"Then try one or two and if you happen to feel fine in any of them there will be no need to try further."
"Quite true, my sapient daughter, we will take your sage advice."
Nan laughed and returned to her reading. She often surprised her mother by a sudden practical suggestion, for, full of sentiment though she was, she nevertheless had a keen insight and a warm sympathy which helped her judgments in matters where her heart was concerned. She adored her mother, and, being the eldest, realized better than the others what this winter meant to her, for on account of her health Mrs. Corner had been obliged to spend the previous winter away from her family and Nan dreaded lest worse should some day come, so California meant not only a place for pleasuring but one which they hoped might bring health and happiness to them all.
The thought of what it meant was upon Nan now and she did not listen to the fairy tale which Mary Lee was taking her turn in reading. The world was full of fairy tales, Nan thought, and they were almost living in one themselves, for was not Aunt Helen the fairy godmother who had made present delights possible. She smiled up at her aunt and left the group to follow the fortunes of sweet Babette while she joined the two who sat a little apart.
"The world is a mighty nice place most anywhere, when you are happy, isn't it, Aunt Helen?" said Nan.
"So you have found that out, have you?" replied her aunt smiling. "Yes, dear, one can be miserable in the loveliest spot on earth, and can be happy in the dreariest. The kingdom of heaven is within you," she added softly.
Nan pondered over this. "I never understood it in that way before," she said after a while. "I am glad I know now."
They were sitting on the porch of their hotel at San Diego. One could not tell that summer had gone, for though there was a slight pallor upon the lower hills, and the green of the chaparral was not so bright, the grass still showed as lively a color in a few moist places and as for the rest it might have been July, save that the days were shorter and the nights cooler. The rains would probably soon commence but Miss Helen thought they might count upon little interruption to their travels, since a rainy day at home did not set aside a journey.
But several rainy days did delay their start and in the meantime Nan and Mary Lee read "Ramona" zealously, becoming more and more fired with indignation at the treatment of the Indians, and more and more interested in the work of the padres.
"I am almost ashamed of being an American," said Nan with vehemence. "I never was before in my life, but when I think of those poor Indians driven out of their homes, and of how those dear old padres worked so hard for them to have their labor for nothing, it makes my blood boil. I am just ashamed of ourselves."