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diff --git a/old/hfdtr10.txt b/old/hfdtr10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b85572a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/hfdtr10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15078 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Her Father's Daughter, by Porter +#7 in our series by Gene Stratton-Porter + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + +HER FATHER'S DAUGHTER +by +GENE STRATTON-PORTER + +Contents + + I."What Kind of Shoes Are the Shoes You Wear?" + II. Cotyledon of Multiflores Canyon + III. The House of Dreams + IV. Linda Starts a Revolution + V. The Smoke of Battle + VI. Jane Meredith + VII. Trying Yucca + VIII. The Bear Cat + IX. One Hundred Per Cent Plus + X. Katy to the Rescue + XI. Assisting Providence + XII. The Lay of the Land + XIII. Leavening the Bread of Life + XIV. Saturday's Child + XV. Linda's Hearthstone + XVI. Producing the Evidence + XVII. A Rock and a Flame + XVIII. Spanish Iris + XIX. The Official Bug-Catcher + XX. The Cap Sheaf + XXI. Shifting the Responsibility + XXII. The End of Marian's Contest + XXIII. The Day of Jubilee + XXIV. Linda's First Party + XXV. Buena Moza + XXVI. A Mouse Nest + XXVII. The Straight and Narrow +XXVIII. Putting It Up to Peter + XXIX. Katy Unburdens Her Mind + XXX. Peter's Release + XXXI. The End of Donald's Contest + XXXII. How the Wasp Built Her Nest +XXXIII. The Lady of the Iris + + + +List of Characters + +LINDA STRONG, Her Father's Daughter +DR. ALEXANDER STRONG, a Great Nerve Specialist +MRS. STRONG, His Wife +EILEEN STRONG, Having +Social Aspirations +MR. AND MRS. THORNE, Neighbors of the Strongs +MARIAN THORNE, a Dreamer of Houses +JOHN GILMAN, a Man of Law +PETER MORRISON, an Author +HENRY ANDERSON, an Architect +DONALD WHITING, a High School Senior +MARY LOUISE WHITING, His Sister +JUDGE AND MRS. WHITING, a Man of Law and a Woman of Culture +KATHERINE O' DONOVAN, the Strong Cook +OKA SAYYE, a High School Senior +JAMES HEITMAN, Accidentally Rich +MRS. CAROLINE HEITMAN, His Wife + + + +CHAPTER I. "What Kind of Shoes Are the Shoes You Wear?" + +"What makes you wear such funny shoes?" + +Linda Strong thrust forward a foot and critically examined the +narrow vamp, the projecting sole, the broad, low heel of her +well-worn brown calfskin 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. + +"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." + +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. + +"I say," said Donald Whiting, "I call that a mean thrust." + +"I have a particular reason," said Linda. + +"And I have 'a particular reason'," said Donald, "for being +interested in your shoes." + +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 mockingbird of Argentina. + +"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." + +"I have been watching them all the time," said Donald. '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?" + +"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?" + +"The great nerve specialist?" asked Donald. + +"Yes," said Linda. "The man who was the author of half-dozen +books that have been translated into many foreign tongue' 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 new, 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 he psychology that +Father did not know, so there were two reason why he selected my +footwear as he did. One was because he be believed high heels +and pointed toes an outrage against the nervous 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?" + +"I should think you'd feel queer," said Donald. + +"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." + +"Oh, I remember!" cried the boy. + +Linda's face paled slightly. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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 for a school girl, if +I had it to wear." + +"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 NOT SUITABLE!" + +"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?" + +"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?" + +"I'll wager your mother would agree with me," suggested Linda. + +"Did yours?" asked Donald. + +"Halfway," answered Linda. "She agreed with me for me, but not +for Eileen." + +"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 matinee. +For that matter she frequently went to all three the same day. + +"And that brings us straight to the point concerning you," said +Linda. + +"Sure enough!" said Donald. "There is me to be considered! What +is it you have against me?" + +Linda looked at him meditatively. + +"You SEEM 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 us them." + +"What are you getting at, anyway?" asked Donald, with more than a +hint of asperity m his voice. + +"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 opportunity +has allowed a little brown Jap to cross the Pacific Ocean and 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." + +"It's all very well to talk," said Donald hotly. + +"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." + +"Well, you would be going some if you beat the leading Jap in the +senior class," said Donald. + +"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." + +"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?"" + +"Why, if your mother happened to be motoring that way and would +care to call, I think that would be fine," said Linda. + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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 I +Strong." + +"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: + +"The shoes I wear are common-sense shoes, +And you may wear them if you choose." + +"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. + +"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. + +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 finely in her own +mind that the would make that visit a memorable one for him. + +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 sunfaded, stained, and disreputable? Was it right that +Eileen should occupy their father 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. + +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 worktable 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. + +"Katy, me darlin'," she said, "look upon your only child. Do you +notice a 'lean and hungry look' on her classic features?" + +Katy turned adoring eyes to the young girl. + +"It's growing so fast ye are, childie," she said. "It's only a +little while to dinner, and there's company tonight, so hadn't ye +better wait and not spoil your appetite with piecing?" + +"Is there going to be anything 'jarvis'?" inquired Linda. + +'"I'd say there is," said Katy. "John Gilman is here and two +friends of Eileen's. It's a near banquet, lassie." + +"Then I'll wait," said Linda. "I want the keys to the garage." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +Leaving the cover on the floor, she locked the door and returned +to the kitchen. + +"All right, Katy, what is the programme?" she inquired as lightly +as she could. + +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 tonight but I want +you to keep things smoking hot and to have them dished up ready +for me so that everything will go smoothly." + +"What would happen," inquired Linda, "if everything did NOT go +smoothly? Katy, do you think the roof would blow straight up if +I had MY way about something, just for a change?" + +"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." + +"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 today, but the forces are gathering and the blow +is coming soon. To that I have firmly made up my mind." + +"It's not the least mite I'm blaming you, honey," said Katy. + +"Ye've got to be such a big girl that it's only fair things in +this house should go a good deal different." + +"Is Marian to be here?" asked Linda as she stood beside the stove +peering into pans and kettles. + +"Miss Eileen didn't say," replied Katy. + +Linda's eyes reddened suddenly. She slammed down a lid with +vicious emphasis. + +"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 honor?" + +"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 honor." + +"No," said Linda, "that was not fair. I don't in the least know +that he ever ASKED 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." + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + + + +CHAPTER II. Cotyledon of Multiflores Canyon + +"'Ave, atque vale!' Cotyledon!" + +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 +plan, she had passed. She was familiar with many members of she +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 sketchbook 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. + +"I think, Coty," she said, "it is very probable that I can come a +few simoleons with you. You are becoming better looking ever +minute." + +For a touch of color she margined one side of her drawing with a +little spray of Pentstemon whose bright tubular flower the canyon +knew as "hummingbird'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 hummingbird, 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. + +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. + +"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 + +"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?" + +Linda stood before them, a lithe slender figure, vivid with youth +and vitality. + +"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!" + +"I should prefer," said the younger of the men, to know whether +you have any broken bones." + +"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.' "Well, +which is the more precious," said the young man. "Yourself or +the specimen?" + +"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." + +"Is there any way we can help you?" inquired the elder of the +two men. + +For the first time Linda glanced at him, and her impression was +that he was decidedly attractive. + +"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.'" + +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!" + +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. + +"What will girls be wearing and doing next?" asked the elder of +the two as he started his car. + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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." + + 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 red 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. + +"Whatever have ye been doing to yourself, honey?" cried Katy. + +"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 pulverulent, Katy, which is a poor joke." + +"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. + +"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." + +"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 !" + +"Why, who is coming now?" asked Linda, seating herself on the +nearest chair and beginning to unfasten her boots slowly. + +"Well, first of all, there is Mr. Gilman, of course." + +"'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." + +"Oh I don't know that ye should say just that," said Katy "Eileen +is a mighty pretty girl, and she is SOME manager." + +"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 downtown 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!" + +The second boot landed beside the first, then Linda picked them +both up and started toward the back hall. + +"Honey, are ye too bad hurt to help me any?" asked Katy, as she +passed her. + +"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." + +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 flowerlike 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 colored, 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. + +"What's the great idea?" demanded Linda shortly. + +"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." + +"Then God help John Gilman, if he thinks now that he is in love +with you," said Linda dryly. + +Eileen arched her eyebrows, thinned to a hair line, and her lips +drew together in disapproval. + +"What I can't understand," she said, "is how you can be so +unspeakably vulgar, Linda." + +Linda laughed sharply. + +"And this Peter Morrison and John are our guests for dinner?" + +"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 in San Francisco." + +Linda shrugged her shoulders. + +"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." + +Eileen deftly placed the strand of hair and set the jewelled pin +with precision. + +"Just possibly things have changed slightly," she suggested. + +"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." + +"Linda," said Eileen, her face pale with anger, "you are +positively insufferable. Will you leave my room and close the +door after you?" + +"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 ONE thing. Are you proposing to +entertain these three men yourself, or have you asked Marian?" + +Eileen indicated an open note lying on her dressing table. + +"I did not know they were coming until an hour ago," she said. +"_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." + +"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?" + +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." + +"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 health 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 tonight." + +Eileen turned to her sister and looked at her keenly. Linda's +brow was sullen, and her jaw set. + +"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. + +Eileen hesitated a second and then said: "All right, since you +make such a point of it I will ask her." + +"Very well," said Linda. "Then I'll help Katy the very best I +can." + + + +CHAPTER III. The House of Dreams + +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. + +"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." + +Linda stood very quietly for a second, her heavy black brows +drawn together in deep thought. + +"When did Eileen issue these instructions?" she inquired. + +"Not five minutes ago," said Katy. "She just left me kitchen and +I'll say I never saw her lookin' such a perfect picture. That +new dress of hers is the most becoming one she has ever had." + +Almost unconsciously, Linda's hand reached to the front of her +well-worn blouse, and she glanced downward at her skirt and +shoes. + +"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." + +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. + +"Why, Marian," she cried, "I had no idea you were so far along. +The house is actually empty." + +"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." + +"Then that explains," questioned Linda, "why you refused Eileen's +invitation to dinner tonight?" + +"On the contrary," answered Marian, "an invitation to dinner +tonight 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." + +Linda suddenly gathered her friend in her arms and held her +tight. + +"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." + +Marian nodded her head. "Of course! John has always talked of +him. He had some extremely clever articles in The Post lately." + +"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 preempted." + +"Oh, heavens," cried Marian, "I'm glad I never showed her my +spot!" + +"Well, if you are particular about wanting a certain place I +sincerely hope you did not," said Linda. + +"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." + +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. + +"Katy," she said, "take a look at my handiwork." + +"It's just lovely," said Katy heartily. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +Katy chuckled quietly. "Sure, I wouldn't be leaving ye, lambie," +she said. "We'll get everything ready, and I can serve I six as +nicely as anyone. But you're not forgetting that Miss Eileen +said most explicit to lay the table for FOUR?' + +"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?" + +Katy directed and Linda worked swiftly. Soon they heard a motor +stop, and laughing voices told them that the guests had arrived. + +"Now I wonder," said Linda, "whether Marian is here yet." + +At that minute Marian appeared at the kitchen door. + +"Linda," she said breathlessly, "I am feeling queer about this. +Eileen hasn't been over." + +"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." + +Marian hesitated. + +"She was not allowing me much time to dress." + +"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 tonight. +We're going to help Eileen vamp a lawyer, and an author, and an +architect, one apiece. Which do you prefer, Marian?" + +"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." + +"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." + +They stopped in the dining room and Marian praised Linda's work +in laying the table; and then, together they entered the living +room. + +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 color 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. + +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 modeled 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. + +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." + +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 today." + +"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." + +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 i n 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 color 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. + +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. + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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?" + +This caused such a laugh that everyone felt much easier. Marian +turned her dark eyes toward Peter Morrison. + +"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 +straightforwardly if you are truly in earnest, about wanting a +home in Lilac Valley?" + +"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, roommates, 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." + +"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." + +"Why shameless?" inquired Henry Anderson. + +"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." + +"Oh, kid, don't stick to the straight and narrow," broke in +Linda, "there's no scenery." + +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. + +"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." + +Peter Morrison deliberately turned in his chair, his eyes intent +on Marian's earnest face. + +"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?" + +"It certainly does," answered Henry Anderson, "and from what I +could see as we drove in, it looks as well as it sounds." + +Peter Morrison turned to his friend. + +"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?" + +"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 " + +"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." + +"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 1 +have said when describing a suitable homesite for Peter, Linda?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"I hadn't thought I would need a fire," said Peter, "and I was +depending on the ocean for my bathtub. I am particularly fond of +a salt rub." + +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." + +Eileen laughed shortly. + +"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." + +"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." + +"Linda!" cried Eileen indignantly. + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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'?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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. ' + +"This is not fooling, then?" asked Peter Morrison. "You truly +have a place selected where you would like to live?" + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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." + +Marian turned to him--the same Marian he had fallen in love with +when they were children. + +"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 today that infinitely superior lighting and +heating l 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?" + +"Why, surely," answered Gilman, "and no doubt therein lies at +least part of the answer to Anderson's question." + +"And then," added Marian, "things happen in families. Sometimes +more babies than they expect come to newly married people and +they require more room." + +"My goodness, yes!" broke in Linda. "Just look at Sylvia +Townsend--twins to begin with." + +"Linda!" breathed Eileen, aghast. + +"So glad you like my name, dear," murmured Linda sweetly. + +"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. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"Yes, I think he will," said Marian conclusively. + +"It seems to me," said Linda, "that we did a whole lot of talking +about homes tonight; which reminds me, Marian, in packing have +you put in your plans? Have you got your last draft with you?" + +"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?" + +"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?" + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER IV. Linda Starts a Revolution + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +Eileen was not prepared to be in truth and honor 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. + +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. 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Concerning Linda she could not resist a feeling of exultation. +Linda was one of the friends in Lilac Valley about whom Marian +could think wholeheartedly 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. + +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, who resembled 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"Will the lady of the house dine with us this evening? she asked +as she stood eating an apple in the kitchen. + +"She didn't say," answered Katy. "Have ye had it out about last +night yet?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +Linda dropped to a chair. + +"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." + +"Well, I don't see any raison," said Katy, "why I shouldn't +answer ye any question ye'd be asking me." + +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. "Katy," she said, scarcely above her +breath, "was Mother like Eileen?" + +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. + +"Some," she said tersely. + +"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." + +"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."Linda's eyes came back from +the mountains and met Katy's straightly. + +"Katy," she said, "did you ever see sisters as different as +Eileen and I are?" + +"No, I don't think I ever did," said Katy. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"Now, easy; ye go easy, lambie," cautioned Katy. + +"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." + +"Why, Linda, child, ye are just plain crazy," said Katy. "What +kind of notions are you getting into your head?" + +"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." + +Linda swung Katy around, hugged her tight, and dropped a kiss on +the top of her faithful head. + +"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." + +"I get you," said Linda, "and that is good advice for which I +thank you." + + + +CHAPTER V. The Smoke of Battle + +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." + +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. + +"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. + +"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." + +For one long instant Linda was too amazed to speak. Then she +recovered herself. + +"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?" + +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. + +"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." + +"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?" + +"Why, use them, my child, use them," answered Eileen promptly. + +"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 warpath, +so you may take your club and proceed to battle." + +"What have we to fight about?" inquired Eileen. + +"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." + +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. + +"Hm," she said, "have I been so busy that I have failed to notice +what a great girl you are getting?" + +"Busy!" scoffed Linda. "Tell that to Katy. It's a kumquat!" + +"Perhaps you are too big," continued Eileen, "to be asked to wait +on the table any more." + +"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 min. ute. +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." + +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. + +"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." + +Eileen stared aghast at Linda. + +"Where," she inquired politely, "is the money for all this to +come from?" + +"Eileen," said Linda in a low tense voice, "I have reached the +place where even the BOYS 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." + +Linda's amazement on entering the room had been worthy of note. +Eileen's at the present minute was beyond description. +Dumbfounded was a colorless word to describe her state of mind. + +"You don't mean that," she gasped in a quivering voice when at +last she could speak. + +"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, +everyday pair of wings sometime myself ?" + +Eileen's face was an ugly red, her hands were shaking, her voice +was unnatural, but she controlled her temper. + +"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." + +"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." + +"Linda!" wailed Eileen, "how can you think of such a thing? You +wouldn't dare." + +"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?" + +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. + +"Are you subscribing to this?" she asked. + +She turned in her hands and leafed through the pages of a most +attractive magazine, Everybody's Home. It was devoted to poetry, +good fiction, and everything concerning home life from beef to +biscuits, and from rugs to roses. + +"I saw it on a newsstand," 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." + +"I see," said Linda. "Out-Burbanking Burbank, as it were." + +"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." + +"And where's Katy going to get the wild vegetables?" asked Linda +sceptically. + +"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." + +"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?" + +Again the color deepened in Eileen's face, again she made a +visible effort at self-control. + +"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." + +"_I_?"said Linda, "_I_ will make them think? Don't you think it +is YOU who will make them think? Will you kindly answer my +question?" + +"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?" + +Linda hesitated. + +"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." + +"I'll see what I can do," answered Eileen. + +"All right then," said Linda. "See you at dinner." + +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. + +"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." + + + +CHAPTER VI. Jane Meredith + +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. + +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. + +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 color 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?" + +Linda's eyes were so clear and honest as they met Eileen's that +she almost hesitated. + +"A little more explicit, please," said the girl quietly. + +"WHO IS HE?" asked Eileen abruptly. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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: + +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. + +Go to any canyon--I shall not reveal the name of my particular +canyon--and locate a bed of miner's lettuce (Montia perfoliata). +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. + +Linda paused and read. this over carefully. + +"That is all right," she said. "I couldn't make that much +better." + +She made a few corrections here and there, and picking up a +colored 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 Everybody's Home, laid it inside her +geometry, and wrote her letter to Marian before going to bed. + +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. + +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 odor 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 odor 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. + +"Holy smoke!" he breathed softly. "What a find!" + +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. + +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 favored 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 color to the hills in the sunniest wild spots. The +panicles of mahonia bloom were showing their gold color. 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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER VII. Trying Yucca + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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: + +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 colored 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 center, 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 pre. pared from this plant. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +The plant is hardy in the extreme, growing in the most +unfavorable 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 +pincushions 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 +quiotl, 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. + +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 +Tomorrow night I'll paint it." + +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 worktable. 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. + +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. + +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 odor 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. + +"Just where are we?" Peter Morrison had asked at last. + +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: + +"How wonderful it would be if we were at your house. Oh, I envy +the woman who shares this with you !" + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. The Bear Cat + +"Friday's child is loving and giving, +But Saturday's child must work for a living," + +Linda was chanting happily as she entered the kitchen early +Saturday morning. + +"Katy, me blessing," she said gaily, "did I ever point out to you +the interesting fact that I was born on Saturday? And a devilish +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." + +Katy laughed, and, as always, turned adoring eyes on Linda. + +"I am not needing ye, lambie," she said. "Is it big business in +the canyon ye're having today? Shall I be ready to be cooking up +one of them God-forsaken Red Indian messes for ye when ye come +back?" + +Linda held up a warning finger. + +"Hiss, 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." + +"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." + +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. + +"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 today? 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." + +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." + +"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. Today it gets a bath and a facial treatment, and when +1 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." + +"Now, easy, lambie, easy," said Katy. "Ye're planning to speed +that thing before ye've got it off the jacks." + +"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." + +"Of course ye must, honey. I would just be tickled to pieces to +let ye have what ye need." + +Linda slid her hand across Katy's lips and gathered her close in +her arms. + +"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 +worktable, 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." + +"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. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +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: + +"The shoes I wear are common-sense shoes--" + +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 mechanic. 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." + +Then she closed the door before him and stood buttoning her +gloves; a wicked and malicious smile spreading over her face. + +"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." + +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. + +"Oh, my Lord!" she gasped breathlessly. "I forgot to tell Katy +when to call me!" + +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. + +"Shades of Jehu!" he cried. "It's a Bear Cat!" + +Linda felt around her head for the grease cup. + +"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." + +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. + +"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?" + +"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?" + +"Why, they don't need it," said Donald, "if they were all right +when it was jacked up." + +"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?" + +"How long has it been?" asked Donald, busy at the engine. + +"All of four years," answered Linda. + +Donald whistled softly and started a circuit of the car, kicking +the tires and feeling them. + +"Have you filled them?" he asked. + +"No," said Linda. "I did not want to start the engine until I +had finished everything else." + +"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." + +"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." + +"That's that, then," said Donald. + +Linda crawled from under the car and stood up, wiping her hands +on a bit of waste. + +"Do you know what tires cost now?" she asked anxiously. + +"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." + +"Of course," said Linda, in a relieved tone. "That would be the +thing to do." + +"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." + + + +Donald laughed drily. + +"When 'shoes' was the first word I heard," he said, "I did not +for a minute think you had forgotten." + +"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." + +"Well, forget it!" said Donald. "Run along and jump into +something, and let us get our tires and try Kitty out." + +Linda reached up and released the brakes. She stepped to one +side of the car and laid her hands on it. + +"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." + +"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." +"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. Today I just naturally can't wait a minute +until I try my car." + +"Is it really yours?" asked Donald enviously. + +"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." + +"Oh, I don't know," said the boy. "It looks like some little old +car to me. I bet it can just skate." + +"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." + +Then Linda entered the kitchen door to find Katy with everything +edible that the house afforded spread before her on the table. + +"Why, Katy, what are you doing?" she asked. + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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 +tomorrow." + +Then she took the stairway at a bound, and ran to her room. Ln a +very short time she emerged, clad in a clean blouse and breeches' +her climbing boots, her black hair freshly brushed and braided. + +"I ought to have something," said Linda, "to shade my eyes. i +The glare's hard on them facing the sun." + +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. + +"Not half bad, all things considered, Linda," she said. "But, +oh, how you do need a tich of color." + +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 color 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. + +"Thank you very much, sister mine," she said, "I know you I would +be perfectly delighted to loan me this." + + + +CHAPTER IX. One Hundred Per Cent Plus + +Then she went downstairs and walked into the kitchen, prepared +for what she would see, by what she heard as she approached. + +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. + +As the car rolled down the driveway and into the street, Donald +looked appraisingly at the girl beside him. + +"Is it the prevailing custom in Lilac Valley for young ladies to +kiss the cook?" inquired Donald laughingly. + +"Now, you just hush," said Linda. "Katy is NOT the cook, alone. +Katy's my father, and my mother, and my family, and my best +friend--" + +"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." + +"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." + +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 +mechanic 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. + +"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." + +"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." + +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 color rushed to her cheeks. Her eyes were +gleaming. + +"Listen to it purr!" she cried to Donald. "If you hear it begin +to growl, tell me." + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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 anyone +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." + +"Ever try to make one?" asked Donald. "There are mighty fine +girls in the high school." + +"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." + +"I wish my sister were not so much older than you," said Donald. + +"How old is your sister?" inquired Linda. + +"She will be twenty-three next birthday," said Donald; "and of +all the nice girls you ever saw, she is the queen." + +"Yes," she assented, "I am sure I have heard your sister +mentioned. But didn't you tell me she had been reared for +society?" + +"No, I did not," said Donald emphatically. "I told you Mother j +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." + +"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?" + +"I have been through a few times before, but seems to me I | +never saw it looking quite so pretty." + +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. + +"Sit tight," she said tersely. "The Bear Cat just loves its +cave. It knows where it is going." + +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. + +"How about it?" she asked in a low voice. + +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. + +"Do you think," she said, "that anyone driving along here at an +ordinary rate of speed would see that car?" + +"No," said Donald, getting her idea, "I don't believe they +would." + + + +"All right, then," said Linda. "Toe up even and I'll race YoU to +the third curve where you see the big white sycamore." + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +"Anyone at your house care about 'nose twister'?" she asked +lightly. + +"Why, isn't that watercress?" asked Donald. + +"Sure it is," said Linda. "Anyone at your house like it?" + +"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?" + +"Might be," said Linda carelessly. "For why?" + +"Haven't you heard of the big sensation that is being made in +feminine circles by the new department in Everybody's Home?" +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." + +"Might," said Linda drily, "if you could give me a pretty good +idea of what it is that you want." + +"When you know cress, it's queer that you wouldn't know other +things in your own particular canyon," said Donald. + +Linda realized that she had overdone her disinterestedness a +trifle. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +"I'll agree about Katy. She knows how," he said appreciatively. + +"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." + +"Well, I call that rough on your sister," said Donald. + +"Maybe it is," conceded Linda. "I suspect a lady wouldn't have i +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?" + +"The very beautiful young lady who opened the door mistook me for +a mechanic. 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." + +Linda looked at him with wide, surprised eyes in which a trace of +indignation was plainly discernible. + +"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." + +"There might have been a spark of malice in the big blue-gray I +eyes that carefully appraised me," said Donald. + +"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." + +When they had finished their lunch Linda began packing the box +and Donald sat watching her. + +"At this point," said Linda, "Daddy always smoked. Do you +smoke?" + +There was a hint of deeper color in the boy's cheeks. + +"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." + +Linda folded napkins and packed away accessories thoughtfully. +Then she looked into the boy's eyes. + +"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." + +I"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." + +"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." + +"I thought I did myself," said Donald, "but today 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." + +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?" + +"Trigonometry, Rhetoric, Ancient History, Astronomy," answered +Donald. + +"And is your course the same as his?" inquired Linda. + +"Strangely enough it is," answered Donald. "We have been in the +same classes all through high school. I think the little monkey- +-" + +"Man, you mean," interposed Linda. + +"'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." + +"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 color so far in +the history of the world, but it is written in the Books that +when the men of color 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." + +"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. + +"I see what you're getting at," he said. "I had thought that +there might be some way to circumvent him." + +"There is!" broke in Linda hastily. "There is. You can beat +him, but you have got to beat him in an honorable way and in a +way that is open to him as it is to you." + +"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?" + +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 favor and write thereon a line that she might +translate to the boy's benefit. + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +"Then, by gracious," she said sternly, "you have got to do +something new. You have got to be perfect, PLUS." + +"'Perfect, plus?'" gasped Donald. + +"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 NEW. I tell you +you must use your brains. You should be more than an imitator. +You must be a creator!" + +Donald started up and drew a deep breath. + +"Well, some job I call that," he said. "Who do you think I am, +the Almighty?" + +"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?" + +"Linda," said the boy breathlessly, "do you realize that you have +been saying 'we'? Can you help me? Will you help me?" + +"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 +BEAT them in some way, in some fair way, to beat them at the game +they are undertaking." + +"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." + +"Oh, posher!" 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 colored races. The thing is to get the boys and girls +of today 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 hummingbird drives the moth from his +particular trumpet flower. The big snake swallows the little +one. The big bear appropriates the desirable cave." + +"And is that what you are recommending people to do?" + +"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!" + + + +CHAPTER X. Katy to the Rescue + +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 color 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: "Tomorrow 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." + +"Next Saturday, then?" questioned Donald. And Linda nodded. + + + +"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?" + +"I like it best wherever what you're interested in takes you," +said Donald simply. + +"All right, then," answered Linda, "we'll combine business and +pleasure." + +So they parted with another meeting arranged. + +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 tomorrow Katy was to +go for a long ride, her joy was incoherent. + +Linda laughed. She patted Katy and started down the hallway, +when she called back: "What is this package?" + +"A delivery boy left it special only a few minutes ago. Must be +something Miss Eileen bought and thought she would want tomorrow, +and then afterward she got this invitation and went on as she +was." + +Linda stood gazing at the box. It did look so suspiciously like +a dress box. + +"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?" + +"I think she would put your name on it if she meant it for ye," +said Katy. + +"One peep would show me whether it is my dress or not," said +Linda, "and peep I'm going to." + +She began untying the string. + +"There's one thing," said Katy, "Miss Eileen's sizes would never +fit ye." + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"But I have no credit anywhere and I have no money, yet," said +Linda. + +"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." + +"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." + +Katy held the skirt to Linda's waist. + +"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." + +Katy's fingers were shaking as she lifted the jacket and Linda +slipped into it. + +"Oh, Lord," she groaned, "ye can't be wearing that! The sleeves +don't come much below your elbows." + +"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." + +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 color, matching +the stockings. Then she hurried to one of the big drygoods +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. + +"It dumbfounds me," said Linda, "to have Eileen do this for me." + +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. + +"Now then!" she challenged. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +Katy spread out her hands in despair. + +"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." + +Linda shook her head. + +"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?" + +"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." + +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. + +Early Sunday morning Linda and Katy, with a full lunch box and a +full gasoline tank, slid from the driveway and rolled down the +main street of Lilac Valley toward the desert. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +"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?" + +Then Katy prepared to do battle for the child of her heart. + +"Was the dress ye ordered sent the one Miss Linda was telling ye +about?" she asked tersely. + +"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." + +"But she wanted the dress for herself," said Katy. + +"It was not a suitable dress for school," said Eileen. + +"Well, it strikes me," said Katy, "that it was just the spittin' +image of fifty dresses I've seen ye wear to school. + +"What do you know about it?" demanded Eileen. + +"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 !" + +Eileen was speechless with anger. Her face was a sickly white +and the rouge spots on her cheeks stood a glaring admission + +"Do you mean to tell me--" she gasped. + +"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." + +Eileen turned on Katy in a gust of fury. + +"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!" + +Katy folded her red arms and lifted her red chin, and a +steel-blue light flashed from her steel-gray eyes. + +"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." + +As Katy's rage increased, Eileen became intimidated. Like every +extremely selfish person she was a coward in her soul. + +"If you refuse to go on my orders," she said, "I'll have John +Gilman issue his." + +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. + +"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?" + +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. + +"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?" + +Then every art that Katy possessed was bent to the consummation +of preparing a particularly delicious dinner for the night. + +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 color. 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?" + +"Yes," answered a rather sulky voice from above. + +Linda ascended, two steps at a bound. + +"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?" + +She pirouetted in the doorway. Eileen gripped the brush she was +wielding, tight. + +"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?" + +"It certainly is an innovation for me," said Linda, "but there +are dozens of dresses of the same material, only different cut +and colors in the high school today. 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?" + +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. + +"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." + +Linda tried hard but she could not suppress a chuckle: "Of +course you would!" she murmured softly. + +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. + +"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--" + +"'Most desirable,'" breathed Linda. "Poor John! I see his second +fiasco. Lavender crystals, please!" + +Eileen caught her lip in mortification. She had not intended to +say what she thought. + +"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." + +"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." + +Eileen turned to Linda. Her mouth fell open. A ghastly greenish +white flooded her face. + +"What do you mean?" she gasped. + +"I mean," said Linda, "that Donald Whiting was calling on me, and +you purposely sent him to the garage." + +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. + +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." + +"Thank you," said Linda gravely, "I want it very much indeed." + + + +CHAPTER XI. Assisting Providence + +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: + +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. + +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 today looking very +like the Great General Average, minus rouge, lipstick, hairdress, +and French heels. + +I do hope you will approve of two things I have done. + +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: + +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. + +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, + + LINDA. + +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. + +"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!" + +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 +worktable, 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. + +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. + +"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." + +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: + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +And then she slowly repeated, " 'steadfast,' that is another fine +word. It has pearls and rubies all over it." + +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 colors +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: + +"That's gasoline. 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." + + + +CHAPTER XII. The Lay of the Land + +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: + +"That is precisely what Eileen would do. You sit where you +belong." + +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. + +"Which reminds me," said Linda--"haven't you your car with you? +Or was that a hired one you were touring in?" + +"Mine," said Peter Morrison, "but we toured so far, it's in the +shop for a general overhauling today." + +"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." + +"Why, that would be fine," said Peter. "You didn't mention, the +other evening, that you had a car." + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +The soft brownish gray of Linda's dress was exactly the color 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. + +"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." + +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?" + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"Now, I wonder," said Peter, "when I find my dream lady, if she +will have an elastic imagination." + +"Haven't you found her yet?" asked Linda casually. + +"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." + +"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." + +Morrison turned to Henry Anderson. + +"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." + +"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." + +Linda frowned. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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?" + +Linda lifted her frank eyes to Peter Morrison. + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"You let that kid fight his own battles," said Henry Anderson +roughly. "He's no proper bug-catcher. I feel it in my bones." + +For the first time, Linda's joy laugh rang over Peter Morrison's +possession. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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!" + +Then Peter Morrison laughed. + +"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." + +"You're not really in earnest?" asked Henry Anderson in doubting +astonishment. + +"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 HOMES AND +HEARTS BIG ENOUGH FOR CHILDREN, 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." + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +"Are we keeping you too late?" inquired Peter. + +"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." + +"How did it come," inquired Henry Anderson, "that you had that +car jacked up so long?" + +"Why, hasn't anybody told you," asked Linda, "about our day of +the Black Shadow?" + +"John Gilman wrote me when it happened," said Peter softly, "but +I don't believe it has been mentioned before Henry. You tell +him." + +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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"You little outdoor heathen," laughed Peter Morrison. "One would +think you were an Indian." + +"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?" + +"Yes," said Peter, "the road goes crooked." + +"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?" + +"If you say so, it does," said Peter. + +"Including the bridge?" inquired Linda. + +"Including the bridge," said Peter. "I'll have to burn some +midnight oil, but I can visualize the bridge." + +"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?" + +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. + +"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." + +"I have been told," said Linda in a low voice, "that Mary Louise +Whiting is a perfect darling." + +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. + +"I was not thinking of Miss Whiting," he said soberly. + +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." + +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: + +"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." + +Peter looked at Henry, and Henry looked at Peter, and a male high +sign, ancient as day, passed between them. + +"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." + +Linda's eyes opened wide and dewy with surprise and pleasure. + +"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." + +Henry Anderson looked at Linda keenly. + +"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. + +"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." + +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. + +"In the name of all that's holy, what are you doing or planning +to do?" she demanded. + +"Not anything that will cost you a penny beyond my natural +rights," said Linda quietly. + +"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?" + +"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." + +"You used to take pride," suggested Eileen, "in leading your +class." + +"And has anyone told you that I am not leading my class at the +present minute?" asked Linda. + +"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." + +"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." + +Then she thoughtfully ascended the stairs and went to work. + +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. + +"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." + + + +CHAPTER XIII. Leavening the Bread of Life + +"'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 MIGHT 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 favors I would receive in altering my study. + +"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 Everybody's Home 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. + +"In the meantime I think I might buy my worktable 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 tonight, 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 masklike 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 aboveboard 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." + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +Donald Whiting bent toward her. The faintest suspicion of a +tinge of color crept into his cheeks. + +"That's fine," he said. "What was it you wanted?" + +"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." + +"You think I am afraid of that little jiu-jitsu?', he scoffed. +"I can lick him with one hand." + +"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?" + +Donald Whiting's eyes widened. He looked at Linda amazed. + +"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 favor." + +"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." + +"Um-hm," said Donald Whiting. + +He was looking far past Linda and now his eyes were narrowed in +thought. "I believe you're RIGHT about it." + +"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 honor 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." + +"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." + +"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 color. Sure you're going to beat him." + +"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." + +"Of course you'll beat him," said Linda. + +"At what hour did you say I should come, Saturday?" + +"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." + +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: + +MY DEAR STRONG: + +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. + +Very truly yours, + +The signature was that of Frederic Dickman, the editor of one of +the biggest publishing houses of the country. + +"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." + +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?" + +"No," said Gilman. "It is paid to his bank." + +"I don't suppose," said Linda casually, "it would amount to +enough to keep one in shoes these inflated days." + +"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." + +"So I should," said Linda drily. "So I should." + +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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +John Gilman's face flushed. He stood very still, while he seemed +deeply thoughtful. + +"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." + +Then she turned and went to the garage, leaving John to his visit +with Eileen. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Tonight 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?" + +It was a new tone and a new question on nerves tensely strung. + +"If you weren't blind you'd know without asking," retorted Eileen +hotly. + +"Then I am 'blind,' for I haven't the slightest notion. What +have I done?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"And the garden was your sole subject of conversation?" inquired +Eileen, implied doubt conveyed nicely. + +"No, it was not," answered Gilman, all the bulldog in his nature +coming to the surface. + +"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." + +"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." + +"Do you mean to say that you think studying architecture is a +woman's work?" sneered Eileen. + +"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." + +Eileen changed the subject swiftly. "What was Linda saying to +you?" she asked. + +"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." + +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!" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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!" + +"Eileen," chuckled John Gilman, "this sounds exactly as if we +were married, and we're not, yet." + +"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." + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. Saturday's Child + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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?" + +"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." + +"Can't be done, Katy," cried Donald. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +"Well, I call that mighty decent of a stranger," said Donald. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +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 mockingbirds, 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 +odor 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. + +"Topping, isn't it!" she cried gaily. + +"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." + +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. + +"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 colors 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?" + +"It certainly is," answered Donald. + +"Had any experience with the desert?" Linda asked lightly. + +"Hunted sage hens some," answered Donald. + +"Oh, well, that'll be all right," said Linda. "I wondered if +you'd go murdering yourself like a tenderfoot." + +"What's the use of all this artillery?" inquired Donald as he +stepped from the car. + +"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 devil 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." + +"Great hat!" exclaimed Donald. "If you wanted soap why didn't +you bring some?" + +"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 today that the Indians used, and where I can find it." + +"Couldn't tell you one to save my life," said Donald. + +"And born and reared within a few miles of the desert!" scoffed +Linda. "Nice Indian you'd make. We take our choice today +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." + +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. + +"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." + +"Well, I am surely going to try that," said Donald. "Never heard +of such a thing." + +Linda chopped off a section of plant. Then she picked one of the +knives from the bucket and handed it to him. + +"All right, you get what you want," she said, "while I operate on +the barrel." + +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. + +"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." + +"Jove, that is good!" said Donald. "What are you going to do +with it?" + +"Show you later," laughed Linda. "Think I'll take a sip myself." + +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. + +"I never saw that before," said Donald. "What are you going to +do with it?" + +"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." + +"Is that what you do?" inquired Donald. + +"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 odor of fright, and so snakes lie quiescent +or slip away so silently that I never see them." + +"Now what on earth do you mean by that?" inquired Donald. + +"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, + + 'Let not your heart be troubled Neither let it be afraid,' + +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 odor 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." + +"Now, that is something new to think about," said Donald. + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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." + +Donald looked at Linda thoughtfully. + +"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." + +"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: + +The female of the species is more deadly than the male, + +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?" + +"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." + +"Pretty thought!" said Linda lightly. "We'll have a great time +if you must stop to consider every word before you say it." + +"Well, anyway," said Donald, "when are we going to have that +fight which was the purpose of our coming together?" + +"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." + +"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." + + "Is it a truce?" asked Linda. I + +"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." + +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." + +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. + +"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 today." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"Linda," he asked suddenly, "do you know that one of these days +you're going to be a beautiful woman?" + +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?" + +"You're lovely right now !" answered the boy promptly. + +"For goodness' sake, have an eye single to your record for truth +and veracity," said Linda. "Doesn't this begin to smell zippy?" + +"It certainly does," said Donald. "It's making me ravenous. But +honest, Linda, you are a pretty girl." + +"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." + +"Yes," said Donald, "she is, but she can't hold a candle to you. +How did she look when she was your age?" + +"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." + +Donald Whiting laughed, as Linda intended that he should. + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"All right," said Linda. "What's your question?" + +"What is there," said Donald, "that I can do that would give you +such pleasure as you have given me?" + +Linda could jest on occasions, but by nature she was a serious +person. She looked at Donald reflectively. + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"Ours it is," said Linda. + +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. + +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. + +Linda descended from the Bear Cat and led Donald before Peter. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"It would be a downright sin not to have that water in a +convenient place for your children to play in, Peter," said +Linda. + +"Then that's 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." + +"Whistle when you are ready, Donald," called Linda as she turned +away. + +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." + + + +CHAPTER XV. Linda's Hearthstone + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +"Anyway," said Linda, "it will surely take them long enough so +that I can pay by the time they finish." + +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. + +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 +favor 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. + +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: + + Voiceless stones, with Flame-tongues Preach Sermons struck +from Nature's Lyre; Notes of Love and Trust and Hope Hourly +sing in Linda's Fire. + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +"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 worktable, 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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"Paid ye anything yet?" queried Katy. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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 psychoanalyst to find +out the color of our auras." + +"Now God forbid," said Katy. "I ain't going to have one of them +things around me. The colors I'm wearin' satisfy me entoirely." + +"And mine are going to satisfy me very shortly, now," laughed +Linda, "because tomorrow is my big day with Eileen. Next time we +have a minute together, old dear, I'll have started my bank +account." + +"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." + +"The unfortunate thing about that, Katy, is that l intimated the +other day that I would be content with less than half, since she +is older and she should have her chance first." + +"Now ain't that jist like ye?" said Katy. "I might have known ye +would be doing that very thing." + +"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 eves 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 Post he has an article in I'll buy for you." + +"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." + +"Same holds good for me," said Linda. + +"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?" + +Linda stared at the hearth motto reflectively. + +"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?" + +"Well, the truth is," said Katy, "that I proide myself on being +able to kape me mouth shut when I should." + +"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?" + +"She came in yesterday," answered Katy, "when the hammerin' and +sawin' was goin' full blast." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +She looked at the fireplace reflectively. + +"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." + +"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." +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. + +"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." + +"Good gracious!" said Linda. "Have I? You know I never thought +of that." + +"Of course! But all you've got to do is go on the cast 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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"I can talk more understandingly about that," said Linda quietly, +"day after tomorrow. I'll get home from school tomorrow as early +as I can, and then we'll figure out our financial situation +exactly." + +Eileen made no reply. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. Producing the Evidence + +When Linda hurried home the next evening, her first word to Katy +was to ask if Eileen were there. + +"No, she isn't here," said Katy, "and she's not going to be." + +"Not going to be!" cried Linda, her face paling perceptibly. + +"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." + +"I don't like it," said Linda. "I don't like it at all." + +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. + +"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 tomorrow 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." + +So Linda sat down and wrote: + +DEAR EILEEN: + +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 tomorrow +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. + +LINDA. + +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." + +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 Everybody's Home, 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. + +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 I +Eileen is either?" + +"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?" + +"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." + +They entered the living room. As Linda passed the table, propped +against a candlestick on it, she noticed a note addressed to +herself. + +"Oh, here will be an explanation," she said. "Here is a note for +me. Sit down a minute till I read it." + +She seated herself on the arm of a chair, tore open the note, and +instantly began reading aloud. + +"Dear little sister--" + +"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: + +DEAR LITTLE SISTER: + +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. + +With love, + +EILEEN. + +Linda held the letter in one hand, the cheque in the other, and +stared questioningly at John Gilman. + +"What do you think of that?" she inquired tersely. + +"It seems to me," said Gilman, "that a more pertinent question +would be, what do you think of it?" + +"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!" + +Linda started upstairs, so John Gilman followed her. She went to +the door of Eileen's suite and opened it. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +"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 +or I don't know." + +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. + +"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." + +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." + +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. + +"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." + +Gilman looked at her in a dazed fashion. + +"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." + +Linda laughed bleakly. + +"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 colors 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?" + +"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." + +Then Linda took her tun at deep thought. + +"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." + +Slowly they walked down the ha]l 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. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. A Rock and a Flame + +The first time Linda entered the kitchen after her interview with +Gilman, Katy asked in deep concern, "Now what ye been doing, +lambie?" + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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 theaters 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." + +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: + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +Peter smiled a slow curious smile. + +"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." + +"What were you doing?" asked Linda abruptly. + +"Come and see," said Peter. + +He led the way to the garage. His worktable and the cement floor +around it were littered with sheets of closely typed paper. + +"I'll have to assemble them first," said Peter, getting down on +his knees and beginning to pick them up. + +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. + +"May I?" she inquired, stretching her hand in the direction of a +sheet. + +"Sure," said Peter. + +"What is it?" inquired Linda lightly. "The bridge or the road or +the playroom?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"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 clockwork. 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." + +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. + +"Thank you for the fireplace, Peter," she said. + +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. + +"Thank you, Linda, for the flame," he said, and turning abruptly, +he went toward his workroom. + +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 reread 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. + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +The white-haired financier rose and stretched out his hand. + +"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." + +Linda sat down and told him that she was dissatisfied with the +manner in which her father's estate was being administered. + +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 totaling 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?" + +The banker drew a deep breath and looked at Linda keenly. + +"That would not be customary," he said slowly. + +"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?" + +"Had she any sources of obtaining money outside the estate?" + +"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." + +Linda sat very quietly a minute and then she looked at the +banker. + +"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 .o +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." + +"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. + +"Is there anything I can do," she inquired, "to prevent that +account from being changed or drawn out previous to my coming of +age?" + +Then Mr. Worthington grew thoughtful. + +"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 honor 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." + +"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." + +"Well, how long is it until this coming birthday of yours?" +inquired Mr. Worthington. + +"Less than two weeks," answered Linda. + +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. + +"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?" + +"Perfectly satisfied," said Linda. + +"It might be," said Mr. Worthington, "managing matters i that +way, that no one outside of ourselves need ever know of il Should +your sister not draw on the private account in the mean time, 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." + +"Thank you very much," said Linda. "That will fix everything +finely." + +On her way to the street car, Linda's brain whirled. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"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 labor at the present price of labor, so you will +have to give me the bill, Peter." + +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 labor was greatly exaggerated. + +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 dinnertime. 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. + +"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." + +"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." + +"In other words," said Eileen, "it doesn't make any difference to +you where I am." + +"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." + +"Oh, I always have a happy time," answered Eileen lightly. "I +certainly have the best friends." + +"That's your good fortune," answered Linda. + +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. + + "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 !" + +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. + +"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." + +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?" + +"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." + +Eileen was surprised and her face showed it; and she was also +relieved. That too her face showed. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +Eileen was amazed. The receding color in her cheeks left the +rouge on them a ghastly, garish thing. + +"Well, I won't do anything of the sort," she said hotly, "and +neither will John Gilman." + +"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." + +"He came here!" cried Eileen. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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 tile living +room and read it aloud.'; + +"Oh, well, there was nothing in that," said Eileen in a relieved +tone. + +"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." + +"Is that all?" inquired Eileen, making a desperate effort at +self-control. + +"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." + +"And I suppose you realize," said Eileen bitterly, "that you lost +me John Gilman when you did it." + +"I?" said Linda. "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 tonight +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." + +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. + +"What you'll say to John I haven't the faintest notion," she +said. "I told him very little. I just showed him." + +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." + +"I wish to God we could," said John Gilman. + +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. + +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: + +"Well, how do you suppose she did it?" + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. Spanish Iris + +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: + +MY DEAREST PAL: + +Life is so busy up San Francisco way that it makes Lilac Valley +look in retrospection like a peaceful sunset preliminary to bed +time. + +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. + +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 drafting 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." + +So, Linda dear, I sat there and looked at color 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 forever, 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. + +In a week or ten days I shall know about the contest. If 1: +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." + +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 HIM. I dare you +to take HIM." And my confidence, Linda, is positively supreme +that she could not do it. + +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. + +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. + +As ever, + +MARIAN. + +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. + +"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." + +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 worktable 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. "Peter," she cried. "you can't guess what I have been +doing!" + +Peter glanced at the flowers. + +"Isn't it obvious?" he inquired. + +"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 tonight 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 rewritten 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!" + +Peter looked at Linda reflectively and then he told her that he +could see it. He fold 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?" + +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." + +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 bc 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. + +"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 mc. 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 act 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." + +"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." +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"Hm," said Peter. "Is it second sight or psychoanalysis or +telepathy, or what?" + +"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." + +Peter looked at the girl steadily. + +"Have you specialized on my mouth?" he asked. + +"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." + +"Well, if this is extemporizing," said Peter, "God help my soul +if you ever go at me with a pin and a microscope." + +"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?" + +"Yes, Linda," said Peter soberly. "Put me to any test you can +think of if you want proof." + +"But I don't believe in PROVING 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 raveling 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." + +"I wish I might have known him," said Peter. + +"Don't I wish it!" said Linda. "Now then, Peter, go ahead. Read +your article." + +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 homemaking, 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. + +"Now I'll take this home," she said. "I can't do well on color +with pencils. You hold that article till I have time to put this +on water-color paper and touch it up a bit here and there, and I +believe it will be worthy of starting and closing your article." + +She pushed the sketches toward him. + +"You little wonder!" said Peter softly. + +"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." + +"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?" + +"Good-bye!" said Linda. "On the strength of that I'll jazz that +sketch all up, bluey and red-purple and jade-green. I 11 make it +as glorious as a Catalina sunset." + +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. + +"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. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. The Official Bug-Catcher + +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. + +"Sorry I can't uncover, fair lady," he said, "but you see I am +very much otherwise engaged." + +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. + +"For pity's sake!" said Linda. "Where are you going and why are +you personally demonstrating a new method of transporting rock?" + +"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." + +Linda leaned over and opened the car door. + +"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?" + +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. + +"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." + +Linda started the car, being liberal with gas--so liberal that it +was only a few minutes till Henry Anderson protested. + +"This isn't the speedway," he said. "What's your hurry?" + +"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, today that I want to answer +before I go to bed tonight." + +"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." + +"You said that," retorted Linda. + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"I had almost forgotten about the bugs," said Linda. + +"Well, don't for a minute think I am going to give you an +opportunity to forget," said Henry Anderson. + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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?" + +"Why, surely I will if that's what you command me to do," said +Henry, purposely misunderstanding her. + +"You haven't mentioned before," said Linda, "that you had +submitted plans in that San Francisco contest." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"You have my sympathy," said Linda gravely. "You have been +extremely unfortunate." + +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. + +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: + +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 +Opuntia Fiscus-Indica or Opuntia Tuna, 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. + +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 +Mammillaria Goodridgei 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 honor 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 color touch of the big magenta flowers +blended exquisitely with the color 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 coloring ran into the shades of the hedgehog +cactus. + +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. + +"What do you think, Linda?" he cried. "Eileen has just named the +day!" + +"I did no such thing," broke in Eileen. + +"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." + +Linda held out her hand and smiled as bravely as she could. + +"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." + +"Now exactly what do you mean by that?" he asked. + +"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." + +"Of course," Linda hastened to corroborate, wishing if possible +to avoid any unpleasantness. + +"You certainly have an attractive workroom here," said John, +"much as I hate to see it spoiled for billiards." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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?" + +John Gilman walked over and looked at the fireplace critically. +He read the lines aloud, then he turned to Eileen. + +"Why, that is perfectly beautiful," he said. "Let's duplicate it +in our home." + +"You bungler!" scoffed Eileen. + +"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." + +"Linda seems very busy tonight," said Eileen. "Perhaps we are +bothering her." + +"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 +have 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." + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +"Careful you don't bend that," cautioned Linda. Then she looked +at John Gilman. He BELIEVED what he was saying; he was happy +again. Linda evolved the best smile she could. + +"How stupid of us not to have guessed!" she said. + +Closing the door behind them, Linda leaned against it and looked +up through the skylight at the creep 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 color 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. + + + +CHAPTER XX. The Cap Sheaf + +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. + +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: + +"All in the golden weather, forth let us ride today, You and I +together on the King's Highway, The blue skies above us, and +below the shining sea; There's many a road to travel, but it's +this road for me." + +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. + +"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." + +"Oh, that's all right," said Linda, fervently hoping that the +ache in her throat would not tincture her voice. + +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. + +"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?" + +"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?" + +Donald waved his hand in the direction of a formation of stone +the size of a small house. + +"Been rolling that to the top of the mountain," he said lightly. +Linda's eyes narrowed, her face grew speculative. She looked at +Donald intently. + +"Is it as difficult as that?" she asked in a lowered voice as if +the surf and the sea chickens might hear. + +"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 worthwhile university +in Japan, before he ever came to this country to get his English +for nothing." + +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. + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"Did my being late spoil any particular plan you had made, +Linda?" + +"Yes," said Linda, "it did." + +"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?" + +"I am hoping so," said Linda. + +"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 +peter, Linda." + + + +"Yes, I know," said Linda. "There's not much you can tell me +about peters of the grand sort, the real, true flesh-and-blood, +bighearted, 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." + +Donald watched as she raised the pyramid higher and higher. + +"Did you tell your father whom you were to go with?" she asked. + +"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." + +"What did they say?" Linda inquired laughingly. + +"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." + +"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." + +"You would convince her of that without making the slightest +effort. You're infinitely more feminine than any other girl I +have ever known " + +"How do you figure that?" asked Linda. + +"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." + +"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?" + +Donald hesitated, studying over the answer. + +"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." + +"I see," said Linda, slowly nodding her head. + +"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." + +Linda laid her palm on the top of the sand heap and pressed it +flat. She looked at Donald with laughing eyes. + +"Symbolical," she announced. "That sand was the Jap." She +stretched her hand toward him. "That was you. Did you see +yourself squash him?" + +Donald's laugh was grim. + +"Yes, I saw," he said. "I wish it were as easy as that." + +"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." + +Donald was deeply thoughtful, yet a half smile was playing round +his lips. + +"Of all the queer girls I ever knew, you're the cap sheaf, +Linda," he said. + +Linda rose slowly, shook the sand from her breeches and stretched +out her hand. + +"Let's hotfoot it down to the African village and see what the +movies are doing that is interesting today," she proposed. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. Shifting the Responsibility + +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. + +"Linda, isn't our friendship the nicest thing that ever happened +to us?" he demanded. + +"Yes," answered Linda promptly, "quite the nicest. Make your +plans for all day long next Saturday." + +"I'll be here before the birds are awake," promised Donald. + +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 today. What do you know about that?" + +Then he hurried on to overtake the crowd of boys he had left, +Linda's heart was racing in her breast. + +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. + +"Judge Whiting?" she asked. + +"Yes," said the Judge. + +"I am Linda Strong, the younger daughter of Alexander Strong. I +think you knew my father." + +"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." + +"Yes, it is about Donald that I came to see you," said Linda. + +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. + +"Are you interested in them too?" she asked. + +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. + +"It is very probable," said Linda, "that if my shoes had been +like most other girls' shoes I wouldn't be here today. 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 HIM 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." + +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. + +"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." + +"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 honors, he would not have gone into this competition, +which I am now certain has antagonized Oka Sayye." + +Linda folded her slim hands on the table and leaned forward. + +"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." + +"I see," said Judge Whiting. "Now tell me, just as explicitly as +you have told me this, exactly what it is that you fear." + +"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." + +"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--" + +"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 TODAY 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?" + +"No," said Judge Whiting, "I don't think such a thing would occur +to him unless he saw it." + +"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." + +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." + +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." + +The Judge leaned forward and waited attentively. + +"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 +SEEN a thing, and I don't KNOW 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 BELIEVE 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 honors 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." + +Linda paused. Judge Whiting sat in deep thought, then he looked +at Linda. + +"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." + +"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 colored 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." + +The Judge was studying deeply now. Finally he said: "Young +lady, I greatly appreciate your coming to me. There may be +NOTHING in what you fear. It MIGHT 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?" + +"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." + +"I wonder how many of his other girl friends invited him to bring +his mother to see them," said the Judge. + +"Oh, he probably grew up with the other girls and was acquainted +with them from tiny things," said Linda. + +"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?" + +"Oh, yes," said Linda, leaning farther forward, a lovely color +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +"You'd like brigand beefsteak," suggested Linda, "and you'd like +cress salad, and I am sure you'd like creamed yucca." + +"Hm," said the Judge. "Sounds to me like Jane Meredith." + +Linda suddenly sat straight. A dazed expression crossed her +face. Presently she recovered. + +"Will you kindly tell me," she said, "what a great criminal judge +knows about Jane Meredith?" + +"Why, I hear my wife and daughter talking about her," said the +Judge. + +"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." + +"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." + +One of Linda's special laughs floated out of the windows. Her +right hand slipped across the table toward the Judge. + +"Cross your heart and body?" she challenged. + +The Judge took the hand she offered in both of his own. + +"On my soul," he said, "I swear it." + +"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 Everybody's Home.', + +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. + +"I am not surprised," he said. "I am honored, deeply honored, +and I am delighted. For a high school girl that is a splendid +achievement." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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?" + +"I won't waste a minute," said the Judge. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. The End of Marian's Contest + +Coming from school a few days later on an evening when she had +been detained, Linda found a radiant Katy awaiting her. + +"What's up, old dear?" cried Linda. "You seem positively +illumined." + +"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 +sue 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.' " + +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. + +"Oh, Katy!" cried Linda. "Look, it's Gallito, 'little rooster'!" +"Now ain't them jist yellow violets?" asked Katy dubiously. + +"No," said Linda, "they are not. They are quite a bit rarer. +They are really a wild pansy. Bring water, Katy, and help me." + +"But I've something else for ye," said Katy. + +"I don't care what you have," answered Linda. "I am just +compelled to park these little roosters at once." + +"What makes ye call them that ungodly name?" asked Katy. + +"Nothing ungodly about it," answered Linda. "It's funny. +Gallito is the Spanish name for these violets, and it means +'little rooster.' " + +Linda set the violets as carefully as they had been lifted and +rinsed her hands at the hydrant. + +"Now bring on the remainder of the exhibit," she ordered. + +"It's there on the top of the rock pile, which you notice has +incrased since ye last saw it." + +"So it has!" said Linda. "So it has! And beautifully colored +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." + +Linda picked it up, untied the string, and slipped off the +wrapping. Katy stared in wide-mouthed amazement. + +"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?" + +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 bettles 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. + +"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." + +Katy was sober. She showed no appreciation of the fun. + +"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 STRONG 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'." + +"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." + +Katy folded her arms, tilted her chin at an unusually aspiring +angle, and deliberately sniffed. + +"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." + +"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." + +Linda rushed into the house and carried her belongings to her +workroom. She dropped them on the table and looked at them. + +"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." + +"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!" + +As she opened the letter from Marian she slowly shook her head. + +"Drat the luck," she muttered, "no good news here." + +Slowly and absorbedly she read: + +DEAREST LINDA: + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Don't worry because I have lost again, Linda dear. Today is my +blue day. Tomorrow 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. +With dearest love, + +MARIAN. + +Linda looked grim as she finished the letter. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +"That is utterly unjust, Eileen," she cried. + +Then two at a time she rushed the stairs in a race for her room. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. The Day of Jubilee + +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 color when she +recognized the heavy gray envelope used by the editor of +Everybody's Home. 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 +color 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: + +MY DEAR MADAM: + +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 color and environment they add +to the recipe and the word sketch are valuable in the extreme. + +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, Very truly yours, + +HUGH THOMPSON, + +Editor, Everybody's Home. + +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. + +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 amass 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. + +"Am I wrong in my dates?" he inquired. "I was not expecting you +until tomorrow." + +"No, you're quite right," said Linda. "At this hour tomorrow. +But, Mr. Worthington, I am in trouble again." + +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." + +"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?" + +"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?" + +"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." + +"Go ahead," said Mr. Worthington kindly. "I'll give you my word +of honor to keep any secret you confide to me." + +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. + +"And just how did you come into possession of this, young lady?" +he inquired. "And what is it that you want of me?" + +"Why, don't you see?" said Linda. "It's my letter and my cheque; +I'm 'Jane Meredith.' Now how am I going to get my money. + +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. + +"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?" + +"I think I must," said Linda. "I have said in my heart that no +Jap, male or female, young or old, shall take first honors 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 ad +dresses me as 'madam'?" + +"I see," said Mr. Worthington reflectively. + +"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.'" + +"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?" + +"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." + +"I see," said the banker. "So you have resolved, Linda, that you +don't want your editor to know your real name." + +"Could scarcely be done," said Linda. + +"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." + +"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." + +"True enough," he said; "I SHALL have to arrange the cheque; +there's not a doubt about that; and as for your other bugbears " + +"I refuse to be frightened by them," interposed Linda. + +"Have you ever done any business at the bank?" + +"No," said Linda. + +"None of the clerks know you?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"Quite true," said Linda. + +"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." + +He left Linda sitting quietly reading and rereading her letter, +and presently returned and laid a sheaf of paper money before +her. + +"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." + +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. + +"You mean that you are refusing to pay me my deposits on my +private account?" she cried; and Linda could also hear the +response. + +"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." + +"But this is my money, my own private affair," begged Eileen. +"The estate has nothing to do with it." + +"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." + +Eileen turned and left the bank, and it seemed that she was +almost swaying. Linda stood a second with narrowed eyes, in deep +thought. + +"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!" + +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. + +"Am I speaking with Mr. James Heitman?" she asked. + +"Yes," came the answer. + +"Well, Uncle Jim, this is Eileen." + +"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?" + +"Yes," said Eileen, "I have changed it. Do you and Aunt Caroline +still want me, Uncle Jim?" + +"YOU BET WE WANT YOU!" 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." + +"Oh, Uncle Jim, could you? Would you?" cried Eileen. + +"Well, I'd say I could. We'd be tickled to death, I tell you!" + +"How long would it take you to get here?" said Eileen. + +"Well, I could reach you by noon tomorrow. 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?" + +"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 tomorrow 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 tomorrow. You have the house number. +If you come and get me out of it by noon tomorrow, 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." + +"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 tomorrow I'll whisk you right out +of that damn mess." + +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! + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +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 +colored dresses hanging in her wardrobe A flash of regret passed +over her face. + +"Tawdry little cheap things and makeshifts," she said. "If Linda +feels that she has been so terribly defrauded, she can help +herself now!" + +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 colors. +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. + +"I shan't feel like myself," said Eileen, "until we are well on +the way to San Francisco." + +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. + +"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 known whether you wanted it or not." + +At this juncture a huge woman, gross in a feminine way as her +husband was in his, paddled up the walk. + +"I'm comin' in and rest a few minutes," she said. "I'm tired to +death and I'm pounded to pieces." + +Her husband turned toward her. He opened his lips to introduce +Eileen. His wife forestalled him. + +"So this is the Eileen you have been ravin' about for years," she +said. "I thought you said she was a pretty girl." + +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 "Callie." All that paint and powder and +lipstick 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 colors 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. + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"Thank you, Aunt Caroline, oh, thank you!" cried Eileen. + +"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 +'Callie.' That sounds younger and more companionable than +'Caroline.' " + +James Heitman looked at Eileen and winked. + +"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?" + +"You said not to bother with anything else," said Eileen. + +"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.'" + +"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." + +"Well, I'm not accustomed to being the porter, but if time's that +precious, here we go," said Uncle Jim. + +He picked up the suitcase with one hand and took his wife's arm +with the other. + +"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." + +"Can't we stay all night and go in the morning?" panted his wife. + +"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?" + +"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." + +"All right then," said Uncle James. "Pile in and we'll go." + +So Eileen started on the road to the unlimited wealth her soul +had always craved. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. Linda's First Party + +At the bank Linda and John Gilman waited an hour past the time +set for Eileen's appearance. Then Linda asserted herself. + +"I have had a feeling for some time," she said quietly, "that +Eileen would not appear today, 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." + +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. + +"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." + +But he did not say that she had tried to draw it the day +previous. + +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. + +"No," she said, "I know that Eileen HAD 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." + +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. + +"Linda," he said in a deeply wistful tone, "I don't understand +this. Why shouldn't Eileen have come today as she agreed? What +is there about this that is not according to law and honor and +the plain, simple rights of the case?" + +"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 today, 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." + +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 odors 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. + +"Where is Eileen?" inquired Linda. + +"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." + +"Very likely," said Linda quietly. "Katy, can you spare a few +minutes?" + +"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." + +Then Katy hurried to the kitchen. Linda looked at John Gilman +and smiled. + +"Isn't that like her?" she said. + +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. + +"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." + +Linda picked up the paper cutter, ran it across the envelope, +slipped out the sheet, and bracing herself she read: + +MY DARLING LINDA: + +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. + +I sincerely hope that what I have done will not result in any +discomfort or inconvenience to you. + +With dearest love, as ever your father, + +ALEXANDER STRONG. + +Linda laid the sheet on the table and dropped her hands on top of +it. Then she looked at John Gilman. + +"John," she said, "I believe you had better face the fact that +the big car and the big people that carried Eileen away today +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." + +John Gilman sat very still for a long time, then he raised tired, +disappointed eyes to Linda's face. + +"Linda," he said, "do you mean you think Eileen was not straight +about money matters?" + +"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." + +ù"I want the truth," said John Gilman gravely. + +"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 color 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 today. I think you will have to +take your heart home tonight 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 g]ad, 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 tonight, 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." + +Then Linda rose, replaced the letter, turned the key in the lock, +and quietly slipped out of the room. + +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 color +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: + +Lambie, here's your birthday, from loving old Katy. + +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. + +"Oh, good Lord!" she said. "I can't wear that. That isn't me." + +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?" + +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. + +"Don't ye be standin' there wastin' no time talkie'," she said. + +"I have oodles of time," said Linda, "but I warn you, you won't +know me if I put on that frock, Katy." + +"Yes, I will, too," said Katy. + +"Katy," said Linda, sobering suddenly, "would it make any great +difference to you if I were the only one here for always, after +this?" + +Katy laughed contemptuously. + +"Well, I'd warrant to survive it," she said coolly. + +"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 today, 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." + +Katy stood thinking intently, then she lifted her eyes to +Linda's. + +"Lambie," she whispered softly, "are we ixpicted to go into +mourning over this?" + +A mischievous light leaped into Linda's eyes. + +"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?" + + "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?" + +"I think," said Linda quietly, "that tonight is going to teach +him how Marian felt in her blackest hours." + +"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 crap 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." + +"That is too bad," said Linda reflectively; "because Eileen is +sensitive and constant contact with crass vulgarity certainly +would wear on her nerves." + +"Now you be goin' and gettin' into that dress, lambie," said +Katy. + +"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?" + +"'Tain't no rule of polite society to be lookin' gift horses in +the mouth," said Katy proudly. "HOW I got it is me own affair, +jist like ye got any gifts ye was ever makin' me, is yours. +WHERE 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.' + +"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 color?' Darlin', ain't that +dress the answer to what I told her?" + +"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 +tonight, 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?" + +Katy stood in what is commonly designated as a "brown study." +Then she looked Linda over piercingly. + +"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 +tonight, 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." + +"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 LOVE having a pretty dress for tonight. 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." + +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. + +"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 color. "I am of age today; for state occasions I should +be a woman. What shall I do with it?" + +And then she recalled Katy's voice saying: "Braids round your +head." + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +Again she studied herself critically. + +"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." + +Then she went down to show herself to a delighted Katy. When the +doorbell rang Linda turned toward the hall. Katy reached a +detaining hand. + +"You'll do nothing of the sort," she said. "I answered the bell +for Miss Eileen. Answer the bell I shall for you." + +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-colored 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 psychoanalyst. + +She could not see a wonderful aura of exquisite color 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 color, 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. + +"Peter," she said gaily, "do you know that this is my Day of +Jubilee? I am a woman today 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." + +Peter took both the hands extended to him and looked smilingly +into her eyes. + +"You take my breath," he said. "I knew, the first glimpse I ever +had of you scrambling from the canyon floor, that this +transformation COULD take place. My good fortune is beyond words +that I have been first to see it. Permit me, fair lady." + +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. + +"To have and to hold!" he said whimsically. + +"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?" + +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. + +"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." + +"And what about Henry Anderson?" inquired Peter. "Aren't you +going to include him?" + +Linda walked over to the chair in which she intended to seat +herself. + +"Peter," she said, "I wish you hadn't asked me that." + +Peter's figure tensed suddenly. + +"Look here, Linda," he said sternly, "has that rather bold +youngster made himself in any way offensive to you?" + +"Not in any way that I am not perfectly capable of handling +myself," said Linda. She looked at Peter confidently. + +"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?" + +Peter laughed unrestrainedly. + +"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." + +"Thank you, Peter, of course that would be the way," said Linda. +"This being my first, I'm lacking in experience." + +And thereupon she sat according to direction; while Peter sat +opposite her. + +"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?" + +"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 humoring him and fooling about it a +little. But, Peter, do you know him quite well? Are you very +sure of him?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"Do you mean to say," said Peter, "that these are the sensations +that Henry gives you?" + +Linda nodded. + +"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 today +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. Today has brought me the knowledge +and proof positive that she is not, and today 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 tonight 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." + +"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." + +When Katy announced dinner Linda arose. + +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. + +"More birthday gifts you've havin', me lady," she said in her +mellowest Irish voice. + +"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. + +"Why, how lovely of him!" she said. "How in this world did he +know?" + +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. + +"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?" + +"Well, just what is it?" inquired Peter. + +"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?" + +"I would like it immensely," said Peter. + +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!" + +"I must take that down," said Linda. "I did it one night when my +heart was full of bitterness." + +"Better leave it," said Peter drily. + +"Do you think I need it as a warning?" asked Linda. + +Peter turned and surveyed her slowly. + +"Linda," he said quietly, "what I think of you has not yet been +written in any of the books." + + + +CHAPTER XXV. Buena Moza + +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 Everybody's home. 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. + +"They may clash with your coloring a mite, Mother Machree," she +said, "but by themselves they are very wonderful things, aren't +they?" + +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. + +"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." + +"Choose the one you like best," said Linda. + +But Katy would not touch the delicate things, so Linda selected a +brushy hollyhock for her and then sat at her knee again. + +"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?" + +"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 even 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." + +"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." + +Katy looked belligerent. Linda reached up and touched the +frowning lines on her forehead. + +"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?" + +"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." + +"Oh, fine, Katy; Marian would be delighted!" cried Linda, +springing up. + +"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 today, 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." + +"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." + +"Of course, old dear, and you should have seen Peter Morrison +light up and admire it. He thinks you have wonderful taste, +Katy." + +Katy threw up both her hands. + +"Oh, my Lord, lambie!" she cried, aghast. "Was you telling' him +that the dress ye were wearing' was a present from your old +cook?" + +"Why, certainly I was," said Linda, wide eyed with astonish meet. +"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 Everybody's Home, 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!" + +"Judas praste!" cried Katy, her hands once more aloft. "Ye ain't +manin' it, lambie?" + +"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?" + +"My soul!" said Katy. "You're jist crazy. I don't belave a word +you're telling' me." + +"But I can prove it, because I have the letter and the bank +book," said Linda. + +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." + +"But he does know, Katy," said Linda. + +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. + +"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." + +She finished her letter, sealed and stamped it, and then, taking +out a fresh sheet, she lettered in at the top of it, "INDIAN +POTATOES" and continued: + +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 Chlorogalum pomeridiarum, 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. + +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. + +"And gee, but they're good!" commented Linda as she reread what +she had written. + +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 gave her the desired splash of contrasting color that she +used as a distinctive touch in the foreground of all her +drawings? + +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 color 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. + +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?" + +"I do," said Linda promptly. "Would you prefer that we do not go +on any more Saturday trips at present?" + +The length of time that the Judge waited to answer proved that he +had taken time to think. + +"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 arc, than you would where you are commonly found." + +"All right then," said Linda. "Ask the party we are considering +and he will tell you where he will be tomorrow. 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 +fore-sight." + +"I understand," said the Judge. + +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. + +"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." + +"Don't stint your speed on account of me," said Donald. "I am +just itching to know what Kitty can do." + +"All right, here's your chance," said Linda. "Hear her purr?" + +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. + +"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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"My!" laughed Donald, "you've got a long head on your shoulders!" + +"When you're thrown on your own for four of the longest, +lonesomest years of your life, you learn to think," said Linda +soberly. + +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 color and kind, +and everywhere homes ranging from friendly mansions, all written +over in adorable flower color 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 mockingbird, a rosy +finch, or a song sparrow. + +"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 that pie," she +laughed. + +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. + +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." + +"And so we must," said Donald. "I'm hungry as Likeliest when he +waited for them to find enough peacock tongues to satisfy his +appetite." + +"I wonder what brand of home-brew made him think of that," said +Linda. + +"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 color and music and +unique entertainment." + +"You're talking," said Linda, "from the standpoint of the king or +the master. Suppose you had lived then and had been the slave." + +"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?" + +"You wait and see where we lunch today, and you will have the +answer to that," said Linda, starting back to the Bear Cat. + +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. + +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. + +"I wonder," said Donald, "how it comes that I have lived all my +life in California, and today 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 t.he 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." + +"I wonder," said Linda, "if anybody is very easily satisfied. I +wonder today 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." + +"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!" + +"Thank heaven you're mistaken," she said; "they spared me the +'Be'--. It's truly just 'Linda."' + +"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?" + +"Yes, child, and I like it heaps," said Linda casually. "It's +fine to have you like me. Awfully proud of myself." + +"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." + +"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." + +"Well, he didn't just mention it," said Donald, "but I can +.easily see how it might have been." + +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. + +"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 +frostbloom you taught me to see upon fruit. I find it everywhere +but you have never told me what it is." + +Linda laughingly reached up and broke a spray of greenish-yellow +tubular flowers, curving out like clustered trumpets spilling +melody from their fluted throats. + +"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--Buena moza--but +you shall find out for yourself what they mean." + +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." + +"Well, I've a halting vocabulary," said the Judge. "What's your +phrase?" + +"Linda put this flower on me today," 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." + +"Try me on it," said the Judge. + +" 'Buena moza,"' quoted Donald. + +The Judge threw back his head and laughed heartily. + +"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 'Buena' +'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.' " + +Donald looked down at the flower in his buttonhole, and then he +looked straight at his father. + +"And only the Lord knows, Dad," he said soberly, "exactly how +fine Linda-girl is." + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. A Mouse Nest + +LINDA DEAREST: + +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. + +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. + +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 wholeheartedly 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. + +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- + +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 know 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. + +Linda looked through the skylight and cried out to the stars: +"Good heavens! Have I copied Peter too closely?" + +She sat thinking a minute and then she decided she had not. + +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. + +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. + +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 is 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. + +Linda laid down the letter, folded her hands across it, and once +more looked at the stars. + +"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. Tomorrow 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." + +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. + +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 coloring. 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. + +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 favor 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. + +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. + +"Peter, you sound like a centipede," said Linda. + +"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." + +And then he added a few words on a subject of which he had not +before spoken to Linda. + +"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 REAL THING +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." + +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. + +"Mind telling?" she inquired lightly. + +Peter looked at her speculatively. + +"And would a man be telling his heart's best secret to a kid like +you?" he asked. + +"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 today?" + +"Matronliness" was too much for Peter. You could have heard his +laugh far down the blue valley. + +"That's good!" he cried. + +"It is," agreed Linda. "It means that my braids are up to stay, +so hereafter I'm a real woman." + +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. + +"And because I am a woman I shall set my seal upon you," she +said. + +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. + +"Lovely enough," he said, "to have come from the hills of the +stars. Don't make me wait, Linda; help me to the +interpretation." + +"Buena Mujer," suggested Linda. + +"Good woman," translated Peter. + +Linda nodded, running a finger down the leaf over his heart. + +"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." + +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. + +"Ah, ha, Ma wood mouse," said Linda, "nibbling Peter's dr, goods +are you?" + +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. + +"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. + +Katy promptly retreated to the improvised dining table, seated +herself upon an end of it, and raised both feet straight into the +air. + +"Small help I'll be getting from you," said Linda laughingly. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. The Straight and Narrow + +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. + +"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." + +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 lost 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. + +"Before the Lord!" she gasped. "I THOUGHT 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?" + +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. + +"Best time to pull a tooth," she said tersely to a terra cotta +red manzanita bush, "is when it aches." + +When Peter returned from the spring he was faced by a trembling +girl, colorless 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. + +"Mouse nest in your pocket, Peter," she said thickly. "Reversed +the coat to shake it out, and spilled your stuff." + +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. + +"The mouse did not get on you, Linda?" he asked anxiously. + +Linda shook her head. Suddenly she lost her self-control. + +"Oh, Peter," she wailed, "how could you do it?" + +Peter's lean frame tensed suddenly. + +"I don't understand, Linda," he said quietly. "Exactly what have +I done?" + +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. + +"That's not my coat, you know. If there is anything distressing +about it, don't lay it to me." + +"Oh, Peter!" cried Linda, "tell the truth about it. Don't try +any evasions. I am so sick of them." + +A rather queer light sprang into Peter's eyes. He leaned forward +suddenly and caught the coat from Linda's fingers. + +"Well, if you need an alibi concerning this coat," he said, "I +think I can furnish it speedily." + +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. + +"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." + +Peter shook off the coat and handed it back to Linda. + +"Am I acquitted?" he asked lightly; but his surprised eyes were +searching her from braid to toe. + +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. + +"Linda-girl," he implored, "what in this world has happened?" + +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. + +"Of all the things I ever thought about you, Linda," he said, +"the one thing I never did think was that you were hysterical." + +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. + +"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!" + +Peter held himself rigidly in the fear that he might disturb the +hands that were gripping him. + +"I see I have the job of educating these damned field mice as to +where they may build with impunity," he said soberly. + +But Linda was not to be diverted. She looked straight and deep +into his eyes. + +"Peter," she said affirmatively, "you don't know a thing about +that coat, do you?" + +"I do not," said Peter promptly. + +"You never saw what was in its pockets, did you?" + +"Not to my knowledge," answered Peter. "What was in the pockets, +Linda?" + +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!" + +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. + +"Linda," he said, "won't you show me? Won't you tell me? What +is there about this to upset you?" + +Linda closed her lips and shook her head. Once more Peter sought +in her face, in her attitude the information he craved. + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +"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?" + +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." + +"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?" + +Again Peter took his time to answer. + +"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." + +"Ah," said Linda comprehendingly. + +"Linda," said Peter quietly, "it is very obvious that something +has worried you extremely. Am I in any way connected with it?" + +Linda shook her head. + +"Is there anything I can do?" + +The negative was repeated. Then she looked at him. + +"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." + +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. + +"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 tonight, 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." + +Linda started to laugh, then she saw Peter's eyes and something +in them stopped her suddenly. + +"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." + +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. + +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: + +"Belovedest, have there been any strange Japs poking around here +lately?" + +She nearly collapsed when Katy answered promptly: + +"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 crane the rugs; they want to do the wash. They +are willing to crane 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'." + +Linda stood amazed. + +"And how long has this been going on, Katy?" she finally asked. + +"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." + +"Have you ever unlocked the garage for them, Katy?" asked Linda. + +"No," said Katy. "I only go there when I nade something about me +work." + +"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." + +Katy set her hands on her hips, flared her elbows, and lifted her +chin. + +"What's any of them little haythen been coin' 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." + +"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." + +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: + +MY DEAR Mr. SNOW: + +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. + +Today 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 s};etches 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. + +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. + +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. + +You probably have heard Marian speak of me, and from her you may +obtain any information you might care to have concerning my +responsibility. + +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. + +Very truly yours, + +LINDA STRONG. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. Putting It Up to Peter + +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. + +"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. + +He mulled over the problem for several days, and then he decided +he should see Linda, and with his first look into her +straight-forward 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 color 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. + +"Am I intruding?" inquired Peter at last. + +Linda shook her head vigorously and gulped down a sob. + +"No, Peter," she sobbed, "I had come this far on my way to you +when my courage gave out." + +Peter rearranged the immediate landscape and seated himself +beside Linda. + +"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?" + +Linda shook her head. + +"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 honorably 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." + +"Then something else has happened?" asked Peter. "Something +connected with the package of letters in your lap?" + +Linda nodded vigorously. + +"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." + +"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." + +Then Linda raised her eyes to his face. + +"Oh, Peter, you dear!" she cried. "Peter, I'll just kneel and +kiss your hands if you can fix this for me." + + + + + + + +Peter set his jaws and continued his meditations on shoe leather. + +"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?" + +"Oh, Peter," quavered Linda, "you know how I love Marian. You +have seen her and I have told you over and over." + +"Yes," said Peter soothingly, "I know." + +"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 COULD 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, YOU 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 +WHITE head I saw among the iris marching down your creek bank, +not a gold one, Peter." + +Peter licked his dry lips and found it impossible to look at +Linda. + +"Straight ahead with it," he said gravely. "What did you do?" + +"Oh, I have done the awfullest thing," wailed Linda, "the most +unforgivable thing!" + +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. + +"Yes?" he questioned. "Get on with it, Linda. What was it you +did?" + +"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." + +"You didn't sign my name to them, did you, Linda?" asked Peter in +a dry, breathless voice. + +"No, Peter," said Linda, "I did not do that, I did worse. Oh, I +did a whole lot worse!" + +"I don't understand," said Peter hoarsely. + +"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." + +"This is pretty serious business, Linda," said Peter gravely. +"Having gone this far you are in honor bound to finish. It would +not be fair to leave me with half a truth. What is the result of +this impersonation?" + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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 today." + +"And what is the culmination, Linda?" urged Peter. + + + + + + + +"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 +lifelong 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 yours, 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 honorable 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." + +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 sure your friend has finally refused this offer she has +had on account of these letters you have written?" + +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. + +"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?" + +"I thought it would be suitable and you would be perfectly +happy," sobbed Linda, "and that way I could have both of you." + +"And Donald also?" asked Peter lightly. + +"Donald of course," assented Linda. + +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?" + +"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." + +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. + +"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?" + +"Of course you could," said Linda. + +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. + +"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." + +Linda clapped her hands in delight. + +"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?" + + + + + + + +"And right for you, Linda?" inquired Peter lightly. + +"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 honorable to tell +Donald about it. What hurts Marian's heart or heals it is none +of his business. He doesn't even know her." + +"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 +in propria persona?', + +"Oh, Peter," cried Linda, beaming on him, "oh, Peter, you are a +rock! I do put my trust in you." + +"Then God help me," said Peter, "for whatever happens, your trust +in me shall not be betrayed, Linda." + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. Katy Unburdens Her Mind + +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 streetcar 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 reopened 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. + +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. + +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. + +"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 honor 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." + +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. + +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. + +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, +with. out 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 debris 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. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +Then Linda turned and laid a hand on each of Katy's hairy red +arms. + +"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." + +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. + +"Well, who is there nearer home that Marian knows?" she demanded +belligerently. + +"Well, now, who would there be?" retorted Linda. + +"Ye ain't manin' John Gilman?" asked Katy. + +"No," said Linda, "I am not meaning John Gilman. You should know +Marian well enough to know that." + +"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. + +"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." + +When Linda drew back the portiere 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. + +"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." + +"That will be fine," he said. "Which is your favorite chair?" + +"You know," she said, "that is a joke. I am so unfamiliar with +this room that I haven't any favorite chair. I'll have to take +the nearest, like Thoreau selected his piece of chicken." + +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. + +"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." + +"I see," said Mr. Snow comprehendingly. "Now let's experiment a +little. Of course the window before that table was raised?" + + + + + + + +"Yes, it was," said Linda, "but every window in the house is +screened." + +"And what about the door opening into the hall? Can you tell me +whether it was closed or open?" + +"It was open," said Linda. "We left it slightly ajar to create a +draft; the night was warm." + +"Is there anyone about the house," inquired Mr. Snow, "who could +tell us certainly whether that window was screened that night?" + +"Of course," said Linda. "Our housekeeper, Katherine O'Donovan, +would know. When we go down we'll ask her." + +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. + +"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." + +Katy looked expectantly at Eugene Snow. + +"In the meantime," said Linda, "I'll be excused and go bring +round the Bear Cat." + +"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?" + +"Sure there was," answered Katy instantly in her richest, +mellowest brogue. + +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. + +"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." + +"Did Miss Linda know about it?" asked Snow. + +"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 coin' 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'." + +"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." + +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. + +"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, ia the stone of your own hearth." + + + + + + + +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 forte 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. + +"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." + +"Then why don't you get it?" said Katy casually. + +Eugene Snow laughed ruefully. + +"But suppose," he said, "that the particular jewel you're +discussing prefers to select her own setting, and mine does not +please her." + +"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." + +Eugene Snow thought intently for a few moments. His vision +centered on Katherine O'Donovan's face. + +"You're absolutely sure of this?" he said at last. + +"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." + +"What about Miss Linda?" inquired Snow. "Is she adoring him?" + +"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 rely lovely things she can strike on paper +with her pencil and light up with her joyous colors. 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." + +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. + +"Can you connect a heavy wind with the date of the lost plan?" he +inquired. + +"There was a crack-a-jack a few days before," said Linda. "It +blew over some trees in the lot next to us." + +"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." + +"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." + +"I think that is about all we need to know," said Mr. Snow +conclusively. + +"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." + +"Most certainly," said Mr. Snow. "We should have that much to +show for our share of the transaction." + +"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 Cotyledon +pulverulenta 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." + +"And what about his companion?" asked Eugene Snow lightly. "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." + +"I am altogether willing to take your word for it," said Mr. +Snow. + +"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 minutes" 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." + +Linda cut down the Bear Cat to its slowest speed. + +"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?" + +Eugene Snow reached across and closed a hand over the one of +Linda's nearest him on the steering wheel. + +"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." + +"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." + +"Is he?" asked Mr. Snow interestedly. And then he added very +casually, in the most offhand 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." + +Linda's heart gave a great jump of consternation. + +"Indeed no," she said emphatically. "I don't think he has just +told 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." + +"All right then," agreed Mr. Snow. + +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. + +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?" + +Peter was too surprised to conceal his feelings. His jaws +snapped together; a belligerent look sprang into his eyes. + +"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." + +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. + +"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?" + +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. + +"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." + +"Suppose we do," said Snow with finality. + +Whereupon they shook hands with a grip that whitened their +knuckles. + +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: + +"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." + +Linda looked at him with widened eyes. + +KATY UNBURDENS HER MIND 307 + +"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." + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XXX. Peter's Release + +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. + +"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." + +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. Womanlike, she +began probing. + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +"Linda found it at last!" she cried. "Where in this world did +she get it, and whose work is this on it?" + +"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." + +Marian sat holding the plan, listening absorbedly to what he was +saying. + +"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 guestroom +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." + +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. + +"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?" + +Marian drew a deep breath. + +"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?" + +"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 +greathearted 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." + +"Do you mean," asked Marian, "that you think there is anything +more than casual friendship between Linda and Peter Morrison?" + +"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." + +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 BEEN +Peter. Marian arose suddenly. + +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. + +"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." + +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." + +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 I them. It would mean a long summer of +interesting and absorbing I work for her and for Katy. Much of +it could not be done until the I summer was far advanced and the +seeds and the berries were I ripe. She could rely on Donald to +help her search for the material. l With only herself and Katy +in the family they could give much of their time to the work. + +"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." + +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 I 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: + +"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." + +"All right," said Linda. + +"And what am I to do with the stuff?" inquired Katy. + +"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." + +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. + +The other day Dana and I went into one of the big cafes 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. + +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. + +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. + +"Peter," she cried, "have you opened that packet of letters yet?" + +"No," said Peter, "I have not." + +"Then give them to me quickly, Peter," said Linda. + +Peter rushed into the garage and brought out the packet. Linda +caught it in both hands and dropped it in her lap. + +"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." + +Linda's face was a small panorama of conflicting emotions as she +appealed to Peter. + +"Peter," she said in a quivering voice, "you can testify that she +stopped me properly, can't you, Peter?" + +Peter tried to smile. He was older than Linda, and he was +thinking swiftly, intently. + +"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?" + +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. + +"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 comma 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 tonight I'll get an inspiration; I am sure I +shall." + +"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." + +"Thank you," said Linda. "How is the dream coming?" + +"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 debris 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." + +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." + +"Why not?" asked Peter casually. "Since there is no one else, +why not?" + +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. + +"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?" + +"It pleases me very greatly," said Peter--"more than anything +else I can think of in all the world at this minute." + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. The End of Donald's Contest + +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. + +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. + +"But I have two uses for them today," explained Linda. "They +must serve for potatoes and they have to furnish our meat." + +"Oh, I get you," said Donald. "I have always been crazy to try +that." + +So he began to dig again enthusiastically. + +"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." + +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 debris +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. + +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 today. 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." + +"If you would let me skin these fish," said Donald, "I could do +it much faster and make a better job of it." + +"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." + +"Oh my tummy!" said Donald. "I always thought there was some +dark secret about the Indians." + +Linda sat on a rock opposite him and clasped her hands around her +knees. She looked at him meditatively. + +"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?" + +"For heaven's sake, Linda," said Donald, "don't start any big +brainstorming trains of thought today! Grant me repose. I have +overworked my brain for a few months past until I know only one +thing for certain." + +"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 marl +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 honors than any other boy +ever had from that school." + +Donald sat thinking this over. He absently lifted an elbow and +wiped the tiny scales from his face with his shirt sleeve. + +"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?" + +Linda shook her head vigorously. + +"De but', kid," she said, "de gospel but'. 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." + +"I wish Dad knew," said Donald in a low voice. + +"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?" + +"By Jove, he has 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." + +"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!" + +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. + +"Am I 'It' with you, Linda?" he asked soberly. + +"Sure you are," said Linda. "You're the best friend I have." + +"Will you write to me when I go to college this fall?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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 ravelings +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." + +"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?" + +"Why, sure," said Linda, "if you will be satisfied with having me +like fifty or a hundred as well as I do you." + +"Oh, damn!" said Donald angrily. "Do I have to keep up this +top-crust business all my days?" + +Linda looked at him with a queer smile on her lips. + +"Not unless you want to, Donald," she said quietly; "not unless +you think you would rather." + +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. + +"Then it's me for the top crust," he said conclusively. + +"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. + +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?" + +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." + +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. + +"Easy, Katy, easy," cautioned Linda. "We may want to bury those +coals and resurrect them to warm up what is left for supper." + +"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." + +To herself she was saying: "The sooner I get you home to Pater +Morrison, missy, the better I'll be satisfied." + +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. + +"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." + +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!" + +She turned to Katy. + +"Back, Katy, back!" she screamed. "That boulder is loose; it's +coming down!" + +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 debris 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. + +"Donald!" she cried, "Donald, are you all right?" + +"Guess I am, unless it hit one foot pretty hard. Feels fast." + +"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. + +"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 today?" + +"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." + +"Be careful what you do!" he cried after her. + +Linda sprang to her feet and rushed to the car. She caught out +the field classes 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!" + + 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. + +"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." + +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. + +"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 today. 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." + +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. + +"My God!" she panted. "He's coming down right above us!" + +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. + +"He has a hold; he is coming back up, Katy!" she cried. + +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. + +"Get him?" she asked tersely, as if she were speaking of a rat or +a rattlesnake. + +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." + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +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 caring 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. + +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. + +"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 anesthetic; and Doctor Fleming can work much better +where he has every convenience. It's all right." + +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. + +"Steady, Linda," he said quietly, "steady. You know that he is +all right. It will only be a question of a short confinement." + +Linda made a brave effort to control herself. She leaned against +Peter and held out both her hands. + +"I'm all right," she chattered. "Give me a minute." + +Judge Whiting came to them. + +"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?" + +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. + + "I was right there, busy with me cookie' utensils," she said l +Miss Linda was a-sittin, on that exact spot, they jist havin 1 +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." + +Katherine O'Donovan paused. + +"Yes," said the Judge. "Anything else?" + +"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 telescope and started +climbin', and I took the axe and I started climbin' after her." + +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 + +"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." + +Katy shook off Linda's protecting arm and straightened suddenly. + +"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 +din' it." + +Katy folded her arms, lifted her chin higher than it ever had +been before, and glared defiance at the Judge. + +"Now go on," she said, "and decide what ye'll do to me for it." + +The Judge reached over and took both Katherine O'Donovan's hands +in a firm grip. + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +"I will have to be going. The boy and his mother will need me," +he said. "I will see all of you later." + +Then he sprang across the brook and sent his car roaring down the +canyon after the ambulance. + +Once more Katy sank to the ground. Linda looked at her as she +buried her face and began to wail. + +"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 act this out of our systems." + +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." + +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. + +"Yes, Katy," she panted, "that WILL 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." + +"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." + +"Well, then, Katy," asked Linda tremulously, "why were you +crying?" + +"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!'" + +"And now, Linda," said Peter, "can you tell us why you were +crying?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"Peter," said Linda, "there is nothing funny about this; it's no +tame for jest. But do men have nerves? Would you really?" + +"Of course I would," said Peter. + +"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." + +"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' craned +up and ready for what's goin' to happen to us. Will they be +jailin' us, belike, Miss Linda?" + +Linda looked at Peter questioningly. + +"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." + +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. + +When it came to a question of really starting, Linda looked with +appealing eyes at Peter. + +"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." + +"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." + +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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +The Judge's face reddened slightly. + +"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." + + And then Louise spoke up softly. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"Mother," he said, "I don't like Peter Morrison being so much +with my girl." + +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." + +"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." + +"Yes, like fun she will," said Donald roughly. + +"Have you asked her whether she loves you?" inquired Mrs. +Whiting. + +"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." + +A bit of pain in Mrs. Whiting's heart eased. It was difficult to +keep her lips quiet and even. + +"You haven't asked her to marry you, then?" she said soberly. +"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?" + +"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." + +"Well, I can get around faster than that," said Donald +belligerently. + +"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." + +Donald punched his pillow viciously. + +"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." + +"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." + +Donald burst out laughing, exactly as his mother in her heart had +hoped that he would. + +"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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. How the Wasp Built Her Nest + +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. + +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? + +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. + +"Why, old dear," said Linda, putting her arms around her, "if +anything has gone wrong with you I will certainly take to the +warpath, instanter. I can't even imagine what could be troubling +you." Linda lowered her voice. "Nothing has come up about Oka +Sayye?" + +Katy shook her head. + +"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." + +"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." + +"Then what is it?" asked Linda. "Tell me this minute." + +"I dunno what in the world you're going to think," said Katy "I +dunno what in the world you're going to do." + +Her face was so distressed that Linda's nimble brain flew to a +conclusion. She tightened her arm across Katy's shoulder. + +"By Jove, Katy!" she said breathlessly. "Is Eileen in the +house?" + +Katy nodded. + +"Has she been to see John and made things right with him?" + +Katy nodded again. + +"He's in there with her waitin' for ye," she said. + +It was a stunned Linda who slowly dropped her arm, stood erect, +and lifted her head very high. She thought intently. + +"You don't mean to tell me," she said, "that you have been CRYING +over her?" + +Katy held out both hands. + +"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 decent +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 FAIR chance, now +could ye?" + +"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?" + +"I think she would like to," said Katy. "You go in and see her +for yourself, lambie, before ye come to any decision." + +"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?" + +"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!" + +"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." + +"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." + +"Yes," said Linda, "I'll tell you. Eileen's mother had a big +streak of the same coarseness and the same vulgarity in HER +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." + +"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." + +"That doesn't help us," said Linda. "I must go in and face +them." + +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. + +"How do you do?" she said as cordially as was possible to +her."This is unexpected." + +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 color 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. + +"Why, you poor little thing," she said wonderingly, "was it so +damn' bad as all that?" + +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." + +"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?" + +Eileen hesitated. It was not in Linda's heart to be mean. + +"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?" + +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. + +"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." + +Eileen wiped her eyes. + +"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 favorite pastime was to +tell everyone we met how much the things I wore cost her." + +Linda released Eileen with a slight shake. + +"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?" + +"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." + +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. + +"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?" + +"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'." + +"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 'damned' +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 SHALL help us with the work." + +"Ye know, lambie," whispered Katy suddenly, "this is a burnin' +shame. The one thing I DIDN'T think about is that book of yours. +What about it?" + +"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." + +"What about Marian?" inquired Katy. + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +"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 Everybody's Home last winter. Come along with me." + +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 worktable, 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 colored 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. + +As the Bear Cat glided back to Lilac Valley, Eileen sat silent. +For ten years she had coveted the entree 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 +favor of honesty, unaffectedness, and wholesome enjoyment. + +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. + +"Ripping!" she cried. "Why, Eileen, you're perfectly topping." + +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. + +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. + +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 colors 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. + +"May I come up?" he asked. + +"Surely," said Linda, "this belongs to the Lord; it isn't mine." + +So Peter climbed up and sat beside her. + +"How did the landscape appeal to you when you left the campfire?" +inquired Linda. + +"I should think the night cry might very well be Eight o'clock +and all's well," answered Peter. + +"'God's in his heaven, all's right with the world?'" Linda put it +in the form of a question. + +"It seems to be for John and Eileen," said Peter. + +"It is for a number of people," said Linda. "I had a letter from +Marian today. 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?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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?" + +Peter looked at Linda whimsically. He lowered his voice as if a +sea urchin might hear and tattle. + +"What did you do about the wasp, Linda?" he whispered. + +"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 couldn't quite bring myself to let it go, yet." + +"Is she going to hold out?" asked Peter. + +"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." + +"She is much handsomer," said Peter. + +"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." + + 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 +mockingbirds. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. The Lady of the Iris + +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. + +"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." + +"And what about John?" asked Peter. "Is he going to be a bigger +man with Eileen than he would have been with Marian?" + +"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 honors in his +college." + +"Will he start with the idea that he wants to be an honor man?" + +Linda laughed outright. + +"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." + +"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?" + +"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." + +"Sapheads, 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 honor idea in his head. +What about your Saturday excursions?" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"But I had money to pay for the brook and the bridge before I +agreed to them," said Peter. + +"Well, then," said Linda, "you should begin to hunt old mahogany +and rugs." + +"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-a-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." + +"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?" + +"That is precisely the kind of stuff I do mean," answered Peter. + +"Why Peter, if you have furniture like that," cried Linda, "then +all you need is Mary Louise." + +"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." + +"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." + +"You do," said Peter. "You know her better than anyone else, +even better than I. Put that in your mental pipe and smoke it!" + +"Saints preserve us!" cried Linda. "I believe the man is +planning to take Katy away from me." + +"Not FROM you," said Peter, "WITH you." + +"Let me know about it before you do it," said Linda with a +careless laugh. + +"That's what I'm doing right now," said Peter. + +"And I'm going to school," said Linda. + +"Of course," said Peter, "but that won't last forever." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"Peter," she said, "I've taken on more work than I can possibly +finish on time, and I'm the lonesomest person in California +today." + +"I doubt that," said Peter gravely. "If you are any lonesomer +than I am you must prove it." + +"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." + +"I see," said Peter rather breathlessly. "What have you there, +Linda? Why did you come?" + +"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 Everybody's Home articles. Ever read any +of them, Peter?" + +"Yes," said Peter, "I read all of them. Interested in home stuff +these days myself." + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +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. + +"Of course, if you don't want us, Peter--" + +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. + +"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." + +"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--" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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'?" + +"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 honors all right." + +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 honors. 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." + + "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?" + +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 health +fully 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." + +Linda nodded acquiescence. + +"Of course! That would be best," she said. "Peter, you are so +satisfyingly satisfactory." + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Her Father's Daughter, by Porter + + + + + +Proofer: this has been spell-checked but the checker seems to +have a mindset and missed some sections - most scanner errors +were e for c. Watch for gaps between pages. There may be some +extraneous Is and Js which showed up when the scanner saw the +bindery threads in the gutters. May need to add 2 spaces after ! +and ? if at the end of sentence that's not an internal quote. +Watch for missing ". The caps are emphasis italics. + |