Page:Stewart Edward White--The Rose Dawn.djvu/247

Rh suit of many solemn confabs. Ground quirrels, gophers, moles, rabbits, bluejays and the two falcons were always on the list. Certain species, such as linnets or blackbirds, or quail, were fair game only at seasons of ripe fruit or grain. The grand prizes were, of course, coyotes and wildcats; but they were naturally somewhat in the category of unattainable ideals. The results were a straight-shooting small boy and a diminution of pests below the point of destructiveness.

There was now a sufficiency of water better used. The original spring had been greatly increased by tunneling, and the water brought down in cement conduits that obviated waste. Cultivation now was possible on a better scale. After the water had been laid on the soil, it was harrowed over and over, so that the earth was no longer allowed to bake hard. It was therefore necessary to irrigate but four or five times a year instead of twice a week. Brainerd had known well enough that all this should be done; but he had not possessed the means, financial or physical.

As a consequence of its new impetus the Bungalow was prosperous. It had changed its very appearance. The sage desert had been pushed back: and the gray Old Man brush had given place to flourishing citrus trees. The dry, powdery hard pan from which it had wrested its desiccated existence had turned into a brown, moist productive soil that justified the visionary dream that it was richer than the bottom lands. Now that every drop of the water was not needed for the crops, Daphne was permitted a garden. She went at it with enthusiasm. In the old California fashion everybody contributed plants, shrubs, or trees from their own over-flowing, older-established gardens. A little cultivation and water did the rest. Quick-growing vines, like the passion flower, the honeysuckle, the solanum, flung themselves over the low house. The dooryard was bright with strepthasolum, nasturtiums, plumbago, hybiscus and all that brilliant company. In the swift fashion of the country the trees struck vigorous root and began to grow, not by inches but by feet.

Kenneth reported to his father every week, as they had arranged. Every cent of expenditure was set down. Each month the two spent some hours tabulating; segregating the items so