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.
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