +never had any money from them and I am quite sure Eileen never had.”</p> + +<p>Linda sat very quietly a minute and then she looked at the banker.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Worthington,” she said, “the situation is slightly peculiar. +My guardian, John Gilman, is engaged to marry my sister Eileen. She +is a beautiful girl, as you no doubt recall, and he is very much in +love with her. Undoubtedly she has been able, at least recently, to +manage affairs very much in her own way. She is more than four years +my senior, and has always had charge of the household accounts and the +handling of the bank accounts. Since there is such a wide discrepancy +between the returns from the property and the expenses that these books +show, I am forced to the conclusion that there must be upon your books, +or the books of some other bank in the city, a private account in +Eileen’s name or in the name of the Strong estate.”</p> + +<p>“That I can very easily ascertain,” said Mr. Worthington, reaching +again toward the button on his desk. A few minutes later the report +came that there was a private account in the name of Miss Eileen +Strong. Again Linda was deeply thoughtful.</p> + +<p>“Is there anything I can do,” she inquired, “to prevent that account +from being changed or drawn out previous to my coming of age?”</p> + +<p>Then Mr. Worthington grew thoughtful.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he said at last. “If you are dissatisfied, if you feel that +you have reason to believe that money rightfully belonging to you +is being diverted to other channels, you have the right to issue an +injunction against the bank, ordering it not to pay out any further +money on any account nor to honour any cheques drawn by Miss Strong +until the settlement of the estate. Ask your guardian to execute and +deliver such an injunction, or merely ask him, as your guardian and the +administrator of the estate, to give the bank a written order to that +effect.”</p> + +<p>“But because he is engaged to Eileen, I told him I would not bring +him into this matter,” said Linda. “I told him that I would do what I +wanted done, myself.”</p> + +<p>“Well, how long is it until this coming birthday of yours?” inquired +Mr. Worthington.</p> + +<p>“Less than two weeks,” answered Linda.</p> + +<p>For a time the financier sat in deep thought, then he looked at Linda. +It was a keen, searching look. It went to the depths of her eyes; it +included her face and hair; it included the folds of her dress, the cut +of her shoe, and rested attentively on the slender hands lying quietly +in her lap.</p> + +<p>“I see the circumstances very clearly,” he said. “I sympathize with +your position. Having known your father and being well acquainted +with your guardian, would you be satisfied if I should take the +responsibility of issuing to the clerks an order not to allow anything +to be drawn from the private account until the settlement of the +estate?”</p> + +<p>“Perfectly satisfied,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“It might be,” said Mr. Worthington, “managing matters in that way, +that no one outside of ourselves need ever know of it. Should your +sister not draw on the private account in the meantime, she would be +free to draw household cheques on the monthly income, and if in the +settlement of the estate she turns in this private account or accounts, +she need never know of the restriction concerning this fund.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you very much,” said Linda. “That will fix everything finely.”</p> + +<p>On her way to the street car, Linda’s brain whirled.</p> + +<p>“It’s not conceivable,” she said, “that Eileen should be enriching +herself at my expense. I can’t imagine her being dishonest in money +affairs, and yet I can recall scarcely a circumstance in life in which +Eileen has ever hesitated to be dishonest when a lie served her purpose +better than the truth. Anyway, matters are safe now.”</p> + +<p>The next day the books were taken and a cheque for their value was +waiting for Linda when she reached home. She cashed this cheque and +went straight to Peter Morrison for his estimate of the expenses for +the skylight and fireplace. When she asked for the bill Peter hesitated.</p> + +<p>“You wouldn’t accept this little addition to your study as a gift from +Henry and me?” he asked lightly. “It would be a great pleasure to us if +you would.”</p> + +<p>“I could accept stones that Henry Anderson had gathered from the +mountains and canyons, and I could accept a verse carved on stone, and +be delighted with the gift; but I couldn’t accept hours of day labour +at the present price of labour, so you will have to give me the bill, +Peter.”</p> + +<p>Peter did not have the bill, but he had memoranda, and when Linda paid +him she reflected that the current talk concerning the inflated price +of labour was greatly exaggerated.</p> + +<p>For two evenings as Linda returned from school and went to her room +she glanced down the hall and smiled at the decoration remaining +on Eileen’s rug. The third evening it was gone, so that she knew +Eileen was either in her room or had been there. She did not meet her +sister until dinner time. She was prepared to watch Eileen, to study +her closely. She was not prepared to admire her, but in her heart +she almost did that very thing. Eileen had practiced subterfuges so +long, she was so accomplished, that it would have taken an expert +to distinguish reality from subterfuge. She entered the dining +room humming a gay tune. She was carefully dressed and appealingly +beautiful. She blew a kiss to Linda and waved gaily to Katy.</p> + +<p>“I was rather afraid,” she said lightly, “that I might find you two in +mourning when I got back. I never stayed so long before, did I? Seemed +as if every friend I had made special demand on my time all at once. +Hope you haven’t been dull without me.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, no,” said Linda quietly. “Being away at school all day, of course +I wouldn’t know whether you were at home or not, and I have grown so +accustomed to spending my evenings alone that I don’t rely on you for +entertainment at any time.”</p> + +<p>“In other words,” said Eileen, “it doesn’t make any difference to you +where I am.”</p> + +<p>“Not so far as enjoying your company is concerned,” said Linda. +“Otherwise, of course it makes a difference. I hope you had a happy +time.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I always have a happy time,” answered Eileen lightly. “I certainly +have the best friends.”</p> + +<p>“That’s your good fortune,” answered Linda.</p> + +<p>At the close of the meal Linda sat waiting. Eileen gave Katy +instructions to have things ready for a midnight lunch for her and John +Gilman and then, humming her tune again, she left the dining room and +went upstairs. Linda stood looking after her.</p> + +<p>“Now or never,” she said at last. “I have no business to let her meet +John until I have recovered my self-respect. But the Lord help me to do +the thing decently!”</p> + +<p>So she followed Eileen up the stairway. She tapped at the door, and +without waiting to hear whether she was invited or not, opened it and +stepped inside. Eileen was sitting before the window, a big box of +candy beside her, a magazine in her fingers. Evidently she intended +to keep her temper in case the coming interview threatened to become +painful.</p> + +<p>“I was half expecting you,” she said, “you silly hothead. I found the +cheque I wrote you when I got home this afternoon. That was a foolish +thing to do. Why did you tear it up? If it were too large or if it were +not enough why didn’t you use it and ask for another? Because I had to +be away that was merely to leave you something to go on until I got +back.”</p> + +<p>Then Linda did the most disconcerting thing possible. In her effort +at self-control she went too far. She merely folded her hands in her +lap and sat looking straight at Eileen without saying one word. It +did not show much on the surface, but Eileen really had a conscience, +she really had a soul; Linda’s eyes, resting rather speculatively on +her, were honest eyes, and Eileen knew what she knew. She flushed and +fidgeted, and at last she broke out impatiently: “Oh, for goodness’ +sake, Linda, don’t play ‘Patience-on-a-monument.’ Speak up and say +what it is that you want. If that cheque was not big enough, what will +satisfy you?”</p> + +<p>“Come to think of it,” said Linda quietly, “I can get along with what I +have for the short time until the legal settlement of our interests is +due. You needn’t bother any more about a cheque.”</p> + +<p>Eileen was surprised and her face showed it; and she was also relieved. +That too her face showed.</p> + +<p>“I always knew,” she said lightly, “that I had a little sister with +a remarkably level head and good common sense. I am glad that you +recognize the awful inflation of prices during the war period, and how +I have had to skimp and scheme and save in order to make ends meet and +to keep us going on Papa’s meager income.”</p> + +<p>All Linda’s good resolutions vanished. She was under strong nervous +tension. It irritated her to have Eileen constantly referring to their +monetary affairs as if they were practically paupers, as if their +father’s life had been a financial failure, as if he had not been able +to realize from achievements recognized around the world a comfortable +living for two women.</p> + +<p>“Oh, good Lord!” she said shortly. “Bluff the rest of the world like +a professional, Eileen, but why try it with me? You’re right about +my having common sense. I’ll admit that I am using it now. I will be +of age in a few days, and then we’ll take John Gilman and go to the +Consolidated Bank, and if it suits your convenience to be absent for +four or five days at that period, I’ll take John Gilman and we’ll go +together.”</p> + +<p>Eileen was amazed. The receding colour in her cheeks left the rouge on +them a ghastly, garish thing.</p> + +<p>“Well, I won’t do anything of the sort,” she said hotly, “and neither +will John Gilman.”</p> + +<p>“Unfortunately for you,” answered Linda, “John Gilman is my guardian, +not yours. He’ll be forced to do what the law says he must, and what +common decency tells him he must, no matter what his personal feelings +are; and I might as well tell you that your absence has done you no +good. You’d far better have come home, as you agreed to, and gone over +the books and made me a decent allowance, because in your absence John +came here to ask me where you were, and I know that he was anxious.”</p> + +<p>“He came here!” cried Eileen.</p> + +<p>“Why, yes,” said Linda. “Was it anything unusual? Hasn’t he been coming +here ever since I can remember? Evidently you didn’t keep him as well +posted this time as you usually do. He came here and asked for me.”</p> + +<p>“And I suppose,” said Eileen, an ugly red beginning to rush into her +white cheeks, “that you took pains to make things uncomfortable for me.”</p> + +<p>“I am very much afraid,” said Linda, “that you are right. You have made +things uncomfortable for me ever since I can remember, for I can’t +remember the time when you were not finding fault with me, putting me +in the wrong and getting me criticized and punished if you possibly +could. It was a fair understanding that you should be here, and you +were not, and I was seeing red about it; and just as John came in I +found your note in the living room and read it aloud.’</p> + +<p>“Oh, well, there was nothing in that,” said Eileen in a relieved tone.</p> + +<p>“Nothing in the wording of it, no,” said Linda, “but there was +everything in the intention back of it. Because you did not live up to +your tacit agreement, and because I had been on high tension for two or +three days, I lost my temper completely. I brought John Gilman up here +and showed him the suite of rooms in which you have done for yourself, +for four years. I gave him rather a thorough inventory of your dressing +table and drawers, and then I opened the closet door and called his +attention to the number and the quality of the garments hanging there. +The box underneath them I thought was a shoe box, but it didn’t prove +to be exactly that; and for that I want to tell you, as I have already +told John, I am sorry. I wouldn’t have done that if I had known what I +was doing.”</p> + +<p>“Is that all?” inquired Eileen, making a desperate effort at +self-control.</p> + +<p>“Not quite,” said Linda. “When I finished with your room, I took him +back and showed him mine in even greater detail than I showed him +yours. I thought the contrast would be more enlightening than anything +either one of us could say.”</p> + +<p>“And I suppose you realize,” said Eileen bitterly, “that you lost me +John Gilman when you did it.”</p> + +<p>“<i>I?</i>” said Linda. “<i>I</i> lost you John Gilman when I did it? +But I didn’t do it. You did it. You have been busy for four years +doing it. If you hadn’t done it, it wouldn’t have been there for me to +show him. I can’t see that this is profitable. Certainly it’s the most +distressing thing that ever has occurred for me. But I didn’t feel that +I could let you meet John Gilman to-night without telling you what he +knows. If you have any way to square your conscience and cleanse your +soul before you meet him, you had better do it, for he’s a mighty fine +man and if you lose him you will have lost the best chance that is +likely ever to come to you.”</p> + +<p>Linda sat studying Eileen. She saw the gallant effort she was making +to keep her self-possession, to think with her accustomed rapidity, to +strike upon some scheme whereby she could square herself. She rose and +started toward the door.</p> + +<p>“What you’ll say to John I haven’t the faintest notion,” she said. “I +told him very little. I just showed him.”</p> + +<p>Then she went out and closed the door after her. At the foot of the +stairs she met Katy admitting Gilman. Without any preliminaries she +said: “I repeat, John, that I’m sorry for what happened the other day. +I have just come from Eileen. She will be down as soon as Katy tells +her you’re here, no doubt. I have done what I told you I would. She +knows what I showed you so you needn’t employ any subterfuges. You can +be frank and honest with each other.”</p> + +<p>“I wish to God we could,” said John Gilman.</p> + +<p>Linda went to her work. She decided that she would gauge what happened +by the length of time John stayed. If he remained only a few minutes +it would indicate that there had been a rupture. If he stayed as long +as he usually did, the chances were that Eileen’s wit had triumphed as +usual.</p> + +<p>At twelve o’clock Linda laid her pencils in the box, washed the +brushes, and went down the back stairs to the ice chest for a glass +of milk. The living room was still lighted and Linda thought Eileen’s +laugh quite as gay as she ever had heard it. Linda closed her lips very +tight and slowly climbed the stairs. When she entered her room she +walked up to the mirror and stared at herself in the glass for a long +time, and then of herself she asked this question:</p> + +<p>“Well, how do you suppose she did it?”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 id="ch_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + <div class="subheadc">Spanish Iris</div> +</div> + +<p>Just as Linda was most deeply absorbed with her own concerns there came +a letter from Marian which Linda read and reread several times; for +Marian wrote:</p> + +<blockquote> +<div class="smcap">My dearest Pal:</div> + +<p>Life is so busy up San Francisco way that it makes Lilac Valley +look in retrospection like a peaceful sunset preliminary to bed +time.</p> + +<p>But I want you to have the consolation and the comfort of knowing +that I have found at least two friends that I hope will endure. +One is a woman who has a room across the hall from mine in my +apartment house. She is a newspaper woman and life is very full +for her, but it is filled with such intensely interesting things +that I almost regret having made my life work anything so prosaic +as inanimate houses; but then it’s my dream to enliven each house +I plan with at least the spirit of home. This woman—her name is +Dana Meade—enlivens every hour of her working day with something +concerning the welfare of humanity. She is a beautiful woman in her +soul, so extremely beautiful that I can’t at this minute write you +a detailed description of her hair and her eyes and her complexion, +because this nice, big, friendly light that radiates from her so +lights her up and transfigures her that everyone says how beautiful +she is, and yet I have a vague recollection that her nose is what +you would call a “beak,” and I am afraid her cheek bones are too +high for good proportion, and I know that her hair is not always +so carefully dressed as it should be, but what is the difference +when the hair is crowned with a halo? I can’t swear to any of these +things; they’re sketchy impressions. The only thing I am absolutely +sure about is the inner light that shines to an unbelievable +degree. I wish she had more time and I wish I had more time and +that she and I might become such friends as you and I are. I can’t +tell you, dear, how much I think of you. It seems to me that you’re +running a sort of undercurrent in my thoughts all day long.</p> + +<p>You will hardly credit it, Linda, but a few days ago I drove a car +through the thickest traffic, up a steep hill, and round a curve. +I did it, but practically collapsed when it was over. The why of +it was this: I think I told you before that in the offices of +Nicholson and Snow there is a man who is an understanding person. +He is the junior partner and his name is Eugene Snow. I happened +to arrive at his desk the day I came for my instructions and to +make my plans for entering their contest. He was very kind to me +and went out of his way to smooth out the rough places. Ever since, +he makes a point of coming to me and talking a few minutes when I +am at the office or when he passes me on my way to the draughting +rooms where I take my lessons. The day I mention I had worked late +and hard the night before. I had done the last possible thing to +the plans for my dream house. At the last minute, getting it all +on paper, working at the specifications, at which you know I am +wobbly, was nervous business; and when I came from the desk after +having turned in my plans, perhaps I showed fatigue. Anyway, he +said to me that his car was below. He said also that he was a +lonely person, having lost his wife two years ago, and not being +able very frequently to see his little daughter who is in the care +of her grandmother, there were times when he was hungry for the +companionship he had lost. He asked me if I would go with him for +a drive and I told him that I would. I am rather stunned yet over +what happened. The runabout he led me to was greatly like yours, +and, Linda, he stopped at a florist’s and came out with an armload +of bloom—exquisite lavender and pale pink and faint yellow and +waxen white—the most enticing armload of spring. For one minute I +truly experienced a thrill. I thought he was going to give that +mass of flowers to me, but he did not. He merely laid it across my +lap and said: “Edith adored the flowers from bulbs. I never see +such bloom that my heart does not ache with a keen, angry ache to +think that she should be taken from the world, and the beauty that +she so loved, so early and so ruthlessly. We’ll take her these as I +would take them to her were she living.”</p> + +<p>So, Linda dear, I sat there and looked at colour and drank in +fragrance, and we whirled through the city and away to a cemetery +on a beautiful hill, and filled a vase inside the gates of a +mausoleum with these appealing flowers. Then we sat down, and a +man with a hurt heart told me about his hurt, and what an effort +he was making to get through the world as the woman he loved would +have had him; and before I knew what I was doing, Linda, I told +him the tellable part of my own hurts. I even lifted my turban +and bowed my white head before him. This hurt—it was one of the +inexorable things that come to people in this world—I could talk +about. That deeper hurt, which has put a scar that never will be +effaced on my soul, of course I could not tell him about. But when +we went back to the car he said to me that he would help me to get +back into the sunlight. He said the first thing I must do to regain +self-confidence was to begin driving again. I told him I could not, +but he said I must, and made me take the driver’s seat of a car I +had never seen and take the steering wheel of a make of machine I +had never driven, and tackle two or three serious problems for a +driver. I did it all right, Linda, because I couldn’t allow myself +to fail the kind of a man Mr. Snow is, when he was truly trying to +help me, but in the depths of my heart I am afraid I am a coward +for ever, for there is a ghastly illness takes possession of me as +I write these details to you. But anyway, put a red mark on your +calendar beside the date on which you get this letter, and joyfully +say to yourself that Marian has found two real, sympathetic friends.</p> + +<p>In a week or ten days I shall know about the contest. If I win, +as I really have a sneaking hope that I shall, since I have +condensed the best of two dozen houses into one and exhausted my +imagination on my dream home, I will surely telegraph, and you can +make it a day of jubilee. If I fail, I will try to find out where +my dream was not true and what can be done to make it materialize +properly; but between us, Linda girl, I am going to be dreadfully +disappointed. I could use the material value that prize represents. +I could start my life work which I hope to do in Lilac Valley on +the prestige and the background that it would give me. I don’t +know, Linda, whether you ever learned to pray or not, but I have, +and it’s a thing that helps when the black shadow comes, when you +reach the land of “benefits forgot and friends remembered not.”</p> + +<p>And this reminds me that I should not write to my very dearest +friend who has her own problems and make her heart sad with mine; +so to the joyful news of my two friends add a third, Linda, for I +am going to tell you a secret because it will make you happy. Since +I have been in San Francisco some man, who for a reason of his own +does not tell me his name, has been writing me extremely attractive +letters. I have had several of them and I can’t tell you, Linda, +what they mean to me or how they help me. There is a touch of +whimsy about them. I can’t as yet connect them with anybody I ever +met, but to me they are taking the place of a little lunch on the +bread of life. They are such real, such vivid, such alive letters +from such a real person that I have been doing the very foolish and +romantic thing of answering them as my heart dictates and signing +my own name to them, which on the surface looks unwise when the +man in the case keeps his identity in the background; but since he +knows me and knows my name it seems useless to do anything else; +and answer these letters I shall and must; because every one of +them is to me a strong light thrown on John Gilman. Every time one +of these letters comes to me I have the feeling that I would like +to reach out through space and pick up the man who is writing them +and dangle him before Eileen and say to her: “Take <i>him</i>. +I dare you to take <i>him</i>.” And my confidence, Linda, is +positively supreme that she could not do it.</p> + +<p>You know, between us, Linda, we regarded Eileen as a rare creature, +a kind of exotic thing, made to be kept in a glass house with +tempered air and warmed water; but as I go about the city and at +times amuse myself at concerts and theaters, I am rather dazed to +tell you, honey, that the world is chock full of Eileens. On the +streets, in the stores, everywhere I go, sometimes half a dozen +times in a day I say to myself: “There goes Eileen.” I haven’t a +doubt that Eileen has a heart, if it has not become so calloused +that nobody could ever reach it, and I suspect she has a soul, but +the more I see of her kind the more I feel that John Gilman may +have to breast rather black water before he finds them.</p> + +<p>With dearest love, be sure to remember me to Katherine O’Donovan. +Hug her tight and give her my unqualified love. Don’t let her +forget me.</p> + +<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 4em;">As ever,</span><br> +<span class="smcap">Marian</span>.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>This was the letter that Linda read once, then she read it again and +then she read it a third time, and after that she lost count and +reread it whenever she was not busy doing something else, for it was a +letter that was the next thing to laying hands upon Marian. The part +of the letter concerning the unknown man who was writing Marian, Linda +pondered over deeply.</p> + +<p>“That is the best thing I ever did in my life,” she said in +self-commendation. “It’s doing more than I hoped it would. It’s giving +Marian something to think about. It’s giving her an interest in life. +It’s distracting her attention. Without saying a word about John Gilman +it is making her see for herself the weak spots in him through the very +subtle method of calling her attention to the strength that may lie +in another man. For once in your life, Linda, you have done something +strictly worth while. The thing for you to do is to keep it up, and in +order to keep it up, to make each letter fresh and original, you will +have to do a good deal of sticking around Peter Morrison’s location and +absorbing rather thoroughly the things he says. Peter doesn’t know he +is writing those letters, but he is in them till it’s a wonder Marian +does not hear him drawl and see the imps twisting his lips as she reads +them. Before I write another single one I’ll go see Peter. Maybe he +will have that article written. I’ll take a pencil, and as he reads +I’ll jot down the salient points and then I’ll come home and work out +a head and tail piece for him to send in with it, and in that way I’ll +ease my soul about the skylight and the fireplace.”</p> + +<p>So Linda took pad and pencils, raided Katy for everything she could +find that was temptingly edible, climbed into the Bear-cat, and went +to see Peter as frankly as she would have crossed the lawn to visit +Marian. He was not in the garage when she stopped her car before it, +but the workmen told her that he had strolled up the mountain and that +probably he would return soon. Learning that he had been gone but a +short time, Linda set the Bear-cat squalling at the top of its voice. +Then she took possession of the garage, and clearing Peter’s work table +spread upon it the food she had brought, and then started out to find +some flowers for decorations. When Peter came upon the scene he found +Linda, flushed and brilliant eyed, holding before him a big bouquet of +alder bloom, the last of the lilacs she had found in a cool, shaded +place, pink filaree, blue lupin, and white mahogany panicles.</p> + +<p>“Peter,” she cried. “you can’t guess what I have been doing!”</p> + +<p>Peter glanced at the flowers.</p> + +<p>“Isn’t it obvious?” he inquired.</p> + +<p>“No, it isn’t,” said Linda, “because I am capable of two processes at +once. The work of my hands is visible; with it I am going to decorate +your table. You won’t have to go down to the restaurant for your supper +to-night because I have brought my supper up to share with you, and +after we finish, you’re going to read me your article as you have +re-written it. I am going to decorate it and we are going to make a +hit with it that will be at least a start on the road to greater fame. +What you see is material. You can pick it up, smell it, admire it and +eat it. But what I have truly been doing is setting Spanish iris for +yards down one side of the bed of your stream. When I left it was a +foot and a half high, Peter, and every blue that the sky ever knew in +its loveliest moments, and a yellow that is the concentrated essence +of the best gold from the heart of California. Oh, Peter, there is +enchantment in the way I set it. There are irregular deep beds, and +there are straggly places where there are only one or two in a ragged +streak, and then it runs along the edge in a fringy rim, and then it +stretches out in a marshy place that is going to have some other wild +things, arrowheads, and orchids, and maybe a bunch of paint brush on a +high, dry spot near by. I wish you could see it!”</p> + +<p>Peter looked at Linda reflectively and then he told her that he +<i>could</i> see it. He told her that he adored it, that he was crazy +about her straggly continuity and her fringy border, but there was not +one word of truth in what he said, because what he saw was a slender +thing, willowy, graceful; roughened wavy black hair hanging half her +length in heavy braids, dark eyes and bright cheeks, a vivid red line +of mouth, and a bright brown line of freckles bridging a prominent +and aristocratic nose. What he was seeing was a soul, a young thing, +a thing he coveted with every nerve and fiber of his being. And while +he glibly humored her in her vision of decorating his brook, in his +own consciousness he was saying to himself: “Is there any reason why I +should not try for her?”</p> + +<p>And then he answered himself. “There is no reason in your life. There +is nothing ugly that could offend her or hurt her. The reason, the real +reason, probably lies in the fact that if she were thinking of caring +for anyone it would be for that attractive young schoolmate she brought +up here for me to exercise my wits upon. It is very likely that she +regards me in the light of a grandfatherly person to whom she can come +with her joys or her problems, as frankly as she has now.”</p> + +<p>So Peter asked if the irises crossed the brook and ran down both sides. +Linda sat on a packing case and concentrated on the iris, and finally +she announced that they did. She informed him that his place was going +to be natural, that Nature evolved things in her own way. She did not +grow irises down one side of a brook and arrowheads down the other. +They waded across and flew across and visited back and forth, riding +the water or the wind or the down of a bee or the tail of a cow. As she +served the supper she had brought she very gravely informed him that +there would be iris on both sides of his brook, and cress and miners’ +lettuce under the bridge; and she knew exactly where the wild clematis +grew that would whiten his embankment after his workmen had extracted +the last root of poison oak.</p> + +<p>“It may not scorch you, Peter,” she said gravely, “but you must look +out for the Missus and the little things. I haven’t definitely decided +on her yet, but she looks a good deal like Mary Louise Whiting to me. +I saw her the other day. She came to school after Donald. I liked her +looks so well that I said to myself: ‘Everybody talks about how fine +she is. I shouldn’t wonder if I had better save her for Peter’; but if +I decide to, you should get that poison stuff out, because it’s sure as +shooting to attack any one with the soft, delicate skin that goes with +a golden head.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, let’s leave it in,” said Peter, “and dispense with the golden +head. By the time you get that stream planted as you’re planning, I’ll +have become so accustomed to a dark head bobbing up and down beside it +that I won’t take kindly to a sorrel top.”</p> + +<p>“That is positively sacrilegious,” said Linda, lifting her hands to her +rough black hair. “Never in my life saw anything lovelier than the rich +gold on Louise Whiting’s bare head as she bent to release her brakes +and start her car. A black head looks like a cinder bed beside it; and +only think what a sunburst it will be when Mary Louise kneels down +beside the iris.”</p> + +<p>When they had finished their supper Linda gathered up the remnants and +put them in the car, then she laid a notebook and pencil on the table.</p> + +<p>“Now I want to hear that article,” she said. “I knew you would do it +over the minute I was gone, and I knew you would keep it to read to me +before you sent it.”</p> + +<p>“Hm,” said Peter. “Is it second sight or psychoanalysis or telepathy, +or what?”</p> + +<p>“Mostly ‘what’,” laughed Linda. “I merely knew. The workmen are gone +and everything is quiet now, Peter. Begin. I am crazy to get the +particular angle from which you ‘make the world safe for democracy.’ +John used to call our attention to your articles during the war. He +said we had not sent another man to France who could write as humanely +and as interestingly as you did. I wish I had kept those articles; +because I didn’t get anything from them to compare with what I can get +since I have a slight acquaintance with the procession that marches +around your mouth. Peter, you will have to watch that mouth of yours. +It’s an awfully betraying feature. So long as it’s occupied with +politics and the fads and the foibles and the sins and the foolishness +and the extravagances of humanity, it’s all very well. But if you ever +get in trouble or if ever your heart hurts, or you get mad enough +to kill somebody, that mouth of yours is going to be a most awfully +revealing feature, Peter. You will have hard work to settle it down +into hard-and-fast noncommittal lines.”</p> + +<p>Peter looked at the girl steadily.</p> + +<p>“Have you specialized on my mouth?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Huh-umph!” said Linda, shaking her head vigorously. “When I specialize +I use a pin and a microscope and go right to the root of matters as I +was taught. This is superficial. I am extemporizing now.”</p> + +<p>“Well, if this is extemporizing,” said Peter, “God help my soul if you +ever go at me with a pin and a microscope.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, but I won’t!” cried Linda. “It wouldn’t be kind to pin your +friends on a setting board and use a microscope on them. You might see +things that were strictly private. You might see things they wouldn’t +want you to see. They might not be your friends any more if you did +that. When I make a friend I just take him on trust like I did Donald. +You’re my friend, aren’t you, Peter?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, Linda,” said Peter soberly. “Put me to any test you can think of +if you want proof.”</p> + +<p>“But I don’t believe in <i>proving</i> friends, either,” said Linda. +“I believe in nurturing them. I would set a friend in my garden and +water his feet and turn the sunshine on him and tell him to stay there +and grow. I might fertilize him, I might prune him, and I might use +insecticide on him. I might spray him with rather stringent solutions, +but I give you my word I would not test him. If he flourished under my +care I would know it, and if he did not I would know it, and that would +be all I would want to know. I have watched Daddy search for the seat +of nervous disorders, and sometimes he had to probe very deep to find +what developed nerves unduly, but he didn’t ever do any picking and +ravelling and fringing at the soul of a human being merely for the sake +of finding out what it was made of; and everyone says I am like him.”</p> + +<p>“I wish I might have known him,” said Peter.</p> + +<p>“Don’t I wish it!” said Linda. “Now then, Peter, go ahead. Read your +article.”</p> + +<p>Peter opened a packing case, picked out a sheaf of papers, and sitting +opposite Linda, began to read. He was dumbfounded to find that he, a +man who had read and talked extemporaneously before great bodies of +learned men, should have cold feet and shaking hands and a hammering +heart because he was trying to read an article on America for Americans +before a high-school Junior. But presently, as the theme engrossed him, +he forgot the vision of Linda interesting herself in his home-making, +and saw instead a vision of his country threatened on one side by the +red menace of the Bolshevik, on the other by the yellow menace of the +Jap, and yet on another by the treachery of the Mexican and the slowly +uprising might of the black man, and presently he was thundering his +best-considered arguments at Linda until she imperceptibly drew back +from him on the packing case, and with parted lips and wide eyes she +listened in utter absorption. She gazed at a transformed Peter with +aroused eyes and a white light of patriotism on his forehead, and a +conception even keener than anything that the war had brought her +young soul was burning in her heart of what a man means when he tries +to express his feeling concerning the land of his birth. Presently, +without realizing what she was doing, she reached for her pad and +pencils and rapidly began sketching a stretch of peaceful countryside +over which a coming storm of gigantic proportions was gathering. Fired +by Peter’s article, the touch of genius in Linda’s soul became creative +and she fashioned huge storm clouds, wind driven, that floated in such +a manner as to bring the merest suggestion of menacing faces, black +faces, yellow faces, brown faces, and under the flash of lightning, +just at the obscuring of the sun, a huge, evil, leering red face. +She swept a stroke across her sheet and below this she began again, +sketching the same stretch of country she had pictured above, strolling +in cultivated fields, dotting it with white cities, connecting it with +smooth roadways, sweeping the sky with giant planes. At one side, +winging in from the glow of morning, she drew in the strong-winged +flight of a flock of sea swallows, peacefully homing toward the +far-distant ocean. She was utterly unaware when Peter stopped reading. +Absorbed, she bent over her work. When she had finished she looked up.</p> + +<p>“Now I’ll take this home,” she said. “I can’t do well on colour +with pencils. You hold that article till I have time to put this on +water-colour paper and touch it up a bit here and there, and I believe +it will be worthy of starting and closing your article.”</p> + +<p>She pushed the sketches toward him.</p> + +<p>“You little wonder!” said Peter softly.</p> + +<p>“Yes, ‘little’ is good,” scoffed Linda, rising to very nearly his +height and reaching for the lunch basket. “‘Little’ is good, Peter. If +I could do what I like to myself I would get in some kind of a press +and squash down about seven inches.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Lord!” said Peter. “Forget it. What’s the difference what the +inches of your body are so long as your brain has a stature worthy of +mention?”</p> + +<p>“Good-bye!” said Linda. “On the strength of that I’ll jazz that sketch +all up, bluey and red-purple and jade-green. I’ll make it as glorious +as a Catalina sunset.”</p> + +<p>As she swung the car around the sharp curve at the boulders she looked +back and laughingly waved her hand at Peter, and Peter experienced a +wild desire to shriek lest she lose control of the car and plunge down +the steep incline. A second later, when he saw her securely on the road +below, he smiled to himself.</p> + +<p>“Proves one thing,” he said conclusively. “She is over the horrors. She +is driving unconsciously. Thank God she knew that curve so well she +could look the other way and drive it mentally.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</h2> +<div class="subheadc">The Official Bug-Catcher</div> +</div> + +<p>Not a mile below the exit from Peter’s grounds, Linda perceived a +heavily laden person toiling down the roadway before her and when she +ran her car abreast and stopped it, Henry Anderson looked up at her +with joyful face.</p> + +<p>“Sorry I can’t uncover, fair lady,” he said, “but you see I am very +much otherwise engaged.”</p> + +<p>What Linda saw was a tired, disheveled man standing in the roadway +beside her car, under each arm a boulder the size of her head, one +almost jet-black, shot through with lines of white and flying figures +of white crossing between these bands that almost reminded one of +winged dancers. The other was a combination stone made up of matrix +thickly imbedded with pebbles of brown, green, pink, and dull blue.</p> + +<p>“For pity’s sake!” said Linda. “Where are you going and why are you +personally demonstrating a new method of transporting rock?”</p> + +<p>“I am on my way down Lilac Valley to the residence of a friend of +mine,” said Henry Anderson. “I heard her say the other day that she +saved every peculiarly marked boulder she could find to preserve +coolness and moisture in her fern bed.”</p> + +<p>Linda leaned over and opened the car door.</p> + +<p>“All well and good,” she said; “but why in the cause of reason didn’t +you leave them at Peter’s and bring them down in his car?”</p> + +<p>Henry Anderson laid the stones in the bottom of the car, stepped in and +closed the door behind him. He drew a handkerchief from his pocket and +wiped his perspiring face and soiled hands.</p> + +<p>“I had two sufficient personal reasons,” he said. “One was that the car +at our place is Peter Morrison’s car, not mine; and the other was that +it’s none of anybody’s business but my own if I choose to ‘say it’ with +stones.”</p> + +<p>Linda started the car, being liberal with gas—so liberal that it was +only a few minutes till Henry Anderson protested.</p> + +<p>“This isn’t the speedway,” he said. “What’s your hurry?”</p> + +<p>“Two reasons seem to be all that are allowed for things at the present +minute,” answered Linda. “One of mine is that you can’t drive this +beast slow, and the other is that my workroom is piled high with things +I should be doing. I have two sketches I must complete while I am in +the mood, and I have had a great big letter from my friend, Marian +Thorne, to-day that I want to answer before I go to bed to-night.”</p> + +<p>“In other words,” said Henry Anderson bluntly, “you want me to +understand that when I have reached your place and dumped these stones +I can beat it; you have no further use for me.”</p> + +<p>“You said that,” retorted Linda.</p> + +<p>“And who ever heard of such a thing,” said Henry, “as a young woman +sending away a person of my numerous charms and attractions in order to +work, or to write a letter to another woman?”</p> + +<p>“But you’re not taking into consideration,” said Linda, “that I must +work, and I scarcely know you, while I have known Marian ever since I +was four years old and she is my best friend.”</p> + +<p>“Well, she has no advantage over me,” said Henry instantly, “because I +have known you quite as long as Peter Morrison has at least, and I’m +your official bug-catcher.”</p> + +<p>“I had almost forgotten about the bugs,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“Well, don’t for a minute think I am going to give you an opportunity +to forget,” said Henry Anderson.</p> + +<p>He reached across and laid his hand over Linda’s on the steering gear. +Linda said nothing, neither did she move. She merely added more gas and +put the Bear-cat forward at a dizzy whirl. Henry laughed.</p> + +<p>“That’s all right, my beauty,” he said. “Don’t you think for a minute +that I can’t ride as fast as you can drive.”</p> + +<p>A dull red mottled Linda’s cheeks. As quickly as it could be done she +brought the Bear-cat to a full stop. Then she turned and looked at +Henry Anderson. The expression in her eyes was disconcerting even to +that cheeky young individual—he had not borne her gaze a second until +he removed his hand.</p> + +<p>“Thanks,” said Linda in a dry drawl. “And you will add to my obligation +if in the future you will remember not to deal in assumptions. I am +not your ‘beauty,’ and I’m not anyone’s beauty; while the only thing +in this world that I am interested in at present is to get the best +education I can and at the same time carry on work that I love to do. I +have a year to finish my course in the high school and when I finish I +will only have a good beginning for whatever I decide to study next.”</p> + +<p>“That’s nothing,” said the irrepressible Henry. “It will take me two +years to catch a sufficient number of gold bugs to be really serious, +but there wouldn’t be any harm in having a mutual understanding and +something definite to work for, and then we might be able, you know, +to cut out some of that year of High-school grinding. If the plans I +have submitted in the Nicholson and Snow contest should just happen to +be the prize winners, that would put matters in such a shape for young +Henry that he could devote himself to crickets and tumble-bugs at once.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t you think,” said Linda quietly, “that you would better forget +that silly jesting and concentrate the best of your brains on improving +your plans for Peter Morrison’s house?”</p> + +<p>“Why, surely I will if that’s what you command me to do,” said Henry, +purposely misunderstanding her.</p> + +<p>“You haven’t mentioned before,” said Linda, “that you had submitted +plans in that San Francisco contest.”</p> + +<p>“All done and gone,” said Henry Anderson lightly. “I had an inspiration +one day and I saw a way to improve a house with comforts and +conveniences I never had thought of before. I was enthusiastic over +the production when I got it on paper and figured it. It’s exactly the +house that I am going to build for Peter, and when I’ve cut my eye +teeth on it I am going to correct everything possible and build it in +perfection for you.”</p> + +<p>“Look here,” said Linda soberly, “I’m not accustomed to this sort of +talk. I don’t care for it. If you want to preserve even the semblance +of friendship with me you must stop it, and get to impersonal matters +and stay there.”</p> + +<p>“All right,” he agreed instantly, “but if you don’t like my line of +talk, you’re the first girl I ever met that didn’t.”</p> + +<p>“You have my sympathy,” said Linda gravely. “You have been extremely +unfortunate.”</p> + +<p>Then she started the Bear-cat, and again running at undue speed she +reached her wild-flower garden. Henry Anderson placed the stones as she +directed and waited for an invitation to come in, but the invitation +was not given. Linda thanked him for the stones. She told him that in +combination with a few remaining from the mantel they would make all +she would require, and excusing herself she drove to the garage. When +she came in she found the irrepressible Henry sitting on the back steps +explaining to Katy the strenuous time he had had finding and carrying +down the stones they had brought. Katy had a plate of refreshments +ready to hand him when Linda laughingly passed them and went to her +room.</p> + +<p>When she had finished her letter to Marian she took a sheet of drawing +paper, and in her most attractive lettering sketched in the heading, “A +Palate Teaser,” which was a direct quotation from Katy. Below she wrote:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>You will find Tunas in the cacti thickets of any desert, but if +you are so fortunate as to be able to reach specimens which were +brought from Mexico and set as hedges around the gardens of the old +missions, you will find there the material for this salad in its +most luscious form. Naturally it can be made from either <i>Opuntia +Fiscus-Indica</i> or <i>Opuntia Tuna</i>, but a combination of +these two gives the salad an exquisite appearance and a tiny touch +more delicious flavor, because Tuna, which is red, has to my taste +a trifle richer and fuller flavor than Indica, which is yellow. +Both fruits taste more like the best well-ripened watermelon than +any other I recall.</p> + +<p>Bring down the Tunas with a fishing rod or a long pole with a nail +in the end. With anything save your fingers roll them in the sand +or in tufts of grass to remove the spines. Slice off either end, +score the skin down one side, press lightly, and a lush globule of +pale gold or rosy red fruit larger than a hen’s egg lies before +you. With a sharp knife, beginning with a layer of red and ending +with one of yellow, slice the fruits thinly, stopping to shake out +the seeds as you work. In case you live in San Diego County or +farther south, where it is possible to secure the scarlet berries +of the Strawberry Cactus—it is the <i>Mammillaria Goodridgei</i> +species that you should use—a beautiful decoration for finishing +your salad can be made from the red strawberries of these. If you +live too far north to find these, you may send your salad to the +table beautifully decorated by cutting fancy figures from the red +Tuna, or by slicing it lengthwise into oblong pieces and weaving +them into a decoration over the yellow background.</p> + +<p>For your dressing use the juice of a lemon mixed with that of an +orange, sweetened to taste, into which you work, a drop at a time, +four tablespoons of the best Palermo olive oil. If the salad is +large more oil and more juice should be used.</p> + +<p>To get the full deliciousness of this salad, the fruit must have +been on ice, and the dressing made in a bowl imbedded in cracked +ice, so that when ready to blend both are ice-cold, and must be +served immediately.</p> + +<p>Gigantic specimens of fruit-bearing Cacti can be found all over +the Sunland Desert near to the city, but they are not possessed +of the full flavor of the cultivated old mission growths, so that +it is well worth your while to make a trip to the nearest of +these for the fruit with which to prepare this salad. And if, as +you gather it, you should see a vision of a white head, a thin, +ascetic, old face, a lean figure trailing a brown robe, slender +white hands clasping a heavy cross; if you should hear the music of +worship ascending from the throats of Benedictine fathers leading +a clamoring choir of the blended voices of Spaniard, Mexican, and +Indian, combining with the music of the bells and the songs of the +mocking birds, nest making among the Tunas, it will be good for +your soul in the line of purging it from selfishness, since in this +day we are not asked to give all of life to the service of others, +only a reasonable part of it.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Linda read this over, working in changes here and there, then she +picked up her pencil and across the top of her sheet indicated an open +sky with scarcely a hint of cloud. Across the bottom she outlined a +bit of Sunland Desert she well remembered, in the foreground a bed +of flat-leaved nopal, flowering red and yellow, the dark red prickly +pears, edible, being a near relative of the fruits she had used in her +salad. After giving the prickly pear the place of honour to the left, +in higher growth she worked in the slender, cylindrical, jointed stems +of the Cholla, shading the flowers a paler, greenish yellow. On the +right, balancing the Cholla, she drew the oval, cylindrical columns of +the hedgehog cactus, and the colour touch of the big magenta flowers +blended exquisitely with the colour she already had used. At the left, +the length of her page, she drew a gigantic specimen of Opuntia Tuna, +covered with flowers, and well-developed specimens of the pears whose +colouring ran into the shades of the hedgehog cactus.</p> + +<p>She was putting away her working materials when she heard steps and +voices on the stairs, so she knew that Eileen and John Gilman were +coming. She did not in the least want them, yet she could think of no +excuse for refusing them admission that would not seem ungracious. She +hurried to the wall, snatched down the paintings for Peter Morrison, +and looked around to see how she could dispose of them. She ended by +laying one of them in a large drawer which she pushed shut and locked. +The other she placed inside a case in the wall which formerly had +been used for billiard cues. At their second tap she opened the door. +Eileen was not at her best. There was a worried look across her eyes, a +restlessness visible in her movements, but Gilman was radiant.</p> + +<p>“What do you think, Linda?” he cried. “Eileen has just named the day!”</p> + +<p>“I did no such thing,” broke in Eileen.</p> + +<p>“Your pardon, fair lady, you did not,” said Gilman. “That was merely a +figure of speech. I meant named the month. She has definitely promised +in October, and I may begin to hunt a location and plan a home for us. +I want the congratulations of my dear friend and my dearer sister.”</p> + +<p>Linda held out her hand and smiled as bravely as she could.</p> + +<p>“I am very glad you are so pleased, John,” she said quietly, “and I +hope that you will be as happy as you deserve to be.”</p> + +<p>“Now exactly what do you mean by that?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Linda prides herself on being deep and subtle and conveying hidden +meanings,” said Eileen. “She means what a thousand people will tell you +in the coming months: merely that they hope you will be happy.”</p> + +<p>“Of course,” Linda hastened to corroborate, wishing if possible to +avoid any unpleasantness.</p> + +<p>“You certainly have an attractive workroom here,” said John, “much as I +hate to see it spoiled for billiards.”</p> + +<p>“It’s too bad,” said Linda, “that I have spoiled it for you for +billiards. I have also spoiled the outside appearance of the house for +Eileen.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I don’t know,” said John. “I looked at it carefully the other day +as I came up, and I thought your changes enhanced the value of the +property.”</p> + +<p>“I am surely glad to hear that,” said Linda. “Take a look through my +skylight and my new window. Imagine you see the rugs I am going to have +and a few more pieces of furniture when I can afford them; and let +me particularly point out the fireplace that Henry Anderson and your +friend Peter designed and had built for me. Doesn’t it add a soul and a +heart to my study?”</p> + +<p>John Gilman walked over and looked at the fireplace critically. He read +the lines aloud, then he turned to Eileen.</p> + +<p>“Why, that is perfectly beautiful,” he said. “Let’s duplicate it in our +home.”</p> + +<p>“You bungler!” scoffed Eileen.</p> + +<p>“I think you’re right,” said Gilman reflectively, “exactly right. Of +course I would have no business copying Linda’s special fireplace where +the same people would see it frequently; and if I had stopped to think +a second, I might have known that you would prefer tiling to field +stone.”</p> + +<p>“Linda seems very busy to-night,” said Eileen. “Perhaps we are +bothering her.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said John, “we’ll go at once. I had to run up to tell our good +news; and I wanted to tell you too, Linda dear, that I think both of us +misjudged Eileen the other day. You know, Linda, you <i>have</i> always +dressed according to your father’s ideas, which were so much simpler +and plainer than the manner in which your mother dressed Eileen, that +she merely thought that you wished to continue in his way. She had no +objection to your having any kind of clothes you chose, if only you had +confided in her, and explained to her what you wanted.”</p> + +<p>Linda stood beside her table, one lean hand holding down the letter she +had been writing. She stood very still, but she was powerless to raise +her eyes to the face of either John or Eileen. Above everything she +did not wish to go any further in revealing Eileen to John Gilman. If +he knew what he knew and if he felt satisfied, after what he had seen, +with any explanation that Eileen could trump up to offer, Linda had no +desire to carry the matter further. She had been ashamed of what she +already had done. She had felt angry and dissatisfied with herself, so +she stood before them downcast and silent.</p> + +<p>“And it certainly was a great joke on both of us,” said John jovially, +“what we thought about that box of cigarettes, you know. They were a +prize given by a bridge club at an ‘Ambassador’ benefit for the Good +Samaritan Hospital. Eileen, the little card shark she is, won it, and +she was keeping it hidden away there to use as a gift for my birthday. +Since we disclosed her plans prematurely, she gave it to me at once, +and I’m having a great time treating all my friends.”</p> + +<p>At that instant Linda experienced a revulsion. Previously she had not +been able to raise her eyes. Now it would have been quite impossible to +avoid looking straight into Eileen’s face. But Eileen had no intention +of meeting anyone’s gaze at that minute. She was fidgeting with a sheet +of drawing paper.</p> + +<p>“Careful you don’t bend that,” cautioned Linda. Then she looked at John +Gilman. He <i>believed</i> what he was saying; he was happy again. +Linda evolved the best smile she could.</p> + +<p>“How stupid of us not to have guessed!” she said.</p> + +<p>Closing the door behind them, Linda leaned against it and looked up +through the skylight at the deep blue of the night, the low-hung stars. +How long she stood there she did not know. Presently she went to her +chair, picked up her pencil, and slowly began to draw. At first she +scarcely realized what she was doing, then she became absorbed in her +work. Then she reached for her colour box and brushes, and shortly +afterward tacked against the wall an extremely clever drawing of a +greatly enlarged wasp. Skillfully she had sketched a face that was +recognizable round the big insect eyes. She had surmounted the face by +a fluff of bejewelled yellow curls, encased the hind legs upon which +the creature stood upright in pink velvet Turkish trousers and put +tiny gold shoes on the feet. She greatly exaggerated the wings into +long trails and made them of green gauze with ruffled edges. All the +remainder of the legs she had transformed into so many braceleted arms, +each holding a tiny fan, or a necklace, a jewel box, or a handkerchief +of lace. She stood before this sketch, studying it for a few minutes, +then she walked over to the table and came back with a big black +pencil. Steadying her hand with a mahl stick rested against the wall, +with one short sharp stroke she drew a needle-pointed stinger, so +screened by the delicate wings that it could not be seen unless you +scrutinized the picture minutely. After that, with careful, interested +hands she brought out Peter Morrison’s drawings and replaced them on +the wall to dry.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XX">CHAPTER XX</h2> +<div class="subheadc">The Cap Sheaf</div> +</div> + +<p>Toward the last of the week Linda began to clear the mental decks of +her ship of life in order that she might have Saturday free for her +promised day with Donald. She had decided that they would devote that +day to wave-beaten Laguna. It was a long drive but delightful. It ran +over the old King’s Highway between miles of orange and lemon orchards +in full flower, bordered by other miles of roses in their prime.</p> + +<p>Every minute when her mind was not actively occupied with her lessons +or her recipes Linda was dreaming of the King’s Highway. Almost +unconsciously she began to chant:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="i0">“All in the golden weather, forth let us ride to-day,</div> + <div class="i1">You and I together on the King’s Highway,</div> + <div class="i1">The blue skies above us, and below the shining sea;</div> + <div class="i1">There’s many a road to travel, but it’s this road for me.”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>You must have ridden this road with an understanding heart and the +arm of God around you to know the exact degree of disappointment that +swelled in Linda’s heart when she answered the telephone early Saturday +morning and heard Donald Whiting’s strained voice speaking into it. He +was talking breathlessly in eager, boyish fashion.</p> + +<p>“Linda, I am in a garage halfway downtown,” he was saying, “and it +looks to me as if to save my soul I couldn’t reach you before noon. I +have had the darnedest luck. Our Jap got sick last week and he sent a +new man to take his place. There wasn’t a thing the matter with our car +when I drove it in Friday night. This morning Father wanted to use it +on important business, and it wouldn’t run. He ordered me to tinker it +up enough to get it to the shop. I went at it and when it would go, I +started. You can imagine the clip I was going, and the thing went to +pieces. I don’t know yet how it comes that I saved my skin. I’m pretty +badly knocked out, but I’ll get there by noon if it’s a possible thing.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, that’s all right,” said Linda, fervently hoping that the ache in +her throat would not tincture her voice.</p> + +<p>It was half-past eleven when Donald came. Linda could not bring herself +to give up the sea that day. She found it impossible to drive the +King’s Highway. It seemed equally impossible not to look on the face of +the ocean, so she compromised by skirting Santa Monica Bay, and taking +the foothill road she ran it to the north end of the beach drive. When +they had spread their blankets on the sand, finished their lunch and +were resting, Linda began to question Donald about what had happened. +She wanted to know how long Whitings’ gardener had been in their +employ; if they knew where he lived and about his family; if they knew +who his friends were, or anything concerning him. She inquired about +the man who had taken his place, and wanted most particularly to know +what the garage men had found the trouble with a car that ran perfectly +on Friday night, and broke down in half a dozen different places on +Saturday morning. Finally Donald looked at her, laughingly quizzical.</p> + +<p>“Linda,” he said, “you’re no nerve specialist and no naturalist. You’re +the cross examiner for the plaintiff. What are you trying to get at? +Make out a case against Yogo Sani?”</p> + +<p>“Of course it’s all right,” said Linda, watching a distant pelican turn +head down and catapult into the sea. “It has to be all right, but you +must admit that it looks peculiar. How have you been getting along this +week?”</p> + +<p>Donald waved his hand in the direction of a formation of stone the size +of a small house.</p> + +<p>“Been rolling that to the top of the mountain,” he said lightly.</p> + +<p>Linda’s eyes narrowed, her face grew speculative. She looked at Donald +intently.</p> + +<p>“Is it as difficult as that?” she asked in a lowered voice as if the +surf and the sea chickens might hear.</p> + +<p>“It is just as difficult as that,” said Donald. “While you’re talking +about peculiar things, I’ll tell you one. In class I came right up +against Oka Sayye on the solution of a theorem in trigonometry. We +both had the answer, the correct answer, but we had arrived at it by +widely different routes, and it was up to me to prove that my line of +reasoning was more lucid, more natural, the inevitable one by which the +solution should be reached. We got so in earnest that I am afraid both +of us were rather tense. I stepped over to his demonstration to point +out where I thought his reasoning was wrong. I got closer to the Jap +than I had ever been before; and by gracious, Linda! scattered, but +nevertheless still there, and visible, I saw a sprinkling of gray hairs +just in front of and over his ears. It caught me unawares, and before I +knew what I was doing, before the professor and the assembled classroom +I blurted it out: ‘Say, Oka Sayye, how old are you?’ If the Jap had had +any way of killing me, I believe he would have done it. There was a +look in his eyes that was what I would call deadly. It was only a flash +and then, very courteously, putting me in the wrong, of course, he +remarked that he was ‘almost ninekleen’; and it struck me from his look +and the way he said it that it was a lie. If he truly was the average +age of the rest of the class there was nothing for him to be angry +about. Then I did take a deliberate survey. From the settled solidity +of his frame and the shape of his hands and the skin of his face and +the set of his eyes in his head, I couldn’t see that much youth. I’ll +bet he’s thirty if he’s a day, and I shouldn’t be a bit surprised if he +has graduated at the most worth-while university in Japan, before he +ever came to this country to get his English for nothing.”</p> + +<p>Linda was watching a sea swallow now, and slowly her lean fingers were +gathering handfuls of sand and sifting them into a little pyramid she +was heaping beside her. Again almost under her breath she spoke.</p> + +<p>“Donald, do you really believe that?” she asked. “Is it possible that +mature Jap men are coming here and entering our schools and availing +themselves of the benefits that the taxpayers of California provide for +their children?”</p> + +<p>“Didn’t you know it?” asked Donald. “I hadn’t thought of it in +connection with Oka Sayye, but I do know cases where mature Japs have +been in grade schools with children under ten.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Donald!” exclaimed Linda. “If California is permitting that or +ever has permitted it, we’re too easy. We deserve to become their prey +if we are so careless.”</p> + +<p>“Why, I know it’s true,” said Donald. “I have been in the same classes +with men more than old enough to be my father.”</p> + +<p>“I never was,” said Linda, industriously sifting sand. “I have been +in classes with Japs ever since I have been at school, but it was +with girls and boys of our gardeners and fruit dealers and curio-shop +people, and they were always of my age and entitled to be in school, +since our system includes the education of anybody who happens to be in +California and wants to go to school.”</p> + +<p>“Did my being late spoil any particular plan you had made, Linda?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Linda, “it did.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I am so sorry!” cried Donald. “I certainly shall try to see that +it doesn’t occur again. Could we do it next Saturday?”</p> + +<p>“I am hoping so,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“I told Dad,” said Donald, “where I wanted to go and what I wanted to +do, and he was awfully sorry but he said it was business and it would +take only a few minutes and he thought I could do it and be on time. If +he had known I would be detained I don’t believe he would have asked it +of me. He’s a grand old pater, Linda.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I know,” said Linda. “There’s not much you can tell me about +paters of the grand sort, the real, true flesh-and-blood, big-hearted, +human-being fathers, who will take you to the fields and the woods +and take the time to teach you what God made and how He made it and +why He made it and what we can do with it, and of the fellowship and +brotherhood we can get from Nature by being real kin. The one thing +that I have had that was the biggest thing in all this world was one of +these real fathers.”</p> + +<p>Donald watched as she raised the pyramid higher and higher.</p> + +<p>“Did you tell your father whom you were to go with?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“Sure I did,” said Donald. “Told the whole family at dinner last +night. Told ’em about all the things I was learning, from where to get +soap off the bushes to the best spot for material for wooden legs or +instantaneous relief for snake bite.”</p> + +<p>“What did they say?” Linda inquired laughingly.</p> + +<p>“Unanimously in favour of continuing the course,” he said. “I had +already told Father about you when I asked him for books and any help +that he could give me with Oka Sayye. Since I had mentioned you last +night he told Mother and Louise about that, and they told me to bring +you to the house some time. All of them are crazy to know you. Mother +says she is just wild to know whether a girl who wears boots and +breeches and who knows canyons and the desert and the mountains as you +do can be a feminine and lovable person.”</p> + +<p>“If I told her how many friends I have, she could have speedily decided +whether I am lovable or not,” said Linda; “but I would make an effort +to convince her that I am strictly feminine.”</p> + +<p>“You would convince her of that without making the slightest effort. +You’re infinitely more feminine than any other girl I have ever known.”</p> + +<p>“How do you figure that?” asked Linda.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Donald, “it’s a queer thing about you, Linda. I take any +liberty I pretty nearly please with most of the girls I have been +associated with. I tie their shoes and pull their hair—down if I want +to—and hand them round ’most any way the notion takes me, and they +just laugh and take the same liberties with me, which proves that I am +pretty much a girl with them or they are pretty much boys with me. But +it wouldn’t occur to me to touch your hair or your shoe lace or the +tips of your fingers; which proves that you’re more feminine than any +other girl I know, because if you were not I would be treating you more +like another boy. I thought, the first day we were together, that you +were like a boy, and I said so, and I thought it because you did not +tease me and flirt with me, but since I have come to know you better, +you’re less like a boy than any other girl I ever have known.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t get psychological, Donald,” said Linda. “Go on with the Jap. I +haven’t got an answer yet to what I really want to know. Have you made +the least progress this week? Can you beat him?”</p> + +<p>Donald hesitated, studying over the answer.</p> + +<p>“Beat him at that trig proposition the other day,” he said. “Got +an open commendation before the class. There’s not a professor in +any of my classes who isn’t ‘hep’ to what I’m after by this time, +and if I would cajole them a little they would naturally be on my +side, especially if their attention were called to that incident of +yesterday; but you said I have to beat him with my brains, by doing +better work than he does; so about the biggest thing I can honestly +tell you is that I have held my own. I have only been ahead of him once +this week, but I haven’t failed in anything that he has accomplished. +I have been able to put some additional touches to some work that he +has done for which he used to be marked A which means your One Hundred. +Double A which means your plus I made in one instance. And you needn’t +think that Oka Sayye does not realize what I am up to as well as any +of the rest of the class, and you needn’t think that he is not going +to give me a run for my brain. All I’ve got will be needed before we +finish this term.”</p> + +<p>“I see,” said Linda, slowly nodding her head.</p> + +<p>“I wish,” said Donald, “that we had started this thing two years ago, +or better still, four. But of course you were not in the High School +four years ago and there wasn’t a girl in my class or among my friends +who cared whether I beat the Jap or not. They greatly preferred that I +take them motoring or to a dance or a picture show or a beach party. +You’re the only one except Mother and Louise who ever inspired me to +get down to business.”</p> + +<p>Linda laid her palm on the top of the sand heap and pressed it flat. +She looked at Donald with laughing eyes.</p> + +<p>“Symbolical,” she announced. “That sand was the Jap.” She stretched her +hand toward him. “That was you. Did you see yourself squash him?”</p> + +<p>Donald’s laugh was grim.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I saw,” he said. “I wish it were as easy as that.”</p> + +<p>“That was not easy,” said Linda; “make a mental computation of all the +seconds that it took me to erect that pyramid and all the millions of +grains of sand I had to gather.”</p> + +<p>Donald was deeply thoughtful, yet a half smile was playing round his +lips.</p> + +<p>“Of all the queer girls I ever knew, you’re the cap sheaf, Linda,” he +said.</p> + +<p>Linda rose slowly, shook the sand from her breeches and stretched out +her hand.</p> + +<p>“Let’s hotfoot it down to the African village and see what the movies +are doing that is interesting to-day,” she proposed.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</h2> +<div class="subheadc">Shifting the Responsibility</div> +</div> + +<p>On her pillow that night before dropping to almost instantaneous sleep +Linda reflected that if you could not ride the King’s Highway, racing +the sands of Santa Monica was a very excellent substitute. It had been +a wonderful day after all. When she had left Donald at the Lilac-Valley +end of the car line he had held her hand tight an instant and looked +into her face with the most engaging of clear, boyish smiles.</p> + +<p>“Linda, isn’t our friendship the nicest thing that ever happened to +us?” he demanded.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” answered Linda promptly, “quite the nicest. Make your plans for +all day long next Saturday.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll be here before the birds are awake,” promised Donald.</p> + +<p>At the close of Monday’s sessions, going down the broad walk from the +High School, Donald overtook Linda and in a breathless whisper he said: +“What do you think? I came near Oka Sayye again this morning in trig, +and his hair was as black as jet, dyed to a midnight, charcoal finish, +and I am not right sure that he had not borrowed some girl’s lipstick +and rouge pot for the benefit of his lips and cheeks. Positively he’s +hectically youthful to-day. What do you know about that?”</p> + +<p>Then he hurried on to overtake the crowd of boys he had left. Linda’s +heart was racing in her breast.</p> + +<p>Turning, she re-entered the school building, and taking a telephone +directory she hunted an address, and then, instead of going to the car +line that took her to Lilac Valley she went to the address she had +looked up. With a pencil she wrote a few lines on a bit of scratch +paper in one of her books. That note opened a door and admitted her to +the presence of a tall, lean, gray-haired man with quick, blue-gray +eyes and lips that seemed capable of being either grave or gay on short +notice. With that perfect ease which Linda had acquired through the +young days of her life in meeting friends of her father, she went to +the table beside which this man was standing and stretched out her hand.</p> + +<p>“Judge Whiting?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the Judge.</p> + +<p>“I am Linda Strong, the younger daughter of Alexander Strong. I think +you knew my father.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the Judge, “I knew him very well indeed, and I have some +small acquaintance with his daughter through very interesting reports +that my son brings home.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, it is about Donald that I came to see you,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>If she had been watching as her father would have watched, Linda would +have seen the slight uplift of the Judge’s figure, the tensing of his +muscles, the narrowing of his eyes in the swift, speculative look he +passed over her from the crown of her bare, roughened black head down +the gold-brown of her dress to her slender, well-shod feet. The last +part of that glance Linda caught. She slightly lifted one of the feet +under inspection, thrust it forward and looked at the Judge with a gay +challenge in her dark eyes.</p> + +<p>“Are you interested in them too?” she asked.</p> + +<p>The Judge was embarrassed. A flush crept into his cheeks. He was +supposed to be master of any emergency that might arise, but one had +arisen in connection with a slip of a schoolgirl that left him wordless.</p> + +<p>“It is very probable,” said Linda, “that if my shoes had been like +most other girls’ shoes I wouldn’t be here to-day. I was in the same +schoolroom with your son for three years, and he never saw me or spoke +to me until one day he stopped me to inquire why I wore the kind of +shoes I did. He said he had a battle to wage with me because I tried +to be a law to myself, and he wanted to know why I wasn’t like other +girls. And I told him I had a crow to pick with <i>him</i> because he +had the kind of brain that would be content to let a Jap beat him in +his own school, in his own language and in his own country; so we made +an engagement to fight to a finish, and it ended by his becoming the +only boy friend I have and the nicest boy friend a girl ever had, I am +very sure. That’s why I’m here.”</p> + +<p>Linda lifted her eyes and Judge Whiting looked into them till he saw +the same gold lights in their depths that Peter Morrison had seen. He +came around the table and placed a big leather chair for Linda. Then he +went back and resumed his own.</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said the Judge in his most engaging manner. “I gather from +what Donald has told me that you have a reason for being here, and I +want you to understand that I am intensely interested in anything you +have to say to me. Now tell me why you came.”</p> + +<p>“I came,” said Linda, “because I started something and am afraid of the +possible result. I think very likely if, in retaliation for what Donald +said to me about my hair and my shoes, I had not twitted him about the +use he was making of his brain and done everything in my power to drive +him into competition with Oka Sayye in the hope that a white man would +graduate with the highest honours, he would not have gone into this +competition, which I am now certain has antagonized Oka Sayye.”</p> + +<p>Linda folded her slim hands on the table and leaned forward.</p> + +<p>“Judge Whiting,” she said earnestly, “I know very little about men. The +most I know was what I learned about my father and the men with whom he +occasionally hunted and fished. They were all such fine men that I must +have grown up thinking that every man was very like them, but one day +I came in direct contact with the Jap that Donald is trying to beat, +and the thing I saw in his face put fear into my heart and it has been +there ever since. I have almost an unreasoning fear of that Jap, not +because he has said anything or done anything. It’s just instinctive. +I may be wholly wrong in having come to you and in taking up your +time, but there are two things I wanted to tell you. I could have told +Donald, but if I did and his mind went off at a tangent thinking of +these things he wouldn’t be nearly so likely to be in condition to give +his best thought to his studies. If I really made him see what I think +I have seen, and fear what I know I fear, he might fail where I would +give almost anything to see him succeed; so I thought I would come to +you and tell you about it and ask you please to think it over, and to +take extra care of him, because I really believe that he may be in +danger; and if he is I never shall be able to rid myself of a sense of +responsibility.”</p> + +<p>“I see,” said Judge Whiting. “Now tell me, just as explicitly as you +have told me this, exactly what it is that you fear.”</p> + +<p>“Last Saturday,” said Linda, “Donald told me that while standing at the +board beside Oka Sayye, demonstrating a theorem, he noticed that there +were gray hairs above the Jap’s ears, and he bluntly asked him, before +the professor and the class, how old he was. In telling me, he said he +had the feeling that if the Jap could have done so in that instant, he +would have killed him. He said he was nineteen, but Donald says from +the matured lines of his body, from his hands and his face and his +hair, he is certain that he is thirty or more, and he thinks it very +probable that he may have graduated at home before he came here to get +his English for nothing from our public schools. I never before had the +fact called to my attention that this was being done, but Donald told +me that he had been in classes with matured men when he was less than +ten years of age. That is not fair, Judge Whiting; it is not right. +There should be an age specified above which people may not be allowed +to attend public school.”</p> + +<p>“I quite agree with you,” said the Judge. “That has been done in the +grades, but there is nothing fair in bringing a boy under twenty in +competition with a man graduated from the institutions of another +country, even in the high schools. If this be the case——”</p> + +<p>“You can be certain that it is,” said Linda, “because Donald whispered +to me as he passed me half an hour ago, coming from the school +building, that <i>to-day</i> Oka Sayye’s hair is a uniform, shining +black, and he also thought that he had used a lipstick and rouge in an +effort at rejuvenation. Do you think, from your knowledge of Donald, +that he would imagine that?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Judge Whiting, “I don’t think such a thing would occur to +him unless he saw it.”</p> + +<p>“Neither do I,” said Linda. “From the short acquaintance I have with +him I should not call him at all imaginative, but he is extremely quick +and wonderfully retentive. You have to show him but once from which +cactus he can get Victrola needles and fishing hooks, or where to find +material for wooden legs.”</p> + +<p>The Judge laughed. “Doesn’t prove much,” he said. “You wouldn’t have +to show me that more than once either. If anyone were giving me an +intensive course on such interesting subjects, I would guarantee to +remember, even at my age.”</p> + +<p>Linda nodded in acquiescence. “Then you can regard it as quite +certain,” she said, “that Oka Sayye is making up in an effort to +appear younger than he is, which means that he doesn’t want his right +questioned to be in our schools, to absorb the things that we are +taught, to learn our language, our government, our institutions, our +ideals, our approximate strength and our only-too-apparent weakness.”</p> + +<p>The Judge leaned forward and waited attentively.</p> + +<p>“The other matter,” said Linda, “was relative to Saturday. There may +not be a thing in it, but sometimes a woman’s intuition proves truer +than what a man thinks he sees and knows. I haven’t <i>seen</i> a +thing, and I don’t <i>know</i> a thing, but I don’t believe your +gardener was sick last week. I believe he had a dirty job he wanted +done and preferred to save his position and avoid risks by getting +some other Jap who had no family and no interests here, to do it +for him. I don’t <i>believe</i> that your car, having run all right +Friday night, was shot to pieces Saturday morning so that Donald went +smash with it in a manner that might very easily have killed him, or +sent him to the hospital for months, while Oka Sayye carried off the +honours without competition. I want to ask you to find out whether your +regular gardener truly was ill, whether he has a family and interests +to protect here, or whether he is a man who could disappear in a night +as Japs who have leased land and have families cannot. I want to know +about the man who took your gardener’s place, and I want the man who is +repairing your car interviewed very carefully as to what he found the +trouble with it.”</p> + +<p>Linda paused. Judge Whiting sat in deep thought, then he looked at +Linda.</p> + +<p>“I see,” he said at last. “Thank you very much for coming to me. All +these things and anything that develops from them shall be handled +carefully. Of course you know that Donald is my only son and you can +realize what he is to me and to his mother and sister.”</p> + +<p>“It is because I do realize that,” said Linda, “that I am here. I +appreciate his friendship, but it is not for my own interests that +I am asking to have him taken care of while he wages his mental war +with this Jap. I want Donald to have the victory, but I want it to be +a victory that will be an inspiration to any boy of white blood among +any of our allies or among peoples who should be our allies. There’s +a showdown coming between the white race and a mighty aggregation +of coloured peoples one of these days, and if the white man doesn’t +realize pretty soon that his supremacy is not only going to be +contested but may be lost, it just simply will be lost; that is all +there is to it.”</p> + +<p>The Judge was studying deeply now. Finally he said: “Young lady, I +greatly appreciate your coming to me. There may be <i>nothing</i> in +what you fear. It <i>might</i> be a matter of national importance. In +any event, it shows that your heart is in the right place. May Mrs. +Whiting and I pay you a visit some day soon in your home?”</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said Linda simply. “I told Donald to bring his mother the +first time he came, but he said he did not need to be chaperoned when +he came to see me, because my father’s name was a guarantee to his +mother that my home would be a proper place for him to visit.”</p> + +<p>“I wonder how many of his other girl friends invited him to bring his +mother to see them,” said the Judge.</p> + +<p>“Oh, he probably grew up with the other girls and was acquainted with +them from tiny things,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“Very likely,” conceded the Judge. “I think, after all, I would rather +have an invitation to make one of those trips with you to the desert or +the mountains. Is there anything else as interesting as fish hooks and +Victrola needles and wooden legs to be learned?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes,” said Linda, leaning farther forward, a lovely colour +sweeping up into her cheeks, her eyes a-shine. She had missed the fact +that the Judge was jesting. She had thought him in sober, scientific +earnest.</p> + +<p>“It’s an awfully nice thing if you dig a plant or soil your hands in +hunting, or anything like that, to know that there are four or five +different kinds of vegetable soap where you can easily reach them, if +you know them. If you lose your way or have a long tramp, it’s good +to know which plants will give you drink and where they are. And if +you’re short of implements, you might at any time need a mescal stick, +or an arrow shaft or an arrow, even. If Donald were lost now, he could +keep alive for days, because he would know what wood would make him a +bow and how he could take amole fiber and braid a bow string and where +he could make arrows and arrow points so that he could shoot game for +food. I’ve taught him to make a number of snares, and he knows where +to find and how to cook his greens and potatoes and onions and where +to find his pickles and how to make lemonade and tea, and what to use +for snake bite. It’s been such fun, Judge Whiting, and he has been so +interested.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I should think he would be,” said the Judge. “I am interested +myself. If you would take an old boy like me on a few of those trips, I +would be immensely pleased.”</p> + +<p>“You’d like brigand beefsteak,” suggested Linda, “and you’d like cress +salad, and I am sure you’d like creamed yucca.”</p> + +<p>“Hm,” said the Judge. “Sounds to me like Jane Meredith.”</p> + +<p>Linda suddenly sat straight. A dazed expression crossed her face. +Presently she recovered.</p> + +<p>“Will you kindly tell me,” she said, “what a great criminal judge knows +about Jane Meredith?”</p> + +<p>“Why, I hear my wife and daughter talking about her,” said the Judge.</p> + +<p>“I wonder,” said Linda, “if a judge hears so many secrets that he +forgets what a secret is and couldn’t possibly keep one to save his +life.”</p> + +<p>“On the other hand,” said Judge Whiting, “a judge hears so many secrets +that he learns to be a very secretive person himself, and if a young +lady just your size and so like you in every way as to be you, told me +anything and told me that it was a secret, I would guarantee to carry +it with me to my grave, if I said I would.”</p> + +<p>One of Linda’s special laughs floated out of the windows. Her right +hand slipped across the table toward the Judge.</p> + +<p>“Cross your heart and body?” she challenged.</p> + +<p>The Judge took the hand she offered in both of his own.</p> + +<p>“On my soul,” he said, “I swear it.”</p> + +<p>“All right,” bubbled Linda. “Judge Whiting, allow me to present to you +Jane Meredith, the author and originator of the Aboriginal Cookery +articles now running in <i>Everybody’s Home</i>.”</p> + +<p>Linda stood up as she made the presentation and the Judge arose with +her. When she bowed her dark head before him the Judge bowed equally as +low, then he took the hand he held and pressed it against his lips.</p> + +<p>“I am not surprised,” he said. “I am honoured, deeply honoured, and I +am delighted. For a High-School girl that is a splendid achievement.”</p> + +<p>“But you realize, of course,” said Linda, “that it is vicarious. I +really haven’t done anything. I am just passing on to the world what +Alexander Strong found it interesting to teach his daughter, because he +hadn’t a son.”</p> + +<p>“I certainly am fortunate that my son is getting the benefit of +this,” said Judge Whiting earnestly. “There are girls who make my +old-fashioned soul shudder, but I shall rest in great comfort whenever +I know that my boy is with you.”</p> + +<p>“Sure!” laughed Linda. “I’m not vamping him. I don’t know the first +principles. We’re not doing a thing worse than sucking ‘hunters’ rock +leek’ or roasting Indian potatoes or fishing for trout with cactus +spines. I have had such a lovely time I don’t believe that I’ll +apologize for coming. But you won’t waste a minute in making sure about +Oka Sayye?”</p> + +<p>“I won’t waste a minute,” said the Judge.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</h2> +<div class="subheadc">The End of Marian’s Contest</div> +</div> + +<p>Coming from school a few days later on an evening when she had been +detained, Linda found a radiant Katy awaiting her.</p> + +<p>“What’s up, old dear?” cried Linda. “You seem positively illumined.”</p> + +<p>“So be,” said Katy. “It’s a good time I’m havin’. In the first place +the previous boss of this place ain’t nowise so bossy as she used to +be, an’ livin’ with her is a dale aisier. An’ then, when Miss Eileen +is around these days, she is beginning to see things, and she is +just black with jealousy of ye. Something funny happened here the +afternoon, an’ she was home for once an’ got the full benefit of it. I +was swapin’ the aist walk, but I know she was inside the window an’ I +know she heard. First, comes a great big loaded automobile drivin’ up, +and stopped in front with a flourish, an’ out hops as nice an’ nate a +lookin’ lad as ever you clapped your eyes on, an’ up he comes to me an’ +off goes his hat with a swape, an’ he hands me that bundle an’ he says: +‘Here’s something Miss Linda is wantin’ bad for her wild garden.’”</p> + +<p>Katy handed Linda a bundle of newspaper, inside which, wrapped in a +man’s handkerchief, she found several plants, carefully lifted, the +roots properly balled, the heads erect, crisp, although in full flower.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Katy!” cried Linda. “Look, it’s Gallito, ‘little rooster’!”</p> + +<p>“Now ain’t them jist yellow violets?” asked Katy dubiously.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Linda, “they are not. They are quite a bit rarer. They are +really a wild pansy. Bring water, Katy, and help me.”</p> + +<p>“But I’ve something else for ye,” said Katy.</p> + +<p>“I don’t care what you have,” answered Linda. “I am just compelled to +park these little roosters at once.”</p> + +<p>“What makes ye call them that ungodly name?” asked Katy.</p> + +<p>“Nothing ungodly about it,” answered Linda. “It’s funny. <i>Gallito</i> +is the Spanish name for these violets, and it means ‘little rooster.’”</p> + +<p>Linda set the violets as carefully as they had been lifted and rinsed +her hands at the hydrant.</p> + +<p>“Now bring on the remainder of the exhibit,” she ordered.</p> + +<p>“It’s there on the top of the rock pile, which you notice has incrased +since ye last saw it.”</p> + +<p>“So it has!” said Linda. “So it has! And beautifully coloured specimens +those are too. My fern bed will lift up its voice and rejoice in them. +And rocks mean Henry Anderson. The box I do not understand.”</p> + +<p>Linda picked it up, untied the string, and slipped off the wrapping. +Katy stared in wide-mouthed amazement.</p> + +<p>“I was just tickled over that because Miss Eileen saw a good-looking +and capable young man leave a second package, right on the heels of +young Whiting,” she said. “Whatever have ye got, lambie? What does that +mean?”</p> + +<p>Linda held up a beautiful box of glass, inside of which could be seen +swarming specimens of every bug, beetle, insect, and worm that Henry +Anderson had been able to collect in Heaven only knew what hours of +search. Linda opened the box. The winged creatures flew, the beetles +tumbled, the worms went over the top. She set it on the ground and +laughed to exhaustion. Her eyes were wet as she looked up at Katy.</p> + +<p>“That first night Henry Anderson and Peter Morrison were here to +dinner, Katy,” she said, “Anderson made a joke about being my +bug-catcher when I built my home nest, and several times since he +has tried to be silly about it, but the last time I told him it was +foolishness to which I would listen no more, so instead of talking, +he has taken this way of telling me that he is fairly expert as a +bug-catcher. Really, it is awfully funny, Katy.”</p> + +<p>Katy was sober. She showed no appreciation of the fun.</p> + +<p>“Ye know, lambie,” she said, her hands on her hips, her elbows +wide-spread, her jaws argumentative, “I’ve done some blarneying with +that lad, an’ I’ve fed him some, because he was doin’ things that would +help an’ please ye, but now I’m tellin’ ye, just like I’ll be tellin’ +ye till I die, I ain’t <i>strong</i> for him. If ever the day comes +when ye ask me to take on that Whiting kid for me boss, I’ll bow my +head an’ I’ll fly at his bidding, because he is real, he’s goin’ to +come out a man lots like your pa, or hisn. An’ if ever the day comes +when ye will be telling me ye want me to serve Pater Morrison, I’ll +well nigh get on my knees to him. I think he’d be the closest we’d ever +come to gettin’ the master back. But I couldn’t say I’d ever take to +Anderson. They’s something about him, I can’t just say what, but he +puts me back up amazin’.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t worry, ancient custodian of the family,” said Linda. “That same +something in Henry Anderson that antagonizes you, affects me in even +stronger degree. You must not get the foolish notion that any man has a +speculative eye on me, because it is not true. Donald Whiting is only a +boy friend, treating me as a brother would, and Peter Morrison is much +too sophisticated and mature to pay any serious attention to a girl +with a year more high school before her. I want to be decent to Henry +Anderson, because he is Peter’s architect, and I’m deeply interested +in Peter’s house and the lady who will live in it. Sometimes I hope +it will be Donald’s sister, Mary Louise. Anyway, I am going to get +acquainted with her and make it my business to see that she and Peter +get their chance to know each other well. My job for Peter is to help +run his brook at the proper angle, build his bridge, engineer his road, +and plant his grounds; so don’t be dreaming any foolish dreams, Katy.”</p> + +<p>Katy folded her arms, tilted her chin at an unusually aspiring angle, +and deliberately sniffed.</p> + +<p>“Don’t ye be lettin’ yourself belave your own foolishness,” she said. +“I ain’t done with me exhibit yet. On the hall table ye will find a +package from the Pater Morrison man that Miss Eileen had the joy of +takin’ in and layin’ aside for ye, an atop of it rists a big letter +that I’m thinkin’ might mean Miss Marian.”</p> + +<p>“Oh,” cried Linda. “Why are you wasting all this time? If there is a +letter from Marian it may mean that the competition is decided; but if +it is, she loses, because she was to telegraph if she won.”</p> + +<p>Linda rushed into the house and carried her belongings to her workroom. +She dropped them on the table and looked at them.</p> + +<p>“I’ll get you off my mind first,” she said to the Morrison package, +which enclosed a new article entitled “How to Grow Good Citizens.” With +it was a scrawled line, “I’m leaving the head and heels of the future +to you.”</p> + +<p>“How fine!” exulted Linda. “He must have liked the head and tail pieces +I drew for his other article, so he wants the same for this, and if he +is well paid for his article, maybe in time, after I’ve settled for my +hearth motto, he will pay me something for my work. Gal-lum-shus!”</p> + +<p>As she opened the letter from Marian she slowly shook her head.</p> + +<p>“Drat the luck,” she muttered, “no good news here.”</p> + +<p>Slowly and absorbedly she read:</p> + +<blockquote> +<div class="smcap">Dearest Linda:</div> + +<p>No telegram to send. I grazed the first prize and missed the second +because Henry Anderson wins with plans so like mine that they +are practically duplicates. I have not seen the winning plans. +Mr. Snow told me as gently as he could that the judges had ruled +me out entirely. The winning plans are practically a reversal of +mine, more professionally drawn, and no doubt the specifications +are far ahead of mine, as these are my weak spot, although I have +worked all day and far into the night on the mathematics of house +building. Mr. Snow was very kind, and terribly cut up about it. I +made what I hope was a brave fight, I did so believe in those plans +that I am afraid to say just how greatly disappointed I am. All I +can do is to go to work again and try to find out how to better my +best, which I surely put into the plans I submitted. I can’t see +how Henry Anderson came to hit upon some of my personal designs +for comforts and conveniences. I had hoped that no man would +think of my especial kitchen plans. I rather fancied myself as a +benefactor to my sex, an emancipator from drudgery, as it were. I +had a concealed feeling that it required a woman who had expended +her strength combating the construction of a devilish kitchen, to +devise some of my built-in conveniences, and I worked as carefully +on my kitchen table, as on any part of the house. If I find later +that the winning plans include these things I shall believe that +Henry Anderson is a mind reader, or that lost plans naturally +gravitate to him. But there is no use to grouch further. I seem to +be born a loser. Anyway, I haven’t lost you and I still have Dana +Meade.</p> + +<p>I have nothing else to tell you except that Mr. Snow has waited +for me two evenings out of the week ever since I wrote you, and +he has taken me in his car and simply forced me to drive him for +an hour over what appeals to me to be the most difficult roads he +could select. So far I have not balked at anything, but he has +had the consideration not to direct me to the mountains. He is +extremely attractive, Linda, and I do enjoy being with him, but I +dread it too, because his grief is so deep and so apparent that it +constantly keeps before me the loss of my own dear ones, and those +things to which the hymn books refer as “aching voids” in my own +life.</p> + +<p>But there is something you will be glad to hear. That unknown +correspondent of mine is still sending letters, and I am crazy +about them. I don’t answer one now until I have mulled over it two +or three days and I try to give him as good as he sends.</p> + +<p>I judge from your letters that you are keeping at least even +with Eileen, and that life is much happier for you. You seem to +be broadening. I am so glad for the friendship you have formed +with Donald Whiting. My mother and Mrs. Whiting were friends. +She is a charming woman and it has seemed to me that in her +daughter Louise she has managed a happy compound of old-fashioned +straightforwardness and unswerving principle, festooned with happy +trimmings of all that is best in the present days. I hope that you +do become acquainted with her. She is older than you, but she is +the kind of girl I know you would like.</p> + +<p>Don’t worry because I have lost again, Linda dear. To-day is my +blue day. To-morrow I shall roll up my sleeves and go at it again +with all my might, and by and by it is written in the books that +things will come right for me. They cannot go wrong for ever.</p> + +<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 4em;">With dearest love,</span><br> +<span class="smcap">Marian</span>.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Linda looked grim as she finished the letter.</p> + +<p>“Confound such luck,” she said emphatically. “I do not understand +it. How can a man like Henry Anderson know more about comforts and +conveniences in a home than a woman with Marian’s experience and +comprehension? And she has been gaining experience for the past ten +years. That partner of his must be a six-cylinder miracle.”</p> + +<p>Linda went to the kitchen, because she was in pressing need of someone +to whom to tell her troubles, and there was no one except Katy. What +Katy said was energetic and emphatic, but it comforted Linda, because +she agreed with it and what she was seeking at the minute was someone +who agreed with her. As she went back upstairs, she met Eileen on her +way to the front door. Eileen paused and deliberately studied Linda’s +face, and Linda stopped and waited quietly until she chose to speak.</p> + +<p>“I presume,” said Eileen at last, “that you and Katy would call the +process through which you are going right now, ‘taking the bit in your +teeth,’ or some poetic thing like that, but I can’t see that you are +getting much out of it. I don’t hear the old laugh or the clatter of +gay feet as I did before all this war of dissatisfaction broke out. +This minute if you haven’t either cried, or wanted to, I miss my guess.”</p> + +<p>“You win,” said Linda. “I have not cried, because I make it a rule +never to resort to tears when I can help it; so what you see now is +unshed tears in my heart. They in no way relate to what you so aptly +term my ‘war of dissatisfaction’; they are for Marian. She has lost +again, this time the Nicholson and Snow prize in architecture.”</p> + +<p>“Serves her right,” said Eileen, laughing contemptuously. “The +ridiculous idea of her trying to compete in a man’s age-old occupation! +As if she ever could learn enough about joists and beams and girders +and installing water and gas and electricity to build a house. She +should have had the sense to know she couldn’t do it.”</p> + +<p>“But,” said Linda quietly, “Marian wasn’t proposing to be a contractor, +she only wants to be an architect. And the man who beat her is Peter +Morrison’s architect, Henry Anderson, and he won by such a narrow +margin that her plans were thrown out of second and third place, +because they were so very similar to his. Doesn’t that strike you as +curious?”</p> + +<p>“That is more than curious,” said Eileen slowly. “That is a very +strange coincidence. They couldn’t have had anything from each other, +because they only met at dinner, before all of us, and Marian went away +the next morning; it does seem queer.” Then she added with a flash of +generosity and justice, “It looks pretty good for Marian, at that. If +she came so near winning that she lost second and third because she was +too near first to make any practical difference, I must be wrong and +she must be right.”</p> + +<p>“You are wrong,” said Linda tersely, “if you think Marian cannot +make wonderful plans for houses. But going back to what my ‘war of +dissatisfaction’ is doing to me, it’s a pale affair compared with what +it is doing to you, Eileen. You look a debilitated silhouette of the +near recent past. Do you feel that badly about giving up a little money +and authority?”</p> + +<p>“I never professed to have the slightest authority over you,” said +Eileen very primly, as she drew back in the shadows. “You have come and +gone exactly as you pleased. All I ever tried to do was to keep up a +decent appearance before the neighbors and make financial ends meet.”</p> + +<p>“That never seemed to wear on you as something seems to do now,” said +Linda. “I am thankful that this week ends it. I was looking for you +because I wanted to tell you to be sure not to make any date that +will keep you from meeting me at the office of the president of the +Consolidated Bank Thursday afternoon. I am going to arrange with John +to be there and it shouldn’t take fifteen minutes to run through +matters and divide the income in a fair way between us. I am willing +for you to go on paying the bills and ordering for the house as you +have been.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly you are,” sneered Eileen. “You are quite willing for all the +work and use the greater part of my time to make you comfortable.”</p> + +<p>Linda suddenly drew back. Her body seemed to recoil, but her head +thrust forward as if to bring her eyes in better range to read Eileen’s +face.</p> + +<p>“That is utterly unjust, Eileen,” she cried.</p> + +<p>Then two at a time she rushed the stairs in a race for her room.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</h2> +<div class="subheadc">The Day of Jubilee</div> +</div> + +<p>Linda started to school half an hour earlier Wednesday morning because +that was the day for her weekly trip to the Post Office for any mail +which might have come to her under the name of Jane Meredith. She had +hard work to keep down her colour when she recognized the heavy gray +envelope used by the editor of <i>Everybody’s Home</i>. As she turned +from the window with it in her fingers she was trembling slightly and +wondering whether she could have a minute’s seclusion to face the +answer which her last letter might have brought. There was a small +alcove beside a public desk at one side of the room. Linda stepped into +this, tore open the envelope and slipped out the sheet it contained. +Dazedly she stared at the slip that fell from it. Slowly the colour +left her cheeks and then came rushing back from her surcharged heart +until her very ears were red, because that slip was very manifestly a +cheque for five hundred dollars. Mentally and physically Linda shook +herself, then she straightened to full height, tensing her muscles and +holding the sheet before her with a hand on each side to keep it from +shaking, while she read:</p> + +<blockquote> +<div class="smcap">My dear Madam:</div> + +<p>I sincerely apologize for having waited so long before writing +you of the very exceptional reception which your articles have +had. I think one half their attraction has been the exquisite and +appealing pictures you have sent for their illustration. At the +present minute they are forming what I consider the most unique +feature in the magazine. I am enclosing you a cheque for five +hundred dollars as an initial payment on the series. Just what +the completed series should be worth I am unable to say until you +inform me how many months you can keep it up at the same grade of +culinary and literary interest and attractive illustration; but I +should say at a rough estimate that you would be safe in counting +upon a repetition of this cheque for every three articles you send +in. This of course includes payment for the pictures also, which +are to me if anything more attractive than the recipes, since the +local colour and environment they add to the recipe and the word +sketch are valuable in the extreme.</p> + +<p>If you feel that you can continue this to the extent of even a +small volume, I shall be delighted to send you a book contract. +In considering this proposition, let me say that if you could +not produce enough recipes to fill a book, you could piece it +out to the necessary length most charmingly and attractively by +lengthening the descriptions of the environment in which the +particular fruits and vegetables you deal with are to be found; +and in book form you might allow yourself much greater latitude +in the instructions concerning the handling of the fruits and the +preparation of the recipes. I think myself that a wonderfully +attractive book could be made from this material, and hope that you +will agree with me. Trusting that this will be satisfactory to you +and that you will seriously consider the book proposition before +you decline it, I remain, my dear madam,</p> + +<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 3em;">Very truly yours,</span><br> +<span class="smcap" style="margin-right: 1em;">Hugh Thompson,</span><br> +Editor, <i>Everybody’s Home</i>.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Gripping the cheque and the letter, Linda lurched forward against the +window casement and shut her eyes tight, because she could feel big, +nervous gulps of exultation and rejoicing swelling up in her throat. +She shifted the papers to one hand and surreptitiously slipped the +other to her pocket. She tried to keep the papers before her and looked +straight from the window to avoid attracting attention. The tumult +of exultation in her heart was so wild that she did not surely know +whether she wanted to sink to the floor, lay her face against the +glass, and indulge in what for generations women have referred to as “a +good cry,” or whether she wanted to leap from the window and sport on +the wind like a driven leaf.</p> + +<p>Then she returned the letter and cheque to the envelope, and slipped +it inside her blouse, and started on her way to school. She might as +well have gone to Multiflores Canyon and pitted her strength against +climbing its walls for the day, for all the good she did in her school +work. She heard no word of any recitation by her schoolmates. She +had no word ready when called on for a recitation herself. She heard +nothing that was said by any of the professors. On winged feet she +was flying back and forth from the desert to the mountains, from the +canyons to the sea. She was raiding beds of camass and devising ways +to roast the bulbs and make a new dish. She was compounding drinks +from mescal and bisnaga. She was hunting desert pickles and trying to +remember whether Indian rhubarb ever grew so far south. She was glad +when the dismissal hour came that afternoon. With eager feet she went +straight to the Consolidated Bank and there she asked again to be +admitted to the office of the president. Mr. Worthington rose as she +came in.</p> + +<p>“Am I wrong in my dates?” he inquired. “I was not expecting you until +to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>“No, you’re quite right,” said Linda. “At this hour to-morrow. But, Mr. +Worthington, I am in trouble again.”</p> + +<p>Linda looked so distressed that the banker pushed a chair to the +table’s side for her, and when she had seated herself, he said quietly: +“Tell me all about it, Linda. We must get life straightened out as best +we can.”</p> + +<p>“I think I must tell you all about it,” said Linda, “because I know +just enough about banking to know that I have a proposition that I +don’t know how to handle. Are bankers like father confessors and +doctors and lawyers?”</p> + +<p>“I think they are even more so,” laughed Mr. Worthington. “Perhaps the +father confessor takes precedence, otherwise I believe people are quite +as much interested in their financial secrets as in anything else in +all this world. Have you a financial secret?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Linda, “I have what is to me a big secret, and I don’t in +the least know how to handle it, so right away I thought about you and +that you would be the one to tell me what I could do.”</p> + +<p>“Go ahead,” said Mr. Worthington kindly. “I’ll give you my word of +honour to keep any secret you confide to me.”</p> + +<p>Linda produced her letter. She opened it and without any preliminaries +handed it and the cheque to the banker. He looked at the cheque +speculatively, and then laid it aside and read the letter. He gave +every evidence of having read parts of it two or three times, then he +examined the cheque again, and glanced at Linda.</p> + +<p>“And just how did you come into possession of this, young lady?” he +inquired. “And what is it that you want of me?”</p> + +<p>“Why, don’t you see?” said Linda. “It’s <i>my</i> letter and <i>my</i> +cheque; I’m ‘Jane Meredith.’ Now how am I going to get my money.”</p> + +<p>For one dazed moment Mr. Worthington studied Linda; then he threw back +his head and laughed unrestrainedly. He came around the table and took +both Linda’s hands.</p> + +<p>“Bully for you!” he cried exultantly. “How I wish your father could see +the seed he has sown bearing its fruit. Isn’t that fine? And do you +want to go on with this anonymously?”</p> + +<p>“I think I must,” said Linda. “I have said in my heart that no Jap, +male or female, young or old, shall take first honours in a class from +which I graduate; and you can see that if people generally knew this, +it would make it awfully hard for me to go on with my studies, and I +don’t know that the editor who is accepting this work would take it if +he knew it were sent him by a high-school Junior. You see the dignified +way in which he addresses me as ‘madam’?”</p> + +<p>“I see,” said Mr. Worthington reflectively.</p> + +<p>“I’m sure,” said Linda with demure lips, though the eyes above them +were blazing and dancing at high tension, “I’m sure that the editor is +attaching a husband, and a house having a well-ordered kitchen, and +rather wide culinary experience to that ‘dear madam.’”</p> + +<p>“And what about this book proposition?” asked the banker gravely. +“That would be a big thing for a girl of your age. Can you do it, and +continue your school work?”</p> + +<p>“With the background I have, with the unused material I have, and with +vacation coming before long, I can do it easily,” said Linda. “My +school work is not difficult for me. It only requires concentration for +about two hours in the preparation that each day brings. The remainder +of the time I could give to amplifying and producing new recipes.”</p> + +<p>“I see,” said the banker. “So you have resolved, Linda, that you don’t +want your editor to know your real name.”</p> + +<p>“Could scarcely be done,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“But have you stopped to think,” said the banker, “that you will be +asked for personal history and about your residence, and no doubt a +photograph of yourself. If you continue this work anonymously you’re +going to have trouble with more matters than cashing a cheque.”</p> + +<p>“But I am not going to have any trouble cashing a cheque,” she said, +“because I have come straight to the man whose business is cheques.”</p> + +<p>“True enough,” he said; “I <i>shall</i> have to arrange the cheque; +there’s not a doubt about that; and as for your other bugbears——”</p> + +<p>“I refuse to be frightened by them,” interposed Linda.</p> + +<p>“Have you ever done any business at the bank?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“None of the clerks know you?”</p> + +<p>“Not that I remember,” said Linda. “I might possibly be acquainted with +some of them. I have merely passed through the bank on my way to your +room twice.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said the banker, “we’ll have to risk it. After this estate +business is settled you will want to open an account in your name.”</p> + +<p>“Quite true,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“Then I would advise you,” said Mr. Worthington, “to open this account +in your own name. Endorse this cheque ‘Jane Meredith’ and make it +payable to me personally. Whenever one of these comes, bring it to me +and I’ll take care of it for you. One minute.”</p> + +<p>He left Linda sitting quietly reading and rereading her letter, and +presently returned and laid a sheaf of paper money before her.</p> + +<p>“Take it to the paying teller. Tell him that you wish to deposit it, +and ask him to give you a bank book and a cheque book,” he said. “Thank +you very much for coming to me and for confiding in me.”</p> + +<p>Linda gathered up the money, and said good-bye to the banker. Just +as she started forward she recognized Eileen at the window of the +paying teller. It was an Eileen she never before had seen. Her face +was strained to a ghastly gray. Her hat was not straight and her hands +were shaking. Without realizing that she was doing it, Linda stepped +behind one of the huge marble pillars supporting the ceiling and stood +there breathlessly, watching Eileen. She could gather that she was +discussing the bank ledger which lay before the teller and that he was +refusing something that Eileen was imploring him to do. Linda thought +she understood what it was. Then very clearly Eileen’s voice, sharp and +strained, reached her ears.</p> + +<p>“You mean that you are refusing to pay me my deposits on my private +account?” she cried; and Linda could also hear the response.</p> + +<p>“I am very sorry if it annoys or inconveniences you, Miss Strong, but +since the settlement of the estate takes place to-morrow, our orders +are to pay out no funds in any way connected with the estate until +after that settlement has been arranged.”</p> + +<p>“But this is my money, my own private affair,” begged Eileen. “The +estate has nothing to do with it.”</p> + +<p>“I am sorry,” repeated the teller. “If that is the case, you will have +no difficulty in establishing the fact in a few minutes’ time.”</p> + +<p>Eileen turned and left the bank, and it seemed that she was almost +swaying. Linda stood a second with narrowed eyes, in deep thought.</p> + +<p>“I think,” she said at last, deep down in her heart, “that it looks +precious much as if there had been a bit of transgression in this +affair. It looks, too, as if ‘the way of the transgressor’ were a +darned hard way. Straight ahead, open and aboveboard for you, my girl!”</p> + +<p>Then she went quietly to the desk and transacted her own business; +but her beautiful day was clouded. Her heart was no longer leaping +exultantly. She was sickened and sorrowful over the evident nerve +strain and discomfort which Eileen seemed to have brought upon herself. +She dreaded meeting her at dinner that night, and she wondered all the +way home where Eileen had gone from the bank and what she had been +doing. What she felt was a pale affair compared with what she would +have felt if she could have seen Eileen leave the bank and enter a +near-by store, go to a telephone booth and put in a long-distance call +for San Francisco. Her eyes were brilliant, her cheeks by nature redder +than the rouge she had used upon them. She squared her shoulders, +lifted her head, as if she irrevocably had made a decision and would +not be thwarted in acting upon it. While she waited she straightened +her hat, and tucked up her pretty hair, once more evincing concern +about her appearance. After a nervous wait she secured her party.</p> + +<p>“Am I speaking with Mr. James Heitman?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” came the answer.</p> + +<p>“Well, Uncle Jim, this is Eileen.”</p> + +<p>“Why, hello, girlie,” was the quick response. “Delighted that you’re +calling your ancient uncle. Haven’t changed the decision in the last +letter I had from you, have you?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Eileen, “I have changed it. Do you and Aunt Caroline still +want me, Uncle Jim?”</p> + +<p>“<i>You bet we want you!</i>” roared the voice over the ’phone. “Here +we are, with plenty of money and not a relation on earth but you to +leave it to. You belong to us by rights. We’d be tickled to death to +have you, and for you to have what’s left of the money when we get +through with it. May I come after you? Say the word, and I’ll start +this minute.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Uncle Jim, could you? Would you?” cried Eileen.</p> + +<p>“Well, I’d say I could. We’d be tickled to death, I tell you!”</p> + +<p>“How long would it take you to get here?” said Eileen.</p> + +<p>“Well, I could reach you by noon to-morrow. Eleven something is the +shortest time it’s been made in; that would give me thirteen—more than +enough. Are you in that much of a hurry?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” gasped Eileen, “yes, I am in the biggest kind of a hurry there +is, Uncle Jim. This troublesome little estate has to be settled +to-morrow afternoon. There’s going to be complaint about everything +that I have seen fit to do. I’ve been hounded and harassed till I am +disgusted with it. Then I’ve promised to marry John Gilman as I wrote +you, and I don’t believe you would think that was my best chance with +the opportunities you could give me. It seems foolish to stay here, +abused as I have been lately, and as I will be to-morrow. You have the +house number. If you come and get me out of it by noon to-morrow, I’ll +go with you. You may take out those adoption papers you have always +entreated me to agree to and I’ll be a daughter that you can be proud +of. It will be a relief to have some real money and some real position, +and to breathe freely and be myself once more.”</p> + +<p>“All right for you, girlie!” bellowed the great voice over the line. +“Pick up any little personal bits you can put in a suitcase, and by +twelve o’clock to-morrow I’ll whisk you right out of that damn mess.”</p> + +<p>Eileen walked from the telephone booth with her head high, triumph +written all over her face and figure. They were going to humiliate her. +She would show them!</p> + +<p>She went home immediately. Entering her room, she closed the door and +stood looking at her possessions. How could she get her trunk from the +garret? How could she get it to the station? Would it be possible for +Uncle James to take it in his car? As she pondered these things Eileen +had a dim memory of a day in her childhood when her mother had gone +on business to San Francisco and had taken her along. She remembered +a huge house, all turrets and towers and gables, all turns and twists +and angles, closed to the light of day and glowing inside with shining +artificial lights. She remembered stumbling over deep rugs. One vivid +impression was of walls covered with huge canvases, some of them having +frames more than a foot wide. She remembered knights in armor, and big +fireplaces, and huge urns and vases. It seemed to her like the most +wonderful bazaar she ever had been in. She remembered, too, that she +had been glad when her mother had taken her out into the sunshine again +and from the presence of two ponderous people who had objected strongly +to everything her mother had discussed with them. She paused one +instant, contemplating this picture. The look of triumph on her face +toned down considerably. Then she comforted herself aloud.</p> + +<p>“I’ve heard Mother say,” she said softly, “that everybody overdid +things and did not know how to be graceful with immense fortunes got +from silver and gold mines, and lumber. It will be different now. +Probably they don’t live in the same house, even. There is a small army +of servants, and there is nothing I can think of that Uncle Jim won’t +gladly get me. I’ve been too big a fool for words to live this way as +long as I have. Crush me, will they? I’ll show them! I won’t even touch +these things I have strained so to get.”</p> + +<p>Eileen jerked from her throat the strand of pearls that she had worn +continuously for four years and threw it contemptuously on her dressing +table.</p> + +<p>“I’ll make Uncle Jim get me a rope with two or three strands in it that +will reach to my waist. ‘A suitcase!’ I don’t know what I would fill a +suitcase with from here. The trunk may stay in the garret, and while I +am leaving all this rubbish, I’ll just leave John Gilman with it. Uncle +Jim will give me an income that will buy all the cigarettes I want +without having to deceive anyone; and I can have money if I want to +stake something at bridge without being scared into paralysis for fear +somebody may find it out or the accounts won’t balance. I’ll put on the +most suitable thing I have to travel in, and just walk out and leave +everything else.”</p> + +<p>That was what Eileen did. At noon the next day her eyes were bright +with nervousness. Her cheeks alternately paled with fear and flooded +red with anxiety. She had dressed herself carefully, laid out her hat +and gloves and a heavy coat in case the night should be chilly. Once +she stood looking at the dainty, brightly coloured dresses hanging in +her wardrobe A flash of regret passed over her face.</p> + +<p>“Tawdry little cheap things and makeshifts,” she said. “If Linda feels +that she has been so terribly defrauded, she can help herself now!”</p> + +<p>By twelve o’clock she found herself standing at the window, straining +her eyes down Lilac Valley. She was not looking at its helpful hills, +at its appealing curves, at its brilliant colours. She was watching the +roadway. When Katy rang to call her to lunch, she told her to put the +things away; she was expecting people who would take her out to lunch +presently. In the past years she had occasionally written to her uncle. +Several times when he had had business in Los Angeles she had met +him at his hotel and dined with him. She reasoned that he would come +straight to the house and get her, and then they would go to one of the +big hotels for lunch before they started.</p> + +<p>“I shan’t feel like myself,” said Eileen, “until we are well on the way +to San Francisco.”</p> + +<p>At one o’clock she was walking the floor. At two she was almost +frantic. At half past she almost wished that she had had the good sense +to have some lunch, since she was very hungry and under tense nerve +strain. Once she paused before the glass, but what she saw frightened +her. Just when she felt that she could not endure the strain another +minute, grinding brakes, the blast of a huge Klaxon, and the sound of +a great voice arose from the street. Eileen rushed to the window. She +took one look, caught up the suitcase and raced down the stairs. At the +door she met a bluff, big man, gross from head to foot. It seemed to +Eileen strange that she could see in him even a trace of her mother, +and yet she could. Red veins crossed his cheeks and glowed on his nose. +His tired eyes were watery; his thick lips had an inclination to sag; +but there was heartiness in his voice and earnestness in the manner in +which he picked her up.</p> + +<p>“What have they been doing to you down here?” he demanded. “Never +should have left you this long. Ought to have come down and taken you +and showed you what you wanted, and then you would have <i>known</i> +whether you wanted it or not.”</p> + +<p>At this juncture a huge woman, gross in a feminine way as her husband +was in his, paddled up the walk.</p> + +<p>“I’m comin’ in and rest a few minutes,” she said. “I’m tired to death +and I’m pounded to pieces.”</p> + +<p>Her husband turned toward her. He opened his lips to introduce Eileen. +His wife forestalled him.</p> + +<p>“So this is the Eileen you have been ravin’ about for years,” she said. +“I thought you said she was a pretty girl.”</p> + +<p>Eileen’s soul knew one sick instant of recoil. She looked from James +Heitman to Caroline, his wife, and remembered that he had a habit +of calling her “Cally.” All that paint and powder and lip-stick and +brilliantine could do to make the ponderous, big woman more ghastly had +been done, but in the rush of the long ride through which her husband +had forced her, the colours had mixed and slipped, the false waves were +displaced. She was not in any condition to criticize the appearance of +another woman. For one second Eileen hesitated, then she lifted her +shaking hands to her hat.</p> + +<p>“I have been hounded out of my senses,” she said apologetically, “and +have been so terribly anxious for fear you wouldn’t get here on time. +Please, Aunt Caroline, let us go to a hotel, some place where we can +straighten up comfortably.”</p> + +<p>“Well, what’s your hurry?” said Aunt Caroline coolly. “You’re not a +fugitive from justice, are you? Can’t a body rest a few minutes and +have a drink, even? Besides, I am going to see what kind of a place +you’ve been living in, and then I’ll know how thankful you’ll be for +what we got to offer.”</p> + +<p>Eileen turned and threw open the door. The big woman walked in. She +looked down the hall, up the stairway, and went on to the living room. +She gave it one contemptuous glance, and turning, came back to the door.</p> + +<p>“All right, Jim,” she said brusquely. “I have seen enough. If you know +the best hotel in the town, take me there. And then, if Eileen’s in +such a hurry, after we have had a bite we’ll start for home.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you, Aunt Caroline, oh, thank you!” cried Eileen.</p> + +<p>“You needn’t take the trouble to ‘aunt’ me every time you speak to me,” +said the lady. “I know you’re my niece, but I ain’t goin’ to remind you +of it every time I speak to you. It’s agein’, this ‘auntie’ business. +I don’t stand for it, and as for a name, I am free to confess I always +like the way Jim calls me ‘Cally.’ That sounds younger and more +companionable than ‘Caroline.’”</p> + +<p>James Heitman looked at Eileen and winked.</p> + +<p>“You just bet, old girl!” he said. “They ain’t any of them can beat +you, not even Eileen at her best. Let’s get her out of here. Does this +represent your luggage, girlie?”</p> + +<p>“You said not to bother with anything else,” said Eileen.</p> + +<p>“So I did,” said Uncle Jim, “and I meant just what I said if it’s all +right with you. I suppose I did have, in the back of my head, an idea +that there might be a trunk or a box—some things that belonged to your +mother, mebby, and your ‘keepsakes.’”</p> + +<p>“Oh, never mind,” interrupted Eileen. “Do let’s go. It’s nearly four +o’clock. Any minute they may send for me from the bank, and I’d be more +than glad to be out of the way.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I’m not accustomed to being the porter, but if time’s that +precious, here we go,” said Uncle Jim.</p> + +<p>He picked up the suitcase with one hand and took his wife’s arm with +the other.</p> + +<p>“Scoot down there and climb into that boat,” he said proudly to Eileen. +“We’ll have a good dinner in a private room when we get to the hotel. I +won’t even register. And then we’ll get out of here when we have rested +a little.”</p> + +<p>“Can’t we stay all night and go in the morning?” panted his wife.</p> + +<p>“No, ma’am, we can’t,” said James Heitman authoritatively. “We’ll eat +a bite because we need to be fed up, and I sincerely hope they’s some +decent grub to be had in this burg. The first place we come to outside +of here, that looks like they had a decent bed, we’ll stop and make up +for last night. But we ain’t a-goin’ to stay here if Eileen wants us to +start right away, eh, Eileen?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, please!” panted Eileen. “I just don’t want to meet any of them. +It’s time enough for them to know what has happened after I am gone.”</p> + +<p>“All right then,” said Uncle James. “Pile in and we’ll go.”</p> + +<p>So Eileen started on the road to the unlimited wealth her soul had +always craved.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV</h2> +<div class="subheadc">Linda’s First Party</div> +</div> + +<p>At the bank Linda and John Gilman waited an hour past the time set for +Eileen’s appearance. Then Linda asserted herself.</p> + +<p>“I have had a feeling for some time,” she said quietly, “that Eileen +would not appear to-day, and if she doesn’t see fit to come, there is +no particular reason why she should. There is nothing to do but go over +the revenue from the estate. The books will show what Eileen has drawn +monthly for her expense budget. That can be set aside and the remainder +divided equally between us. It’s very simple. Here is a letter I wrote +to the publishers of Father’s books asking about royalties. I haven’t +even opened it. I will turn it in with the remainder of the business.”</p> + +<p>They were in the office with the president of the bank. He rang for the +clerk he wanted and the books he required, and an hour’s rapid figuring +settled the entire matter, with the exception of the private account, +amounting to several thousands, standing in Eileen’s name. None of them +knew any source of separate income she might have. At a suggestion from +Linda, the paying teller was called in and asked if he could account +for any of the funds that had gone into the private account.</p> + +<p>“Not definitely,” he said, “but the amounts always corresponded exactly +with the royalties from the books. I strongly suspect that they +constitute this private account of Miss Eileen’s.”</p> + +<p>But he did not say that she had tried to draw it the day previous.</p> + +<p>John Gilman made the suggestion that they should let the matter rest +until Eileen explained about it. Then Linda spoke very quietly, but +with considerable finality in her tone.</p> + +<p>“No,” she said, “I know that Eileen <i>had</i> no source of private +income. Mother used to mention that she had some wealthy relatives in +San Francisco, but they didn’t approve of her marriage to what they +called a ‘poor doctor,’ and she would never accept, or allow us to +accept, anything from them. They never came to see us and we never +went to see them. Eileen knows no more about them than I do. We will +work upon the supposition that everything that is here belonged to +Father. Set aside to Eileen’s credit the usual amount for housekeeping +expenses. Turn the private account in with the remainder. Start two +new bank books, one for Eileen and one for me. Divide the surplus each +month exactly in halves. And I believe this is the proper time for the +bank to turn over to me a certain key, specified by my father as having +been left in your possession to be delivered to me on my coming of age.”</p> + +<p>With the key in her possession, Linda and John Gilman left the bank. As +they stood for a moment in front of the building, Gilman removed his +hat and ran his hands through his hair as if it were irritating his +head.</p> + +<p>“Linda,” he said in a deeply wistful tone, “I don’t understand this. +Why shouldn’t Eileen have come to-day as she agreed? What is there +about this that is not according to law and honour and the plain, +simple rights of the case?”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know,” said Linda; “but there is something we don’t understand +about it. And I am going to ask you, John, as my guardian, closing +up my affairs to-day, to go home with me to be present when I open +the little hidden door I found at the back of a library shelf when I +was disposing of Daddy’s technical books. There was a slip of paper +at the edge of it specifying that the key was in possession of the +Consolidated Bank and was to be delivered to me, in the event of +Daddy’s passing, on my coming of age. I have the key, but I would +like to have you with me, and Eileen if she is in the house, when I +open that door. I don’t know what is behind it, but there’s a certain +feeling that always has been strong in my heart and it never was so +strong as it is at this minute.”</p> + +<p>So they boarded the street car and ran out to Lilac Valley. When Katy +admitted them Linda put her arm around her and kissed her. She could +see that the house was freshly swept and beautifully decorated with +flowers, and her trained nostrils could scent whiffs of delicious +odours from food of which she was specially fond. In all her world Katy +was the one person who was celebrating her birthday. She seemed rather +surprised when Linda and Gilman came in together.</p> + +<p>“Where is Eileen?” inquired Linda.</p> + +<p>“She must have made some new friends,” said Katy. “About four o’clock, +the biggest car that ever roared down this street rolled up, and the +biggest man and woman that I ever see came puffin’ and pantin’ in. +Miss Eileen did not tell me where she was goin’ or when she would be +back, but I know it won’t be the night, because she took her little +dressin’ case with her. Belike it’s another of them trips to Riverside +or Pasadena.”</p> + +<p>“Very likely,” said Linda quietly. “Katy, can you spare a few minutes?”</p> + +<p>“No, lambie, I jist can’t,” said Katy, “because a young person that’s +the apple of me eye is havin’ a birthday the day and I have got me +custard cake in the oven and the custard is in the makin’, and after +Miss Eileen went and I didn’t see no chance for nothin’ special, I +jist happened to look out, one of the ways ye do things unbeknownst +to yourself, and there stood Mr. Pater Morrison moonin’ over the +‘graveyard’, like he called it, and it was lookin’ like seein’ graves +he was, and I jist took the bull by the horns, and I sings out to +him and I says: ‘Mr. Pater Morrison, it’s a good friend ye were to +the young missus when ye engineered her skylight and her beautiful +fireplace, and this bein’ her birthday, I’m takin’ the liberty to ask +ye to come to dinner and help me celebrate.’ And he said he would run +up to the garage and get into his raygimentals, whatever them might be, +and he would be here at six o’clock. So ye got a guest for dinner, and +if the custard’s scorched and the cake’s flat, it’s up to ye for kapin’ +me here to tell ye all this.”</p> + +<p>Then Katy hurried to the kitchen. Linda looked at John Gilman and +smiled.</p> + +<p>“Isn’t that like her?” she said.</p> + +<p>Then she led the way to the library, pulled aside the books, fitted the +key to the little door, and opened it. Inside lay a single envelope, +sealed and bearing her name. She took the envelope, and walking to her +father’s chair beside his library table, sat down in it, and laying the +envelope on the table, crossed her hands on top of it.</p> + +<p>“John,” she said, “ever since I have been big enough to think and +reason and study things out for myself, there is a feeling I have +had—I used to think it was unreasonable, then I thought it remote +possibility. This minute I think it’s extremely probable. Before I open +this envelope I am going to tell you what I believe it contains. I have +not the slightest evidence except personal conviction, but I believe +that the paper inside this envelope is written by my father’s hand and +I believe it tells me that he was not Eileen’s father and that I am not +her sister. If it does not say this, then there is nothing in race and +blood and inherited tendencies.”</p> + +<p>Linda picked up the paper cutter, ran it across the envelope, slipped +out the sheet, and bracing herself she read:</p> + +<blockquote> +<div class="smcap">My darling Linda:</div> + +<p>These lines are to tell you that your mother went to her eternal +sleep when you were born. Four years later I met and fell in love +with the only mother you ever have known. At the time of our +marriage we entered into a solemn compact that her little daughter +by a former marriage and mine should be reared as sisters. I was +to give half my earnings and to do for Eileen exactly as I did for +you. She was to give half her love and her best attention to your +interests.</p> + +<p>I sincerely hope that what I have done will not result in any +discomfort or inconvenience to you.</p> + +<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 2.5em;">With dearest love, as ever your father,</span><br> +<span class="smcap">Alexander Strong</span>.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Linda laid the sheet on the table and dropped her hands on top of it. +Then she looked at John Gilman.</p> + +<p>“John,” she said, “I believe you had better face the fact that the +big car and the big people that carried Eileen away to-day were her +mother’s wealthy relatives from San Francisco. She must have been in +touch with them. I think very likely she sent for them after I saw her +in the bank yesterday afternoon, trying with all her might to make the +paying teller turn over to her the funds of the private account.”</p> + +<p>John Gilman sat very still for a long time, then he raised tired, +disappointed eyes to Linda’s face.</p> + +<p>“Linda,” he said, “do you mean you think Eileen was not straight about +money matters?”</p> + +<p>“John,” said Linda quietly, “I think it is time for the truth about +Eileen between you and me. If you want me to answer that question +candidly, I’ll answer it.”</p> + +<p>“I want the truth,” said John Gilman gravely.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Linda, “I never knew Eileen to be honest about anything in +all her life unless the truth served her better than an evasion. Her +hair was not honest colour and it was not honest curl. Her eyebrows +were not so dark as she made them. Her cheeks and lips were not so red, +her forehead and throat were not so white, her form was not so perfect. +Her friends were selected because they could serve her. As long as you +were poor and struggling, Marian was welcome to you. When you won a +great case and became prosperous and fame came rapidly, Eileen took +you. I believe what I told you a minute ago: I think she has gone for +good. I think she went because she had not been fair and she would not +be forced to face the fact before you and me and the president of the +Consolidated to-day. I think you will have to take your heart home +to-night and I think that before the night is over you will realize +what Marian felt when she knew that in addition to having been able to +take you from her, Eileen was not a woman who would make you happy. +I am glad, deeply glad, that there is not a drop of her blood in my +veins, sorry as I am for you and much as I regret what has happened. I +won’t ask you to stay to-night, because you must go through the same +black waters Marian breasted, and you will want to be alone. Later, if +you think of any way I can serve you, I will be glad for old sake’s +sake; but you must not expect me ever to love you or respect your +judgment as I did before the shadow fell.”</p> + +<p>Then Linda rose, replaced the letter, turned the key in the lock, and +quietly slipped out of the room.</p> + +<p>When she opened her door and stepped into her room she paused in +astonishment. Spread out upon the bed lay a dress of georgette with +little touches of fur and broad ribbons of satin. In colour it was +like the flame of seasoned beechwood. Across the foot of the bed hung +petticoat, camisole, and hose, and beside the dress a pair of satin +slippers exactly matching the hose, and they seemed the right size. +Linda tiptoed to the side of the bed and delicately touched the dress, +and then she saw a paper lying on the waist front, and picking it up +read:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Lambie, here’s your birthday, from loving old Katy.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The lines were terse and to the point. Linda laid them down, and +picking up the dress she walked to the mirror, and holding it under her +chin glanced down the length of its reflection. What she saw almost +stunned her.</p> + +<p>“Oh, good Lord!” she said. “I can’t wear that. That isn’t me.”</p> + +<p>Then she tossed the dress on the bed and started in a headlong rush to +the kitchen. As she came through the door, “You blessed old darling!” +she cried. “What am I going to say to make you know how I appreciate +your lovely, lovely gift?”</p> + +<p>Katy raised her head. There was something that is supposed to be the +prerogative of royalty in the lift of it. Her smile was complacent in +the extreme.</p> + +<p>“Don’t ye be standin’ there wastin’ no time talkin’,” she said.</p> + +<p>“I have oodles of time,” said Linda, “but I warn you, you won’t know me +if I put on that frock, Katy.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I will, too,” said Katy.</p> + +<p>“Katy,” said Linda, sobering suddenly, “would it make any great +difference to you if I were the only one here for always, after this?”</p> + +<p>Katy laughed contemptuously.</p> + +<p>“Well, I’d warrant to survive it,” she said coolly.</p> + +<p>“But that is exactly what I must tell you, Katy,” said Linda soberly. +“You know I have told you a number of times through these years that +I did not believe Eileen and I were sisters, and I am telling you now +that I know it. She did not come to the bank to-day, and the settlement +of Father’s affairs developed the fact that I was my father’s child +and Eileen was her mother’s; and I’m thinking, Katy, that the big car +you saw and the opulent people in it were Eileen’s mother’s wealthy +relatives from San Francisco. My guess is, Katy, that Eileen has gone +with them for good. Lock her door and don’t touch her things until we +know certainly what she wants done with them.”</p> + +<p>Katy stood thinking intently, then she lifted her eyes to Linda’s.</p> + +<p>“Lambie,” she whispered softly, “are we ixpicted to go into mourning +over this?”</p> + +<p>A mischievous light leaped into Linda’s eyes.</p> + +<p>“Well, if there are any such expectations abroad, Katherine O’Donovan,” +she said soberly, “the saints preserve ’em, for we can’t fulfill ’em, +can we, Katy?”</p> + +<p>“Not to be savin’ our souls,” answered Katy heartily. “I’m jist so glad +and thankful that I don’t know what to do, and it’s such good news that +I don’t belave one word of it. And while you’re talkie’, what about +John Gilman?”</p> + +<p>“I think,” said Linda quietly, “that to-night is going to teach him how +Marian felt in her blackest hours.”</p> + +<p>“Well, he needn’t be coming to me for sympathy,” said Katy. “But if +Miss Eileen has gone to live with the folks that come after her the +day, ye might be savin’ a wee drap o’ sympathy for her, lambie. They +was jist the kind of people that you’d risk your neck slidin’ down a +mountain to get out of their way.”</p> + +<p>“That is too bad,” said Linda reflectively; “because Eileen is +sensitive and constant contact with crass vulgarity certainly would +wear on her nerves.”</p> + +<p>“Now you be goin’ and gettin’ into that dress, lambie,” said Katy.</p> + +<p>“Katherine O’Donovan,” said Linda, “you’re used to it; come again to +confession. Tell me truly where and how did you get that dress?”</p> + +<p>“’Tain’t no rule of polite society to be lookin’ gift horses in the +mouth,” said Katy proudly. “<i>How</i> I got it is me own affair, jist +like ye got any gifts ye was ever makin’ me, is yours. <i>Where</i> +I got it? I went into the city on the strafe car and I went to the +biggest store in the city and I got in the elevator and I says to the +naygur: ‘Let me off where real ladies buy ready-to-wear dresses.’</p> + +<p>“And up comes a little woman, and her hair was jist as soft and curling +round her ears, and brown and pretty was her eyes, and the pink that +God made was in her cheeks, and in a voice like runnin’ water she +says: ‘Could I do anything for you?’ I told her what I wanted. And she +says: ‘How old is the young lady, and what’s her size, and what’s her +colour?’ Darlin’, ain’t that dress the answer to what I told her?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Linda. “If an artist had been selecting a dress for me he +would probably have chosen that one. But, old dear, it’s not suitable +for me. It’s not the kind of dress that I intended to wear for years +and years yet. Do you think, if I put it on to-night, I’ll ever be able +to go back to boots and breeches again, and hunt the canyons for plants +to cook for—you know what?”</p> + +<p>Katy stood in what is commonly designated as a “brown study.” Then she +looked Linda over piercingly.</p> + +<p>“Yes, ma’am,” she said conclusively. “It’s my judgment that ye will. I +think ye’ll maybe wrap the braids of ye around your head to-night, and +I think ye’ll put on that frock, and I think ye’ll show Pater Morrison +how your pa’s daughter can sit at the head of his table and entertain +her friends. Then I think ye’ll hang it in your closet and put on your +boots and breeches and go back to your old Multiflores and attind to +your business, the same as before.”</p> + +<p>“All right, Katy,” said Linda, “if you have that much faith in me I +have that much faith in myself; but, old dear, I can’t tell you how I +<i>love</i> having a pretty dress for to-night. Katy dear, the ‘Day of +Jubilee’ has come. Before you go to sleep I’m coming to your room to +tell you fine large secrets, that you won’t believe for a minute, but I +haven’t the time to do it now.”</p> + +<p>Then Linda raced to her room and began dressing. She let down the mop +of her hair waving below her waist and looked at it despairingly.</p> + +<p>“That dress never was made for braids down your back,” she said, +glancing toward the bed where it lay shimmering in a mass of lovely +colour. “I am of age to-day; for state occasions I should be a woman. +What shall I do with it?”</p> + +<p>And then she recalled Katy’s voice saying: “Braids round your head.”</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said Linda, “that would be the thing to do. I certainly +don’t need anything to add to my height; I am far too tall now.”</p> + +<p>So she parted her hair in the middle, brushed it back, divided it in +even halves, and instead of braiding it, she coiled it around her head, +first one side and then the other.</p> + +<p>She slipped into the dress and struggled with its many and intricate +fastenings. Then she went to the guest room to stand before the +full-length mirror there. Slowly she turned. Critically she examined +herself.</p> + +<p>“It’s a bit shorter than I would have ordered it,” she said, “but it +reduces my height, it certainly gives wonderful freedom in walking, and +it’s not nearly so short as I see other girls wearing.”</p> + +<p>Again she studied herself critically.</p> + +<p>“Need some kind of ornament for my hair,” she muttered, “but I haven’t +got it, and neither do I own beads, bracelet, or a ring; and my ears +are sticking right out in the air. I am almost offensively uncovered.”</p> + +<p>Then she went down to show herself to a delighted Katy. When the +door-bell rang Linda turned toward the hall. Katy reached a detaining +hand.</p> + +<p>“You’ll do nothing of the sort,” she said. “I answered the bell for +Miss Eileen. Answer the bell I shall for you.”</p> + +<p>Down the hall went Katy with the light of battle in her eyes and the +air of a conqueror in the carriage of her head. She was well trained. +Neither eyelid quivered as she flung the door wide to Peter Morrison. +He stood there in dinner dress, more imposing than Katy had thought +he could be. With quick, inner exultation she reached for two parcels +he carried; over them her delight was so overpowering that Peter +Morrison must have seen a hint of it. With a flourish Katy seated him, +and carried the packages to Linda. She returned a second later for a +big vase, and in this Linda arranged a great sheaf of radiant roses. +As Katy started to carry them back to the room, Linda said “Wait a +second,” and selecting one half opened, she slipped it out, shortened +the stem and tucked it among the coils of hair where she would have set +an ornament. The other package was a big box that when opened showed +its interior to be divided into compartments in each of which nestled +an exquisite flower made of spun sugar. The petals, buds, and leaves +were perfect. There were wonderful roses with pale pink outer petals +and deeper-coloured hearts. There were pink mallows that seemed as if +they must have been cut from the bushes bordering Santa Monica road. +There were hollyhocks of white and gold, and simply perfect tulips. +Linda never before had seen such a treasure candy box. She cried out +in delight, and hurried to show Katy. In her pleasure over the real +flowers and the candy flowers Linda forgot her dress, but when she saw +Peter Morrison standing tall and straight, in dinner dress, she stopped +and looked the surprise and pleasure she felt. She had grown accustomed +to Peter in khaki pottering around his building. This Peter she never +before had seen. He represented something of culture, something of +pride, a conformity to a nice custom and something more. Linda was +not a psycho-analyst. She could not see a wonderful aura of exquisite +colour enveloping Peter. But when Peter saw the girl approaching him, +transformed into a woman whose shining coronet was jewelled with his +living red rose, when he saw the beauty of her lithe slenderness +clothed in a soft, flaming colour, something emanated from his inner +consciousness that Linda did see, and for an instant it disturbed her +as she went forward holding out her hands.</p> + +<p>“Peter,” she said gaily, “do you know that this is my Day of Jubilee? I +am a woman to-day by law, Peter. Hereafter I am to experience at least +a moderate degree of financial freedom, and that I shall enjoy. But the +greatest thing in life is friends.”</p> + +<p>Peter took both the hands extended to him and looked smilingly into her +eyes.</p> + +<p>“You take my breath,” he said. “I knew, the first glimpse I ever had +of you scrambling from the canyon floor, that this transformation +<i>could</i> take place. My good fortune is beyond words that I have +been first to see it. Permit me, fair lady.”</p> + +<p>Peter bent and kissed both her hands. He hesitated a second, then he +turned the right hand and left one more kiss in its palm.</p> + +<p>“To have and to hold!” he said whimsically.</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” said Linda, closing her fist over it and holding it up for +inspection. “I’ll see that it doesn’t escape. And this minute I thank +you for the candy, which I know is delicious, and for my very first +sheaf of roses from any man. See what I have done with one of them?”</p> + +<p>She turned fully around that he might catch the effect of the rose, and +in getting that he also got the full effect of the costume, and the +possibilities of the girl before him. And then she gave him a shock.</p> + +<p>“Isn’t it a lovely frock?” she said. “Another birthday gift from the +Strong rock of ages. I have been making a collection of rocks for my +fern bed, and I have got another collection that is not visible to +anyone save myself. Katy’s a rock, and you’re a rock, and Donald is a +rock, and Marian’s a rock, and I am resting securely on all of you. I +wish my father knew that in addition to Marian and Katy I have found +two more such wonderful friends.”</p> + +<p>“And what about Henry Anderson?” inquired Peter. “Aren’t you going to +include him?”</p> + +<p>Linda walked over to the chair in which she intended to seat herself.</p> + +<p>“Peter,” she said, “I wish you hadn’t asked me that.”</p> + +<p>Peter’s figure tensed suddenly.</p> + +<p>“Look here, Linda,” he said sternly, “has that rather bold youngster +made himself in any way offensive to you?”</p> + +<p>“Not in any way that I am not perfectly capable of handling myself,” +said Linda. She looked at Peter confidently.</p> + +<p>“Do you suppose,” she said, “that I can sit down in this thing without +ruining it? Shouldn’t I really stand up while I am wearing it?”</p> + +<p>Peter laughed unrestrainedly.</p> + +<p>“Linda, you’re simply delicious,” he said. “It seems to me that I have +seen young ladies in like case reach round and gather the sash to one +side and smooth out the skirt as they sit.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you, Peter, of course that would be the way,” said Linda. “This +being my first, I’m lacking in experience.”</p> + +<p>And thereupon she sat according to direction; while Peter sat opposite +her.</p> + +<p>“Now finish. Just one word more about Henry Anderson,” he said. +“Are you perfectly sure there is nothing I need do for you in that +connection?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, perfectly,” said Linda lightly. “I didn’t mean to alarm you. He +merely carried that bug-catcher nonsense a trifle too far. I wouldn’t +have minded humouring him and fooling about it a little. But, Peter, do +you know him quite well? Are you very sure of him?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Peter, “I don’t know him well at all. The only thing I am +sure about him is that he is doing well in his profession. I chose him +because he was an ambitious youngster and I thought I could get more +careful attention from him than I could from some of the older fellows +who had made their reputation. You see, there are such a lot of things +I want to know about in this building proposition, and the last four +years haven’t been a time for any man to be careful about saving his +money.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said Linda, “he is all right, of course. He must be. But I +think I’m like a cat. I’m very complacent with certain people, but when +I begin to get goose flesh and hair prickles my head a bit, I realize +that there is something antagonistic around, something for me to beware +of. I guess it’s because I am such a wild creature.”</p> + +<p>“Do you mean to say,” said Peter, “that these are the sensations that +Henry gives you?”</p> + +<p>Linda nodded.</p> + +<p>“Now forget Henry,” she said. “I have had such a big day I must tell +you about it, and then we’ll come to that last article you left me. +I haven’t had time to put anything on paper concerning it yet, but I +believe I have an awfully good idea in the paint pot, and I’ll find +time in a day or two to work it out. Peter, I have just come from +the bank, where I was recognized as of legal age, and my guardian +discharged. And perhaps I ought to explain to you, Peter, that your +friend, John Gilman, is not here because this night is going to be +a bad one for him. When you knew him best he was engaged, or should +have been, to Marian Thorne. When you met him this time he really was +engaged to Eileen. I don’t know what you think about Eileen. I don’t +feel like influencing anyone’s thought concerning her, so I’ll merely +say that to-day has confirmed a conviction that always has been in my +heart. Katy could tell you that long ago I said to her that I did not +believe Eileen was my sister. To-day has brought me the knowledge and +proof positive that she is not, and to-day she has gone to some wealthy +relatives of her mother in San Francisco. She expressed her contempt +for what she was giving up by leaving everything, including the +exquisite little necklace of pearls which has been a daily part of her +since she owned them. I may be mistaken, but intuition tells me that +with the pearls and the wardrobe she has also discarded John Gilman. +I think your friend will be suffering to-night quite as deeply as my +friend suffered when John abandoned her at a time when she had lost +everything else in life but her money. I feel very sure that we won’t +see Eileen any more. I hope she will have every lovely thing in life.”</p> + +<p>“Amen,” said Peter Morrison earnestly. “I loved John Gilman when we +were in school together, but I have not been able to feel, since I +located here, that he is exactly the same John; and what you have told +me very probably explains the difference in him.”</p> + +<p>When Katy announced dinner Linda arose.</p> + +<p>Peter Morrison stepped beside her and offered his arm. Linda rested her +finger tips upon it and he led her to the head of the table and seated +her. Then Katy served a meal that, if it had been prepared for Eileen, +she would have described as a banquet. She gave them delicious, finely +flavored food, stimulating, exquisitely compounded drinks that she had +concocted from the rich fruits of California and mints and essences +at her command. When, at the close of the meal, she brought Morrison +some of the cigars Eileen kept for John Gilman, she set a second tray +before Linda, and this tray contained two packages. Linda looked at +Katy inquiringly, and Katy, her face beaming, nodded her sandy red head +emphatically.</p> + +<p>“More birthday gifts you’re havin’, me lady,” she said in her mellowest +Irish voice.</p> + +<p>“More?” marveled Linda. She picked up the larger package, and opening +it, found a beautiful book inscribed from her friend Donald, over which +she passed caressing fingers.</p> + +<p>“Why, how lovely of him!” she said. “How in this world did he know?”</p> + +<p>Katherine O’Donovan could have answered that question, but she did not. +The other package was from Marian. When she opened it Linda laughed +unrestrainedly.</p> + +<p>“What a joke!” she said. “I had promised myself that I would not touch +a thing in Eileen’s room, and before I could do justice to Katy’s +lovely dress I had to go there for pins for my hair and powder for my +nose. This is Marian’s way of telling me that I am almost a woman. Will +you look at this?”</p> + +<p>“Well, just what is it?” inquired Peter.</p> + +<p>“Hairpins,” laughed Linda, “and hair ornaments, and a box of face +powder, and the little, feminine touches that my dressing table needs +badly. How would you like, Peter, to finish your cigar in my workroom?”</p> + +<p>“I would like it immensely,” said Peter.</p> + +<p>So together they climbed to the top of the house. Linda knelt and made +a little ceremony of lighting the first fire in her fireplace. She +pushed one of her chairs to one side for Peter, and taking the other +for herself, she sat down and began the process of really becoming +acquainted with him. Two hours later, as he was leaving her, Peter made +a circuit of the room, scrutinizing the sketches and paintings that +were rapidly covering the walls, and presently he came to the wasp. He +looked at it so closely that he did not miss even the stinger. Linda +stood beside him when he made his first dazed comment: “If that isn’t +Eileen, and true to the life!”</p> + +<p>“I must take that down,” said Linda. “I did it one night when my heart +was full of bitterness.”</p> + +<p>“Better leave it,” said Peter drily.</p> + +<p>“Do you think I need it as a warning?” asked Linda.</p> + +<p>Peter turned and surveyed her slowly.</p> + +<p>“Linda,” he said quietly, “what I think of you has not yet been written +in any of the books.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XXV">CHAPTER XXV</h2> +<div class="subheadc">Buena Moza</div> +</div> + +<p>As soon as Peter had left her Linda took her box of candy flowers and +several of her finest roses and went to Katy’s room. She found Katy +in a big rocking chair, her feet on a hassock, reading a story in +<i>Everybody’s home</i>. When her door opened and she saw her young +mistress framed in it she tossed the magazine aside and sprang to her +feet, but Linda made her resume her seat. The girl shortened the stems +of the roses and put them in a vase on Katy’s dresser.</p> + +<p>“They may clash with your colouring a mite, Mother Machree,” she said, +“but by themselves they are very wonderful things, aren’t they?”</p> + +<p>Linda went over, and drawing her dress aside, sat down on the hassock +and leaning against Katy’s knee she held up the box of candy flowers +for amazed and delighted inspection.</p> + +<p>“Ah, the foine gintleman!” cried Katy. “Sure ’twas only a pape I had +when ye opened the box, an’ I didn’t know how rare them beauties railly +was.”</p> + +<p>“Choose the one you like best,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>But Katy would not touch the delicate things, so Linda selected a +brushy hollyhock for her and then sat at her knee again.</p> + +<p>“Katherine O’Donovan,” she said solemnly, “it’s up to a couple of young +things such as we are, stranded on the shoals of the Pacific as we have +been, to put our heads together and take counsel. You’re a host, Katy, +and while I am taking care of you, I’ll be just delighted to have you +go on looking after your black sheep; but it’s going to be lonely, for +all that. After Eileen has taken her personal possessions, what do you +say to fixing up that room with the belongings that Marian kept, and +inviting her to make that suite her home until such time as she may +have a home of her own again?”</p> + +<p>“Foine!” cried Katy. “I’d love to be havin’ her. I’d agree to take +orders from Miss Marian and to be takin’ care of her jist almost the +same as I do of ye, Miss Linda. The one thing I don’t like about it is +that it ain’t fair nor right to give aven Marian the best. Ye be takin’ +that suite yourself, lambie, and give Miss Marian your room all fixed +up with her things, or, if ye want her nearer, give her the guest room +and make a guest room of yours.”</p> + +<p>“I am willing to follow either of the latter suggestions for myself,” +said Linda; “it might be pleasant to be across the hall from Marian +where we could call back and forth to each other. I wouldn’t mind a +change as soon as I have time to get what I’d need to make the change. +I’ll take the guest room for mine, and you may call in a decorator and +have my room freshly done and the guest things moved into it.”</p> + +<p>Katy looked belligerent. Linda reached up and touched the frowning +lines on her forehead.</p> + +<p>“Brighten your lovely features with a smile, Katherine me dear,” she +said gaily. “Don’t be forgetting that this is our Day of Jubilee. +We are free—I hope we are free forever—from petty annoyances and +dissatisfactions and little, galling things that sear the soul and +bring out all the worst in human nature. I couldn’t do anything to +Eileen’s suite, not even if I resorted to tearing out partitions and +making it new from start to finish, that would eliminate Eileen from +it for me. If Marian will give me permission to move and install her +things in it, I think she can use it without any such feeling, but I +couldn’t. It’s agreed then, Katy, I am to write to Marian and extend to +her a welcome on your part as well as on mine?”</p> + +<p>“That ye may, lambie,” said Katy heartily. “And, as the boss used to +be sabin’, just to make assurance doubly sure, if YoU would address it +for me I would be writing’ a bit of a line myself, conveying’ to her me +sentiments on the subject.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, fine, Katy; Marian would be delighted!” cried Linda, springing up.</p> + +<p>“And, Katy dear, it won’t make us feel any more like mourning for +Eileen when I tell you that it developed at the bank yesterday and +to-day, that since she has been managing household affairs she has +deposited in a separate account all the royalties from Father’s books. +I had thought the matter closed at the bank when this fund was added +to the remainder of the estate, the household expenses set aside to +Eileen, and the remainder divided equally between us. I didn’t get +the proof that she was not my sister until after I came home. I think +it means that I shall have to go back to the bank, have the matter +reopened, and unless she can produce a will or something proving that +she is entitled to it, it seems to me that what remains of my father’s +estate is legally mine. Of course, if it develops that he has made any +special provision for her, she shall have it; otherwise, Katy, we’ll be +in a position to install you as housekeeper and put some light-footed, +capable young person under you for a step-saver in any direction you +want to use her. It means, too, that I shall be able to repay your loan +immediately and to do the things that I wanted to do about the house.”</p> + +<p>“Now I ain’t in any hurry about that money, lambie,” said Katy; “and +you understand of course that the dress you’re wearing’ I am given’ ye.”</p> + +<p>“Of course, old dear, and you should have seen Peter Morrison light up +and admire it. He thinks you have wonderful taste, Katy.”</p> + +<p>Katy threw up both her hands.</p> + +<p>“Oh, my Lord, lambie!” she cried, aghast. “Was you telling’ him that +the dress ye were wearin’ was a present from your old cook?”</p> + +<p>“Why, certainly I was,” said Linda, wide eyed with astonishment. +“Why shouldn’t I? I was proud to. And now, old dear, before I go, +the biggest secret of all. I had a letter, Katy, from the editor of +<i>Everybody’s Home</i>, and people like our articles, Katy; they are +something now and folk are letting the editor know about it, and he +wants all I can send him. He likes the pictures I make; and, Katy, you +won’t believe it till I show you my little bank book, but for the three +already published with their illustrations he pays me five hundred +nice, long, smooth, beautifully decorated, paper dollars!”</p> + +<p>“Judas praste!” cried Katy, her hands once more aloft. “Ye ain’t manin’ +it, lambie?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I are,” laughed Linda. “I’ve got the money; and for each +succeeding three with their pictures I am to have that much more, and +when I finish—now steady yourself, Katy, because this is going to be a +shock—when I finish, blessed old dear heart, he is going to make them +into a book! That will be my job for this summer, and you shall help +me, and it will be a part of our great secret. Won’t it be the most +fun?”</p> + +<p>“My soul!” said Katy. “You’re jist crazy. I don’t belave a word you’re +telling’ me.”</p> + +<p>“But I can prove it, because I have the letter and the bank book,” said +Linda.</p> + +<p>Katy threw her arms around the girl and kissed the top of her head and +cried over her and laughed at the same time and patted her and petted +her and ended by saying: “Oh, lambie, if only the master could be +knowin’ it.”</p> + +<p>“But he does know, Katy,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>She went to her room, removed the beautiful dress and, arranging it on +a hanger, left it in her closet. Slipping into an old dressing gown, +she ran to her workroom and wrote a letter to Marian from herself. +She tried not to tell Marian the big, vital thing that was throbbing +in her heart all day concerning her work, the great secret that meant +such a wonderful thing to her, the thing that was beating in her heart +and fluttering behind her lips like a bird trying to escape its cage; +but she could tell her in detail of Eileen’s undoubted removal to San +Francisco; she could tell her enough of the financial transactions of +the day to make her understand what had been happening in the past; and +she could tell of her latest interview with John Gilman. Once, as she +sat with her pen poised, thinking how to phrase a sentence, Linda said +to herself: “I wonder in my heart if he won’t try to come crawfishing +back to Marian now, and if he does, I wonder, oh, how I wonder, what +she will do.” Linda shut her lips very tight and stared up through her +skylight to the stars, as she was fast falling into a habit of doing +when she wanted inspiration.</p> + +<p>“Well, I know one thing,” she said to the shining things above her, +“Marian will do as she sees fit, of course, but if it were I, and any +man had discarded me as John Gilman discarded Marian, in case he ever +wanted to pick me up again he would find I was not there. Much as I +plan in my heart for the home and the man and the little people that I +hope to have some day, I would give up all of them before I would be +discarded and re-sought like that; and knowing Marian as I do, I have +a conviction that she will feel the same way. From the things she is +writing about this Snow man I think it is highly probable that he may +awake some day to learn that he is not so deeply grieved but that he +would like to have Marian to comfort him in his loneliness; and as for +his little girl I don’t see where he could find a woman who would rear +her more judiciously and beautifully than Marian would.”</p> + +<p>She finished her letter, sealed and stamped it, and then, taking +out a fresh sheet, she lettered in at the top of it, “<span class="smcap">Indian +Potatoes</span>” and continued:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>And very good potatoes they are. You will find these growing +everywhere throughout California, blooming from May to July, their +six long, slender, white petals shading to gold at the base, +grayish on the outside, a pollen-laden pistil upstanding, eight or +ten gold-clubbed stamens surrounding it, the slender brown stem +bearing a dozen or more of these delicate blooms, springing high +from a base of leaves sometimes nearly two feet long and an inch +broad, wave margined, spreading in a circle around it. In the soil +of the plains and the dry hillsides you will find an amazingly +large solid bulb, thickly enwrapped in a coat of brown fiber, +the long threads of which can be braided, their amazing strength +making them suitable for bow strings, lariats, or rope of any kind +that must needs be improvised for use at the moment. The bulbs +themselves have many uses. Crushed and rubbed up in water they make +a delightful cleansing lather. The extracted juice, when cooked +down, may be used as glue. Of the roasted bulbs effective poultices +for bruises and boils may be made. It was an Indian custom to dam a +small stream and throw in mashed Amole bulbs, the effect of which +was to stupefy the fish so that they could be picked out by hand; +all of which does not make it appear that the same bulb would serve +as an excellent substitute for a baked potato; but we must remember +how our grandmothers made starch from our potatoes, used them to +break in the new ironware, and to purify the lard; which goes to +prove that one vegetable may be valuable for many purposes. Amole, +whose ponderous scientific name is <i>Chlorógalum pomeridianum</i>, +is at its best for my purposes when all the chlorophyll from flower +and stem has been driven back to the bulb, and it lies ripe and +fully matured from late August until December.</p> + +<p>Remove the fibrous cover down to the second or third layer +enclosing the bulb. These jackets are necessary as they keep the +bulbs from drying out and having a hard crust. Roast them exactly +as you would potatoes. When they can easily be pierced with a +silver fork remove from the oven, and serve immediately with any +course with which you would use baked potatoes.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>“And gee, but they’re good!” commented Linda as she re-read what she +had written.</p> + +<p>After that she turned her attention to drawing a hillside whitened +here and there with amole bloom showing in its purity against the warm +grayish-tan background. The waving green leaves ran among big rocks +and overlapped surrounding growth. At the right of her drawing Linda +sketched in a fine specimen of monkey flower, deepening the yellow +from the hearts of the amole lilies for the almost human little monkey +faces. On the left one giant specimen of amole, reared from a base of +exquisitely waving leaves, ran up the side of the drawing and broke +into an airy and graceful head of gold-hearted white lilies. For a long +time Linda sat with poised pencil, studying her foreground. What should +she introduce that would be most typical of the location and give her +the desired splash of contrasting colour that she used as a distinctive +touch in the foreground of all her drawings?</p> + +<p>Her pencil flew busily a few minutes while she sketched in a flatly +growing bush of prickly phlox, setting the flower faces as closely +as the overlapped scales of a fish, setting them even as they grow +in nature; and when she resorted to the colour box she painted these +faces a wonderful pink that was not wild rose, not cerise, not lilac, +but it made one think of all of them. When she could make no further +improvement on this sketch, she carefully stretched it against the wall +and tacked it up to dry.</p> + +<p>Afterward she cleared her mental decks of all the work she could think +of in order to have Saturday free, because Saturday was the day upon +which she found herself planning in the back of her mind throughout +the strenuous week, to save for riding the King’s Highway with Donald +Whiting. Several times she had met him on the walks or in the hallways, +and always he had stopped to speak with her and several times he had +referred to the high hope in which he waited for Saturday. Linda +already had held a consultation with Katy on the subject of the lunch +basket. That matter being satisfactorily arranged, there was nothing +for her to do but to double on her work so that Saturday would be free. +Friday evening Linda was called from the dinner table to the telephone. +She immediately recognized the voice inquiring for her as that of Judge +Whiting, and then she listened breathlessly while he said to her: “You +will recognize that there is very little I may say over a telephone +concerning a matter to which you brought my attention. I have a very +competent man looking into the matter thoroughly, and I find that +your fear is amply justified. Wherever you go or whatever you do, use +particular care. Don’t have anything to do with any stranger. Just use +what your judgment and common sense tell you is a reasonable degree of +caution in every direction, no matter how trivial. You understand?”</p> + +<p>“I do,” said Linda promptly. “Would you prefer that we do not go on any +more Saturday trips at present?”</p> + +<p>The length of time that the Judge waited to answer proved that he had +taken time to think.</p> + +<p>“I can’t see,” he said finally, “that you would not be safer on such a +trip where you are moving about, where no one knows who you are, than +you would where you are commonly found.”</p> + +<p>“All right then,” said Linda. “Ask the party we are considering and +he will tell you where he will be to-morrow. Thank you very much for +letting me know. If anything should occur, you will understand that it +was something quite out of my range of foresight.”</p> + +<p>“I understand,” said the Judge.</p> + +<p>With all care and many loving admonitions Katy assisted in the start +made early Saturday morning. The previous Saturday Linda had felt that +all nature along the road she planned to drive would be at its best, +but they had not gone far until she modified her decision. They were +slipping through mists of early morning, over level, carefully made +roads like pavilion floors. If any one objection could have been made, +it would have been that the mists of night were weighting too heavily +to earth the perfume from the blooming orchards and millions of flowers +in gardens and along the roadside. At that hour there were few cars +abroad. Linda was dressed in her outing suit of dark green. She had +removed her hat and slipped it on the seat beside her. She looked at +Donald, a whimsical expression on her most expressive young face.</p> + +<p>“Please to ’scuse me,” she said lightly, “if I step on the gas a mite +while we have the road so much to ourselves and are so familiar with +it. Later, when we reach stranger country and have to share with +others, we’ll be forced to go slower.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t stint your speed on account of me,” said Donald. “I am just +itching to know what Kitty can do.”</p> + +<p>“All right, here’s your chance,” said Linda. “Hear her purr?”</p> + +<p>She settled her body a trifle tensely, squared her shoulders, and +gripped the steering wheel. Then she increased the gas and let the +Bear-cat roll over the smooth road from Lilac Valley running south into +Los Angeles. At a speed that was near to flying as a non-professional +attains, the youngsters traveled that road. Their eyes were shining; +their blood was racing. Until the point where rougher roads and +approaching traffic forced them to go slower, they raced, and when they +slowed down they looked at each other and laughed in morning delight.</p> + +<p>“I may not be very wise,” said Linda, “but didn’t I do the smartest +thing when I let Eileen have the touring car and saved the Bear-cat for +us?”</p> + +<p>“Nothing short of inspiration,” said Donald. “The height of my ambition +is to own a Bear-cat. If Father makes any mention of anything I would +like particularly to have for a graduation present, I am cocked and +primed as to what I shall tell him.”</p> + +<p>“You’d better save yourself a disappointment,” said Linda soberly. +“You will be starting to college this fall, and when you do you will +be gone nine months out of the year, and I am fairly sure your father +wouldn’t think shipping a Bear-cat back and forth a good investment, or +furnishing you one to take to school with you. He would fear you would +never make a grade that would be a credit to him if he did.”</p> + +<p>“My!” laughed Donald, “you’ve got a long head on your shoulders!”</p> + +<p>“When you’re thrown on your own for four of the longest, lonesomest +years of your life, you learn to think,” said Linda soberly.</p> + +<p>She was touching the beginning of Los Angeles traffic. Later she was +on the open road again. The mists were thinning and lifting. The +perfume was not so heavy. The sheeted whiteness of the orange groves +was broken with the paler white of plum merging imperceptibly into the +delicate pink of apricot and the stronger pink of peach, and there were +deep green orchards of smooth waxen olive foliage and the lacy-leaved +walnuts. Then came the citrus orchards again, and all the way on +either hand running with them were almost uninterrupted miles of roses +of every colour and kind, and everywhere homes ranging from friendly +mansions, all written over in adorable flower colour with the happy +invitation “Come in and make yourself at home,” to tiny bungalows along +the wayside crying welcome to this gay pair of youngsters in greetings +fashioned from white and purple wisteria, gold bignonia, every rose +the world knows, and myriad brilliant annual and perennial flower +faces gathered from the circumference of the tropical globe and homing +enthusiastically on the King’s Highway. Sometimes Linda lifted her hand +from the wheel to wave a passing salute to a particularly appealing +flower picture. Sometimes she whistled a note or cried a greeting to a +mocking bird, a rosy finch, or a song sparrow.</p> + +<p>“Look at the pie timber!” she cried to Donald, calling his attention +to a lawn almost covered with red-winged blackbirds. “Four hundred and +twenty might be baked in <i>that</i> pie,” she laughed.</p> + +<p>Then a subtle change began to creep over the world. The sun peered over +the mountains inquiringly, a timid young thing, as if she were asking +what degree of light and warmth they would like for the day. A new +brilliancy tinged every flower face in this light, a throbbing ecstasy +mellowed every bird note; the orchards dropped farther apart, meadows +filled with grazing cattle flashed past them, the earthy scent of +freshly turned fields mingled with flower perfume, and on their right +came drifting in a cool salt breath from the sea. At mid-forenoon, as +they neared Laguna, they ran past great hills, untouched since the days +when David cried: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence +cometh my help.” At one particularly beautiful range, draped with the +flowing emerald of spring, decorated with beds of gold poppy, set +with flowering madrona and manzanita, with the gold of yellow monkey +flower or the rich red of the related species, with specimens of lupin +growing in small trees, here and there adventurous streams singing +and flashing their unexpected way to the mother breast of the waiting +ocean very near to the road which at one surprising turn carried them +to the never-ending wonder of the troubled sea, they drove as slowly +as the Bear-cat would consent to travel, so that they might study +great boulders, huge as many of the buildings they had passed, their +faces scarred by the wrack of ages. Studying their ancient records +one could see that they had been familiar with the star that rested +over Bethlehem. On their faces had shone the same moon that opened the +highways journeying into Damascus. They had stood the storms that had +beaten upon the world since the days when the floods subsided, the +land lifted above the face of the waters in gigantic upheavals that +had ripped the surface of the globe from north to south and forced up +the hills, the foothills, and the mountains of the Coast Range. They +had been born then, they had first seen the light of day, in glowing, +molten, red-hot, high-piled streams of lava that had gushed forth in +that awful evolution of birth.</p> + +<p>Sometimes Linda stopped the car, they left it, and climbed over the +faces of these mighty upheavals. Once Linda reached her hand to Donald +and cried, half laughingly, half in tense earnest: “Oh, kid, we have +got to hurry. Compared with the age of these, we’ve only a few minutes. +It’s all right to talk jestingly about ‘the crack of doom’ but you know +there really was a crack of doom, and right here is where it cracked +and spewed out the material that hardened into these very rocks. Beside +them I feel as a shrimp must feel beside a whale, and I feel that we +must hurry.”</p> + +<p>“And so we must,” said Donald. “I’m hungry as Lucullus when he waited +for them to find enough peacock tongues to satisfy his appetite.”</p> + +<p>“I wonder what brand of home-brew made him think of that,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“Well, you know,” said Donald, “the world was only a smallish place +then. They didn’t have to go far to find everything to which they had +access, and it must have been rather a decent time in which to live. +Awful lot of light and colour and music and unique entertainment.”</p> + +<p>“You’re talking,” said Linda, “from the standpoint of the king or the +master. Suppose you had lived then and had been the slave.”</p> + +<p>“There you go again,” said Donald, “throwing a brick into the most +delicate mechanism of my profound thought. You ought to be ashamed to +round me up with something scientific and materialistic every time I go +a-glimmering. Don’t you think this would be a fine place to have lunch?”</p> + +<p>“You wait and see where we lunch to-day, and you will have the answer +to that,” said Linda, starting back to the Bear-cat.</p> + +<p>A few miles farther on they followed the road around the frowning +menace of an overhanging rock and sped out directly to the panorama of +the sea. The sun was shining on it, but, as always round the Laguna +shore, the rip tide was working itself into undue fury. It came dashing +up on the ancient rocks until one could easily understand why a poet of +long ago wrote of sea horses. Some of the waves did suggest monstrous +white chargers racing madly to place their feet upon the solid rock.</p> + +<p>Through the village, up the steep inclines, past placid lakes, past +waving yellow mustard beds, beside highways where the breastplate +of Mother Earth gleamed emerald and ruby against the background of +billions of tiny, shining diamonds of the iceplant, past the old +ostrich tree reproduced by etchers of note the world over, with +grinding brakes, sliding down the breathless declivity leading to the +shore, Linda stopped at last where the rock walls lifted sheer almost +to the sky. She led Donald to a huge circle carpeted with cerise sand +verbena, with pink and yellow iceplant bloom, with jewelled iceplant +foliage, with the running blue of the lovely sea daisy, with the white +and pink of the sea fig, where the walls were festooned with ferns, +lichens, studded all over with flaming Our Lord’s Candles, and strange, +uncanny, grotesque flower forms, almost human in their writhing turns +as they twisted around the rocks and slipped along clinging to the +sheer walls. Just where the vegetation met the white, sea-washed sand, +Linda spread the Indian blanket, and Donald brought the lunch box. +At their feet adventurous waves tore themselves to foam on the sharp +rocks. On their left they broke in booming spray, tearing and fretting +the base of cliffs that had stood impregnable through aeons of such +ceaseless attack and repulse.</p> + +<p>“I wonder,” said Donald, “how it comes that I have lived all my life +in California, and to-day it seems to me that most of the worthwhile +things I know about her I owe to you. When I go to college this winter +the things I shall be telling the boys will be how I could gain a +living, if I had to, on the desert, in Death Valley, from the walls +of Multiflores Canyon; and how the waves go to smash on the rocks of +Laguna, not to mention cactus fish hooks, mescal sticks, and brigand +beefsteak. It’s no wonder the artists of all the world come here +copying these pictures. It’s no wonder they build these bungalows and +live here for years, unsatisfied with their efforts to reproduce the +pictures of the Master Painter of them all.”</p> + +<p>“I wonder,” said Linda, “if anybody is very easily satisfied. I wonder +to-day if Eileen is satisfied with being merely rich. I wonder if we +are satisfied to have this golden day together. I wonder if the white +swallows are satisfied with the sea. I wonder if those rocks are +satisfied and proud to stand impregnable against the constant torment +of the tide.”</p> + +<p>“I wonder, oh, Lord, how I wonder,” broke in Donald, “about Katherine +O’Donovan’s lunch box. If you want a picture of per feet satisfaction, +Belinda beloved, lead me to it!”</p> + +<p>“Thank heaven you’re mistaken,” she said; “they spared me the ‘Be’—. +It’s truly just ‘Linda.’”</p> + +<p>“Well, I’m not sparing you the ‘Be—’,” said Donald, busy with the +fastenings of the lunch basket. “Did you hear where I used it?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, child, and I like it heaps,” said Linda casually. “It’s fine to +have you like me. Awfully proud of myself.”</p> + +<p>“You have two members of our family at your feet,” said Donald soberly +as he handed her packages from the box. “My dad is beginning to +discourse on you with such signs of intelligence that I am almost led +to believe, from some of his wildest outbursts, that he has had some +personal experience in some way.”</p> + +<p>“And why not?” asked Linda lightly. “Haven’t I often told you that my +father constantly went on fishing and hunting trips, that he was a +great collector of botanical specimens, that he frequently took his +friends with him? You might ask your father if he does not recall me as +having fried fish and made coffee and rendered him camp service when I +was a slip of a thing in the dawn of my teens.”</p> + +<p>“Well, he didn’t just mention it,” said Donald, “but I can easily see +how it might have been.”</p> + +<p>After they had finished one of Katy’s inspired lunches, in which a +large part of the inspiration had been mental on Linda’s part and +executive on Katy’s, they climbed rock faces, skirted wave-beaten +promontories, and stood peering from overhanging cliffs dipping down +into the fathomless green sea, where the water boiled up in turbulent +fury. Linda pointed out the rocks upon which she would sit, if she were +a mermaid, to comb the seaweed from her hair. She could hear the sea +bells ringing in those menacing depths, but Donald’s ears were not so +finely tuned. At the top of one of the highest cliffs they climbed, +there grew a clump of slender pale green bushes, towering high above +their heads with exquisitely cut blue-green leaves, lance shaped and +slender. Donald looked at the fascinating growth appraisingly.</p> + +<p>“Linda,” he said, “do you know that the slimness and the sheerness and +the audacious foothold and the beauty of that thing remind me of you? +It is covered all over with the delicate frost-bloom you taught me to +see upon fruit. I find it everywhere but you have never told me what it +is.”</p> + +<p>Linda laughingly reached up and broke a spray of greenish-yellow +tubular flowers, curving out like clustered trumpets spilling melody +from their fluted throats.</p> + +<p>“You will see it everywhere. You will find these flowers every month +of the year,” she said, “and I am particularly gladsome that this +plant reminds you of me. I love the bluish-green ‘bloom’ of its sheer +foliage. I love the music these flower trumpets make to me. I love the +way it has traveled, God knows how, all the way from the Argentine +and spread itself over our country wherever it is allowed footing. I +am glad that there is soothing in these dried leaves for those who +require it. I shall be delighted to set my seal on you with it. There +are two little Spanish words that it suggests to the Mexican—<i>Buena +moza</i>—but you shall find out for yourself what they mean.”</p> + + +<p>Encountering his father that night at his library door, Donald Whiting +said to him: “May I come in, Dad? I have something I must look up +before I sleep. Have you a Spanish lexicon, or no doubt you have this +in your head.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I’ve a halting vocabulary,” said the Judge. “What’s your phrase?”</p> + +<p>“Linda put this flower on me to-day,” said Donald, “and she said she +was pleased because I said the tall, slender bush it grew on reminded +me of her. She gave me the Spanish name, but I don’t know the exact +significance of the decoration I am wearing until I learn the meaning +of the phrase.”</p> + +<p>“Try me on it,” said the Judge.</p> + +<p>“‘<i>Buena moza</i>,’” quoted Donald.</p> + +<p>The Judge threw back his head and laughed heartily.</p> + +<p>“Son,” he said, “you should know that from the Latin you’re learning. +You should translate it instinctively. I couldn’t tell you exactly +whether a Spaniard would translate ‘<i>Buena</i>’ ‘fine’ or ‘good.’ +Knowing their high-falutin’ rendition of almost everything else I would +take my chance on ‘fine.’ Son, your phrase means ‘a fine girl.’”</p> + +<p>Donald looked down at the flower in his buttonhole, and then he looked +straight at his father.</p> + +<p>“And only the Lord knows, Dad,” he said soberly, “exactly how fine +Linda-girl is.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI</h2> +<div class="subheadc">A Mouse Nest</div> +</div> + +<blockquote> +<div class="smcap">Linda Dearest:</div> + +<p>I am delighted that you had such a wonderful birthday. I would take +a shot in air that anything you don’t understand about it you might +with reasonable safety charge to Katherine O’Donovan. I think it +was great of her to have a suitable and a becoming dress waiting +for you and a congenial man like Peter Morrison to dine with you. +He appealed to me as being a rare character, highly original, and, +I should think, to those who know him well he must be entertaining +and lovable in the extreme. I never shall be worried about you so +long as I know that he is taking care of you.</p> + +<p>I should not be surprised if some day I meet Eileen somewhere, +because Dana and I are going about more than you would believe +possible. I heartily join with you in wishing her every good that +life can bring her. I don’t want to be pessimistic, but I can’t +help feeling, Linda, that she is taking a poor way to win the +best, and I gravely doubt whether she finds it in the spending of +unlimited quantities of the money of a coarse man who stumbled +upon his riches accidentally, as has many a man of California and +Colorado.</p> + +<p>I intended, when I sat down to write, the very first thing I said, +to thank you for your wonderful invitation, seconded so loyally and +cordially by Katy, to make my home with you until the time comes—if +it ever does come—when I shall have a home of my own again. And +just as simply and whole-heartedly as you made the offer, I accept +it. I am enclosing the address and the receipt for my furniture +in storage, and a few lines ordering it delivered at your house +and the bill sent to me. I only kept a few heirlooms and things of +Mother’s and Father’s that are very precious to me. Whenever Eileen +takes her things you can order mine in and let me know, and I’ll +take a day or two off and run down for a short visit.</p> + +<p>Mentioning Eileen makes me think of John. I think of him more +frequently than I intend or wish that I did, but I feel my ninth +life is now permanently extinguished concerning him. I thought I +detected in your letter, Linda dear, a hint of fear that he might +come back to me and that I might welcome him. If you have any such +feeling in your heart, abandon it, child, because, while I try +not to talk about myself, I do want to say that I rejoice in a +family inheritance of legitimate pride. I couldn’t give the finest +loyalty and comradeship I had to give to a man, have it returned +disdainfully, and then furbish up the pieces and present it over +again. If I can patch those same pieces and so polish and refine +them that I can make them, in the old phrase, “as good as new,” +possibly in time——</p> + +<p>But, Linda, one thing is certain as the hills of morning. Never +in my life will any man make any headway with me again with vague +suggestions and innuendoes and hints. If ever any man wants to +be anything in my life, he will speak plainly and say what he +wants and thinks and hopes and intends and feels in not more than +two-syllable English. I learned my lesson about the futility of +building your house of dreams on a foundation of sand. Next time +I erect a dream house, it is going to have a proper foundation +of solid granite. And that may seem a queer thing for me to say +when you know that I am getting the joy in my life, that I do not +hesitate to admit I am, from letters written by a man whose name +I don’t know. It may be that I don’t <i>know</i> the man, but I +certainly am very well acquainted with him, and in some way he +seems to me to be taking on more definite form. I should not be +surprised if I were to recognize him the first time I met him face +to face.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Linda looked through the skylight and cried out to the stars: “Good +heavens! Have I copied Peter too closely?”</p> + +<p>She sat thinking a minute and then she decided she had not.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>And in this connection you will want to know how I am progressing +in my friendship with the junior partner, and what kind of motorist +I am making. I am still driving twice a week, and lately on Sundays +in a larger car, taking Dana and a newspaper friend of hers along. +I think I have driven every hazard that this part of California +affords except the mountains; Mr. Snow is still merciful about them.</p> + +<p>Linda dear, I know what you’re dying to know. You want to know +whether Mr. Snow is in the same depths of mourning as when +our acquaintance first began. This, my dear child, is very +reprehensible of you. Young girls with braids down their backs—and +by the way, Linda, you did not tell me what happened “after the +ball was over.” Did you go to school the next morning with braids +down your back, or wearing your coronet? Because on that depends +what I have to say to you now; if you went with braids, you’re +still my little girl chum, the cleanest, finest kid I have ever +known; but if you wore your coronet, then you’re a woman and my +equal and my dearest friend, far dearer than Dana even; and I tell +you this, Linda, because I want you always to understand that you +come first.</p> + +<p>I have tried and tried to visualize you, and can’t satisfy my mind +as to whether the braids are up or down. Going on the assumption +that they are up, and that life may in the near future begin to +hold some interesting experiences for you, I will tell you this, +beloved child: I don’t think Mr. Snow <i>is</i> mourning quite so +deeply as he was. I have not been asked, the last four or five +trips we have been on, to carry an armload of exquisite flowers to +the shrine of a departed love. I have been privileged to take them +home and arrange them in my room and Dana’s. And I haven’t heard +so much talk about loneliness, and I haven’t seen such tired, sad +eyes. It seems to me that a familiar pair of shoulders are squaring +up to the world again, and a very kind pair of eyes are brighter +with interest. I don’t know how you feel about this; I don’t know +how I feel about it myself. I am sure that Eugene Snow is a man +who, in the years to come, would line up beside your father and +mine, and I like him immensely. It is merely a case of not liking +him less, but of liking my unknown man more. I couldn’t quite +commit the sacrilege, Linda dear, of sending you a sample of the +letters I am receiving, but they are too fanciful and charming for +any words of mine to describe adequately. I don’t know who this +man is, or what he has to offer, or whether he intends to offer +anything, but it is a ridiculous fact, Linda, that I would rather +sit with him in a chimney corner of field boulders, on a pine +floor, with a palm roof and an Ocotillo candle, than to glow in the +parchment-shielded electric light of the halls of a rich man. In a +recent letter, Linda, there was a reference to a woman who wore “a +diadem of crystallized light.” It was a beautiful thing and I could +not help taking it personally. It was his way of telling me that he +knew me, and knew my tragedy; and, as I said before, I am beginning +to feel that I have him rather definitely located; and I can +understand the fine strain in him that prompted his anonymity, and +his reasons for it. Of course I am not sufficiently confident yet +to say anything definite, but my heart is beginning to say things +that I sincerely hope my lips never will be forced to deny.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Linda laid down the letter, folded her hands across it, and once more +looked at the stars.</p> + +<p>“Good gracious!” she said. “I am tincturing those letters with too +much Peter. I’ll have to tone down a bit. Next thing I know she will +be losing her chance with that wonderful Snow man for a dream. In +my efforts to comfort her I must have gone too far. It is all right +to write a gushy love letter and stuff it full of Peter’s whimsical +nonsense, but, in the language of the poet, how am I going to ‘deliver +the goods’? Of course that talk about Louise Whiting was all well +enough. Equally, of course, I outlined and planted the brook and +designed the bridge for Marian, whether she knows it or Peter knows +it, or not. If they don’t know it, it’s about time they were finding +it out. I think it’s my job to visit Peter more frequently and see if +I can’t invent some way to make him see the light. I will give Katy +a hint in the morning. To-morrow evening I’ll go up and have supper +with him and see if he has another article in the stewpan. I like +this work with Peter. I like having him make me dream dreams and see +pictures. I like the punch and the virility he puts into my drawings. +It’s all right reproducing monkey flowers and lilies for pastime, but +for serious business, for real life work, I would rather do Peter’s +brainstorming, heart-thrilling pictures than my merely pretty ones. On +the subject of Peter, I must remember in the morning to take those old +books he gave me to Donald. I believe that from one of them he is going +to get the very material he needs to down the Jap in philosophy. And +they are not text books, which proves that Peter must have been digging +into the subject and hunted them up in some second-hand store, or even +sent away an order for them.”</p> + +<p>In the hall the next morning Linda stopped Donald and gave him the +books. In the early stages of their friendship she had looked at him +under half-closed lids and waited to see whether he intended stopping +to say a word with her when they passed each other or came down the +halls together. She knew that their acquaintance would be noted and +commented upon, and she knew how ready the other girls would be to +say that she was bold and forward, so she was careful to let Donald +make the advances, until he had called to her so often, and had dug +flowers and left his friends waiting at her door while he delivered +them, that she felt free to address him as she chose. He had shown +any interested person in the High School that he was her friend, that +he was speaking to her exactly as he did to girls he had known from +childhood. He was very popular among the boys and girls of his class +and the whole school. His friendship, coming at the time of Linda’s +rebellion on the subject of clothes, had developed a tendency to bring +her other friendships. Boys who never had known she was in existence +followed Donald’s example in stopping her to say a word now and then. +Girls who had politely ignored her now found things to say; and several +invitations she had not had leisure to accept had been sent to her for +afternoon and evening entertainments among the young people. Linda had +laid out for herself something of a task in deciding to be the mental +leader of her class. There were good brains in plenty among the other +pupils. It was only by work, concentration, and purpose, only by having +a mind keenly alert, by independent investigation and introducing new +points of view that she could hold her prestige. Up to the receipt +of her letter containing the offer to publish her book she had been +able rigorously to exclude from her mind the personality and the +undertakings of Jane Meredith. She was Linda Strong in the High School +and for an hour or two at her studies. She was Jane Meredith over the +desert, through the canyons, beside the sea, in her Multiflores kitchen +or in Katherine O’Donovan’s. But this book offer opened a new train +of thought, a new series of plans. She could see her way—thanks to +her father she had the material in her mind and the art in her finger +tips—to materialize what she felt would be even more attractive in +book form than anything her editor had been able to visualize from +her material. She knew herself, she knew her territory so minutely. +Frequently she smiled when she read statements in her botanies as to +where plants and vegetables could be found. She knew the high home of +the rare and precious snow plant. She knew the northern limit of the +strawberry cactus. She knew where the white sea swallow nested. She +knew where the Monarch butterfly went on his winter migration. She knew +where the trap-door spider, with cunning past the cunning of any other +architect of Nature, built his small, round, silken-lined tower and +hinged his trap door so cleverly that only he could open it from the +outside. She had even sat immovable and watched him erect his house, +and she would have given much to see him weave its silver lining.</p> + +<p>Linda was fast coming to the place where she felt herself to be one in +an interested group of fellow workers. She no longer gave a thought +to what kind of shoes she wore. Other girls were beginning to wear +the same kind. The legislatures of half a dozen states were passing +laws regulating the height of heel which might be worn within their +boundaries. Manufacturers were promising for the coming season that +suitable shoes would be built for street wear and mountain climbing, +for the sands of the sea and the sands of the desert, and the sheer +face of canyons. The extremely long, dirt-sweeping skirts were coming +up; the extremely short, immodest skirts were coming down. A sane +and sensible wave seemed to be sweeping the whole country. Under the +impetus of Donald Whiting’s struggles to lead his classes and those +of other pupils to lead theirs, a higher grade of scholarship was +beginning to be developed throughout the High School. Pupils were +thinking less of what they wore and how much amusement they could crowd +in, and more about making grades that would pass them with credit from +year to year. The horrors of the war and the disorders following it +had begun to impress upon the young brains growing into maturity the +idea that soon it would be their task to take over the problems that +were now vexing the world’s greatest statesmen and its wisest and most +courageous women. A tendency was manifesting itself among young people +to equip themselves to take a worthy part in the struggles yet to come. +Classmates who had looked with toleration upon Linda’s common-sense +shoes and plain dresses because she was her father’s daughter, now +looked upon her with respect and appreciation because she started so +many interesting subjects for discussion, because she was so rapidly +developing into a creature well worth looking at. Always she would +be unusual because of her extreme height, her narrow eyes, her vivid +colouring. But a greater maturity, a fuller figure, had come to be a +part of the vision with which one looked at Linda. In these days no one +saw her as she was. Even her schoolmates had fallen into the habit of +seeing her as she would be in the years to come.</p> + +<p>Thus far she had been able to keep her identities apart without any +difficulty; but the book proposition was so unexpected, it was such +a big thing to result from her modest beginning, that Linda realized +that she must proceed very carefully, she must concentrate with all +her might, else her school work would begin to suffer in favour of the +book. Recently so many things had arisen to distract her attention. +Many days she had not been able to keep Eileen’s face off her geometry +papers; and again she saw Gilman’s, anxious and pain-filled. Sometimes +she found herself lifting her eyes from tasks upon which she was +concentrating with all her might, and with no previous thought whatever +she was searching for Donald Whiting, and when she saw him, coming into +muscular and healthful manhood, she returned to her work with more +strength, deeper vision, a quiet, assured feeling around her heart. +Sometimes, over the edge of Literature and Ancient History, Peter +Morrison looked down at her with gravely questioning eyes and dancing +imps twisting his mouth muscles, and Linda paused a second to figure +upon what had become an old problem with her. Why did her wild-flower +garden make Peter Morrison think of a graveyard? What was buried there +besides the feet of her rare flowers? She had not as yet found the +answer.</p> + +<p>This day her thoughts were on Peter frequently because she intended to +see him that night. She was going to share with him a supper of baked +ham and beans and bread and butter and pickled onions and little nut +cakes, still warm from Katy’s oven. She was going to take Katy with her +in order that she might see Peter Morrison’s location and the house for +his dream lady, growing at the foot of the mountain like a gay orchid +homing on a forest tree. To Linda it was almost a miracle, the rapidity +with which a house could be erected in California. In a few weeks’ time +she had seen a big cellar scooped out of the plateau, had seen it lined +and rising to foundation height above the surface in solid concrete, +faced outside with cracked boulders. She had seen a framework erected, +a rooftree set, and joists and rafters and beams swinging into place. +Fretworks of lead and iron pipe were running everywhere, and wires for +electricity. Soon shingles and flooring would be going into place, and +Peter said that when he had finished acrobatic performances on beams +and girders and really stepped out on solid floors where he might tread +without fear of breaking any of his legs, he would perform a Peacock +Dance all by himself.</p> + +<p>“Peter, you sound like a centipede,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“Dear child,” said Peter, “when I enter my front door and get to the +back on two-inch footing, I positively feel that I have numerous legs, +and I ache almost as badly in the fear that I shall break the two I +have, as I should if they were really broken.”</p> + +<p>And then he added a few words on a subject of which he had not before +spoken to Linda.</p> + +<p>“It was like that in France. When we really got into the heat of things +and the work was actually being done, we were not afraid: we were too +busy; we were ‘supermen.’ The time when we were all legs and arms and +head, and all of them were being blown away wholesale was when the +shells whined over while we had a rest hour and were trying to sleep, +or in the cold, dim dawn when we stumbled out stiff, hungry, and +sleepy. It’s not the <i>real thing</i> when it’s really occurring that +gets one. It’s the devils of imagination tormenting the soul. There is +only one thing in this world can happen to me that is really going to +be as bad as the things I dream.”</p> + +<p>Linda looked down Lilac Valley, her eyes absently focusing on Katy +busily setting supper on a store box in front of the garage. Then she +looked at Peter.</p> + +<p>“Mind telling?” she inquired lightly.</p> + +<p>Peter looked at her speculatively.</p> + +<p>“And would a man be telling his heart’s best secret to a kid like you?” +he asked.</p> + +<p>“Now, I call that downright mean,” said Linda. “Haven’t you noticed +that my braids are up? Don’t you see a maturity and a dignity and a +general matronliness apparent all over me to-day?”</p> + +<p>“Matronliness” was too much for Peter. You could have heard his laugh +far down the blue valley.</p> + +<p>“That’s good!” he cried.</p> + +<p>“It is,” agreed Linda. “It means that my braids are up to stay, so +hereafter I’m a real woman.”</p> + +<p>She lingered over the word an instant, glancing whimsically at Peter, +a trace of a smile on her lips, then she made her way down a slant +declivity and presently returned with an entire flower plant, new to +Peter and of unusual beauty.</p> + +<p>“And because I am a woman I shall set my seal upon you,” she said.</p> + +<p>In the buttonhole of his light linen coat she placed a flower of satin +face of purest gold, the five petals rounded, but sharply tipped, a +heavy mass of silk stamens, pollen dusted in the heart. She pushed back +the left side of his coat and taking one of the rough, hairy leaves of +the plant she located it over Peter’s heart, her slim, deft fingers +patting down the leaf and flattening it out until it lay pasted smooth +and tight. As she worked, she smiled at him challengingly. Peter knew +he was experiencing a ceremony of some kind, the significance of which +he must learn. It was the first time Linda had voluntarily touched him. +He breathed lightly and held steady, lest he startle her.</p> + +<p>“Lovely enough,” he said, “to have come from the hills of the stars. +Don’t make me wait, Linda; help me to the interpretation.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Buena Mujer</i>,” suggested Linda.</p> + +<p>“Good woman,” translated Peter.</p> + +<p>Linda nodded, running a finger down the leaf over his heart.</p> + +<p>“Because she sticks close to you,” she explained. Then startled by the +look in Peter’s eyes, she cried in swift change: “Now we are all going +to work for a minute. Katy’s spreading the lunch. You take this pail +and go to the spring for water, and I shall tidy your quarters for you.”</p> + +<p>With the eye of experience Linda glanced over the garage deciding that +she must ask for clean sheets for the cot and that the Salvation Army +would like the heap of papers. Studying the writing table she heard a +faint sound that untrained ears would have missed.</p> + +<p>“Ah, ha, Ma wood mouse,” said Linda, “nibbling Peter’s drygoods are +you?”</p> + +<p>Her cry a minute later answered the question. She came from the garage +upon Katherine O’Donovan rushing to meet her, holding a man’s coat at +the length of her far-reaching arm.</p> + +<p>“I wish you’d look at that pocket. I don’t know how long this coat has +been hanging there, but there is a nest of field mice in it,” she said.</p> + +<p>Katy promptly retreated to the improvised dining table, seated herself +upon an end of it, and raised both feet straight into the air.</p> + +<p>“Small help I’ll be getting from you,” said Linda laughingly.</p> + +<p>She went to the edge of the declivity that cut back to the garage and +with a quick movement reversed the coat catching it by the skirts and +shaking it vigorously.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII</h2> +<div class="subheadc">The Straight and Narrow</div> +</div> + +<p>This served exactly the purpose Linda had intended. It dislodged the +mouse nest and dropped it three feet below her level, but it did +something else upon which Linda had no time to count. It emptied every +pocket in the coat and sent the contents scattering down the rough +declivity.</p> + +<p>“Oh my gracious!” gasped Linda. “Look what I have done! Katy, come help +me quickly; I have to gather up this stuff; but it’s no use; I’ll have +to take it to Peter and tell him. I couldn’t put these things back in +the pockets where his hand will reach for them, because I don’t know +which came from inside and which came from out.”</p> + +<p>Linda sprang down and began hastily gathering up everything she could +see that had fallen from the coat pockets. She had almost finished +when her fingers chanced upon a very soiled, befigured piece of paper +whose impressed folds showed that it had been carried for some time in +an inner pocket. As her fingers touched this paper her eyes narrowed, +her breath came in a gasp. She looked at it a second, irresolute, then +she glanced over the top of the declivity in the direction Peter had +taken. He was standing in front of the building, discussing some matter +with the contractor. He had not yet gone to the spring. Shielded by +the embankment, with shaking fingers Linda opened the paper barely +enough to see that it was Marian’s lost sheet of plans; but it was not +as Marian had left it. It was scored deeply here and there with heavy +lines suggestive of alterations, and the margin was fairly covered +with fine figuring. Linda did not know Peter Morrison’s writing or +figures. His articles had been typewritten and she had never seen his +handwriting. She sat down suddenly on account of weakened knees, and +gazed unseeingly down the length of Lilac Valley, her heart sick, her +brain tormented. Suddenly she turned and studied the house.</p> + +<p>“Before the Lord!” she gasped. “I <i>thought</i> there was something +mighty familiar even about the skeleton of you! Oh, Peter, Peter, where +did you get this, and how could you do it?”</p> + +<p>For a while a mist blurred her eyes. She reached for the coat and +started to replace the things she had gathered up, then she shut her +lips tight.</p> + +<p>“Best time to pull a tooth,” she said tersely to a terra cotta red +manzanita bush, “is when it aches.”</p> + +<p>When Peter returned from the spring he was faced by a trembling girl, +colourless and trying hard to keep her voice steady. She held out the +coat to him with one hand, the package of papers with the other, the +folded drawing conspicuous on the top. With these she gestured toward +the declivity.</p> + +<p>“Mouse nest in your pocket, Peter,” she said thickly. “Reversed the +coat to shake it out, and spilled your stuff.”</p> + +<p>Then she waited for Peter to be confounded. But Peter was not in the +faintest degree troubled about either the coat or the papers. What did +trouble him was the face and the blazing eyes of the girl concerning +whom he would not admit, even to himself, his exact state of feeling.</p> + +<p>“The mouse did not get on you, Linda?” he asked anxiously.</p> + +<p>Linda shook her head. Suddenly she lost her self-control.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Peter,” she wailed, “how could you do it?”</p> + +<p>Peter’s lean frame tensed suddenly.</p> + +<p>“I don’t understand, Linda,” he said quietly. “Exactly what have I +done?”</p> + +<p>Linda thrust the coat and the papers toward him accusingly and stood +there wordless but with visible pain in her dark eyes. Peter smiled at +her reassuringly.</p> + +<p>“That’s not my coat, you know. If there is anything distressing about +it, don’t lay it to me.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Peter!” cried Linda, “tell the truth about it. Don’t try any +evasions. I am so sick of them.”</p> + +<p>A rather queer light sprang into Peter’s eyes. He leaned forward +suddenly and caught the coat from Linda’s fingers.</p> + +<p>“Well, if you need an alibi concerning this coat,” he said, “I think I +can furnish it speedily.”</p> + +<p>As he talked he whirled the garment around and shot his long arms into +the sleeves. Shaking it into place on his shoulders, he slowly turned +in front of Linda and the surprised Katy. The sleeves came halfway to +his wrists and the shoulders slid down over his upper arms. He made +such a quaint and ridiculous figure that Katy burst out laughing. She +was very well trained, but she knew Linda was deeply distressed.</p> + +<p>“Wake up, lambie!” she cried sharply. “That coat ain’t belonging to +Mr. Pater Morrison. That gairment is the property of that bug-catchin’ +architect of his.”</p> + +<p>Peter shook off the coat and handed it back to Linda.</p> + +<p>“Am I acquitted?” he asked lightly; but his surprised eyes were +searching her from braid to toe.</p> + +<p>Linda turned from him swiftly. She thrust the packet into a side pocket +and started to the garage with the coat. As she passed inside she +slipped down her hand, slid the sheet of plans from the other papers, +and slipped it into the front of her blouse. She hung the coat back +where she had found it, then suddenly sat down on the side of Peter +Morrison’s couch, white and shaken. Peter thought he heard a peculiar +gasp and when he strayed past the door, casually glancing inward, he +saw what he saw, and it brought him to his knees beside Linda with all +speed.</p> + +<p>“Linda-girl,” he implored, “what in this world has happened?”</p> + +<p>Linda struggled to control her voice; but at last she buried her face +in her hands and frankly emitted a sound that she herself would have +described as “howling.” Peter knelt back in wonder.</p> + +<p>“Of all the things I ever thought about you, Linda,” he said, “the one +thing I never did think was that you were hysterical.”</p> + +<p>If there was one word in Linda’s vocabulary more opprobrious than +“nerves,” which could be applied to a woman, it was “hysterics.” The +great specialist had admitted nerves; hysterics had no standing with +him. Linda herself had no more use for a hysterical woman than she had +for a Gila monster. She straightened suddenly, and in removing her +hands from her face she laid one on each of Peter’s shoulders.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Peter,” she wailed, “I am not a hysterical idiot, but I couldn’t +have stood it if that coat had been yours. Peter, I just couldn’t have +borne it!”</p> + +<p>Peter held himself rigidly in the fear that he might disturb the hands +that were gripping him.</p> + +<p>“I see I have the job of educating these damned field mice as to where +they may build with impunity,” he said soberly.</p> + +<p>But Linda was not to be diverted. She looked straight and deep into his +eyes.</p> + +<p>“Peter,” she said affirmatively, “you don’t know a thing about that +coat, do you?”</p> + +<p>“I do not,” said Peter promptly.</p> + +<p>“You never saw what was in its pockets, did you?”</p> + +<p>“Not to my knowledge,” answered Peter. “What was in the pockets, Linda?”</p> + +<p>Linda thought swiftly. Peter adored his dream house. If she told him +that the plans for it had been stolen by his architect, the house would +be ruined for Peter. Anyone could see from the candor of his gaze and +the lines that God and experience had graven on his face that Peter was +without guile. Suddenly Linda shot her hands past Peter’s shoulders +and brought them together on the back of his neck. She drew his face +against hers and cried: “Oh Peter, I would have been killed if that +coat had been yours. I tell you I couldn’t have endured it, Peter. I am +just tickled to death!”</p> + +<p>One instant she hugged him tight. If her lips did not brush his cheek, +Peter deluded himself. Then she sprang up and ran from the garage. +Later he took the coat from its nail, the papers from its pockets, +and carefully looked them over. There was nothing among them that +would give him the slightest clue to Linda’s conduct. He looked again, +penetratingly, searchingly, for he must learn from them a reason; and +no reason was apparent. With the coat in one hand and the papers in the +other he stepped outside.</p> + +<p>“Linda,” he said, “won’t you show me? Won’t you tell me? What is there +about this to upset you?”</p> + +<p>Linda closed her lips and shook her head. Once more Peter sought in her +face, in her attitude the information he craved.</p> + +<p>“Needn’t tell me,” he said, “that a girl who will face the desert and +the mountains and the canyons and the sea is upset by a mouse.”</p> + +<p>“Well, you should have seen Katy sitting in the midst of our supper +with her feet rigidly extended before her!” cried the girl, struggling +to regain her composure. “Put back that coat and come to your supper. +It’s time for you to be fed now. The last workman has gone and we’ll +barely have time to finish nicely and show Katy your dream house before +it’s time to go.”</p> + +<p>Peter came and sat in the place Linda indicated. His mind was whirling. +There was something he did not understand, but in her own time, in +her own way, a girl of Linda’s poise and self-possession would tell +him what had occurred that could be responsible for the very peculiar +things she had done. In some way she had experienced a shock too great +for her usual self-possession. The hands with which she fished pickled +onions from the bottle were still unsteady, and the corroboration Peter +needed for his thoughts could be found in the dazed way in which Katy +watched Linda as she hovered over her in serving her. But that was not +the time. By and by the time would come. The thing to do was to trust +Linda and await its coming. So Peter called on all the reserve wit +and wisdom he had at command. He jested, told stories, and to Linda’s +satisfaction and Katy’s delight, he ate his supper like a hungry man, +frankly enjoying it, and when the meal was finished Peter took Katy +over the house, explaining to her as much detail as was possible at +that stage of its construction, while Linda followed with mute lips +and rebellion surging in her heart. When leaving time came, while Katy +packed the Bear-cat, Linda wandered across toward the spring, and +Peter, feeling that possibly she might wish to speak with him, followed +her. When he overtook her she looked at him straightly, her eyes +showing the hurt her heart felt.</p> + +<p>“Peter,” she said, “that first night you had dinner with us, was Henry +Anderson out of your presence one minute from the time you came into +the house until you left it?”</p> + +<p>Peter stopped and studied the ground at his feet intently. Finally he +said conclusively: “I would go on oath, Linda, that he was not. We were +all together in the living room, all together in the dining room. We +left together at night and John was with us.”</p> + +<p>“I see,” said Linda. “Well, then, when you came back the next morning +after Eileen, before you started on your trip, to hunt a location, was +he with you all the time?”</p> + +<p>Again Peter took his time to answer.</p> + +<p>“We came to your house with Gilman,” he said. “John started to the +front door to tell Miss Eileen that we were ready. I followed him. +Anderson said he would look at the scenery. He must have made a circuit +of the house, because when we came out ready to start, a very few +minutes later, he was coming down the other side of the house.”</p> + +<p>“Ah,” said Linda comprehendingly.</p> + +<p>“Linda,” said Peter quietly, “it is very obvious that something has +worried you extremely. Am I in any way connected with it?”</p> + +<p>Linda shook her head.</p> + +<p>“Is there anything I can do?”</p> + +<p>The negative was repeated. Then she looked at him.</p> + +<p>“No, Peter,” she said quietly, “I confess I have had a shock, but it is +in no way connected with you and there is nothing you can do about it +but forget my foolishness. But I am glad—Peter, you will never know how +glad I am—that you haven’t anything to do with it.”</p> + +<p>Then in the friendliest fashion imaginable she reached him her hand and +led the way back to the Bear-cat, their tightly gripped hands swinging +between them. As Peter closed the door he looked down on Linda.</p> + +<p>“Young woman,” he said, “since this country has as yet no nerve +specialist to take the place of your distinguished father, if you have +any waves to wave to me to-night, kindly do it before you start or +after you reach the highway. If you take your hands off that steering +wheel as you round the boulders and strike that declivity as I have +seen you do heretofore, I won’t guarantee that I shall not require a +specialist myself.”</p> + +<p>Linda started to laugh, then she saw Peter’s eyes and something in them +stopped her suddenly.</p> + +<p>“I did not realize that I was taking any risk,” she said. “I won’t do +it again. I will say good-bye to you right here and now so I needn’t +look back.”</p> + +<p>So she shook hands with Peter and drove away. Peter slowly followed +down the rough driveway, worn hard by the wheels of delivery trucks, +and stood upon the highest point of the rocky turn, looking after the +small gray car as it slid down the steep declivity. And he wondered if +there could have been telepathy in the longing with which he watched +it go, for at the level roadway that followed between the cultivated +land out to the highway Linda stopped the car, stood up in it, and +turning, looked back straight to the spot upon which Peter stood. She +waved both hands to him, and then gracefully and beautifully, with +outstretched, fluttering fingers she made him the sign of birds flying +home. And with the whimsy in his soul uppermost, Peter reflected, as he +turned back for a microscopic examination of Henry Anderson’s coat and +the contents of its pockets, that there was one bird above all others +which made him think of Linda; but he could not at the moment feather +Katherine O’Donovan. And then he further reflected as he climbed the +hill that if it had to be done the best he could do would be a bantam +hen contemplating domesticity.</p> + +<p>Linda looked the garage over very carefully when she put away the +Bear-cat. When she closed the garage doors she was particular about the +locks. As she came through the kitchen she said to Katy, busy with the +lunch box:</p> + +<p>“Belovedest, have there been any strange Japs poking around here +lately?”</p> + +<p>She nearly collapsed when Katy answered promptly:</p> + +<p>“A dale too many of the square-headed haythens. I am pestered to death +with them. They used to come jist to water the lawn but now they want +to clane the rugs; they want to do the wash. They are willing to clane +house. They want to get into the garage; they insist on washing the +car. If they can’t wash it they jist want to see if it nades washin’.”</p> + +<p>Linda stood amazed.</p> + +<p>“And how long has this been going on, Katy?” she finally asked.</p> + +<p>“Well, I have had two good months of it,” said Katy; “that is, it +started two months ago. The past month has been workin’ up and the last +ten days it seemed to me they was a Jap on the back steps oftener than +they was a stray cat, and I ain’t no truck with ayther of them. They +give me jist about the same falin’. Between the two I would trust the +cat a dale further with my bird than I would the Jap.”</p> + +<p>“Have you ever unlocked the garage for them, Katy?” asked Linda.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Katy. “I only go there when I nade something about me work.”</p> + +<p>“Well, Katy,” said Linda, “let me tell you this: the next time you go +there for anything take a good look for Japs before you open the door. +Get what you want and get out as quickly as possible and be sure, Katy, +desperately sure, that you lock the door securely when you leave.”</p> + +<p>Katy set her hands on her hips, flared her elbows, and lifted her chin.</p> + +<p>“What’s any of them little haythen been doin’ to scare ye, missy?” she +demanded belligerently. “Don’t you think I’m afraid of them! Comes any +of them around me and I’ll take my mopstick over the heads of them.”</p> + +<p>“And you’ll break a perfectly good mopstick and not hurt the Jap +when you do it,” said Linda. “There’s an undercurrent of something +deep and subtle going on in this country right now, Katy. When Japan +sends college professors to work in our kitchens and relatives of her +greatest statesmen to serve our tables, you can depend on it she is not +doing it for the money that is paid them. If California does not wake +up very shortly and very thoroughly she is going to pay an awful price +for the luxury she is experiencing while she pampers herself with the +service of the Japanese, just as the South has pampered herself for +generations with the service of the negroes. When the negroes learn +what there is to know, then the day of retribution will be at hand. +And this is not croaking, Katy. It is the truest gospel that was ever +preached. Keep your eyes wide open for Japs. Keep your doors locked, +and if you see one prowling around the garage and don’t know what he is +after, go to the telephone and call the police.”</p> + +<p>Linda climbed the stairs to her workroom, plumped down at the table, +set her chin in her palms, and lost herself in thought. For half an +hour she sat immovable, staring at her caricature of Eileen through +narrowed lids. Then she opened the typewriter, inserted a sheet and +wrote:</p> + +<blockquote> + <div class="smcap">My dear Mr. Snow:</div> + + <p>I am writing as the most intimate woman friend of Marian Thorne. As + such, I have spent much thought trying to figure out exactly the + reason for the decision in your recent architectural competition; + why a man should think of such a number of very personal, intimate + touches that, from familiarity with them, I know that Miss Thorne + had incorporated in her plans, and why his winning house should be + her winning house, merely reversed.</p> + + <p>To-day I have found the answer, which I am forwarding to you, + knowing that you will understand exactly what should be done. + Enclosed you will find one of the first rough sketches Marian made + of her plans. In some mysterious manner it was lost on a night + when your prize-winning architect had dinner at our house where + Miss Thorne was also a guest. Before retiring she showed to me and + explained the plans with which she hoped to win your competition. + In the morning I packed her suitcase and handed it to the porter + of her train. When she arrived at San Francisco she found that the + enclosed sheet was missing.</p> + + <p>This afternoon tidying a garage in which Mr. Peter Morrison, the + author, is living while Henry Anderson completes a residence he is + building for him near my home, I reversed a coat belonging to Henry + Anderson to dislodge from its pocket the nest of a field mouse. + In so doing I emptied all the pockets, and in gathering up their + contents I found this lost sheet from Marian’s plans.</p> + + <p>I think nothing more need be said on my part save that I understood + the winning plan was to become the property of Nicholson and Snow. + Without waiting to see whether these plans would win or not, Henry + Anderson has them three fourths of the way materialized in Mr. + Morrison’s residence in Lilac Valley which is a northwestern suburb + of Los Angeles.</p> + + <p>You probably have heard Marian speak of me, and from her you + may obtain any information you might care to have concerning my + responsibility.</p> + + <p>I am mailing the sketch to you rather than to Marian because I feel + that you are the party most deeply interested in a business way, + and I hope, too, that you will be interested in protecting my very + dear friend from the disagreeable parts of this very disagreeable + situation.</p> + + <p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 3em;">Very truly yours,</span><br> + <span class="smcap">Linda Strong</span>.</p> +</blockquote> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 id="ch_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII</h2> + <div class="subheadc">Putting It up to Peter</div> +</div> + +<p>When Peter Morrison finally gave up looking in the pockets of Henry +Anderson’s coat for enlightenment concerning Linda’s conduct, it was +with his mind settled on one point. There was nothing in the coat now +that could possibly have startled the girl or annoyed her. Whatever +had been there that caused her extremely peculiar conduct she had +carried away with her. Peter had settled convictions concerning Linda. +From the first instant he had looked into her clear young eyes as she +stood in Multiflores Canyon triumphantly holding aloft the Cotyledon +in one hand and with the other struggling to induce the skirt of her +blouse to resume its proper location beneath the band of her trousers, +he had felt that her heart and her mind were as clear and cool and +businesslike as the energetic mountain stream hurrying past her. +Above all others, “straight” was the one adjective he probably would +have applied to her. Whatever she had taken from Henry’s pockets was +something that concerned her. If she took anything, she had a right to +take it; of that Peter was unalterably certain. He remembered that a +few days before she practically had admitted to him that Anderson had +annoyed her, and a slow anger began to surge up in Peter’s carefully +regulated heart. His thoughts were extremely busy, but the thing +he thought most frequently and most forcefully was that he would +thoroughly enjoy taking Henry Anderson by the scruff of the neck, +leading him to the sheerest part of his own particular share of the +mountain, and exhaustively booting him down it.</p> + +<p>“It takes these youngsters to rush in and raise the devil where there’s +no necessity for anything to happen if just a modicum of common sense +had been used,” growled Peter.</p> + +<p>He mulled over the problem for several days, and then he decided he +should see Linda, and with his first look into her straightforward +eyes, from the tones of her voice and the carriage of her head he would +know whether the annoyance persisted. About the customary time for her +to return from school Peter started on foot down the short cut between +his home and the Strong residence. He was following a footpath rounding +the base of the mountain, crossing and recrossing the enthusiastic +mountain stream as it speeded toward the valley, when a flash of +colour on the farther side of the brook attracted him. He stopped, +then hastily sprang across the water, climbed a few yards, and, after +skirting a heavy clump of bushes, looked at Linda sitting beside them—a +most astonishing Linda, appearing small and humble, very much tucked +away, unrestrained tears rolling down her cheeks, a wet handkerchief +wadded in one hand, a packet of letters in her lap. A long instant they +studied each other.</p> + +<p>“Am I intruding?” inquired Peter at last.</p> + +<p>Linda shook her head vigorously and gulped down a sob.</p> + +<p>“No, Peter,” she sobbed, “I had come this far on my way to you when my +courage gave out.”</p> + +<p>Peter re-arranged the immediate landscape and seated himself beside +Linda.</p> + +<p>“Now stop distressing yourself,” he said authoritatively. “You +youngsters do take life so seriously. The only thing that could have +happened to you worth your shedding a tear over can’t possibly have +happened; so stop this waste of good material. Tears are very precious +things, Linda. They ought to be the most unusual things in life. Now +tell me something. Were you coming to me about that matter that worried +you the other evening?”</p> + +<p>Linda shook her head.</p> + +<p>“No,” she said, “I have turned that matter over where it belongs. I +have nothing further to do with it. I’ll confess to you I took a paper +from among those that fell from Henry Anderson’s pocket. It was not +his. He had no right to have it. He couldn’t possibly have come by it +honourably or without knowing what it was. I took the liberty to put it +where it belongs, or at least where it seemed to me that it belongs. +That is all over.”</p> + +<p>“Then something else has happened?” asked Peter. “Something connected +with the package of letters in your lap?”</p> + +<p>Linda nodded vigorously.</p> + +<p>“Peter, I have done something perfectly awful,” she confessed. “I never +in this world meant to do it. I wouldn’t have done it for anything. I +have got myself into the dreadfullest mess, and I don’t know how to get +out. When I couldn’t stand it another minute I started right to you, +Peter, just like I’d have started to my father if I’d had him to go to.”</p> + +<p>“I see,” said Peter, deeply interested in the toe of his shoe. “You +depended on my age and worldly experience and my unconcealed devotion +to your interests, which is exactly what you should do, my dear. Now +tell me. Dry your eyes and tell me, and whatever it is I’ll fix it all +right and happily for you. I’ll swear to do it if you want me to.”</p> + +<p>Then Linda raised her eyes to his face.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Peter, you dear!” she cried. “Peter, I’ll just kneel and kiss your +hands if you can fix this for me.”</p> + +<p>Peter set his jaws and continued his meditations on shoe leather.</p> + +<p>“Make it snappy!” he said tersely. “The sooner your troubles are out of +your system the better you’ll feel. Whose letters are those, and why +are you crying over them?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Peter,” quavered Linda, “you know how I love Marian. You have seen +her and I have told you over and over.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Peter soothingly, “I know.”</p> + +<p>“I have told you how, after years of devotion to Marian, John Gilman +let Eileen make a perfect rag of him and tie him into any kind of +knot she chose. Peter, when Marian left here she had lost everything +on earth but a little dab of money. She had lost a father who was +fine enough to be my father’s best friend. She had lost a mother who +was fine enough to rear Marian to what she is. She had lost them in +a horrible way that left her room for a million fancies and regrets: +‘if I had done this,’ or ‘if I had done that,’ or ‘if I had taken +another road.’ And when she went away she knew definitely she had lost +the first and only love of her heart; and I knew, because she was so +sensitive and so fine, I knew, better than anybody living, how she +<i>could</i> be hurt; and I thought if I could fix some scheme that +would entertain her and take her mind off herself and make her feel +appreciated only for a little while—I knew in all reason, Peter, when +she got out in the world where men would see her and see how beautiful +and fine she is, there would be somebody who would want her quickly. +All the time I have thought that when she came back, <i>you</i> would +want her. Peter, I fibbed when I said I was setting your brook for +Louise Whiting. I was not. I don’t know Louise Whiting. She is nothing +to me. I was setting it for you and Marian. It was a <i>white</i> head +I saw among the iris marching down your creek bank, not a gold one, +Peter.”</p> + +<p>Peter licked his dry lips and found it impossible to look at Linda.</p> + +<p>“Straight ahead with it,” he said gravely. “What did you do?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I have done the awfullest thing,” wailed Linda, “the most +unforgivable thing!”</p> + +<p>She reached across and laid hold of the hand next her, and realizing +that she needed it for strength and support, Peter gave it into her +keeping.</p> + +<p>“Yes?” he questioned. “Get on with it, Linda. What was it you did?”</p> + +<p>“I had a typewriter: I could. I began writing her letters, the kind of +letters that I thought would interest her and make her feel loved and +appreciated.”</p> + +<p>“You didn’t sign my name to them, did you, Linda?” asked Peter in a +dry, breathless voice.</p> + +<p>“No, Peter,” said Linda, “I did not do that, I did worse. Oh, I did a +whole lot worse!”</p> + +<p>“I don’t understand,” said Peter hoarsely.</p> + +<p>“I wanted to make them fine. I wanted to make them brilliant. I wanted +to make them interesting. And of course I could not do it by myself. +I am nothing but a copycat. I just quoted a lot of things I had heard +you say; and I did worse than that, Peter. I watched the little whimsy +lines around your mouth and I tried to interpret the perfectly lovely +things they would make you say to a woman if you loved her and were +building a dream house for her. And oh, Peter, it’s too ghastly; I +don’t believe I can tell you.”</p> + +<p>“This is pretty serious business, Linda,” said Peter gravely. “Having +gone this far you are in honour bound to finish. It would not be +fair to leave me with half a truth. What is the result of this +impersonation?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Peter,” sobbed Linda, breaking down again, “you’re going to hate +me; I know you’re going to hate me and Marian’s going to hate me; and I +didn’t mean a thing but the kindest thing in all the world.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t talk like that, Linda,” said Peter. “If your friend is all you +say she is, she is bound to understand. And as for me, I am not very +likely to misjudge you. But be quick about it. What did you do, Linda?”</p> + +<p>“Why, I just wrote these letters that I am telling you about,” said +Linda, “and I said the things that I thought would comfort her and +entertain her and help with her work; and these are the answers that +she wrote me, and I don’t think I realized till last night that she was +truly attributing them to any one man, truly believing in them. Oh, +Peter, I wasn’t asleep a minute all last night, and for the first time +I failed in my lessons to-day.”</p> + +<p>“And what is the culmination, Linda?” urged Peter.</p> + +<p>“She liked the letters, Peter. They meant all I intended them to and +they must have meant something I never could have imagined. And in San +Francisco one of the firm where she studies—a very fine man she says he +is, Peter; I can see that in every way he would be quite right for her; +and I had a letter from her last night, and, Peter, he had asked her +to marry him, to have a life-long chance at work she’s crazy about. He +had offered her a beautiful home with everything that great wealth and +culture and good taste could afford. He had offered her the mothering +of his little daughter; and she refused him, Peter, refused him because +she is in love, with all the love there is left in her disappointed, +hurt heart, with the personality that these letters represent to her; +and that personality is <i>yours</i>, Peter. I stole it from you. I +copied it into those letters. I’m not straight. I’m not fair. I wasn’t +honest with her. I wasn’t honest with you. I’ll just have to take off +front the top of the highest mountain or sink in the deepest place in +the sea, Peter. I thought I was straight. I thought I was honourable. +I have made Donald believe that I was. If I have to tell him the truth +about this he won’t want to wear my flower any more. I shall know +all the things that Marian has suffered, and a thousand times worse, +because she was not to blame; she had nothing with which to reproach +herself.”</p> + +<p>Peter put an arm across Linda’s shoulders and drew her up to him. For a +long, bitter moment he thought deeply, and then he said hoarsely: “Now +calm down, Linda. You’re making an extremely high mountain out of an +extremely shallow gopher hole. You haven’t done anything irreparable. +I see the whole situation. You are <i>sure</i> your friend has finally +refused this offer she has had on account of these letters you have +written?”</p> + +<p>Suddenly Linda relaxed. She leaned her warm young body against Peter. +She laid her tired head on his shoulder. She slipped the top letter +of the packet in her lap from under its band, opened it, and held +it before him. Peter read it very deliberately, then he nodded in +acquiescence.</p> + +<p>“It’s all too evident,” he said quietly, “that you have taught her that +there is a man in this world more to her liking than John Gilman ever +has been. When it came to materializing the man, Linda, what was your +idea? Were you proposing to deliver me?”</p> + +<p>“I thought it would be suitable and you would be perfectly happy,” +sobbed Linda, “and that way I could have both of you.”</p> + +<p>“And Donald also?” asked Peter lightly.</p> + +<p>“Donald of course,” assented Linda.</p> + +<p>And then she lifted her tear-spilling, wonderful eyes, wide open, to +Peter’s, and demanded: “But, oh Peter, I am so miserable I am almost +dead. I have said you were a rock, and you are a rock. Peter, can you +get me out of this?”</p> + +<p>“Sure,” said Peter grimly. “Merely a case of living up to your blue +china, even if it happens to be in the form of hieroglyphics instead of +baked pottery. Give me the letters, Linda. Give me a few days to study +them. Exchange typewriters with me so I can have the same machine. Give +me some of the paper on which you have been writing and the address you +have been using, and I’ll guarantee to get you out of this in some way +that will leave you Donald, and your friendship with Marian quite as +good as new.”</p> + +<p>At that juncture Peter might have been kissed, but his neck was very +stiff and his head was very high and his eyes were on a far-distant +hilltop from which at that minute he could not seem to gather any +particular help.</p> + +<p>“Would it be your idea,” he said, “that by reading these letters I +could gain sufficient knowledge of what has passed to go on with this?”</p> + +<p>“Of course you could,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>Peter reached in his side pocket and pulled out a clean handkerchief. +He shook it from its folds and dried her eyes. Then he took her by her +shoulders and set her up straight.</p> + +<p>“Now stop this nerve strain and this foolishness,” he said tersely. +“You have done a very wonderful thing for me. It is barely possible +that Marian Thorne is not my dream woman, but we can’t always have our +dreams in this world, and if I could not have mine, truly and candidly, +Linda, so far as I have lived my life, I would rather have Marian +Thorne than any other woman I have ever met.”</p> + +<p>Linda clapped her hands in delight.</p> + +<p>“Oh, goody goody, Peter!” she cried. “How joyous! Can it be possible +that my bungling is coming out right for Marian and right for you?”</p> + +<p>“And right for you, Linda?” inquired Peter lightly.</p> + +<p>“Sure, right for me,” said Linda eagerly. “Of course it’s right for +me when it’s right for you and Marian. And since it’s not my secret +alone I don’t think it would be quite honourable to tell Donald about +it. What hurts Marian’s heart or heals it is none of his business. He +doesn’t even know her.”</p> + +<p>“All right then, Linda,” said Peter, rising, “give me the letters and +bring me the machine and the paper. Give me the joyous details and +tell me when I am expected to send in my first letter <i>in propria +persona?</i>”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Peter,” cried Linda, beaming on him, “oh, Peter, you <i>are</i> a +rock! I do put my trust in you.”</p> + +<p>“Then God help me,” said Peter, “for whatever happens, your trust in me +shall not be betrayed, Linda.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX</h2> +<div class="subheadc">Katy Unburdens Her Mind</div> +</div> + +<p>Possibly because she wished to eliminate herself from the offices of +Nicholson and Snow for a few days, possibly because her finely attuned +nature felt the call, Marian Thorne boarded a train that carried her +to Los Angeles. She stepped from it at ten o’clock in the morning, and +by the street-car route made her way to Lilac Valley. When she arrived +she realized that she could not see Linda before, possibly, three in +the afternoon. She entered a restaurant, had a small lunch box packed, +and leaving her dressing case, she set off down the valley toward +the mountains. She had need of their strength, their quiet and their +healing. To the one particular spot where she had found comfort in +Lilac Valley her feet led her. By paths of her own, much overgrown for +want of recent usage, she passed through the cultivated fields, left +the roadway, and began to climb. When she reached the stream flowing +down the rugged hillside, she stopped to rest for a while, and her mind +was in a tumult. In one minute she was seeing the bitterly disappointed +face of a lonely, sensitive man whose first wound had been re-opened by +the making of another possibly quite as deep; and at the next her heart +was throbbing because Linda had succeeded in transferring the living +Peter to paper.</p> + +<p>The time had come when Marian felt that she would know the personality +embodied in the letters she had been receiving; and in the past few +days her mind had been fixing tenaciously upon Peter Morrison. And the +feeling concerning which she had written Linda had taken possession +of her. Wealth did not matter; position did not matter. Losing the +love of a good man did not matter. But the mind and the heart and the +personality behind the letters she had been receiving did matter. She +thought long and seriously. When at last she arose she had arrived at +the conclusion that she had done the right thing, no matter whether +the wonderful letters she had received went on and offered her love or +not, no matter about anything. She must merely live and do the best she +could, until the writer of those letters chose to disclose himself and +say what purpose he had in mind when he wrote them.</p> + +<p>So Marian followed her own path beside the creek until she neared its +head, which was a big, gushing icy spring at the foot of the mountain +keeping watch over the small plateau that in her heart she had thought +of as hers for years. As she neared the location strange sounds began +to reach her, voices of men, clanging of hammers, the rip of saws. +A look of deep consternation overspread her face. She listened an +instant and then began to run. When she broke through the rank foliage +flourishing from the waters of the spring and looked out on the plateau +what she saw was Peter Morrison’s house in the process of being floored +and shingled. For a minute Marian was physically ill. Her heart hurt +until her hand crept to her side in an effort to soothe it. Before she +asked the question of a man coming to the spring with a pail in his +hand, she knew the answer. It was Peter Morrison’s house. Marian sprang +across the brook, climbed to the temporary roadway, and walked down +in front of the building. She stood looking at it intently. It was in +a rough stage, but much disguise is needed to prevent a mother from +knowing her own child. Marian’s dark eyes began to widen and to blaze. +She walked up to the front of the house and found that rough flooring +had been laid so that she could go over the first floor. When she had +done this she left the back door a deeply indignant woman.</p> + +<p>“There is some connection,” she told herself tersely, “between my lost +sketch and this house, which is merely a left-to-right rehearsal of +my plans; and it’s the same plan with which Henry Anderson won the +Nicholson and Snow prize money and the still more valuable honour of +being the prize winner. What I want to know is how such a wrong may be +righted, and what Peter Morrison has to do with it.”</p> + +<p>Stepping from the back door, Marian followed the well-worn pathway +that led to the garage, looking right and left for Peter, and she was +wondering what she would say to him if she met him. She was thinking +that perhaps she had better return to San Francisco and talk the matter +over with Mr. Snow before she said anything to anyone else; by this +time she had reached the garage and stood in its wide-open door. She +looked in at the cot, left just as someone had arisen from it, at the +row of clothing hanging on a rough wooden rack at the back, at the +piled boxes, at the big table, knocked together from rough lumber, +in the center, scattered and piled with books and magazines; and +then her eyes fixed intently on a packet lying on the table beside a +typewriter and a stack of paper and envelopes. She walked over and +picked up the packet. As she had known the instant she saw them, they +were her letters. She stood an instant holding them in her hand, a +dazed expression on her face. Mechanically she reached out and laid her +hands on the closed typewriter to steady herself. Something about it +appealed to her as familiar. She looked at it closely, then she lifted +the cover and examined the machine. It was the same machine that had +stood for years in Doctor Strong’s library, a machine upon which she +had typed business letters for her own father, and sometimes she had +copied lectures and book manuscript on it for Doctor Strong. Until his +house was completed and his belongings arrived, Peter undoubtedly had +borrowed it. Suddenly a wild desire to escape swept over Marian. Her +first thought was of her feelings. She was angry, and justly so. In her +heart she had begun to feel that the letters she was receiving were +from Peter Morrison. Here was the proof.</p> + +<p>Could it be possible that in their one meeting Peter had decided that +she was his dream woman, that in some way he had secured that rough +sketch of her plans, and from them was preparing her dream house for +her? The thought sped through her brain that he was something more than +human to have secured those plans, to have found that secluded and +choice location. For an instant she forgot the loss of the competition +in trying to comprehend the wonder of finding her own particular house +fitting her own particular location as naturally as one of its big +boulders.</p> + +<p>She tried to replace the package of letters exactly as she had found +them. On tiptoe she slipped back to the door and looked searchingly +down the road, around, and as far as possible through the house. Then +she gathered her skirts, stepped from the garage, and began the process +of effacing herself on the mountain side. From clump to clump of the +thickest bushes, crouching below the sage and greasewood, pausing to +rest behind lilac and elder, without regard for her traveling suit +or her beautifully shod feet, Marian fled from her location. When +at last she felt that she was completely hidden and at least a mile +from the spot, she dropped panting on a boulder, brushing the débris +from her skirts, lifting trembling hands to straighten her hat, +and ruefully contemplating her shoes. Then she tried to think in a +calm, dispassionate, and reasonable manner, but she found it a most +difficult process. Her mind was not well ordered, neither was it at her +command. It whirled and shot off at unexpected tangents and danced as +irresponsibly as a grasshopper from one place to another. The flying +leaps it took ranged from San Francisco to Lilac Valley, from her +location upon which Peter Morrison was building her house, to Linda. +Even John Gilman obtruded himself once more. At one minute she was +experiencing a raging indignation against Henry Anderson. How had he +secured her plan? At another she was trying to figure dispassionately +what connection Peter Morrison could have had with the building of +his house upon her plan. Every time Peter came into the equation her +heart arose in his defense. In some way his share in the proceeding was +all right. He had cared for her and he had done what he thought would +please her. Therefore she must be pleased, although forced to admit to +herself that she would have been infinitely more pleased to have built +her own house in her own way.</p> + +<p>She was hungry to see Linda. She wanted Katherine O’Donovan to feed her +and fuss over her and entertain her with her mellow Irish brogue; but +if she went to them and disclosed her presence in the valley, Peter +would know about it, and if he intended the building he was erecting as +a wonderful surprise for her, then she must not spoil his joy. Plan in +any way she could, Marian could see no course left to her other than to +slip back to the station and return to San Francisco without meeting +any of her friends. She hurriedly ate her lunch, again straightened +her clothing, went to the restaurant for her traveling bag, and took +the car for the station where she waited for a return train to San +Francisco. She bought a paper and tried to concentrate upon it in +an effort to take her mind from her own problems so that, when she +returned to them, she would be better able to think clearly, to reason +justly, to act wisely. She was very glad when her train came and she +was started on her way northward. At the first siding upon which it +stopped to allow the passing of a south-bound limited, she was certain +that as the cars flashed by, in one of them she saw Eugene Snow. She +was so certain that when she reached the city she immediately called +the office and asked for Mr. Snow, only to be told that he had gone +away for a day or two on business. After that Marian’s thought was +confused to the point of exasperation.</p> + +<p>It would be difficult to explain precisely the state of mind in which +Linda, upon arriving at her home that afternoon, received from Katy the +information that a man named Snow had been waiting an hour for her in +the living room. Linda’s appearance was that of a person so astonished +that Katy sidled up to her giving strong evidence of being ready to +bristle.</p> + +<p>“Ye know, lambie,” she said with elaborate indifference, “ye aren’t +havin’ to see anybody ye don’t want to. If it’s somebody intrudin’ +himself on ye, just say the word and I’ll fire him; higher than +Guilderoy’s kite I’ll be firin’ him.”</p> + +<p>“No, I must see him, Katy,” said Linda quietly. “And have something +specially nice for dinner. Very likely I’ll take him to see Peter +Morrison’s house and possibly I’ll ask him and Peter to dinner. He is a +San Francisco architect from the firm where Marian takes her lessons, +and it’s business about Peter’s house. I was surprised, that’s all.”</p> + +<p>Then Linda turned and laid a hand on each of Katy’s hairy, red arms.</p> + +<p>“Katherine O’Donovan, old dear,” she said, “if we do come back for +dinner, concentrate on Mr. Snow and study him. Scrutinize, Katy! It’s +a bully word. Scrutinize closely. To add one more to our long lists of +secrets, here’s another. He’s the man I told you about who has asked +Marian to marry him, and Marian has refused him probably because she +prefers somebody nearer home.”</p> + +<p>Then Linda felt the tensing of every muscle in Katy’s body. She saw the +lift of her head, the incredulous, resentful look in her eyes. There +was frank hostility in her tone.</p> + +<p>“Well, who is there nearer home that Marian knows?” she demanded +belligerently.</p> + +<p>“Well, now, who would there be?” retorted Linda.</p> + +<p>“Ye ain’t manin’ John Gilman?” asked Katy.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Linda, “I am not meaning John Gilman. You should know Marian +well enough to know that.”</p> + +<p>“Well, ye ought to know yourself well enough to know that they ain’t +anybody else around these diggin’s that Marian Thorne’s going to get,” +said Katy.</p> + +<p>“I imagine Marian will get pretty much whom she wants,” said Linda +laughingly. “In your heart, Katy, you know that Marian need not have +lost John Gilman if she had not deliberately let him go. If she had +been willing to meet Eileen on her own ground and to play the game with +her, it wouldn’t have happened. Marian has more brains in a minute than +Eileen has in a month.”</p> + +<p>When Linda drew back the portière and stepped into the living room +Eugene Snow rose to meet her. What either of them expected it might +be difficult to explain. Knowing so little of each other, it is very +possible that they had no visualizations. What Snow saw was what +everyone saw who looked at Linda—a girl arrestingly unusual. With +Linda lay the advantage by far, since she had Marian’s letters for +a background. What she saw was a tall man, slender, and about him +there was to Linda a strong appeal. As she looked into his eyes, she +could feel the double hurt that Fate had dealt him. She thought she +could fathom the fineness in his nature that had led him to made +home-building his chosen occupation. Instantly she liked him. With only +one look deep into his eyes she was on his side. She stretched out both +her hands and advanced.</p> + +<p>“Now isn’t this the finest thing of you?” she said. “I am so glad that +you came. I’ll tell you word for word what happened here.”</p> + +<p>“That will be fine,” he said. “Which is your favourite chair?”</p> + +<p>“You know,” she said, “that is a joke. I am so unfamiliar with this +room that I haven’t any favourite chair. I’ll have to take the nearest, +like Thoreau selected his piece of chicken.”</p> + +<p>Then for a few minutes Linda talked frankly. She answered Eugene Snow’s +every question unhesitatingly and comprehensively. Together they +ascended the stairs, and in the guest room she showed him the table at +which she and Marian had studied the sketches of plans, and exactly +where they had left them lying overnight.</p> + +<p>“The one thing I can’t be explicit about,” said Linda, “is how many +sheets were there in the morning. We had stayed awake so late talking, +that we overslept. I packed Marian’s bag while she dressed. I snatched +up what there were without realizing whether there were two sheets +or three, laid them in the flat bottom of the case, and folded her +clothing on top of them.”</p> + +<p>“I see,” said Mr. Snow comprehendingly. “Now let’s experiment a little. +Of course the window before that table was raised?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, it was,” said Linda, “but every window in the house is screened.”</p> + +<p>“And what about the door opening into the hall? Can you tell me whether +it was closed or open?”</p> + +<p>“It was open,” said Linda. “We left it slightly ajar to create a draft; +the night was warm.”</p> + +<p>“Is there anyone about the house,” inquired Mr. Snow, “who could tell +us certainly whether that window was screened that night?”</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said Linda. “Our housekeeper, Katherine O’Donovan, would +know. When we go down we’ll ask her.”</p> + +<p>On their return to the living room, for the first time in her life +Linda rang for Katy. She hesitated an instant before she did it. It +would be establishing a relationship that never before had existed +between them. She always had gone to Katy as she would have, gone to +her mother. She would have gone to her now, but she wanted Katy to make +her appearance and give her information without the possibility of +previous discussion. Katy answered the bell almost at once. Linda went +to her side and reached her arm across her shoulders.</p> + +<p>“Katy,” she said, “this is Mr. Eugene Snow of San Francisco. He is +interested in finding out exactly what became of that lost plan of +Marian’s that we have looked for so carefully. Put on your thinking +cap, old dear, and try to answer accurately any question that Mr. Snow +may wish to ask you.”</p> + +<p>Katy looked expectantly at Eugene Snow.</p> + +<p>“In the meantime,” said Linda, “I’ll be excused and go bring round the +Bear-cat.”</p> + +<p>“I have only one question to ask you,” said Mr. Snow. “Can you recall +whether, for any reason, there was a screen out of the guest-room +window directly in front of which the reading table was standing the +night Miss Marian occupied the room before leaving for San Francisco?”</p> + +<p>“Sure there was,” answered Katy instantly in her richest, mellowest +brogue.</p> + +<p>She was taking the inventory she had been told to take. She was +deciding, as instantly as Linda had done, that she liked this man. +Years, appearance, everything about him appealed to Katy as being +exactly right for Marian; and her cunning Irish mind was leaping and +flying and tugging at the leash that thirty years of conventions had +bound upon her.</p> + +<p>“Sure,” she repeated, “the wildest santana that ever roared over us +just caught that screen and landed it slam against the side of the +garage, and it set inside for three days till I could get a workman to +go up the outside and put it back. It had been out two days before the +night Marian was here.”</p> + +<p>“Did Miss Linda know about it?” asked Snow.</p> + +<p>“Not that I know of,” said Katy. “She is a schoolgirl, you know, off +early in the morning, back and up to her room, the busiest youngster +the valley knows; and doin’ a dale of good she is, too. It was Miss +Eileen that heard the screen ripped out and told me it was gone. She’s +the one who looked after the housekapin’ and paid the bills. She knew +all about it. If ’twould be helpin’ Miss Marian any about findin’ them +plans we’ve ransacked the premises for, I couldn’t see any reason +why Miss Eileen wouldn’t tell ye the same as I’m tellin’ ye, and her +housekapin’ accounts and her cheque book would show she paid the +carpenter, if it’s legal business you’re wantin’.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you, Katy,” said Mr. Snow. “I hope nothing of that kind will +occur. A great wrong has been perpetrated, but we must find some way +to right it without involving such extremely nice young women in the +annoyance of legal proceedings.”</p> + +<p>Katy folded her arms and raised her head. All her share of the blarney +of Ireland began to roll from the mellow tip of her tongue.</p> + +<p>“Now, the nice man ye are, to be seein’ the beauty of them girls so +quick,” she said. “The good Lord airly in the mornin’ of creation +thought them out when He was jist fresh from rist, and the material was +none shopworn. They ain’t ladies like ’em anywhere else in the whole +of California, and belave me, a many rale ladies have I seen in my +time. Ye can jist make up your mind that Miss Linda is the broth of the +earth. She is her father’s own child and she is like him as two pase +in the pod. And Marian growed beside her, and much of a hand I’ve had +in her raisin’ meself, and well I’m knowin’ how fine she is and what a +juel she’d be, set on any man’s hearthstone. I’m wonderin’,” said Katy +challengingly, “if you’re the Mr. Snow at whose place she is takin’ her +lessons, and if ye are, I’m wonderin’ if ye ain’t goin’ to use the good +judgment to set her, like the juel she would be, in the stone of your +own hearth.”</p> + +<p>Eugene Snow looked at Katy intently. He was not accustomed to +discussing his affairs with household helpers, but he could not look at +Katy without there remaining in his vision the form of Linda standing +beside her, a reassuring arm stretched across her shoulders, the manner +in which she had presented her and then left her that she might be free +to answer as she chose with out her young mistress even knowing exactly +what was asked of her. Such faith and trust and love were unusual.</p> + +<p>“I might try to do that very thing,” he said, “but, you know, a +wonderful woman is an animated jewel. You can’t manufacture a setting +and put her in and tighten the clasps without her consent.”</p> + +<p>“Then why don’t you get it?” said Katy casually.</p> + +<p>Eugene Snow laughed ruefully.</p> + +<p>“But suppose,” he said, “that the particular jewel you’re discussing +prefers to select her own setting, and mine does not please her.”</p> + +<p>“Well, they’s jist one thing,” said Katy. Her heels left the floor +involuntarily; she arose on her tiptoes; her shoulders came up, and +her head lifted to a height it never had known before. “They’s jist +one thing,” she said. “Aside from Miss Linda, who is my very own child +that I have washed and I have combed and I have done for since she was +a toddlin’ four-year-old, they ain’t no woman in this world I would go +as far for as I would for Miss Marian; but I’m tellin’ ye now, ye Mr. +Eujane Snow, that they’s one thing I don’t lend no countenance to. I +am sorry she has had the cold, cruel luck that she has, but I ain’t +sorry enough that I’m goin’ to stand for her droppin’ herself into the +place where she doesn’t belong. If the good Lord ain’t give her the +sense to see that you’re jist the image of the man that would be jist +exactly right for her, somebody had better be tellin’ her so. Anyway, +if Miss Linda is takin’ ye up to the house that Mr. Pater Morrison is +buildin’ and the Pater man is there, I would advise ye to cast your +most discernin’ eye on that gintleman. Ye watch him jist one minute +when he looks at the young missus and he thinks nobody ain’t observing +him, and ye’ll see what ye’ll see. If ye want Marian, ye jist go on and +take her. I’m not carin’ whether ye use a club or white vi’lets, but +don’t ye be lettin’ Marian Thorne get no idea into her head that she +is goin’ to take Mr. Pater Morrison, because concernin’ Pater I know +what I know, and I ain’t goin’ to stand by and see things goin’ wrong +for want of spakin’ up. Now if you’re a wise man, ye don’t nade nothing +further said on the subject.”</p> + +<p>Eugene Snow thought intently for a few moments. His vision centered on +Katherine O’Donovan’s face.</p> + +<p>“You’re absolutely sure of this?” he said at last.</p> + +<p>“Jist as sure as the sun’s sure, and the mountains, and the seasons +come and go,” said Katy with finality. “Watch him and you’ll see it +stickin’ out all over him. I have picked him for me boss, and it’s jist +adorin’ that man crature I am.”</p> + +<p>“What about Miss Linda?” inquired Snow. “Is she adoring him?”</p> + +<p>“She ain’t nothing but a ganglin’ school kid, adorin’ the spade with +which she can shoot around that Bear-cat of hers, and race the canyons, +and the raly lovely things she can strike on paper with her pencil and +light up with her joyous colours. Her day and her hour ain’t come, and +the Pater man’s that fine he won’t lay a finger on her to wake her +up when she has a year yet of her schoolin’ before her. But in the +manetime it’s my job to stand guard as I’m standin’ right now. I’m +tellin’ ye frank and fair. Ye go on and take Marian Thorne because ye +ought to have her. If she’s got any idea in her head that she’s goin’ +to have Pater Morrison, she’ll have to get it out.”</p> + +<p>Eugene Snow held out his hand and started to the front door in answer +to the growl of the Bear-cat. As he came down the steps and advanced +to the car, Linda, with the quick eye that had been one of her special +gifts as a birthright, noted a change in him. He seemed to have been +keyed up and toned up. There was a different expression on his face. +There was buoyancy in his step. There was a visible determination in +his eye. He took the seat beside her and Linda started the car. She +looked at him interrogatively.</p> + +<p>“Can you connect a heavy wind with the date of the lost plan?” he +inquired.</p> + +<p>“There was a crack-a-jack a few days before,” said Linda. “It blew over +some trees in the lot next to us.”</p> + +<p>“Exactly,” said Snow; “and it plucked a screen from your guest-room +window. Katy thinks that the cheque to the carpenter and the cost of +the repairs will be in your sister’s account books.”</p> + +<p>“Um hm,” nodded Linda. “Well, that simplifies matters, because Peter +Morrison is going to tell you about a trip Henry Anderson made around +our house the morning Marian left.”</p> + +<p>“I think that is about all we need to know,” said Mr. Snow conclusively.</p> + +<p>“I think so,” said Linda, “but I want you to see Peter’s house for +yourself, since I understand that according to your contract the rights +to reproduce these particular plans remained with you after you had +paid prize money for them.”</p> + +<p>“Most certainly,” said Mr. Snow. “We should have that much to show for +our share of the transaction.”</p> + +<p>“It’s a queer thing,” said Linda. “You would have to know me a long +time, and perhaps know under what conditions I have been reared in +order to understand a feeling that I frequently have concerning people. +I tobogganed down a sheer side of Multiflores Canyon one day without +my path having been previously prepared, and I very nearly landed in +the automobile that carried Henry Anderson and Peter Morrison on their +first trip to Lilac Valley. I was much interested in preserving the +integrity of my neck. I fervently hoped not to break more than a dozen +of my legs and arms, and was forced to bring down intact the finest +<i>Cotyledon pulverulenta</i> that Daddy or I had found in fourteen +years of collecting in California. I am telling you all this that you +may see why I might have been excused for not having been minutely +observant of my surroundings when I landed. But what I did observe was +a chilly, caterpillary sensation chasing up my spine the instant I met +the eyes of Henry Anderson. In that instant I said to myself that I +would not trust him, that I did not like him.”</p> + +<p>“And what about his companion?” asked Eugene Snow lightly.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Peter?” said Linda. There was a caress in her pronunciation of the +name. “Why, Peter is a rock. The instant I deposited my Cotyledon in +a safe place I would have put my hand in Peter Morrison’s and started +around the world if he had asked me to go. There is only one Peter. You +will recognize that the instant you meet him.”</p> + +<p>“I am altogether willing to take your word for it,” said Mr. Snow.</p> + +<p>“And there is one thing about this disagreeable business,” said Linda. +“It was not Peter’s coat that had the plan in it. He knew nothing about +it. He has had his full service of stiff war work, and he has been +knocking around big cities in newspaper work, and now he has come home +to Lilac Valley to ‘set up his rest,’ as in the hymn book, you know. +He built his garage first and he is living in it because he so loves +this house of his that he has to be present to watch it grow in minute +detail. Once on a time I saw a great wizard walking along the sidewalk, +and he looked exactly like any man. He might have been you so far as +anything different from other men in his appearance w as concerned.”</p> + +<p>Linda cut down the Bear-cat to its slowest speed.</p> + +<p>“What is on my mind is this,” she said. “I don’t think Peter could +quite afford the amount of ground he has bought, and the house he is +building. I think possibly he is tying himself up in obligations. +It may take him two or three years to come even on it; but it is a +prepossession with him. Now can’t you see that if we go to him and tell +him this sordid, underhand, unmanly tale, how his fine nature is going +to be hurt, how his big heart is going to be wrung, how his home-house +that he is building with such eager watchfulness will be a weighty Old +Man of the Sea clinging to his back? Do you think, Mr. Eugene Snow, +that you’re enough of a wizard to examine this house and to satisfy +yourself as to whether it’s an infringement of your plans or not, +without letting Peter know the things about it that would spoil it for +him?”</p> + +<p>Eugene Snow reached across and closed a hand over the one of Linda’s +nearest him on the steering wheel.</p> + +<p>“You very decent kid, you,” he said appreciatively. “I certainly +am enough of a wizard to save your Peter man any disillusionment +concerning his dream house.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, but he is not my Peter man,” said Linda. “We are only the best +friends in the world. Really and truly, if you can keep a secret, he’s +Marian’s.”</p> + +<p>“Is he?” asked Mr. Snow interestedly. And then he added very casually, +in the most off-hand manner—he said it more to an orange orchard +through which they were passing than he said it to Linda—“I have very +grave doubts about that. I think there must be some slight complication +that will have to be cleared up.”</p> + +<p>Linda’s heart gave a great jump of consternation.</p> + +<p>“Indeed no,” she said emphatically. “I don’t think he has just +<i>told</i> Marian yet, but I am very sure that he cares for her more +than for any other woman, and I am equally sure she cares for him; and +nothing could be more suitable.”</p> + +<p>“All right then,” agreed Mr. Snow.</p> + +<p>Linda put the Bear-cat at the mountain, crept around the road, skirted +the boulders, and stopped halfway to the garage. And there, in a low +tone, she indicated to Mr. Snow where they had lunched, when she found +the plans, how she had brought out the coat, where she had emptied +the mouse nest. Then she stepped from the car and hallooed for Peter. +Peter came hurrying from the garage, and Eugene Snow was swift in his +mental inventory. It coincided exactly with Linda’s. He would have been +willing to join hands with Peter and start around the world, quite +convinced of the fairness of the outcome, with no greater acquaintance +than one intent look at Peter, one grip of his sure hand. After that he +began to act on Katy’s hint, and in a very short time he had convinced +himself that she was right. Maybe Peter tried to absorb himself in the +plans he was going over, in the house he was proud to show the great +architect; but it seemed to the man he was entertaining that his glance +scarcely left Linda, that he was so preoccupied with where she went and +what she did that he was like a juggler keeping two mental balls in the +air at the same time.</p> + +<p>It seemed to Peter a natural thing that, the architect being in the +city on business, he should run out to call on Miss Thorne’s dearest +friend. It seemed to him equally natural that Linda should bring him +to see a house in which she was so kindly interesting herself. And +just when Peter was most dexterous in his juggling, just when he was +trying to explain the very wonderful step-saving, time-saving, rational +kitchen arrangements and at the same time watch Linda on her course +down to the spring, the architect halted him with a jerk. Eugene Snow +stood very straight, his hands in his coat pockets, looking, Peter +supposed, with interest at the arrangements of kitchen conveniences. +His next terse sentence fairly staggered Peter. He looked him straight +in the eye and inquired casually: “Chosen your dream woman to fit your +house, Morrison?”</p> + +<p>Peter was too surprised to conceal his feelings. His jaws snapped +together; a belligerent look sprang into his eyes.</p> + +<p>“I have had a good deal to do with houses,” continued Mr. Snow. “They +are my life work. I find that invariably they are built for a woman. +Almost always they are built from her plans, and for her pleasure. It’s +a new house, a unique house, a wonderful house you’re evolving here. It +must be truly a wonderful woman you’re dreaming about while you build +it.”</p> + +<p>That was a nasty little trap. With his years and worldly experience +Peter should not have fallen into it; but all men are children when +they are sick, heart sick or body sick, and Peter was a very sick +man at that minute. He had been addressed in such a frank and casual +manner. His own brain shot off at queer tangents and led him constantly +into unexpected places. The narrow side lane that opened up came into +view so suddenly that Peter, with the innocence of a four-year-old, +turned with military precision at the suggestion and looked over the +premises for the exact location of Linda. Eugene Snow had seen for +himself the thing that Katy had told him he would see if he looked for +it. Suddenly he held out his hand.</p> + +<p>“As man to man, Morrison, in this instance,” he said in rather a +hoarse, breathless voice, “don’t you think it would be a good idea for +you and me to assert our manhood, to manage our own affairs, to select +our own wives if need be? If we really set ourselves to the job don’t +you believe we can work out our lives more to our liking than anyone +else can plan for us? You get the idea, don’t you, Morrison?”</p> + +<p>Peter was facing the kitchen sink but he did not see it. His brain +was whirling. He did see Snow’s point of view. He did realize his +position. But what Mr. Snow knew of his affairs he could only guess. +The one thing Mr. Snow could not know was that Linda frankly admitted +her prepossession for her school chum, Donald Whiting, but in any event +if Peter could not have Linda he would much prefer occupying his dream +house alone. So he caught at the straw held out to him with both hands.</p> + +<p>“I get you,” he said tersely. “It is not quite up to the mark of the +manhood we like to think we possess to let our lives be engineered by +a high-school kid. Suppose we do just quietly and masterfully assert +ourselves concerning our own affairs.”</p> + +<p>“Suppose we do,” said Snow with finality.</p> + +<p>Whereupon they shook hands with a grip that whitened their knuckles.</p> + +<p>Then they went back to Lilac Valley and had their dinner together, and +Linda and Peter escorted Eugene Snow to his train and started him on +his return trip to San Francisco feeling very much better. Peter would +not allow Linda to drive him home at night, so he left her after the +Bear-cat had been safely placed in the garage. As she stood on the walk +beside him, strongly outlined in the moonlight, Peter studied Linda +whimsically. He said it half laughingly, but there was something to +think about in what he said:</p> + +<p>“I’m just picturing, Linda, what a nice old lady you will be by the +time that High-School kid of yours spends four years in college, one on +the continent, and the Lord knows how many at mastering a profession.”</p> + +<p>Linda looked at him with widened eyes.</p> + +<p>“Why, what are you talking about, Peter? Are you moonstruck?” she +inquired solicitously. “Donald’s only a friend, you know. I love him +because he is the nicest companion; but there is nothing for you to be +silly about.”</p> + +<p>Then Peter began to realize the truth. There wasn’t anything for him to +be concerned about. She had not the slightest notion what love meant, +even as she announced that she loved Donald.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XXX">CHAPTER XXX</h2> +<div class="subheadc">Peter’s Release</div> +</div> + +<p>Eugene Snow returned to San Francisco enthusiastic about Linda, while +he would scarcely have known how to express his appreciation of +Katherine O’Donovan. He had been served a delicious dinner, deftly +and quietly, such food as men particularly like; but there had been +no subservience. If Katherine O’Donovan had been waiting on her own +table, serving her own friends she could not have managed with more +pride. It was very evident that she loved service, that she loved the +girl to whom she gave constant attention. He understood exactly what +there was in her heart and why she felt as she did when he saw Linda +and Peter together and heard their manner of speaking to each other, +and made mental note of the many points of interest which seemed to +exist between them. He returned to San Francisco with a good deal of a +“See-the-conquering-hero-comes” mental attitude. He went directly to +his office, pausing on the way for a box of candy and a bunch of Parma +violets. His first act on reaching the office was to send for Miss +Thorne. Marian came almost immediately, a worried look in her eyes. +She sat in the big, cushioned chair that was offered her, and smiled +faintly when the box was laid on her lap, topped with the violets. She +looked at Eugene Snow with an “I-wish-you-wouldn’t” expression on her +face; but he smiled at her reassuringly.</p> + +<p>“Nothing,” he said. “Picked them up on the way from the station. I made +a hasty trip to that precious Lilac Valley of yours, and I must say it +pales your representation. It is a wonderfully lovely spot.”</p> + +<p>Marian settled back in the chair. She picked up the violets and ran an +experienced finger around the stems until she found the pin with which +she fastened them at her waist. Then as they occupied themselves making +selections from the candy box he looked smilingly at Marian. Her eyes +noted the change in him. He was neither disappointed nor sad. Something +had happened in Lilac Valley that had changed his perspective. Woman +like, she began probing.</p> + +<p>“Glad you liked my valley,” she said. “We are told that blue is a +wonderful aura to surround a person, and it’s equally wonderful when it +surrounds a whole valley. With the blue sky and the blue walls and a +few true-blue friends I have there, it’s naturally a very dear spot to +me.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Mr. Snow, “I can see that it is. I ran down on a business +matter. I have been deeply puzzled and much perturbed over this prize +contest. We have run these affairs once a year, sometimes oftener, for +a long time, so I couldn’t understand the peculiar thing about the +similarity of the winning plans and your work this year. I have been +holding up the prize money, because I did not feel that you were saying +exactly what was in your heart, and I couldn’t be altogether satisfied +that everything was right. I went to Lilac Valley because I had a +letter from your friend, Miss Linda Strong. There was an enclosure in +it.”</p> + +<p>He drew from his pocket the folded sheet and handed it to Marian. Her +eyes were surprised, incredulous, as she opened the missing sheet +from her plans, saw the extraneous lines drawn upon it and the minute +figuring with which the margin was covered.</p> + +<p>“Linda found it at last!” she cried. “Where in this world did she get +it, and whose work is this on it?”</p> + +<p>“She got it,” said Eugene Snow, “when she undertook to clean Peter +Morrison’s workroom on an evening when she and her cook were having +supper with him. She turned a coat belonging to his architect that hung +with some of his clothing in Peter Morrison’s garage. She was shaking +the nest of a field mouse from one of the side pockets. Naturally this +emptied all the pockets, and in gathering up their contents she came +across that plan, which she recognized. She thought it was right to +take it and very wisely felt that it was man’s business, so she sent it +to me with her explanations. I went to Lilac Valley because I wanted to +judge for myself exactly what kind of young person she was. I wanted +to see her environment. I wanted to see the house that she felt sure +was being built from these plans. I wanted to satisfy myself of the +stability of what I had to work on before I mentioned the matter to you +or Henry Anderson.”</p> + +<p>Marian sat holding the plan, listening absorbedly to what he was saying.</p> + +<p>“It’s an ugly business,” he said, “so ugly that there is no question +whatever but that it can be settled very quietly and without any +annoyance to you. I shall have to take the matter up with the board, +but I have the details so worked out that I shall have no difficulty +in arranging matters as I think best. There is no question whatever, +Marian, but Anderson found that sketch on the west side of the Strong +residence. When you left your plans lying on a table before a window +in the Strong guest room the night before you came to San Francisco +you did not know that the santana which raged through the valley a day +or two previously had stripped a screen from the window before which +you left them. In opening your door to establish a draft before you +went to bed you started one that carried your top drawing through the +window. Waiting for Miss Strong the next morning, in making a circuit +of the grounds Anderson found it and appropriated it to most excellent +advantage. Miss Linda tells me that your study of architecture was +discussed at the dinner table that night. He could not have helped +realizing that any sheet of plans he found there must have been yours. +If he could acquit his conscience of taking them and using them, he +would still have to explain why he was ready to accept the first prize +and the conditions imposed when he already had a house fairly well +under construction from the plans he submitted in the contest. The rule +is unbreakable that the plans must be original, must be unused, must be +our sole property, if they take the prize.”</p> + +<p>Marian was leaning forward, her eyes wide with interest, her breast +agitated. She nodded in acquiescence. Eugene Snow reached across and +helped himself to another piece of candy from the box on her knee. He +looked at her speculatively and spoke quietly as if the matter were of +no great importance.</p> + +<p>“Would it be agreeable, Marian, if the prize committee should announce +that there were reasons as to why they were not satisfied, that they +have decided to return all plans and call off the present contest, +opening another in a few months in which interested parties may again +submit their drawings? I will undertake swiftly and comprehensively +to eliminate Henry Anderson from California. I would be willing to +venture quite a sum that when I finish with the youngster he will see +the beauty of going straight hereafter and the desirability of a change +of atmosphere. He’s a youngster. I hate to make the matter public, not +only on account of involving you and your friends in such disagreeable +business, but I am sorry for him. I would like to deal with him like +the proverbial ‘Dutch uncle,’ then I would like to send him away to +make a new start with the assurance that I am keeping close watch on +him. Would you be satisfied if I handled the matter quietly and in my +own way? Could you wait a few weeks for justice?”</p> + +<p>Marian drew a deep breath.</p> + +<p>“Of course,” she said, “it would be wonderful if you could do that. But +what about Peter Morrison? How much did he know concerning the plans, +and what does he know about this?”</p> + +<p>“Nothing,” said Mr. Snow. “That most unusual young friend of yours made +me see the light very clearly concerning Peter Morrison. There is no +necessity for him ever to know that the ‘dream house,’ as Miss Linda +calls it, that he is building for his dream woman has any disagreeable +history attached to it. He so loves the spot that he is living on it +to watch that house in minutest detail. Miss Linda was fairly eloquent +in the plea she made on his behalf. He strikes me as a very unusual +person, and she appealed to me in the same way. There must be some +scientific explanation concerning her that I don’t just get, but I can +see that she is most unusual. When I watched them together and heard +them talk of their plans for the house and the grounds and discussing +illustrations that she is making for articles that he is writing, I +saw how deep and wholesome was the friendship existing between them. +I even heard that wonderful serving woman, whom they so familiarly +speak of as ‘Katy,’ chiding Peter Morrison for allowing Linda to take +her typewriter to him and do her own work with a pen. And because Miss +Linda seems so great hearted and loving with her friends, I was rather +glad to hear his explanation that they were merely changing machines +for the time being for a very particular reason of their own.”</p> + +<p>“Do you mean,” asked Marian, “that you think there is anything more +than casual friendship between Linda and Peter Morrison?”</p> + +<p>“Not on her part,” answered Eugene Snow. “Anybody can see that she is a +child deeply engrossed in all sorts of affairs uncommon for a girl of +her age and position. Her nice perceptions, her wonderful loyalty to +her friends, her loving thought for them, are manifest in everything +she says or does. If she ever makes any mistakes they will be from the +head, not from the heart. But for the other end of the equation I could +speak authoritatively. Katy pointed out to me the fact that if I would +watch Peter Morrison in Miss Linda’s presence, I should see that he +adored her. I did watch, and I did see that very thing. When I taxed +him about building a dream house for a dream woman, his eyes crossed a +plateau, leaped a brook, and started up the side of a mountain. They +did not rest until they had found Linda.”</p> + +<p>Marian sat so still that it seemed as if she were not even breathing. +In view of what Katy had said, and his few words with Peter Morrison, +Eugene Snow had felt justified in giving Marian a hint as to what was +going on in Lilac Valley. Exactly what he had done he had no means of +knowing. If he had known and had talked intentionally he could not have +made clearer to Marian the thing which for months had puzzled her. +She was aware that Eugene Snow was talking, that he was describing +the dinner he had been served, the wonderful wild-flower garden that +he had seen, how skillfully Linda drove the Bear-cat. She heard these +things and dimly comprehended them but underneath, her brain was +seizing upon one fact after another. They had exchanged typewriters. +The poor, foolish little kid had known how her health was wracked, how +she was suffering, how her pride would not let her stoop to Eileen’s +subterfuges and wage war with her implements for a man she did not want +if her manner of living her everyday life did not appeal to him. Linda +had known how lonely and heart hungry and disappointed she had gone +away, and loyally she had tried to create an interest in life for her; +and she had succeeded entirely too well. And then in a panic she must +have gone to Peter Morrison and explained the situation; and Peter must +have agreed to take over the correspondence. One by one things that had +puzzled her about the letters and about the whole affair began to grow +clear. She even saw how Linda, having friendly association with no man +save Peter, would naturally use him for a model. The trouble was that, +with her gift of penetration and insight and her facility with her +pen, she had overdone the matter. She had not imitated Peter; she had +<i>been</i> Peter. Marian arose suddenly.</p> + +<p>She went home, locked the door, and one after another she read the +letters that had piqued, amused, comforted, and finally intrigued her. +They were brilliant letters, charming, appealing letters, and yet, with +knowledge concerning them, Marian wondered how she could have failed to +appreciate in the beginning that they were from Linda.</p> + +<p>“It goes to prove,” she said at last, “how hungry the human heart is +for love and sympathy. And that poor kid, what she must have suffered +when she went to Peter for help! And if, as Mr. Snow thinks, he cares +for her, how he must have suffered before he agreed to help her, as +no doubt he did. What I have to do is to find some way out of the +situation that will relieve Linda’s anxiety and at least partially +save my face. I shall have to take a few days to work it out. Luckily +I haven’t answered my last letter. When I find out what I really want +to say then I will be very careful how I say it. I don’t just exactly +relish having my letters turned over to Peter Morrison, but possibly I +can think of some way—I must think of some way—to make them feel that I +have not been any more credulous than they.”</p> + +<p>While she thought, both Linda and Peter were doing much thinking on the +same subject. Linda’s heart was full of gratitude to Peter for helping +her out of her very disagreeable situation. Peter had not yet opened +the packet of letters lying on his table. He had a sickening distaste +for the whole transaction. He had thought that he would wait until he +received the first letter he was to answer. If it gave him sufficient +foundation in itself for the answer, he would not be forced to search +further. He had smoked many pipes on this decision. After the visit of +Mr. Snow, Peter had seen a great light and had decided, from the mood +and the attitude of that gentleman after his interview with Katy, that +he very likely would be equal to any complication that might arise when +he reached San Francisco. Mulling over the situation one day Peter said +reflectively to the spring which was very busy talking to him: “I am +morally certain that this matter has resolved itself into a situation +that closely resembles the bootblack’s apple: ‘they ain’t goin’ to be +any core.’ I am reasonably certain that I never shall have a letter to +answer. In a few days probably I shall be able to turn back that packet +to Linda without having opened it.”</p> + +<p>To make up for the perturbation which had resulted in failure in +class and two weeks of work that represented her worst appearances in +high-school history, Linda, her mind freed from the worry over Marian’s +plans, and her heart calmer over the fiasco in trying to comfort her, +devoted herself absorbingly to her lessons and to the next magazine +article that she must finish. She had decided that it was time to write +on the subject of Indian confections. Her first spare minute she and +Katy must busy themselves working out the most delicious cactus candy +possible. Then they could try the mesquite candy. No doubt she could +evolve a delicious gum from the mesquite and the incense plant. She +knew she could from the willow milkweed; and under the head of “sweets” +an appetizing jelly from manzanita. There were delightful drinks +too, from the manzanita and the chia. And better than either, the +lemonade berry would serve this purpose. She had not experimented to +an authoritative extent with the desert pickles. And among drinks she +might use the tea made from blue-eyed grass, brewed by the Indians for +feverish conditions; and there was a whole world of interest to open up +in differing seeds and berries, parched or boiled for food. And there +were the seeds that were ground for mush, like the thistle sage, and +the mock orange which was food and soap also, and the wild sunflowers +that were parched for meal, and above all, the acorns. She could see +that her problem was not going to be one of difficulty in securing +sufficient material for her book; it would be how to find time to +gather all these things, and put them through the various processes and +combinations necessary to make edible dishes from them. It would mean +a long summer of interesting and absorbing work for her and for Katy. +Much of it could not be done until the summer was far advanced and the +seeds and the berries were ripe. She could rely on Donald to help her +search for the material. With only herself and Katy in the family they +could give much of their time to the work.</p> + +<p>“Where Katy will rebel,” said Linda to herself, “is when it comes +to gathering sufficient seeds and parching them to make these meal +and mush dishes. She will call it ‘fiddlin’ business.’ She shall be +propitiated with a new dress and a beautiful bonnet, and she shall go +with me frequently to the fields. The old dear loves to ride. First +thing I do I’ll call at the bank again and have our affairs properly +straightened and settled there in the light of the letter Daddy left +me. Then I shall have money to get all the furniture and the rugs and +things we truly need. I’ll repaint the kitchen and get Katy some new +cooking utensils to gladden her soul. And Saturday I must make my trip +with Donald account for something worth while on the book.”</p> + +<p>All these plans were feasible. What Linda had to do was to accomplish +them, and this she proceeded to do in a swift and businesslike manner. +She soon reached the place where the whole house with the exception of +Eileen’s suite had been gone over, freshened and refurnished to her +liking. The guest-room furniture had been moved to her rejuvenated +room. On the strength of her returns from the book she had disposed +of her furniture and was finding much girlish delight in occupying a +beautiful room, daintily decorated, comfortably furnished with pieces +of her own selection. As she and Katy stood looking over their work +when everything was ready for her first night of occupancy Katy had +said to her:</p> + +<p>“It’s jist right and proper, lambie; it’s jist the way it ought to be; +and now say the word and let me clean out Eileen’s suate and get it +ready for Miss Marian, so if she would drop down unexpected she would +find we was good as our word.”</p> + +<p>“All right,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“And what am I to do with the stuff?” inquired Katy.</p> + +<p>“Katy, my dear,” said Linda with a dry laugh, “you’ll think I am +foolish, but I have the queerest feeling concerning those things. +I can’t feel that Eileen has done with them; I can’t feel that she +will never want them again; I can’t feel that they should go to some +second-hand basement. Pack all of her clothing that you can manage in +her trunk and put it in the garret, and what the trunk won’t hold pack +in a tight box and put that in the garret also. She hasn’t written me +a line; she has sent me no address; I don’t know what to do; but, as I +have said before, I am going to save the things at least a year and see +whether some day Eileen won’t think of something she wants to do with +them. Clean the rooms and I will order Marian’s things sent.”</p> + +<p>According to these arrangements it was only a few days until Linda +wrote Marian that her room was ready for her and that any time she +desired to come and take possession she could test the lovingness of +the welcome that awaited her by becoming intimately acquainted with it. +Marian answered the letter immediately. She said that she was planning +to come very soon to test that welcome. She longed for the quiet of the +valley, for its cool, clean, wild air. She was very tired; she needed +rest. She thought she would love the new home they were offering her. +Then came two amazing paragraphs.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>The other day Dana and I went into one of the big café’s in the +city to treat ourselves to a taste of the entertainment with +which the people of wealth regale themselves. We had wandered in +laughingly jesting about what we should order, and ran into Eileen +in the company of her aunt and uncle and a very flashy and loudly +dressed young man, evidently a new suitor of Eileen’s. I don’t +think Eileen wanted to introduce us, and yet she acted like a +person ravenous for news of her home and friends. She did introduce +us, and immediately her ponderous uncle took possession of us. It +seems that the man is a brother of Eileen’s mother. Linda, he is +big and gross, he is everything that a man of nice perceptions +would not be, but he does love Eileen. He is trying conscientiously +to please her. His wife is the kind of person who would marry that +kind of man and think everything he said and did was right. And the +suitor, my dear, was the kind of man who could endure that kind of +people. Eileen was almost, if not quite, the loveliest thing I ever +have seen. She was plain; she was simple; but it was the costly +simplicity of extravagance. Ye gods! but she had pearls of the size +she had always wanted. She tried with all her might to be herself, +but she knows me well enough to know what I would think and what I +would write to you concerning the conditions under which I met her. +We were simply forced to lunch with them. We could only nibble at +the too rich, too highly seasoned food set before us. And I noticed +that Eileen nibbled also. She is not going to grow fat and waddle +and redden her nose, but, my dear, back deep in her eyes and in +the curve of her lips and in the tone of her voice there were such +disappointment and discontent as I never have seen in any woman. +She could not suppress them; she could not conceal them. There was +nothing on earth she could do but sit quietly and endure. They +delivered us at our respective offices, leaving both of us dates +on which to visit them, but neither of us intends to call on them. +Eileen’s face was a tragedy when her uncle insisted on making the +arrangements. I can at least spare her that.</p> + +<p>And now, my dear, life is growing so full and my time is so taken +with my work at the office and with my widening friendships with +Dana and her friends and with Mr. Snow, that I really feel I have +not time to go farther with our anonymous correspondence. It is all +I can do to find time to write you letters such as the one I am +writing. I have done my best to play up to what you expected of me +and I think I have succeeded in fooling you quite as much as you +have felt that you were fooling me. But, Linda dear, I want you +always to know that I appreciate the spirit in which you began this +thing. I know why you did it and I shall always love you a trifle +more for your thought of me and your effort to tide over the very +dark days you knew I would be facing in San Francisco. I think, +dear friend of mine, that I have had my share of dark days. I think +there is very beautiful sunlight ahead for me. And by and by I hope +to come into happiness that maybe is even more than my share. I am +coming to see you soon and then I will tell you all about it.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>There was more of the letter, but at that point Linda made one headlong +rush for the Bear-cat. She took the curve on two wheels and almost ran +into the mountain face behind the garage before she could slow down. +Then she set the Cat screaming wildly for Peter. As he came up to the +car she leaned toward him, shaking with excitement.</p> + +<p>“Peter,” she cried, “have you opened that packet of letters yet?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Peter, “I have not.”</p> + +<p>“Then give them to me quickly, Peter,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>Peter rushed into the garage and brought out the packet. Linda caught +it in both hands and dropped it in her lap.</p> + +<p>“Well, thank God,” she said devoutly. “And, Peter, the joke’s on me. +Marian knew I was writing those letters all the time and she just +pretended that she cared for them to make the game interesting for me. +And when she had so many friends and so much to do, she hadn’t time for +them any longer; then she pretended that she was getting awfully in +earnest in order to stop me, and she did stop me all right.”</p> + +<p>Linda’s face was a small panorama of conflicting emotions as she +appealed to Peter.</p> + +<p>“Peter,” she said in a quivering voice, “you can testify that she +stopped me properly, can’t you, Peter?”</p> + +<p>Peter tried to smile. He was older than Linda, and he was thinking +swiftly, intently.</p> + +<p>“Yes, kid,” he said with utmost corroboration, “yes, kid, she stopped +you, but I can’t see that it was necessary literally to scare the life +out of you till she had you at the point where you were thinking of +taking off from a mountain or into the sea. Did you really mean that, +Linda?”</p> + +<p>Linda relaxed suddenly. She sank back into the deeply padded seat of +the Bear-cat. A look of fright and entreaty swept into her dark eyes.</p> + +<p>“Yes, Peter, I did mean it,” she said with finality. “I couldn’t have +lived if I had hurt Marian irreparably. She has been hurt so much +already. And, Peter, it was awfully nice of you to wait about reading +these letters. Even if she only did it for a joke, I think Marian would +rather that you had not read them. Now I’ll go back home and begin to +work in earnest on the head piece of ‘How to Grow Good Citizens.’ And I +quite agree with you, Peter, that the oath of allegiance, citizenship, +and the title to a piece of real estate are the prime requisites. +People have no business coming to our country to earn money that they +intend to carry away to invest in the development and the strengthening +of some other country that may some day be our worst enemy. I have not +found out yet how to say it in a four-by-twelve-inch strip, but by +the time I have read the article aloud to my skylight along about ten +to-night I’ll get an inspiration; I am sure I shall.”</p> + +<p>“Of course you will,” said Peter; “but don’t worry about it, dear; +don’t lose sleep. Take things slower. Give time for a little more flesh +to grow on your bones. And don’t forget that while you’re helping +Donald to keep at the head of his classes it’s your first job to keep +at the head of your own.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” said Linda. “How is the dream coming?”</p> + +<p>“Beautifully,” said Peter. “One of these days you’re going to come +rushing around the boulders and down the side of the building to find +all this débris cleared away and the place for a lawn leveled. I am +fighting down every possible avenue of expertise on the building in the +effort to save money to make the brook run and the road wind where you +have indicated that you want them to follow you.”</p> + +<p>Linda looked at Peter while a queer, reflective light gathered in her +eyes. At last she said soberly: “Well, I don’t know, Peter, that you +should make them so very personal to me as all that.”</p> + +<p>“Why not?” asked Peter casually. “Since there is no one else, why not?”</p> + +<p>Linda released the clutch and started the car. She backed in front of +the garage and turned. She was still thinking deeply as she stopped. +Once again she extended a hand to Peter.</p> + +<p>“Thank you a thousand times for not reading these letters, Peter,” she +said. “I can’t express how awfully fine I think it is of you. And if +it’s all right with you, perhaps there’s not any real reason why you +should not run that brook and drive that road the way I think they +should go. Somebody is going to design them. Why shouldn’t I, if it +pleases you to have me?”</p> + +<p>“It pleases me very greatly,” said Peter—“more than anything else I can +think of in all the world at this minute.”</p> + +<p>And then he did a thing that he had done once or twice before. He bent +back Linda’s fingers and left another kiss in the palm of her hand, and +then he closed her fingers very tightly over it.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI</h2> +<div class="subheadc">The End of Donald’s Contest</div> +</div> + +<p>The middle of the week Linda had told Katy that she intended stocking +up the Bear-cat for three and that she would take her along on the next +Saturday’s trip to her canyon kitchen. It was a day upon which she had +planned to gather greens, vegetables, and roots, and prepare a dinner +wholly from the wild. She was fairly sure exactly where in nature she +would find the materials she wanted, but she knew that the search would +be long and tiring. It would be jolly to have Katy to help her prepare +the lunch. It would please Katy immensely to be taken; and the original +things she said in her quaint Irish brogue greatly amused Donald. The +arrangement had been understood among them for some time, so they all +started on their journey filled with happy expectations. They closed +the house and the garage carefully. Linda looked over the equipment of +the Bear-cat minutely, making sure that her field axe, saw, knives, and +her field glasses were in place. Because more food than usual was to be +prepared in the kitchen they took along a nest of cooking vessels and +a broiler. They found Donald waiting before either of them were ready, +and in great glee, with much laughing and many jests they rolled down +the valley in the early morning. They drove to the kitchen, spread +their blankets, set up their table, and arranged the small circular +opening for their day’s occupancy. While Katy and Linda were busy with +these affairs Donald took the axe and collected a big heap of wood. +Then they left Katy to burn the wood and have a deep bed of coals ready +while they started out to collect from the canyon walls, the foot of +the mountains, and the near-by desert the materials they would use for +their dinner.</p> + +<p>Just where the desert began to climb the mountain Linda had for a +long time watched a big bed of amole. Donald used the shovel, she the +hatchet, and soon they had brought to the surface such a quantity that +Donald protested.</p> + +<p>“But I have two uses for them to-day,” explained Linda. “They must +serve for potatoes and they have to furnish our meat.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I get you,” said Donald. “I have always been crazy to try that.”</p> + +<p>So he began to dig again enthusiastically.</p> + +<p>“Now I’ll tell you what I think we had better do,” said Linda. “We +will skirmish around this side of the mountain and find a very nice +tender yucca shoot; and then we’ll take these back to Katy and let her +bury them in the ashes and keep up the fire while we forage for the +remainder of our wild Indian feast.”</p> + +<p>Presently they found a yucca head that Linda said was exactly right, a +delicate pink, thicker than her wrist and two feet in length. With this +and the amole they ran back to Katy. She knew how to prepare the amole +for roasting. Linda gave her a few words of instruction concerning the +yucca. Then from the interior of the Bear-cat she drew a tightly rolled +section of wire window screening. Just where a deep, wide pool narrowed +at a rocky defile they sank the screening, jammed it well to the +bottom, fastened it tight at the sides, and against the current side +of it they threw leaves, grass, chunks of moss, any débris they could +gather that would make a temporary dam. Then, standing on one side with +her field knife, Linda began to slice the remainder of the amole very +thin and to throw it over the surface of the pool. On the other, Donald +pounded the big, juicy bulbs to pulp and scattered it broadcast over +the water. Linda instructed Katy to sit on the bank with a long-handled +landing net and whenever a trout arose, to snatch it out as speedily as +possible, being careful not to take more than they would require.</p> + +<p>Then the two youngsters, exhilarated with youth, with living, with +the joy of friendship, with the lure of the valley, with the heady +intoxication of the salt breeze and the gold of the sunshine, climbed +into the Bear-cat and went rolling through the canyon and out to the +valley on the far side. Here they gathered the tenderest heart shoots +of the lupin until Linda said they had enough. Then to a particular +spot that she knew on the desert they hurried for the enlarged stems +of the desert trumpet which was to serve that day for an appetizer in +the stead of pickles. Here, too, they filled a bucket from the heart +of a big Bisnaga cactus as a basis for their drink. Among Katherine +O’Donovan’s cooking utensils there was a box of delicious cactus +candy made from the preserved and sun-dried heart meat of this same +fruit which was to serve as their confection. On the way back they +stopped at the bridge and gathered cress for their salad. When they +returned to Katy she had five fine trout lying in the shade, and with +more experienced eyes and a more skillful hand Linda in a few minutes +doubled this number. Then they tore out the dam, rinsed the screen and +spread it over a rock to dry. While Donald scaled the fish Linda put +the greens to cook, prepared the salad and set the table. Once, as he +worked under her supervision, Linda said to Donald: “Now about bread, +kid—there’s not going to be any bread, because the Indians did not have +it when they lived the way we are living to-day. When you reach the +place where your left hand feels empty without a piece of bread in it, +just butter up another amole and try it. It will serve the same purpose +as bread, and be much better for the inner man.”</p> + +<p>“If you would let me skin these fish,” said Donald, “I could do it much +faster and make a better job of it.”</p> + +<p>“But you shouldn’t skin them; you want the skin to hold the meat +together when it begins to cook tender; and you should be able to peel +it off and discard it if it burns or gets smoky in the cooking. It’s a +great concession to clean them as we do. The Indians cooked them in the +altogether and ate the meat from the bones.”</p> + +<p>“Oh my tummy!” said Donald. “I always thought there was some dark +secret about the Indians.”</p> + +<p>Linda sat on a rock opposite him and clasped her hands around her +knees. She looked at him meditatively.</p> + +<p>“Did you?” she asked. “Suppose you revise that opinion. Our North +American Indians in their original state were as fine as any peoples +that ever have been discovered the round of the globe. My grandfather +came into intimate contact with them in the early days, and he said +that their religion, embracing the idea of a great spirit to whom they +were responsible for their deeds here, and a happy hunting ground +to which they went as a reward for decent living, was as fine as +any religion that ever has been practiced by people of any nation. +Immorality was unknown among them. Family ties were formed and they +were binding. They loved their children and reared them carefully. They +were hardy and healthful. Until the introduction of whiskey and what we +are pleased to term civilized methods of living, very few of them died +save from war or old age. They were free; they were happy. The moping, +lazy, diseased creature that you find sleeping in the sun around the +reservations is a product of our civilization. Nice commentary on +civilization, isn’t it?”</p> + +<p>“For heaven’s sake, Linda,” said Donald, “don’t start any big +brainstorming trains of thought to-day! Grant me repose. I have +overworked my brain for a few months past until I know only one thing +for certain.”</p> + +<p>“All right then, me lad, this is the time for the big secret,” said +Linda. “I just happened to be in the assembly room on some business +of my own last Thursday afternoon when my sessions were over, and I +overheard your professor in trigonometry tell a man I did not know, who +seemed to be a friend visiting him, that the son of Judge Whiting was +doing the finest work that ever had been done in any of the Los Angeles +high schools, and that undoubtedly you were going to graduate with +higher honours than any other boy ever had from that school.”</p> + +<p>Donald sat thinking this over. He absently lifted an elbow and wiped +the tiny scales from his face with his shirt sleeve.</p> + +<p>“Young woman,” he said solemnly, “them things what you’re saying, are +they ‘cross your heart, honest to goodness, so help you,’ truth, or are +they the fruit of a perfervid imagination?”</p> + +<p>Linda shook her head vigorously.</p> + +<p>“De trut’, kid,” she said, “de gospel trut’. You have the Jap going +properly. He can’t stop you now. You have fought your good fight, and +you have practically won it. All you have to do is to carry on till the +middle of June, and you’re It.”</p> + +<p>“I wish Dad knew,” said Donald in a low voice.</p> + +<p>“The Judge does know,” said Linda heartily. “It wasn’t fifteen minutes +after I heard that till I had him on the telephone repeating it as +fast as I could repeat. Come to think of it, haven’t you noticed a +particularly cocky set of his head and the corksome lightness about his +heels during the past few days?”</p> + +<p>“By Jove, he <i>has</i> been happy about something!” said Donald. “And +I noticed that Louise and the Mater were sort of cheery and making a +specialty of the only son and brother.”</p> + +<p>“Sure, brother, sure,” said Linda. “Hurry up and scrape those fish and +let’s scamper down the canyon merely for the joy of flying with wings +on our feet. You’re It, young man, just It!”</p> + +<p>Donald was sitting on a boulder. On another in front of him he was +operating on the trout. His hands were soiled; his hair was tousled; +he was fairly well decorated with fine scales. He looked at Linda +appealingly.</p> + +<p>“Am I ‘It’ with you, Linda?” he asked soberly.</p> + +<p>“Sure you are,” said Linda. “You’re the best friend I have.”</p> + +<p>“Will you write to me when I go to college this fall?”</p> + +<p>“Why, you couldn’t keep me from it,” said Linda. “I’ll have so many +things to tell you. And when your first vacation comes we’ll make it a +hummer.”</p> + +<p>“I know Dad won’t let me come home for my holidays except for the +midsummer ones,” said Donald soberly. “It would take most of the time +there would be of the short holidays to travel back and forth.”</p> + +<p>“You will have to go very carefully about getting a start,” said Linda, +“and you should be careful to find the right kind of friends at the +very start. Christmas and Thanksgiving boxes can always be sent on time +to reach you. It won’t be so long for you as for us; and by the time +you have Oka Sayye beaten to ravellings you will have such a ‘perfect +habit’ that you will start right in with the beating idea. That should +keep you fairly busy, because most of the men you come up against will +be beaters themselves.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I know,” said Donald. “Are you going to start me to college with +the idea that I have to keep up this beating habit? If I were to be one +of fifty or a hundred, wouldn’t that be good enough?”</p> + +<p>“Why, sure,” said Linda, “if you will be satisfied with having me like +fifty or a hundred as well as I do you.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, damn!” said Donald angrily. “Do I have to keep up this top-crust +business all my days?”</p> + +<p>Linda looked at him with a queer smile on her lips.</p> + +<p>“Not unless you want to, Donald,” she said quietly; “not unless you +think you would rather.”</p> + +<p>Donald scraped a fish vigorously. Linda sat watching him. Presently the +tense lines around his eyes vanished. A faint red crept up his neck +and settled on his left cheek bone. A confused grin slowly widened his +naturally wide mouth.</p> + +<p>“Then it’s me for the top crust,” he said conclusively.</p> + +<p>“Then it’s me for you,” answered Linda in equally as matter-of-fact +tones; and rising, she gathered up the fish and carried them to Katy +while Donald knelt beside the chilly stream and scoured his face and +hands, after which Linda whipped away the scales with an improvised +brush of willow twigs.</p> + +<p>It was such a wonderful day; it was such an unusual and delicious +feast. Plump brook trout, fresh from icy water, delicately broiled over +searing wood coals, are the finest of food. Through the meal to the +point where Donald lay on his back at the far curve of the canyon wall, +nibbling a piece of cactus candy, everything had been perfect. Nine +months would be a long time to be gone, but Linda would wait for him, +and she would write to him. He raised his head on his elbow and called +across to her: “Say, Linda, how often will you write to me?”</p> + +<p>Linda answered promptly: “Every Saturday night. Saturday is our day. +I’ll tell you what has happened all the week. I’ll tell you specially +what a darned unprofitable day Saturday is when you’re three thousand +miles away.”</p> + +<p>Bending over the canyon fireplace, her face red with heat and exertion, +Katherine O’Donovan caught up her poker and beat up the fire until the +ashes flew.</p> + +<p>“Easy, Katy, easy,” cautioned Linda. “We may want to bury those coals +and resurrect them to warm up what is left for supper.”</p> + +<p>“We’ll do no such thing,” said Katy promptly. “What remains goes to +feed the fish. Next time it’s hungry ye are, we’re goin’ to hit it +straight to Lilac Valley and fill ourselves with God’s own bread and +beefsteak and paraties. Don’t ye think we’re goin’ to be atin’ these +haythen messes twice in one day.”</p> + +<p>To herself she was saying: “The sooner I get you home to Pater +Morrison, missy, the better I’ll be satisfied.”</p> + +<p>Once she stood erect, her hands at her belt, her elbows widespread, +and with narrowed eyes watched the youngsters. Her lips were closed so +tightly they wrinkled curiously as she turned back to the fireplace.</p> + +<p>“Nayther one of them fool kids has come to yet,” she said to herself, +“and a mighty good thing it is that they haven’t.”</p> + +<p>Linda was looking speculatively at Donald as he lay stretched on the +Indian blanket at the base of the cliff. And then, because she was for +ever busy with Nature, her eyes strayed above him up the side of the +cliff, noting the vegetation, the scarred rocks, the sheer beauty of +the canyon wall until they reached the top. Then, for no reason at all, +she sat looking steadily at a huge boulder overhanging the edge of the +cliff, and she was wondering how many ages it had hung there and how +many more it would hang, poised almost in air, when a tiny pebble at +its base loosened and came rattling and bounding down the canyon face. +Every nerve in Linda tensed. She opened her mouth, but not a sound +came. For a breathless second she was paralyzed. Then she shrieked +wildly: “Donald, Donald, roll under the ledge! Quick, quick!”</p> + +<p>She turned to Katy.</p> + +<p>“Back, Katy, back!” she screamed. “That boulder is loose; it’s coming +down!”</p> + +<p>For months Donald Whiting had obeyed Linda implicitly and instantly. +He had moved with almost invisible speed at her warning many times +before. Sometimes it had been a venomous snake, sometimes a yucca +bayonet, sometimes poison vines, again unsafe footing—in each case +instant obedience had been the rule. He did hot “question why” at her +warning; he instantly did as he was told. He, too, had noticed the +falling pebble. With all the agility of which he was capable he rolled +under the narrow projecting ledge above him. Katherine O’Donovan was a +good soldier also. She whirled and ran to the roadway. She had barely +reached it when, with a grinding crash, down came the huge boulder, +carrying bushes, smaller rocks, sand, and débris with it. On account +of its weight it fell straight, struck heavily, and buried itself in +the earth exactly on the spot upon which Donald had been lying. Linda +raised terrified eyes to the top of the wall. For one instant a dark +object peered over it and then drew back. Without thought for herself +Linda rushed to the boulder, and kneeling, tried to see back of it.</p> + +<p>“Donald!” she cried, “Donald, are you all right?”</p> + +<p>“Guess I am, unless it hit one foot pretty hard. Feels fast.”</p> + +<p>“Can you get out?” she cried, beginning to tear with her hands at the +stone and the bushes where she thought his head would be.</p> + +<p>“I’m fast; but I’m all right,” he panted. “Why the devil did that thing +hang there for ages, and then come down on me to-day?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, why did it?” gasped Linda. “Donald, I must leave you a minute. +I’ve got to know if I saw a head peer over just as that stone came +down.”</p> + +<p>“Be careful what you do!” he cried after her.</p> + +<p>Linda sprang to her feet and rushed to the car. She caught out the +field glasses and threw the strap over her head as she raced to the +far side of the fireplace where the walls were not so sheer. Katherine +O’Donovan promptly seized the axe, caught its carrying strap lying +beside it, thrust the handle through, swung it over her own head, +dropped it between her shoulders, and ripping off her dress skirt she +started up the cliff after Linda. Linda was climbing so swiftly and so +absorbedly that she reached the top before she heard a sound behind +her. Then she turned with a white face, and her mouth dropped open as +she saw Katy three fourths of the way up the cliff. For one second she +was again stiff with terror, then, feeling she could do nothing, she +stepped back out of sight and waited a second until Katy’s red head +and redder face appeared over the edge. Realizing that her authority +was of no avail, that Katy would follow her no matter where she went +or what she did, and with no time to argue, Linda simply called to her +encouragingly: “Follow where I go; take your time; hang tight, old +dear, it’s dangerous!”</p> + +<p>She started around the side of the mountain, heading almost straight +upward, traveling as swiftly and as noiselessly as possible. Over +big boulders, on precarious footing, clinging to bushes, they made +their way until they reached a place that seemed to be sheer above +them; certainly it was for hundreds of feet below. On a point of rock +screened by overhanging bushes Linda paused until Katy overtook her.</p> + +<p>“We are about stalled,” she panted. “Find a good footing and stay where +you are. I’m going to climb out on these bushes and see if I can get a +view of the mountain side.”</p> + +<p>Advancing a few yards, Linda braced herself, drew around her glasses, +and began searching the side of the mountain opposite her and below as +far as she could range with the glasses. At last she gave up.</p> + +<p>“Must have gone the other way,” she said to Katy. “I’ll crawl back to +you. We’ll go after help and get Donald out. There will be time enough +to examine the cliff afterward; but I am just as sure now as I will be +when it is examined that that stone was purposely loosened to a degree +where a slight push would drop it. As Donald says, there’s no reason +why it should hang there for centuries and fall on him to-day. Shut +your eyes, old dear, and back up. We must go to Donald. I rather think +it’s on one of his feet from what he said. Let me take one more good +look.”</p> + +<p>At that minute from high on the mountain above them a shower of sand +and pebbles came rattling down. Linda gave Katy one terrified look.</p> + +<p>“My God!” she panted. “He’s coming down right above us!”</p> + +<p>Just how Linda recrossed the bushes and reached Katy she did not +know. She motioned for her to make her way back as they had come. +Katy planted her feet squarely upon the rock. Her lower jaw shot out; +her eyes were aflame. She stood perfectly still with the exception +of motioning Linda to crowd back under the bushes, and again Linda +realized that she had no authority; as she had done from childhood +when Katy was in earnest, Linda obeyed her. She had barely reached the +overhanging bushes, crouched under them, and straightened herself, +when a small avalanche came showering down, and a minute later a pair +of feet were level with her head. Then screened by the bushes, she +could have reached out and touched Oka Sayye. As his feet found a solid +resting place on the ledge on which Linda and Katy stood, and while he +was still clinging to the bushes, Katherine O’Donovan advanced upon +him. He had felt that his feet were firm, let go his hold, and turned, +when he faced the infuriated Irishwoman. She had pulled the strap from +around her neck, slipped the axe from it, and with a strong thrust +she planted the head of it against Oka Sayye’s chest so hard that +she almost fell forward. The Jap plunged backward among the bushes, +the roots of which had supported Linda while she used the glasses. +Then he fell, sliding among them, snatching wildly. Linda gripped the +overhanging growth behind which she had been screened, and leaned +forward.</p> + +<p>“He has a hold; he is coming back up, Katy!” she cried.</p> + +<p>Katy took another step forward. She looked over the cliff down an +appalling depth of hundreds of feet. Deliberately she raised the axe, +circled it round her head and brought it down upon that particular +branch to which Oka Sayye was clinging. She cut it through, and the axe +rang upon the stone wall behind it. As she swayed forward Linda reached +out, gripped Katy and pulled her back.</p> + +<p>“Get him?” she asked tersely, as if she were speaking of a rat or a +rattlesnake.</p> + +<p>Katy sank back limply against the wall. Linda slowly turned her around, +and as she faced the rock, “Squeeze tight against it shut your eyes, +and keep a stiff upper lip,” she cautioned. “I’m going to work around +you; I want to be ahead of you.”</p> + +<p>She squeezed past Katy, secured the axe and hung it round her own neck. +She cautioned Katy to keep her eyes shut and follow where she led her, +then they started on their way back. Linda did not attempt to descend +the sheer wall by which they had climbed, but making a detour she went +lower, and in a very short time they were back in the kitchen. Linda +rushed to the boulder and knelt again, but she could get no response +to her questions. Evidently Donald’s foot was caught and he was +unconscious from the pain. Squeezing as close as she could, she thrust +her arm under the ledge until she could feel his head. Then she went to +the other side, and there she could see that his right foot was pinned +under the rock. She looked at Katy reassuringly, then she took off the +axe and handed it to her.</p> + +<p>“He’s alive,” she said. “Can’t kill a healthy youngster to have a +crushed foot. You stand guard until I take the Bear-cat and bring help. +It’s not far to where I can find people.”</p> + +<p>At full speed Linda put the Cat through the stream and out of the +canyon until she reached cultivated land, where she found a man who +would gather other men and start to the rescue. She ran on until she +found a house with a telephone. There she called Judge Whiting, telling +him to bring an ambulance and a surgeon, giving him explicit directions +as to where to come, and assuring him that Donald could not possibly be +seriously hurt. She found time to urge, also, that before starting he +set in motion any precautions he had taken for Donald’s protection. She +told him where she thought what remained of Oka Sayye could be found. +And then, as naturally and as methodically as she had done all the +rest, she called Peter Morrison and told him that she was in trouble +and where he could find her.</p> + +<p>And because Peter had many miles less distance to travel than the +others she had summoned, he arrived first. He found Linda and Katy had +burrowed under the stone until they had made an opening into which +the broken foot might sink so that the pain of the pressure would +be relieved. Before the rock, with picks and shovels, half a dozen +sympathetic farmers from ranches and cultivated land at the mouth of +the canyon were digging furiously to make an opening undermining the +boulder so that it could be easily tipped forward. Donald was conscious +and they had been passing water to him and encouraging him with the +report that his father and a good surgeon would be there very soon. +Katherine O’Donovan had crouched at one side of the boulder, supporting +the hurt foot. She was breathing heavily and her usually red face was a +ghastly green. Linda had helped her to resume the skirt of her dress. +At the other side of the rock the girl was reaching to where she could +touch Donald’s head or reassuringly grip the hand that he could extend +to her. Peter seized Linda’s axe and began hewing at the earth and rock +in order to help in the speedy removal of the huge boulder. Soon Judge +Whiting, accompanied by Doctor Fleming, the city’s greatest surgeon, +came roaring into the canyon and stopped on the roadway when he saw the +party. The Judge sprang from the car, leaped the stream, and started +toward them. In an effort to free his son before his arrival, all the +men braced themselves against the face of the cliff and pushed with +their combined strength. The boulder dropped forward into the trench +they had dug for it enough to allow Peter to crowd his body between it +and the cliff and lift Donald’s head and shoulders. Linda instantly ran +around the boulder, pushed her way in, and carefully lifting Donald’s +feet, she managed to work the lithe slenderness of her body through the +opening, so that they carried Donald out and laid him down in the open. +He was considerably dazed and shaken, cruelly hurt, but proved himself +a game youngster of the right mettle. He raised himself to a sitting +posture, managing a rather stiff-lipped smile for his father and Linda. +The surgeon instantly began cutting to reach the hurt foot, while Peter +Morrison supported the boy’s head and shoulders on one side, his father +on the other.</p> + +<p>An exclamation of dismay broke from the surgeon’s lips. He looked at +Judge Whiting and nodded slightly. The men immediately picked up Donald +and carried him to the ambulance. Katherine O’Donovan sat down suddenly +and buried her face in the skirt of her dress. Linda laid a reassuring +hand on her shoulder.</p> + +<p>“Don’t, Katy,” she said. “Keep up your nerve; you’re all right, old +dear. Donald’s fine. That doesn’t mean anything except that his foot +is broken, so he won’t be able, and it won’t be necessary for him, to +endure the pain of setting it in a cast without an anæsthetic; and +Doctor Fleming can work much better where he has every convenience. +It’s all right.”</p> + +<p>The surgeon climbed into the ambulance and they started on an emergency +run to the hospital. As the car turned and swept down the canyon, for +no reason that she could have explained, Linda began to shake until her +teeth clicked. Peter Morrison sprang back across the brook, and running +to her side, he put his arm around her and with one hand he pressed her +head against his shoulder, covering her face.</p> + +<p>“Steady, Linda,” he said quietly, “steady. You know that he is all +right. It will only be a question of a short confinement.”</p> + +<p>Linda made a brave effort to control herself. She leaned against Peter +and held out both her hands.</p> + +<p>“I’m all right,” she chattered. “Give me a minute.”</p> + +<p>Judge Whiting came to them.</p> + +<p>“I am getting away immediately,” he said. “I must reach Louise and +Mother before they get word of this. Doctor Fleming will take care of +Donald all right. What happened, Linda? Can you tell me?”</p> + +<p>Linda opened her lips and tried to speak, but she was too breathless, +too full of excitement, to be coherent. To her amazement Katherine +O’Donovan scrambled to her feet, lifted her head and faced the Judge. +She pointed to the fireplace.</p> + +<p>“I was right there, busy with me cookin’ utensils,” she said, “Miss +Linda was a-sittin’ on that exact spot, they jist havin finished atin’ +some of her haythen messes; and the lad was lyin, square where the +boulder struck, on the Indian blanket, atin’ a pace of cactus candy. +And jist one pebble came rattlin’ down, but Miss Linda happened to be +lookin’, and she scramed to the b’y to be rollin’ under where ye found +him; so he gave a flop or two, and it’s well that he took his orders +without waitin’ to ask the raison for them, for if he had, at the +prisint minute he would be about as thick as a shate of writing paper. +The thing dropped clear and straight and drove itself into the earth +and stone below it, as ye see.”</p> + +<p>Katherine O’Donovan paused.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the Judge. “Anything else?”</p> + +<p>“Miss Linda got to him and she made sure he had brathin’ space and he +wasn’t hurt bad, and then she told him he had got to stand it, because, +sittin’ where she did, she faced the cliff and she thought she had seen +someone. She took the talescope and started climbin’, and I took the +axe and I started climbin’ after her.”</p> + +<p>Katy broke down and emitted a weird Irish howl. Linda instantly braced +herself, threw her arms around Katy, and drew her head to her shoulder. +She looked at Judge Whiting and began to talk.</p> + +<p>“I can show you where she followed me, straight up the face of the +canyon, almost,” she said. “And she never had tried to climb a canyon +side for a yard, either, but she came up and over after me, like a cat. +And up there on a small ledge Oka Sayye came down directly above us. I +couldn’t be mistaken. I saw him plainly. I know him by sight as well +as I do any of you. We heard the stones coming down before him, and we +knew someone was going to be on us who was desperate enough to kill. +When he touched our level and turned to follow the ledge we were on, I +pushed him over.”</p> + +<p>Katy shook off Linda’s protecting arm and straightened suddenly.</p> + +<p>“Why, ye domned little fool, ye!” she screamed. “Ye never told a lie +before in all your days! Judge Whiting, I had the axe round me neck +by the climbin’ strap, and I got it in me fingers when we heard the +crature comin’, and against his chist I set it, and I gave him a shove +that sint him over. Like a cat he was a-clingin’ and climbin’, and when +I saw him comin’ up on us with that awful face of his, I jist swung +the axe like I do when I’m rejoocin’ a pace of eucalyptus to fireplace +size, and whack! I took the branch supportin’ him, and a dome’ good axe +I spoiled doin’ it.”</p> + +<p>Katy folded her arms, lifted her chin higher than it ever had been +before, and glared defiance at the Judge.</p> + +<p>“Now go on,” she said, “and decide what ye’ll do to me for it.”</p> + +<p>The Judge reached over and took both Katherine O’Donovan’s hands in a +firm grip.</p> + +<p>“You brave woman!” he said. “If it lay in my power, I would give you +the Carnegie Medal. In any event I will see that you have a good +bungalow with plenty of shamrock on each side of your front path, and +a fair income to keep you comfortable when the rheumatic days are upon +you.”</p> + +<p>“I am no over-feeder,” said Katy proudly. “I’m daily exercisin’ me +muscles enough to kape them young. The rheumatism I’ll not have. And +nayther will I have the house nor the income. I’ve saved me money; I’ve +an income of me own.”</p> + +<p>“And as for the bungalow,” interrupted Linda, “Katherine, as I have +mentioned frequently before is my father, and my mother, and my whole +family, and her front door is mine.”</p> + +<p>“Sure,” said Katy proudly. “When these two fine people before you +set up their hearthstone, a-swapin’ it I’ll be, and carin’ for their +youngsters; but, Judge, I would like a bit of the shamrock. Ye might be +sendin’ me a start of that, if it would plase Your Honor.”</p> + +<p>Judge Whiting looked intently at Katherine O’Donovan. And then, as if +they had been on the witness stand, he looked searchingly at Linda. But +Linda was too perturbed, too accustomed to Katy’s extravagant nonsense +even to notice the purport of what she had said. Then the Judge turned +his attention to Peter Morrison and realized that at least one of the +parties to Katherine’s proposed hearthstone had understood and heartily +endorsed her proposal.</p> + +<p>“I will have to be going. The boy and his mother will need me,” he +said. “I will see all of you later.”</p> + +<p>Then he sprang across the brook and sent his car roaring down the +canyon after the ambulance.</p> + +<p>Once more Katy sank to the ground. Linda looked at her as she buried +her face and began to wail.</p> + +<p>“Peter,” she said quietly, “hunt our belongings and pack them in the +Bear-cat the best you can. Excuse us for a few minutes. We must get +this out of our systems.”</p> + +<p>Gravely she sat down beside Katy, laid her head on her shoulder, and +began to cry very nearly as energetically as Katy herself. And that +was the one thing which was most effective in restoring Katy’s nerves. +Tears were such an unaccustomed thing with Linda that Katy controlled +herself speedily so that she might be better able to serve the girl. +In a few minutes Katy had reduced her emotions to a dry sniffle. She +lifted her head, groped for her pocket, and being unable to find it +for the very good reason that she was sitting upon it, she used her +gingham hem as a handkerchief. Once she had risen to the physical +effort of wiping her eyes, she regained calmness rapidly. The last time +she applied the hem she looked at Peter, but addressed the Almighty in +resigned tones: “There, Lord, I guess that will do.”</p> + +<p>In a few minutes she was searching the kitchen, making sure that no +knives, spoons, or cooking utensils were lost. Missing her support, +Linda sat erect and endeavored to follow Katy’s example. Her eyes +met Peter’s and when she saw that his shoulders were shaking, a dry, +hysterical laugh possessed her.</p> + +<p>“Yes, Katy,” she panted, “that <i>will</i> do, and remember the tears +we are shedding are over Donald’s broken foot, and because this may +interfere with his work, though I don’t think it will for long.”</p> + +<p>“When I cry,” said Katy tersely, “I cry because I feel like it. +I wasn’t wapin’ over the snake that’d plan a death like that for +anyone”—Katy waved toward the boulder—“and nayther was I wastin’ me +tears over the fut of a kid bein’ jommed up a trifle.”</p> + +<p>“Well, then, Katy,” asked Linda tremulously, “why were you crying?”</p> + +<p>“Well, there’s times,” said Katy judicially, “when me spirits tell me I +would be the better for lettin’ off a wee bit of stame, and one of them +times havin’ arrived, I jist bowed me head to it, as is in accordance +with the makings of me. Far be it from me to be flyin’ in the face of +Providence and sayin’ I won’t, when all me interior disposhion says to +me: ‘Ye will!’”</p> + +<p>“And now, Linda,” said Peter, “can you tell us why you were crying?”</p> + +<p>“Why, I think,” said Linda, “that Katy has explained sufficiently for +both of us. It was merely time for us to howl after such fearful nerve +strain, so we howled.”</p> + +<p>“Well, that’s all right,” said Peter. “Now I’ll tell you something. If +you had gone away in that ambulance to an anesthetic and an operation, +no wildcat that ever indulged in a hunger hunt through this canyon +could have put up a howl equal to the one that I would have sent up.”</p> + +<p>“Peter,” said Linda, “there is nothing funny about this; it’s no tame +for jest. But do men have nerves? Would you really?”</p> + +<p>“Of course I would,” said Peter.</p> + +<p>“No, you wouldn’t,” contradicted Linda. “You just say that because you +want to comfort us for having broken down, instead of trying to tease +us as most men would.”</p> + +<p>“He would, too!” said Katy, starting to the Bear-cat with a load of +utensils. “Now come on; let’s go home and be gettin’ claned up and +ready for what’s goin’ to happen to us. Will they be jailin’ us, +belike, Miss Linda?”</p> + +<p>Linda looked at Peter questioningly.</p> + +<p>“No,” he said quietly. “It is very probable that the matter never will +be mentioned to you again, unless Judge Whiting gets hold of some +clue that he wishes to use as an argument against matured Japs being +admitted in the same high-school classes with our clean, decent, young +Americans. They stopped that in the grades several years ago, I am +told.”</p> + +<p>Before they could start back to Lilac Valley a car stopped in the +canyon and a couple of men introducing themselves as having come from +Judge Whiting interviewed Katy and Linda exhaustively. Then Linda +pointed out to them an easier but much longer route by which they might +reach the top of the canyon to examine the spot from which the boulder +had fallen. She showed them where she and Katy had ascended, and told +them where they would be likely to find Oka Sayye.</p> + +<p>When it came to a question of really starting, Linda looked with +appealing eyes at Peter.</p> + +<p>“Peter,” she said, “could we fix it any way so you could drive Katy and +me home? For the first time since I have begun driving this spring I +don’t feel equal to keeping the road.”</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said Peter. “I’ll take your car to the nearest farmhouse +and leave it, then I’ll take you and Katy in my car.”</p> + +<p>Late that evening Judge Whiting came to Lilac Valley with his wife +and daughter to tell Linda that the top of the cliff gave every +evidence of the stone having been loosened previously, so that a slight +impetus would send it crashing down at the time when Donald lay in his +accustomed place directly in the line of its fall. His detectives had +found the location of the encounter and they had gone to the bottom +of the cliff, a thousand feet below, but they had not been able to +find any trace of Oka Sayye. Somewhere in waiting there had been +confederates who had removed what remained of him. On the way home Mrs. +Whiting said to her husband: “Judge, are you very sure that what the +cook said to you this afternoon about Miss Strong and Mr. Morrison is +true?”</p> + +<p>“I am only sure of its truth so far as he is concerned,” replied the +Judge. “What he thought about Linda was evident. I am very sorry. She +is a mighty fine girl and I think Donald is very much interested in +her.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I think so, too,” said Donald’s mother. “Interested; but he has +not even a case of first love. He is interested for the same reason you +would be or I would be, because she is intellectually so stimulating. +And you have to take into consideration the fact that in two or three +years more she will be ready for marriage and a home of her own, and +Donald will still be in school with his worldly experience and his +business education not yet begun. The best thing that can happen to +Donald is just to let his infatuation for her die a natural death, with +the quiet assistance of his family.”</p> + +<p>The Judge’s face reddened slightly.</p> + +<p>“Well, I would like mighty well to have her in the family,” he said. +“She’s a corking fine girl. She would make a fine mother of fine men. +I haven’t a doubt but that with the power of his personality and the +power of his pen and the lure of propinquity, Peter Morrison will win +her, but I hate it. It’s the best chance the boy ever will have.”</p> + +<p>And then Louise spoke up softly.</p> + +<p>“Donald hasn’t any chance, Dad,” she said quietly, “and he never did +have. I have met Peter Morrison myself and I would be only too glad if +I thought he was devoted to me. I’ll grant that Linda Strong is a fine +girl, but when she wakes up to the worth of Peter Morrison and to a +realization of what other women would be glad to be to him, she will +merely reach out and lay possessive hands upon what already belongs to +her.”</p> + +<p>It was a curious thing that such occurrences as the death of Oka Sayye +and the injury to Donald could take place and no one know about them. +Yet the papers were silent on the subject and so were the courts. +Linda and Katy were fully protected. The confederates of Oka Sayye for +reasons of their own preferred to keep very quiet.</p> + +<p>By Monday Donald, with his foot in a plaster cast, was on a side +veranda of his home with a table beside him strewn with books and +papers. An agreement had been made that his professors should call and +hear his recitations for a few days until by the aid of a crutch and +a cane he could resume his place in school. Linda went to visit him +exactly as she would have gone to see Marian in like circumstances. She +succeeded in making all of the Whiting family her very devoted friends.</p> + +<p>One evening, after he had been hobbling about for over a week, Linda +and Peter called to spend the evening, and a very gay and enjoyable +evening it was. And yet when it was over and they had gone away +together Donald appeared worried and deeply thoughtful. When his mother +came to his room to see if the foot was unduly painful or there was +anything she could do to make him more comfortable, he looked at her +belligerently.</p> + +<p>“Mother,” he said, “I don’t like Peter Morrison being so much with my +girl.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Whiting stood very still. She thought very fast. Should she +postpone it or should she let the boy take all of his hurts together? +Her heart ached for him and yet she felt that she knew what life had in +store for him concerning Linda. So she sat on the edge of the bed and +began to talk quietly, plainly, reasonably. She tried to explain nature +and human nature and what she thought the laws of probability were in +the case. Donald lay silent. He said nothing until she had finished all +she had to say, and then he announced triumphantly: “You’re all wrong. +That is what would happen if Linda were a girl like any of the other +girls in her class, or like Louise. But she has promised that she would +write to me every Saturday night and she has said that she thinks more +of me than of any of the other boys.”</p> + +<p>“Donald dear,” said Mrs. Whiting, “you’re not ‘in love’ with Linda +yourself, and neither is she with you. By the time you are ready to +marry and settle down in life, Linda in all probability will be married +and be the mother of two or three babies.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, like fun she will,” said Donald roughly.</p> + +<p>“Have you asked her whether she loves you?” inquired Mrs. Whiting.</p> + +<p>“Oh, that ‘love’ business,” said Donald, “it makes me tired! Linda and +I never did any mushing around. We had things of some importance to +talk about and to do.”</p> + +<p>A bit of pain in Mrs. Whiting’s heart eased. It was difficult to keep +her lips quiet and even.</p> + +<p>“You haven’t asked her to marry you, then?” she said soberly.</p> + +<p>“Oh good Lord,” cried Donald, “‘marry!’ How could I marry anyone when I +haven’t even graduated from high school and with college and all that +to come?”</p> + +<p>“That is what I have been trying to tell you,” said his mother evenly. +“I don’t believe you have been thinking about marriage and I am +absolutely certain that Linda has not, but she is going to be made to +think about it long before you will be in such financial position that +you dare. That is the reason I am suggesting that you think about these +things seriously and question yourself as to whether you would be doing +the fair thing by Linda if you tried to tie her up in an arrangement +that would ask her to wait six or eight years yet before you would be +ready.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I can get around faster than that,” said Donald belligerently.</p> + +<p>“Of course you can,” agreed his mother. “I made that estimate fully a +year too long. But even in seven years Linda could do an awful lot of +waiting; and there are some very wonderful girls that will be coming +up six or seven years from now here at home. You know that hereafter +all the girls in the world are going to be very much more Linda’s +kind of girls than they have been heretofore. The girls who have +lived through the war and who have been intimate with its sorrow and +its suffering and its terrible results to humanity, are not going to +be such heedless, thoughtless, not nearly such selfish, girls as the +world has known in the decade just past. And there is going to be more +outdoor life, more nature study. There are going to be stronger bodies, +better food, better-cared-for young people; and every year educational +advantages are going to be greater. If you can bring yourself to +think about giving up the idea of there ever existing any extremely +personal thing between you and Linda, I am very sure I could guarantee +to introduce you to a girl who would be quite her counterpart, and +undoubtedly we could meet one who would be handsomer.”</p> + +<p>Donald punched his pillow viciously.</p> + +<p>“That’s nice talk,” he said, “and it may be true talk. But in the first +place I wish that Peter Morrison would let my girl alone, and in the +second place I don’t care if there are a thousand just as nice girls or +even better looking girls than Linda, though any girl would be going +some if she were nicer and better looking than Linda. But I am telling +you that when my foot gets better I am going to Lilac Valley and tell +him where to head in, and I’ll punch his head if he doesn’t do it +promptly.”</p> + +<p>“Of course you will,” said his mother reassuringly; “and I’ll go with +you and we’ll see to it that he attends strictly to his own affairs.”</p> + +<p>Donald burst out laughing, exactly as his mother in her heart had hoped +that he would.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I’ve got a hand-painted picture of myself starting to Lilac +Valley to fight a man who is butting in with my girl, and taking my +mother along to help me beat him up,” he said.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Whiting put her arms around her boy, kissed him tenderly, and +smoothed his hair, and then turned out the lights and slipped from the +room. But in the clear moonlight as she closed the door she could see +that a boyish grin was twisting his lips, and she went down to tell +the Judge that he need not worry. If his boy were irreparably hurt +anywhere, it was in his foot.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII</h2> +<div class="subheadc">How the Wasp Built Her Nest</div> +</div> + +<p>The following weeks were very happy for Linda. When the cast was +removed from Donald’s foot and it was found that a year or two of care +would put him even on the athletic fields and the dancing floor again, +she was greatly relieved.</p> + +<p>She lacked words in which to express her joy that Marian was rapidly +coming into happiness. She was so very busy with her school work, with +doing all she could to help Donald with his, with her “Jane Meredith” +articles, with hunting and working out material for her book, that +she never had many minutes at a time for introspection. When she did +have a few she sometimes pondered deeply as to whether Marian had been +altogether sincere in the last letter she had written her in their +correspondence, but she was so delighted in the outcome that if she did +at times have the same doubt in a fleeting form that had not been in +the least fleeting with Peter Morrison, she dismissed it as rapidly as +possible. When things were so very good as they were at that time, why +try to improve them?</p> + +<p>One evening as she came from school, thinking that she would take Katy +for a short run in the Bear-cat before dinner, she noticed a red head +prominent in the front yard as she neared home. When she turned in at +the front walk and crossed the lawn she would have been willing to +wager quite a sum that Katy had been crying.</p> + +<p>“Why, old dear,” said Linda, putting her arms around her, “if anything +has gone wrong with you I will certainly take to the war-path, +instanter. I can’t even imagine what could be troubling you.” Linda +lowered her voice. “Nothing has come up about Oka Sayye?”</p> + +<p>Katy shook her head.</p> + +<p>“I thought not,” said Linda. “Judge Whiting promised me that what use +he made of that should be man’s business and exploited wholly for the +sake of California and her people. He said we shouldn’t be involved. +I haven’t been worried about it even, although I am willing to go +upon the stand and tell the whole story if it will be any help toward +putting right what is at present a great wrong to California.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, so would I,” said Katy. “I’m not worryin’ meself about the little +baste any more than I would if it had been a mad dog foaming up that +cliff at ye.”</p> + +<p>“Then what is it?” asked Linda. “Tell me this minute.”</p> + +<p>“I dunno what in the world you’re going to think,” said Katy “I dunno +what in the world you’re going to do.”</p> + +<p>Her face was so distressed that Linda’s nimble brain flew to a +conclusion. She tightened her arm across Katy’s shoulder.</p> + +<p>“By Jove, Katy!” she said breathlessly. “Is Eileen in the house?”</p> + +<p>Katy nodded.</p> + +<p>“Has she been to see John and made things right with him?”</p> + +<p>Katy nodded again.</p> + +<p>“He’s in there with her waitin’ for ye,” she said.</p> + +<p>It was a stunned Linda who slowly dropped her arm, stood erect, and +lifted her head very high. She thought intently.</p> + +<p>“You don’t mean to tell me,” she said, “that you have been +<i>crying</i> over her?”</p> + +<p>Katy held out both hands.</p> + +<p>“Linda,” she said, “she always was such a pretty thing, and her ma +didn’t raise her to have the sense of a peewee. If your pa had been let +take her outdoors and grow her in the sun and the air, she would have +been bigger and broader, an’ there would have been the truth of God’s +sunshine an’ the glory of His rain about her. Ye know, Linda, that she +didn’t ever have a common dacent chance. It was curls that couldn’t be +shook out and a nose that dassen’t be sunburned and shoes that mustn’t +be scuffed and a dress that shouldn’t be mussed, from the day she +was born. Ye couldn’t jist honest say she had ever had a <i>fair</i> +chance, now could ye?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Linda conclusively, “no, Katherine O’Donovan, you could not. +But what are we up against? Does she want to come back? Does she want +to stay here again?”</p> + +<p>“I think she would like to,” said Katy. “You go in and see her for +yourself, lambie, before ye come to any decision.”</p> + +<p>“You don’t mean,” said Linda in a marveling tone, “that she has been +homesick, that she has come back to us because she would like to be +with us again?”</p> + +<p>“You go and see her for yourself; and if you don’t say she is the worst +beat out and the tiredest mortal that ye have ever seen, you’ll be +surprisin’ me. My God, Linda, they ain’t nothin’ in bein’ rich if it +can do to a girl what has been done to Eileen!”</p> + +<p>“Oh, well,” said Linda impatiently, “don’t condemn all money because +Eileen has not found happiness with it. The trouble has been that +Eileen’s only chance to be rich came to her through the wrong kind of +people.”</p> + +<p>“Well, will ye jist tell me, then,” said Katy, “how it happened that +Eileen’s ma was a sister to that great beef of a man, which same is +hard on self-rayspectin’ beef; pork would come nearer.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Linda, “I’ll tell you. Eileen’s mother had a big streak of +the same coarseness and the same vulgarity in <i>her</i> nature, or she +could not have reared Eileen as she did. She probably had been sent +to school and had better advantages than the boy through a designing +mother of her own. Her first husband must have been a man who greatly +refined and educated her. We can’t ever get away from the fact that +Daddy believed in her and loved her.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Katy, “but he was a fooled man. She wasn’t what we thought +she was. Many’s the time I’ve stood injustice about the accounts and +household management because I wouldn’t be wakin’ him up to what he was +bound to for life.”</p> + +<p>“That doesn’t help us,” said Linda. “I must go in and face them.”</p> + +<p>She handed her books to Katy, and went into the living room. She +concentrated on John Gilman first, and a wee qualm of disgust crept +through her soul when she saw that after weeks of suffering he was once +more ready to devote himself to Eileen. Linda marveled at the power a +woman could hold over a man that would force him to compromise with his +intellect, his education and environment. Then she turned her attention +to Eileen, and the shock she received was informing. She studied her an +instant incredulously, then she went to her and held out her hand.</p> + +<p>“How do you do?” she said as cordially as was possible to her. “This is +unexpected.”</p> + +<p>Her mind was working rapidly, yet she could not recall ever having seen +a woman quite so beautiful as Eileen. She was very certain that the +colour on her cheeks was ebbing and rising with excitement; it was no +longer so deep as to be stationary. She was very certain that her eyes +had not been darkened as to lids or waxed as to lashes. Her hair was +beautifully dressed in sweeping waves with scarcely any artificial work +upon it. Her dress was extremely tasteful and very expensive. There +was no simper on her lips, nothing superficial. She was only a tired, +homesick girl. As Linda looked at her she understood why Katy had cried +over her. She felt tears beginning to rise in her own heart. She put +both arms protectingly around Eileen.</p> + +<p>“Why, you poor little thing,” she said wonderingly, “was it so damn’ +bad as all that?”</p> + +<p>Eileen stood straight. She held herself rigidly. She merely nodded. +Then after a second she said: “Worse than anything you could imagine, +Linda. Being rich with people who have grown rich by accident is a +dreadful experience.”</p> + +<p>“So I have always imagined,” said Linda. And then in her usual +downright way she asked: “Why did you come, Eileen? Is there anything +you wanted of me?”</p> + +<p>Eileen hesitated. It was not in Linda’s heart to be mean.</p> + +<p>“Homesick, little sister?” she asked lightly “Do you want to come here +while you’re getting ready to make a home for John? Is that it?”</p> + +<p>Then Eileen swayed forward suddenly, buried her face in Linda’s breast, +and for the first time in her life Linda saw and heard her cry, not +from selfishness, not from anger, not from greed, but as an ordinary +human being cries when the heart is so full that nature relieves itself +with tears. Linda closed her arms around her and smiled over her head +at John Gilman.</p> + +<p>“Finish all of it before you stop,” she advised. “It’s all right. You +come straight home. You didn’t leave me any word, and I didn’t know +what to do with your things, but I couldn’t feel that you would want to +give up such beautiful things that you had so enjoyed. We had planned +for Marian to spend her summer vacation here so I put her things in +your suite and I had moved mine into the guest room, but I have had my +room done over and the guest room things are in there, and every scrap +of yours is carefully put away. If that will do, you are perfectly +welcome to it.”</p> + +<p>Eileen wiped her eyes.</p> + +<p>“Anything,” she sobbed. “I’d rather have Katy’s room than be shamed +and humiliated and hurt any further. Linda, I would almost like you to +know my Aunt Callie, because you will never understand about her if you +don’t. Her favourite pastime was to tell everyone we met how much the +things I wore cost her.”</p> + +<p>Linda released Eileen with a slight shake.</p> + +<p>“Cheer up!” she said. “We’ll all have a gorgeous time together. I +haven’t the slightest ambition to know more than that about your Aunt +Callie. If my brain really had been acting properly I would never have +dismantled your room. I would have known that you could not endure her, +and that you would come home just as you should. It’s all right, John, +make yourself comfortable. I don’t know what Katy has for dinner but +she can always find enough for an extra couple. Come Eileen, I’ll help +you to settle. Where is your luggage?”</p> + +<p>“I brought back, Linda, just what I have on,” said Eileen. “I will +begin again where I left off. I realize that I am not entitled to +anything further from the Strong estate, but Uncle was so unhappy and +John says it’s all right—really I am the only blood heir to all they +have; I might as well take a comfortable allowance from it. I am to go +to see them a few days of every month. I can endure that when I know I +have John and you to come back to.”</p> + +<p>When Eileen had been installed in Linda’s old room Linda went down to +the kitchen, shut the door behind her, and leaning against it, laid her +hand over her mouth to suppress a low laugh.</p> + +<p>“Katy,” she said, “I’ve been and gone and done it; I have put the +perfect lady in my old room. That will be a test of her sincerity—even +dainty and pretty as it is since it’s been done over. If she is sincere +enough to spend the summer getting ready to marry John Gilman—why that +is all right, old girl. We can stand it, can’t we?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Katy, “it’s one of them infernal nuisances but we can stand +it. I’m thinkin’, from the looks of John Gilman and his manner of +spakin’, that it ain’t goin’ to be but a very short time that he’ll be +waitin’.”</p> + +<p>“Katy,” said Linda, “isn’t this the most entertaining world? Doesn’t +it produce the most lightning-like changes, and don’t the most +unexpected things happen? Sort of dazes me. I had planned to take a +little run with you and the Cat. Since we are having—no, I mustn’t +say guests—since John and Eileen have come home, I’ll have to give up +that plan until after dinner, and then we’ll go and take counsel with +our souls and see if we can figure out how we are going to solve this +equation; and if you don t know what an equation is, old dear heart, +it’s me with a war-club and you with a shillalah and Eileen between us, +and be ‘domned’ to us if we can’t make an average, ordinary, decent +human being out of her. Pin an apron on her in the morning, Katy, and +hand her a dust cloth and tell her to industrialize. We will help her +with her trousseau, but she <i>shall</i> help us with the work.”</p> + +<p>“Ye know, lambie,” whispered Katy suddenly, “this is a burnin’ shame. +The one thing I <i>didn’t</i> think about is that book of yours. What +about it?”</p> + +<p>“I scarcely know,” said Linda; “it’s difficult to say. Of course we +can’t carry out the plans we had made to work here, exactly as we had +intended, with Eileen in the house preparing to be married. But she +tells me that her uncle has made her a generous allowance, so probably +it’s environment and love she is needing much more than help. It is +barely possible, Katy, that after I have watched her a few days, if +I decide she is in genuine, sincere, heart-whole earnest, I might +introduce her and John to my friend, ‘Jane.’ It is probable that if I +did, Eileen would not expect me to help her, and at the same time she +wouldn’t feel that I was acting indifferently because I did not. We’ll +wait awhile, Katy, and see whether we skid before we put on the chains.”</p> + +<p>“What about Marian?” inquired Katy.</p> + +<p>“I don’t know,” said Linda thoughtfully. “If Marian is big enough to +come here and spend the summer under the same roof with Eileen and John +Gilman, and have a really restful, enjoyable time out of it, she is +bigger than I am. Come up to the garret; I think Eileen has brought no +more with her than she took away. We’ll bring her trunk down, put it +in her room and lay the keys on top. Don’t begin by treating her as a +visitor; treat her as if she were truly my sister. Tell her what you +want and how you want it, exactly as you tell me and as I tell you. If +you see even a suspicion of any of the former objectionable tendencies +popping up, let’s check them quick and hard, Katy.”</p> + +<p>For a week Linda watched Eileen closely. At the end of that time she +was sincere in her conviction that Eileen had been severely chastened. +When she came in contact with Peter Morrison or any other man they +met she was not immediately artificial. She had learned to be as +natural with men as with other women. There were no pretty postures, +no softened vocal modulations, no childish nonsense on subjects upon +which the average child of these days displays the knowledge of the +past-generation grandmother. When they visited Peter Morrison’s house +it was easy to see that Eileen was interested, more interested than any +of them ever before had seen her in any subject outside of clothing and +jewels. Her conduct in the Strong home had been irreproachable. She +had cared for her own room, quietly undertaken the duties of dusting +and arranging the rooms and cutting and bringing in flowers. She had +gone to the kitchen and wiped dishes and asked to be taught how to cook +things of which John was particularly fond. She had been reasonable in +the amount of time she had spent on her shopping, and had repeatedly +gone to Linda and shown interest in her concerns. The result was that +Linda at once displayed the same interest in anything pertaining to +Eileen.</p> + +<p>One afternoon Linda came home unusually early. She called for Eileen, +told her to tie on her sunshade and be ready for a short ride. +Almost immediately she brought around the Bear-cat and when they +were seated side by side headed it toward the canyon. She stopped at +the usual resting place, and together she and Eileen walked down the +light-dappled road bed. She pointed out things to Eileen, telling her +what they were, to what uses they could be put, while at the same time +narrowly watching her. To her amazement she found that Eileen was +interested, that she was noticing things for herself, asking what they +were. She wanted to know the names of the singing birds. When a big +bird trailed a waving shadow in front of her Linda explained how she +might distinguish an eagle from a hawk, a hawk from a vulture, a sea +bird from those of the land. When they reached the bridge Linda climbed +down the embankment to gather cress. She was moved to protest when +Eileen followed and without saying a word began to assist her, but she +restrained herself, for it suddenly occurred to her that it would be an +excellent thing for Eileen to think more of what she was doing and why +she was doing it than about whether she would wet her feet or muddy her +fingers. So the protest became an explanation that it was rather late +for cress: the leaves toughened when it bloomed and were too peppery. +The only way it could be used agreeably was to work along the edges +and select the small tender shoots that had not yet matured to the +flowering point. When they had an armload they went back to the car, +and without any explanation Linda drove into Los Angeles and stopped at +the residence of Judge Whiting, not telling Eileen where she was.</p> + +<p>“Friends of mine,” said Linda lightly as she stepped from the car. +“Fond of cress salad with their dinner. They prepare it after the Jane +Meredith recipe to which you called my attention, in <i>Everybody’s +Home</i> last winter. Come along with me.”</p> + +<p>Eileen stepped from the car and followed. Linda led the way round the +sidewalk to where her quick ear had located voices on the side lawn. +She stopped at the kitchen door, handed in the cress, exchanged a few +laughing words with the cook, and then presented herself at the door +of the summerhouse. Inside, his books and papers spread over a work +table, sat Donald Whiting. One side of him his mother was busy darning +his socks; on the other his sister Louise was working with embroidery +silk and small squares of gaily coloured linen. Linda entered with +exactly the same self-possession that characterized her at home. She +shook hands with Mrs. Whiting, Mary Louise, and Donald, and then she +said quietly: “Eileen and I were gathering cress and we stopped to +leave you some for your dinner.” With this explanation she introduced +Eileen to Mrs. Whiting. Mary Louise immediately sprang up and recalled +their meeting at Riverside. Donald remembered a meeting he did not +mention. It was only a few minutes until Linda was seated beside +Donald, interesting herself in his lessons. Eileen begged to be shown +the pretty handkerchiefs that Mary Louise was making. An hour later +Linda refused an invitation to dinner because Katy would be expecting +them. When she arose to go, Eileen was carrying a small square of +blue-green linen. Carefully pinned to it was a patch of white with a +spray of delicate flowers outlined upon it, and a skein of pink silk +thread. She had been initiated into the thrillingly absorbing feminine +accomplishment of making sport handkerchiefs. When they left Eileen was +included naturally, casually, spontaneously, in their invitation to +Linda to run in any time she would. Mary Louise had said she would ride +out with Donald in few days and see how the handkerchiefs were coming +on, and more instruction and different stitches and patterns were +necessary, she would love to teach them. So Linda realized that Mary +Louise had been told about the trousseau. She knew, even lacking as she +was in feminine sophistication, that there were two open roads to the +heart of a woman. One is a wedding and the other is a baby. The lure of +either is irresistible.</p> + +<p>As the Bear-cat glided back to Lilac Valley, Eileen sat silent. For +ten years she had coveted the entrée to the Whiting home perhaps more +than any other in the city. Merely by being simple and natural, by +living her life as life presented itself each day, Linda with no effort +whatever had made possible to Eileen the thing she so deeply craved. +Eileen was learning a new lesson each day—some days many of them—but +none was more amazing more simple, or struck deeper into her awakened +consciousness. As she gazed with far-seeing eye on the blue walls of +the valley Eileen was taking a mental inventory of her former self. +One by one she was arraigning all the old tricks she had used in her +trade of getting on in the world. One by one she was discarding them in +favour of honesty, unaffectedness, and wholesome enjoyment.</p> + +<p>Because of these things Linda came home the next afternoon and left +a bundle on Eileen’s bed before she made her way to her own room to +busy herself with a head piece for Peter’s latest article. She had +taken down the wasp picture and while she had not destroyed it she had +turned the key of a very substantial lock upon it. She was hard at work +when she heard steps on the stairs. When Eileen entered, Linda smiled +quizzically and then broke into an unaffected ejaculation.</p> + +<p>“Ripping!” she cried. “Why, Eileen, you’re perfectly topping.”</p> + +<p>Eileen’s face flamed with delight. She was a challenging little figure. +None of them was accustomed to her when she represented anything more +substantial than curls and ruffles.</p> + +<p>Linda reached for the telephone, called Gilman, and asked him if he +could go to the beach for supper that evening. He immediately replied +that he would. Then she called Peter Morrison and asked him the same +question and when Peter answered affirmatively she told him to bring +his car. Then she hastily put on her own field clothes and ran to the +kitchen to fill the lunch box. To Katy’s delight Linda told her there +would be room for her and that she needed her.</p> + +<p>It was evening and the sun was moving slowly toward the horizon when +they stopped the cars and went down on the white sands of Santa Monica +Bay. Eileen had been complimented until she was in a glow of delight. +She did not notice that in piling things out of the car for their beach +supper Linda had handed her a shovel and the blackened iron legs of a +broiler. Everyone was loaded promiscuously as they took up their march +down to as near the water’s edge as the sands were dry. Peter and John +gathered driftwood. Linda improvised two cooking places, one behind a +rock for herself, the other under the little outdoor stove for Katy. +Eileen was instructed as to how to set up the beach table, spread the +blankets beside it, and place the food upon it. While Katy made coffee +and toasted biscuit Linda was busy introducing her party to brigand +beefsteak upon four long steel skewers. The day had been warm. The +light salt breeze from the sea was like a benediction. Friendly gulls +gathered on the white sands around them. Cunning little sea chickens +worked in accord with the tide: when the waves advanced they rose above +them on wing; when they retreated they scampered over the wet sand, +hunting any small particles of food that might have been carried in. +Out over the water big brown pelicans went slowly fanning homeward; and +white sea swallows drew wonderful pictures on the blue night sky with +the tips of their wings. For a few minutes at the reddest point of its +setting the sun painted a marvelous picture in a bank of white clouds. +These piled up like a great rosy castle, and down the sky roadway +before it came a long procession of armored knights, red in the sun +glow and riding huge red horses. Then the colours mixed and faded and +a long red bridge for a short time spanned the water, ending at their +feet. The gulls hunted the last scrap thrown them and went home. The +swallows sought their high cliffs. The insidiously alluring perfume +of sand verbena rose like altar incense around them. Gilman spread a +blanket, piled the beach fire higher, and sitting beside Eileen, he +drew her head to his shoulder and put his arm around her. Possibly he +could have been happier in a careless way if he had never suffered. +It is very probable that the poignant depth of exquisite happiness he +felt in that hour never would have come to him had he not lost Eileen +and found her again so much more worth loving. Linda wandered down the +beach until she reached the lighthouse rocks. She climbed on a high +one and sat watching the sea as it sprayed just below. Peter Morrison +followed her.</p> + +<p>“May I come up?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Surely,” said Linda, “this belongs to the Lord; it isn’t mine.”</p> + +<p>So Peter climbed up and sat beside her.</p> + +<p>“How did the landscape appeal to you when you left the campfire?” +inquired Linda.</p> + +<p>“I should think the night cry might very well be Eight o’clock and +all’s well,” answered Peter.</p> + +<p>“‘God’s in his heaven, all’s right with the world?’” Linda put it in +the form of a question.</p> + +<p>“It seems to be for John and Eileen,” said Peter.</p> + +<p>“It is for a number of people,” said Linda. “I had a letter from Marian +to-day. I had written her to ask if she would come to us for the +summer, in spite of the change in our plans; but Mr. Snow has made some +plans of his own. He is a very astute individual. He wanted Marian to +marry him at once and she would not, so he took her for a short visit +to see his daughter at her grandmother’s home in the northern part of +the state. Marian fell deeply in love with his little girl, and of +course those people found Marian charming, just as right-minded people +would find her. When she saw how the little girl missed her father and +how difficult it was for him to leave her, and when she saw how she +would be loved and appreciated in that fine family, she changed her +mind. Peter, we are going to be invited to San Francisco to see them +married very shortly. Are you glad or sorry?”</p> + +<p>“I am very glad,” said Peter heartily. “I make no concealment of my +admiration for Miss Thorne but I am very glad indeed that it is not +her head that is to complete the decoration when you start the iris +marching down my creek banks.”</p> + +<p>“Well, that’s all right,” said Linda. “Of course you should have +something to say about whose head finished that picture. I can’t +contract to do more than set the iris. The thing about this I dread is +that Marian and Eugene are going to live in San Francisco, and I did so +want her to make her home in Lilac Valley.”</p> + +<p>“That’s too bad,” said Peter sympathetically. “I know how you +appreciate her, how deeply you love her. Do you think the valley will +ever be right for you without her, Linda?”</p> + +<p>“It will have to be,” said Linda. “I’ve had to go on without Father, +you know. If greater happiness seems to be in store for Marian in San +Francisco, all I can do is to efface myself and say ‘Amen.’ When the +world is all right for Marian, it is about as near all right as it +can be for me. And did you ever see much more sincerely and clearly +contented people than John and Eileen are at the present minute?”</p> + +<p>Peter looked at Linda whimsically. He lowered his voice as if a sea +urchin might hear and tattle.</p> + +<p>“What did you do about the wasp, Linda?” he whispered.</p> + +<p>“I delicately erased the stinger, fluffed up a ruffle, and put the +sketch under lock and key. I should have started a fire with it, but I +couldn’t quite bring myself to let it go, yet.”</p> + +<p>“Is she going to hold out?” asked Peter.</p> + +<p>“She’ll hold out or get her neck wrung,” said Linda. “I truly think she +has been redeemed. She has been born again. She has a new heart and a +new soul and a new impulse and a right conception of life. Why, Peter, +she has even got a new body. Her face is not the same.”</p> + +<p>“She is much handsomer,” said Peter.</p> + +<p>“Isn’t she?” cried Linda enthusiastically. “And doesn’t having a soul +and doesn’t thinking about essential things make the most remarkable +difference in her? It is worth going through a fiery furnace to come +out new like that. I called her Abednego the other day, but she didn’t +know what I meant.”</p> + +<p>Then they sat silent and watched the sea for a long time. By and by the +night air grew chill. Peter slipped from the rock and went up the beach +and came back with an Indian blanket. He put it very carefully around +Linda’s shoulders, and when he went to resume his seat beside her he +found one of her arms stretching it with a blanket corner for him. +So he sat down beside her and drew the corner over his shoulder; and +because his right arm was very much in his way, and it would have been +very disagreeable if Linda had slipped from the rock and fallen into +the cold, salt, unsympathetic Pacific at nine o’clock at night—merely +to dispose of the arm comfortably and to ensure her security, Peter put +it around Linda and drew her up beside him very close. Linda did not +seem to notice. She sat quietly looking at the Pacific and thinking her +own thoughts. When the fog became damp and chill, she said they must +be going, and so they went back to their cars and drove home through +the sheer wonder of the moonlight, through the perfume of the orange +orchards, hearing the night song of the mocking birds.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 id="ch_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII</h2> +<div class="subheadc">The Lady of the Iris</div> +</div> + +<p>A few days later Linda and Peter went to San Francisco and helped +celebrate the marriage of Marian and Eugene Snow. They left Marian in +a home carefully designed to insure every comfort and convenience she +ever had planned, furnished in accordance with her desires. Both Linda +and Peter were charmed with little Deborah Snow; she was a beautiful +and an appealing child.</p> + +<p>“It seems to me,” said Linda, on the train going home, “that Marian +will get more out of life, she will love deeper, she will work harder, +she will climb higher in her profession than she would have done if she +had married John. It is difficult sometimes, when things are happening, +to realize that they are for the best, but I really believe this thing +has been for the level best. I think Marian is going to be a bigger +woman in San Francisco than she ever would have been in Lilac Valley. +With that thought I must reconcile myself.”</p> + +<p>“And what about John?” asked Peter. “Is he going to be a bigger man +with Eileen than he would have been with Marian?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said Linda, “he is not. He didn’t do right and he’ll have penalty +to pay. Eileen is developing into a lovable and truly beautiful woman, +but she has not the intellect, nor the education, nor the impulse to +stimulate a man’s mental processes and make him outdo himself the way +Marian will. John will probably never know it, but he will have to do +his own stimulating; he will have to vision life for himself. He will +have to find his high hill and climb it with Eileen riding securely on +his shoulders. It isn’t really the pleasantest thing in the world, it +isn’t truly the thing I wanted to do this summer—helping them out—but +it has seemed to be the work at hand, the thing Daddy probably would +have wanted me to do, so it’s up to me to do all I can for them, just +as I did all I could for Donald. One thing I shall always be delighted +about. With my own ears I heard the pronouncement: Donald had the +Jap beaten; he was at the head of his class before Oka Sayye was +eliminated. The Jap knew it. His only chance lay in getting rid of his +rival. Donald can take the excellent record he has made in this race to +start on this fall when he commences another battle against some other +man’s brain for top honours in his college.”</p> + +<p>“Will he start with the idea that he wants to be an honour man?”</p> + +<p>Linda laughed outright.</p> + +<p>“I think,” she said, “his idea was that if he were one of fifty or one +hundred leading men it would be sufficient, but I insisted that if he +wanted to be first with me, he would have to be first in his school +work.”</p> + +<p>“I see,” said Peter. “Linda, have you definitely decided that when you +come to your home-making hour, Donald is the man with whom you want to +spend the remainder of your life?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, good gracious!” said Linda. “Who’s talking about ‘homes’ and +‘spending the remainder of lives’? Donald and I are school friends, and +we are good companions. You’re as bad as Eileen. She’s always trying +to suggest things that nobody else ever thought of, and now Katy’s +beginning it too.”</p> + +<p>“Sap-heads, all!” said Peter. “Well, allow me to congratulate you on +having given Donald his spurs. I think it’s a very fine thing for him +to start to college with the honour idea in his head. What about your +Saturday excursions?”</p> + +<p>“They have died an unnatural death,” said Linda. “Don and I fought for +them, but the Judge and Mrs. Whiting and Mary Louise were terrified +for fear a bone might slip in Don’s foot, or some revengeful friend or +relative of Oka Sayye lie in wait for us. They won’t hear of our going +any more. I go every Saturday and take Donald for a very careful drive +over a smooth road with the Bear-cat cursing our rate of speed all the +way. All the fun’s spoiled for all three of us.”</p> + +<p>“Think I would be any good as a substitute when it comes to field +work?” inquired Peter casually. “I have looked at your desert garden so +much I would know a Cotyledon if I saw it. I believe I could learn.”</p> + +<p>“You wouldn’t have time to bother,” objected Linda. “You’re a man, with +a man’s business to transact in the world. You have to hustle and earn +money to pay for the bridge and changing the brook.”</p> + +<p>“But I had money to pay for the brook and the bridge before I agreed to +them,” said Peter.</p> + +<p>“Well, then,” said Linda, “you should begin to hunt old mahogany and +rugs.”</p> + +<p>“I hadn’t intended to,” said Peter; “if they are to be old, I won’t +have to do more than to ship them. In storage in Virginia there are +some very wonderful old mahogany and rosewood and rugs and bric-à-brac +enough to furnish the house I am building. The stuff belonged to a +little old aunt of mine who left it to me in her will, and it was with +those things in mind that I began my house. The plans and finishing +will fit that furniture beautifully.”</p> + +<p>“Why, you lucky individual!” said Linda. “Nowhere in the world is there +more beautiful furniture than in some of those old homes in Virginia. +There are old Flemish and Dutch and British and Italian pieces that +came into this country on early sailing vessels for the aristocrats. +You don’t mean that kind of stuff, do you, Peter?”</p> + +<p>“That is precisely the kind of stuff I do mean,” answered Peter.</p> + +<p>“Why Peter, if you have furniture like that,” cried Linda, “then all +you need is Mary Louise.”</p> + +<p>“Linda,” said Peter soberly, “you are trespassing on delicate ground +again. You selected one wife for me and your plan didn’t work. When +that furniture arrives and is installed I’ll set about inducing the +lady of my dreams to come and occupy my dream house, in my own way. I +never did give you that job. It was merely assumed on your part.”</p> + +<p>“So it was,” said Linda. “But you know I could set that iris and run +that brook with more enthusiasm if I knew the lady who was to walk +beside it.”</p> + +<p>“You do,” said Peter. “You know her better than anyone else, even +better than I. Put that in your mental pipe and smoke it!”</p> + +<p>“Saints preserve us!” cried Linda. “I believe the man is planning to +take Katy away from me.”</p> + +<p>“Not <i>from</i> you,” said Peter, “<i>with</i> you.”</p> + +<p>“Let me know about it before you do it,” said Linda with a careless +laugh.</p> + +<p>“That’s what I’m doing right now,” said Peter.</p> + +<p>“And I’m going to school,” said Linda.</p> + +<p>“Of course,” said Peter, “but that won’t last forever.”</p> + +<p>Linda entered enthusiastically upon the triple task of getting Donald +in a proper frame of mind to start to college with the ambition to do +good work, of marrying off Eileen and John Gilman, and of giving her +best brain and heart to Jane Meredith. When the time came, Donald was +ready to enter college comfortable and happy, willing to wait and see +what life had in store for him as he lived it.</p> + +<p>When she was sure of Eileen past any reasonable doubt Linda took her +and John to her workroom one evening and showed them her book contract +and the material she had ready, and gave them the best idea she could +of what yet remained to be done. She was not prepared for their +wholehearted praise, for their delight and appreciation.</p> + +<p>Alone, they took counsel as to how they could best help her, and +decided that to be married at once and take a long trip abroad would +be the best way. That would leave Linda to work in quiet and with no +interruption to distract her attention. They could make their home +arrangements when they returned.</p> + +<p>When they had gone Linda worked persistently, but her book was not +completed and the publishers were hurrying her when the fall term +of school opened. By the time the final chapter with its exquisite +illustration had been sent in, the first ones were coming back in +proof, and with the proof came the materialized form of Linda’s design +for her cover, and there was no Marian to consult about it. Linda +worked until she was confused. Then she piled the material in the +Bear-cat and headed up Lilac Valley. As she came around the curve and +turned from the public road she saw that for the first time she might +cross her bridge; it was waiting for her. She heard the rejoicing +of the water as it fell from stone to stone where it dipped under +the road, and as she swung across the bridge she saw that she might +drive over the completed road which had been finished in her weeks of +absence. The windows told another story. Peter’s furniture had come +and he had been placing it without telling her. She found the front +door standing wide open, so she walked in. With her bundle on her arm +she made her way to Peter’s workroom. When he looked up and saw her +standing in his door he sprang to his feet and came to meet her.</p> + +<p>“Peter,” she said, “I’ve taken on more work than I can possibly finish +on time, and I’m the lonesomest person in California to-day.”</p> + +<p>“I doubt that,” said Peter gravely. “If you are any lonesomer than I am +you must prove it.”</p> + +<p>“I have proved it,” said Linda quietly. “If you had been as lonesome as +I am you would have come to me. As it is, I have come to you.”</p> + +<p>“I see,” said Peter rather breathlessly. “What have you there, Linda? +Why did you come?”</p> + +<p>“I came for two reasons,” said Linda. “I want to ask you about this +stuff. Several times this summer you have heard talk about Jane +Meredith and the <i>Everybody’s Home</i> articles. Ever read any of +them, Peter?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Peter, “I read all of them. Interested in home stuff these +days myself.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Linda, dumping her armload before Peter, “there’s the +proof and there’s the illustration and there’s the cover design for +a book to be made from that stuff. Peter, make your best boy and say +‘pleased to meet you’ to Jane Meredith.”</p> + +<p>Peter secured both of Linda’s hands and held them. First he looked at +her, then he looked at the material she had piled down in front of him.</p> + +<p>“Never again,” said Peter in a small voice, “will I credit myself with +any deep discernment, any keen penetration. How I could have read that +matter and looked at those pictures and not seen you in and through and +over them is a thing I can’t imagine. It’s great, Linda, absolutely +great! Of course I will help you any way in the world I can. And what +else was it you wanted? You said two things.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, the other doesn’t amount to much,” said Linda. “I only wanted the +comfort of knowing whether, as soon as I graduate, I may take Katy and +come home, Peter.”</p> + +<p>From previous experience with Linda, Peter had learned that a girl +reared by men is not as other women. He had supposed the other thing +concerning which she had wanted to appeal to him was on par with her +desire for sympathy and help concerning her book. At her question, with +her eyes frankly meeting his, Peter for an instant felt lightheaded. He +almost dodged, he was so sweepingly taken unawares. Linda was waiting +and his brain was not working. He tried to smile, but he knew she would +not recognize as natural the expression of that whirling moment. She +saw his hesitation.</p> + +<p>“Of course, if you don’t want us, Peter——”</p> + +<p>Peter found his voice promptly. Only his God knew how much he wanted +Linda, but there were conditions that a man of Peter’s soul-fiber could +not endure. More than life he wanted her, but he did not want her +asleep. He did not want to risk her awakening to a spoiled life and +disappointed hopes.</p> + +<p>“But you remember that I told you coming home from San Francisco that +you knew the Lady of my Iris better than anyone else, and that I was +planning to take Katy, not from you, but with you.”</p> + +<p>“Of course I remember,” said Linda. “That is why when Marian and Eileen +and Donald and all my world went past and left me standing desolate, +and my work piled up until I couldn’t see my way, I just started right +out to ask you if you would help me with the proof. Of course I knew +you would be glad to do that and I thought if you really meant in your +heart that I was the one to complete your iris procession, it would be +a comfort to me during the hard work and the lonesome days to have it +put in two-syllable English. Marian said that was the only real way——”</p> + +<p>“And Marian is eminently correct. You will have to give me an ordinary +lifetime, Linda, in which to try to make you understand exactly what +this means to me. Perhaps I’ll even have to invent new words in which +to express myself.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, that’s all right,” said Linda. “It means a lot to me too. I can’t +tell you how much I think of you. That first day, as soon as I put down +the Cotyledon safely and tucked in my blouse, I would have put my hand +in yours and started around the world, if you had asked me to. I have +the very highest esteem for you, Peter.”</p> + +<p>“Esteem, yes,” said Peter slowly. “But Linda-girl, isn’t the sort of +alliance I am asking you to enter with me usually based on something a +good bit stronger than ‘esteem’?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I think it is,” said Linda. “But you needn’t worry. I only wanted +the comfort of knowing that I was not utterly alone again, save for +Katy. I’ll stick to my book and to my fight for Senior honours all +right.”</p> + +<p>Peter was blinking his eyes and fighting to breathe evenly. When he +could speak he said as smoothly as possible: “Of course, Linda. I’ll +do your proof for you and you may put all your time on class honours. +It merely occurred to me to wonder whether you realized the full and +ultimate significance of what we are saying; exactly what it means to +me and to you.”</p> + +<p>“Possibly not, Peter,” said Linda, smiling on him with utter +confidence. “Everyone says I am my father’s daughter, and Father didn’t +live to coach me on being your iris decoration, as a woman would; but, +Peter, when the time comes, I have every confidence in your ability to +teach me what you would like me to know yourself. Don’t you agree with +me, Peter?”</p> + +<p>Making an effort to control himself Peter gathered up the material +Linda had brought and taking her arm he said casually: “I thoroughly +agree with you, dear. You are sanely and healthfully and beautifully +right. Now let’s go and take Katy into our confidence, and then you +shall show me your ideas before I begin work on your proof. And after +this, instead of you coming to me I shall always come to you whenever +you can spare a minute for me.”</p> + +<p>Linda nodded acquiescence.</p> + +<p>“Of course! That would be best,” she said. “Peter, you are so +satisfyingly satisfactory.”</p> + +<div class="center mt5">THE END</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HER FATHER'S DAUGHTER ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. +</div> + +<div style='margin-top:1em; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE</div> +<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE</div> +<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person +or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when +you share it without charge with others. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work +on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: +</div> + +<blockquote> + <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most + other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions + whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms + of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online + at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you + are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws + of the country where you are located before using this eBook. + </div> +</blockquote> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format +other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain +Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +provided that: +</div> + +<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation.” + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ + works. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + </div> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. +</div> + +</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/904-h/images/cover.jpg b/904-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ea4480d --- /dev/null +++ b/904-h/images/cover.jpg |
