ected and waited for an invitation to come in, but the invitation
was not given. Linda thanked him for the stones. She told him that in
combination with a few remaining from the mantel they would make all she
would require, and excusing herself she drove to the garage. When she
came in she found the irrepressible Henry sitting on the back steps
explaining to Katy the strenuous time he had had finding and carrying
down the stones they had brought. Katy had a plate of refreshments ready
to hand him when Linda laughingly passed them and went to her room.

When she had finished her letter to Marian she took a sheet of drawing
paper, and in her most attractive lettering sketched in the heading, "A
Palate Teaser," which was a direct quotation from Katy. Below she wrote:

You will find Tunas in the cacti thickets of any desert, but if you are
so fortunate as to be able to reach specimens which were brought from
Mexico and set as hedges around the gardens of the old missions, you
will find there the material for this salad in its most luscious form.
Naturally it can be made from either Opuntia Fiscus-Indica or Opuntia
Tuna, but a combination of these two gives the salad an exquisite
appearance and a tiny touch more delicious flavor, because Tuna, which
is red, has to my taste a trifle richer and fuller flavor than Indica,
which is yellow. Both fruits taste more like the best well-ripened
watermelon than any other I recall.

Bring down the Tunas with a fishing rod or a long pole with a nail in
the end. With anything save your fingers roll them in the sand or in
tufts of grass to remove the spines. Slice off either end, score the
skin down one side, press lightly, and a lush globule of pale gold or
rosy red fruit larger than a hen's egg lies before you. With a sharp
knife, beginning with a layer of red and ending with one of yellow,
slice the fruits thinly, stopping to shake out the seeds as you work. In
case you live in San Diego County or farther south, where it is possible
to secure the scarlet berries of the Strawberry Cactus--it is the
Mammillaria Goodridgei species that you should use--a beautiful
decoration for finishing your salad can be made from the red
strawberries of these. If you live too far north to find these, you
may send your salad to the table beautifully decorated by cutting fancy
figures from the red Tuna, or by slicing it lengthwise into oblong
pieces and weaving them into a decoration over the yellow backg