"And then," Honey went on decidedly, "it's not natural for women to fly.
God never intended them to."
"It is wonderful," Lulu said admiringly, "how men know exactly what God
intended."
Honey roared. "If you'd ever heard the term sarcasm, my dear, I should
think you were slipping something over on me. In point of fact, we don't
know what God intended. Nobody does. But we know better than you; the
man's life broadens us."
"Then I should think - " Lulu began. But again she did not finish.
"We're going to make a tower of rocks on the central island of the
lake," Honey went on. "We'll drag the stones from the beach - those big,
beauty round ones. When it's finished, we're going to cover it with that
vine which has the scarlet, butterfly flowers. Pete says the reflections
in the water will be pretty neat."
"Really. It sounds charming. And, Honey, Chiquita is so lazy. Little
Junior runs wild. He's nearly two and she hasn't made a strip of
clothing for him yet. It's Frank's fault, though. He never notices
anything. I really think you men ought to do something about that."
"And then," Honey went on. But he stopped. "What's the use? " he
muttered under his breath. He subsided, enveloped himself in a cloud of
smoke and listened, half-amused, half-irritated, to Lulu's pauseless,
squirrel-like chatter.
"My dear," Frank Merrill said to Chiquita after dinner, "the New Camp is
growing famously. Six months more and you will be living in your new
home. The others - Pete especially - are very much interested in
Recreation Hall. They have just worked out a new scheme for parks and
gardens. It is very interesting, though purely decorative. It offers
many absorbing problems. But, for my own part, I must confess I am more
interested in the library. It will be most gratifying to see all our
books ranged on shelves, classified and catalogued at last. It is a good
little library as amateur libraries go. The others speak again and again
of my foresight during those early months in taking care of the books.
We have many fine books - what people call solid reading - and a really
extraordinary collection of dictionaries. You see, many scholars travel
in the Orient, and they feel they must get up on all kinds of things. I
suggested to-day that we draw up a constitution for Angel Island. For by
the end of twenty years, there will be a third generation growing up
here. And then, the population will increase amazingly. Besides, it
offers many subjects for discussion in our evenings at the Clubhouse,
etc., etc., etc."