CHAPTER XIII
ASSOCIATIONS
The windows of the Rainbow Lodge stood open to the sun and wind. In the bedrooms once occupied by the old Ranch Girls the new Ranch Girls were arranging their possessions. Yet only a week had gone by since their decision to rent the big house and already it was being prepared to receive tenants.
Mrs. Perry, who did not desire to continue a guest of Peter Stevens, nor to leave Cecil in order to return to her Long Island home, had been delighted with the opportunity.
She had telegraphed a number of friends to join her and shortly expected to fill Rainbow Castle with guests.
At this early hour of the morning Lina Colter was folding and putting away her clothes in the drawers of an old-fashioned pine bureau. She had carried a number of things over by hand in order to avoid the trouble of packing and unpacking so promptly.
During the summer months Lina's appearance had altered for the better. She was prettier and less serious looking than upon the afternoon when the arrow of silver had appeared out of space. Until this summer her tastes and inclinations had kept her too often indoors. She had studied and read too much to be good for her health, preferring books to human beings.
Her stepmother's influence and her growing friendship with Cecil Perry had altered this. Different as were their tastes and temperaments, she and her stepmother were developing a delightful relation. They were helping each other in various ways without thought of the difference in their age and positions.
Moreover, for the first time in their girlhood, one of their boy acquaintances was open in his declaration of liking her better than Jeanette. As Cecil Perry wished to learn to ride and swim, shoot, play tennis, Lina had done her best to be useful. Not so skillful at any sport as Jeanette, Cecil had preferred her aid to Jeanette's half scornful attitude.
At present Lina had chosen to occupy the room at the Rainbow Lodge that had been her own mother's. About the walls she could see faded pictures of the four original Ranch Girls. These she intended to tear down and replace with her own and her sisters' photographs. In the pauses of her work Lina kept studying them, finding the idea of destroying the old relics more difficult than she had anticipated.