ng confusion to move as slowly
as possible. Adelle was not impatient as Archie had been with the ranch.
She liked directing the work, and discovered that she had her own ideas,
which necessitated extensive changes. She spent almost all her time on
the place, while Archie was often away for days at a time in the city,
attending to business or amusing himself. Adelle scarcely noticed his
absences. With her little boy and the house she had her hands quite
full, and it was easier to do things when Archie was not there to
interfere.

Theirs was a rare location, even in this lovely land, as all their
neighbors said. Behind the house the land rose rapidly to a steep ridge
of hill that divided the valley from the coast valleys, and thus
protected them with its crown of tall eucalyptus trees from the raw sea
winds. Their hillside had been thickly planted to cedars and eucalyptus,
and the house looked out from its niche in the hill upon the fertile
valley in which Bellevue lies, dotted with rich country estates and
fruit orchards. Farther east shimmered the waters of the Bay, and on
clear days the blue tops of the Santa Clara mountains melted into the
clouds beyond the Bay. Immediately beneath the house was the canon,
through which in the rainy season a stream of water gushed melodiously.
The steep sides of this canon were covered with a growth of aromatic
plants and shrubs, the pale blues of the wild lilac touching it here and
there. Like a bit of real California, "Highcourt," as they had called
the place, was a perpetual bower of bloom and fragrance and sunshine,
with a broad panorama of valley, sea, and mountain to gaze upon. Adelle
loved to wander about her new possession, exploring its every corner,
and when she was tired she could come back to the sunny forecourt and
supervise the workmen, making petty decisions, summoning the foreman and
the architect for consultation. She thus planned so many alterations
which entailed delays that Archie grumbled that they would never get to
rights and be able to have people to dinner. Adelle did not seem to
care. She had not profited by Irene's advice, and made no effort to
create a social atmosphere. Irene apparently gave her up as a hopeless
case, and rarely came up the long driveway to Highcourt. The Pointers
were still anchored in California, thanks to Seaboard and the darkening
financial horizon, and Irene was improving her time by "living hard,"
which was her philosophy. Adelle kne