"And you have never been to Europe," said Nan slowly. "I think, mother, you'd better go."
"Oh, Nan!"
The girl's eyes were full of tears which her mother did not see. "Yes, I do," she answered bravely, "but you don't have to decide yet, do you? There is plenty of time."
"Plenty."
"Then don't let us cross that bridge till we come to it. Who knows what may turn up before we leave this Sunset Land? I, for one, am not going to think about it yet. Isn't this Santa Barbara the dearest place? I loved San Diego; I was perfectly happy at Los Angeles; I thought no spot could be lovelier than Pasadena, and I'd like to stay here years; that is the way it goes all along the King's highway. I like that name; the Camino Real, for it is so much more than an every-day road. I think of those old mission fathers traveling it and I hope that it will be opened up and kept in good order."
"You love the missions, don't you, daughter?"
"Yes, I do; they seem so much a part of the old life. Aunt Helen says they are this country's saving grace, that beside them all the big pumpkins and giant grape-vines are as vulgar nothings, and that the country would be painfully new if it were not for what the Spaniards left behind. Yes, I do love the missions. Weren't you pleased with the one here, the one H. H. describes when she tells of the christening of one of its towers?"
"It is certainly most interesting."
"But, oh, dear, I was disappointed when I found that no woman was allowed to enter the garden. For once I wanted to be the wife of a king or of the president, so as to have the privilege. There is Jack calling me. I wonder what now; that is a voice of trouble, I am afraid," and she ran out to see what was wrong with her little sister.
There was nothing worse than a cut finger and that was soon tied up to Jack's satisfaction, and she went off again to her play, while Nan hunted up Mary Lee.