"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.
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