Whydoes Valli stand up on the seat? What does she see now?

Vallistood up on her seat because her view was cut off by a canvas blindthat covered the lower part of her window. She stood up to look overthe blind. She saw that the road was very narrow, on one side ofwhich there was the canal and beyond it were palm trees, grassland,distant mountains, and the blue sky. On the other side, there was adeep ditch and many acres of green fields.