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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3706-h.zip b/3706-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0ad5125 --- /dev/null +++ b/3706-h.zip diff --git a/3706-h/3706-h.htm b/3706-h/3706-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0413f66 --- /dev/null +++ b/3706-h/3706-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7770 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of The Valiant Runaways, by Gertrude Atherton +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Valiant Runaways, by Gertrude Atherton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Valiant Runaways + +Author: Gertrude Atherton + +Posting Date: May 13, 2009 [EBook #3706] +Release Date: February, 2003 +First Posted: July 30, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VALIANT RUNAWAYS *** + + + + +Produced by Judy Boss. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +The Valiant Runaways +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +By +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +GERTRUDE ATHERTON +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TO +<BR> +GEORGE AND GILBERT JONES +<BR> +Of New York +<BR><BR> +WITHOUT WHOSE ENCOURAGEMENT THIS YARN <BR>WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN FINISHED +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P> +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="100%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap01">CHAPTER I</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap02">CHAPTER II</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap03">CHAPTER III</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap04">CHAPTER IV</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<A HREF="#chap05">CHAPTER V</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">CHAPTER VI</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">CHAPTER VII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">CHAPTER IX</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">CHAPTER X</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">CHAPTER XI</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">CHAPTER XII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">CHAPTER XV</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">CHAPTER XVI</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">CHAPTER XVII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">CHAPTER XVIII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">CHAPTER XIX</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">CHAPTER XX</A> +</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">CHAPTER XXI</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">CHAPTER XXII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">CHAPTER XXIII</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">CHAPTER XXIV</A> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> + +</TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +The Valiant Runaways +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +I +</H3> + +<P> +Roldan Castanada walked excitedly up and down the verandah of his +father's house, his thumbs thrust into the red silk sash that was +knotted about his waist, his cambric shirt open at the throat as if +pulled impatiently apart; the soft grey sombrero on the back of his +curly head making a wide frame for his dark, flushed, scowling face. +</P> + +<P> +There was nothing in the surroundings to indicate the cause of his +disturbance. The great adobe house, its white sides and red tiles +glaring in the bright December sun, would have been as silent as a tomb +but for the rapid tramping of Roldan and the clank of his silver spurs +on the pavement. On all sides the vast Rancho Los Palos Verdes cleft +the horizon: Don Mateo Castanada was one of the wealthiest grandees in +the Californias, and his sons could gallop all day without crossing the +boundary line of their future possessions. The rancho was as level as +mid-ocean in a calm; here and there a wood or river broke the sweep; +thousands of cattle grazed. Now and again a mounted vaquero, clad in +small-clothes vivified with silver trimmings, dashed amongst tossing +horns, shouting and warning. +</P> + +<P> +But Roldan saw none of these things. There was reason for his disquiet. +News had arrived an hour before which had thrown his young mind into +confusion: the soldiers were out for conscripts, and would in all +probability arrive at the Rancho Los Palos Verdes that evening or the +following morning. Roldan, like all the Californian youth, looked +forward to the conscription with apprehension and disgust. Not that he +was a coward. He could throw a bull as fearlessly as his elder +brothers; he had ridden alone at night the length of the rancho in +search of a pet colt that had strayed; and he had once defended the +women of the family single handed against a half dozen savages until +reinforcements had arrived. Moreover, the stories of American warfare +which he had managed to read, despite the prohibition of the priests, +had stirred his soul and fired his blood. But army life in California! +It meant languishing in barracks, hoping for a flash in the pan between +two rival houses, or a possible revolt against a governor. If the +Americans should come with intent to conquer! Roldan ground his teeth +and stamped his foot. Then, indeed, he could not get to the battlefield +fast enough. But the United States would never defy Mexico. They were +clever enough for that. His anger left him, and he gave a little +regretful sigh. Not only would he like that kind of a battle, but it +would be great fun to know some American boys. Then he shook his head +impatiently and dismissed these tourist thoughts. The present alone was +to be considered. +</P> + +<P> +There were two ways to avoid conscription. One was to marry—Roldan +sniffed audibly; the other lay in flight and eluding the men until +their round was over for the year. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan did not like the idea of running away from anything; he and +several of his father's vaqueros had once made an assault upon a band +of cattle thieves and hunted them into the mountains: that was much +more to his taste. Nevertheless there was one thing he liked less than +showing his heels, and that was giving up his liberty. Not to gallop at +will over the rancho, or sleep in a hammock, to coliar the bulls and +shout with the vaqueros at rodeo, to be the first at the games and the +races, to wear his silken clothes and lace ruffles, and eat the +delightful dishes his mother's cooks prepared! And then he was a very +high-spirited young gentleman. Although the same obedience, almost +reverence, was exacted of him by his parents that was a part of the +household religion in California, yet as the youngest child, who had +been delicate during his first five years, he had managed to get very +badly spoiled. He did not relish the idea of leading a life of monotony +and discipline, of performing hourly duties which did not suit his +taste, above all of being ordered to leave his father's house as if he +were a mere Indian. No, he decided, he would not go into the army—not +this year nor any other year. He would defy the governor and all his +men. +</P> + +<P> +When Roldan made up his mind he acted promptly. No time was to be lost +in this case. Now was the hour of siesta; he could have no better time +to get away. A note would relieve his parents of a certain amount of +anxiety; and if they did not know where he was they could not be held +accountable. His blood tingled at the presentiment of the adventures he +should have in that perilous journey through a country of which he knew +nothing beyond his father's and the adjoining rancho. And as adventures +would be but half spiced if experienced alone, he determined—and not +from selfish motives only—to save his best beloved friend, Adan Pardo, +from the grasp of the law likewise. +</P> + +<P> +He went within and slung about himself two pistols and a dagger. After +he had made a small bundle of linen and raided the pantry, he went out +to the corral, saddled his horse and packed the saddle bags, wound his +lariat securely about the pommel, then galloped away on a series of +adventures memorable in the annals of California. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +II +</H3> + +<P> +Roldan's way lay over his father's leagues until two hours after +nightfall. As he passed, every now and again, a herd of cattle, +lounging vaqueros called to him: "Ay, Don Roldan, where do you go?" or, +"The little senor chooses a hot day for his ride." But he excited no +curiosity. Like all Californians he half lived in the saddle; and he +was often seen riding in the direction of Don Esteban Pardo's rancho, +to spend a few days with his chosen friend. +</P> + +<P> +As he approached the house he saw the family sitting on the long +verandah: the pretty black-eyed girls in full white gowns, their dark +hair flowing to the floor, or braided loosely; Don Esteban, a silk +handkerchief knotted about his head, reclining in a long chair beside +his wife, a stout woman, coffee-coloured with age, attired in a dark +silk gown flowered with roses. Indian servants came and went with +cooling drinks. Although it was December, Winter had loitered and +fallen into deeper sleep than usual on her journey South this year. +</P> + +<P> +Adan was leaning against a pillar, moody and bored. He was the youngest +of the boys. His brothers, elegant caballeros, who spent most of their +time in the capital or on other ranches, were kind to their younger +brother, but not companionable. Therefore, when Roldan galloped into +sight, he gave a shout of joy and ran down the road. Roldan drew rein +some distance from the house, that the conference, which must take +place immediately, might be unheard by older ears. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen, my friend," he said rapidly, interrupting Adan's voluble +hospitality. "The soldiers are out for conscripts—" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, yi!—" +</P> + +<P> +"Now listen, and don't talk until I am done. I WILL NOT be drafted as +if I had no will of my own, and rot in a barrack while others enjoy +life. Neither will you if you have the spirit of a Pardo and are worthy +to be the friend of Roldan Castanada. So—I fly. Do you +understand?—and you go with me. We will dodge these servants of a +tyrant government the length and breadth of the Californias. When the +danger is over for this year we will return—not before. Now, you will +ask me to go to my room as soon as possible after you have given me +some supper, for I am tired and want sleep. You also will take a nap. +When all is quiet I shall call you and we will start." +</P> + +<P> +Adan had listened to this harangue with bulging eyes and tongue rolling +over his teeth. But Roldan never failed to carry the day. He was a born +leader. Adan's was the will that bent; but his talent for good +comradeship and his quiet self-respect saved him from servility. +</P> + +<P> +In appearance he was in sharp contrast to the slender Roldan, of the +classic features and fiery eyes. Short, roly-poly, with a broad, +good-natured face, his attire was also unmarked by the extreme elegance +which always characterised Roldan. In summer he wore calico +small-clothes, in winter unmatched articles of velvet or cloth, and an +old sombrero without silver. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay! yi!" he gasped. "Ay, Roldan! Holy Mary! But you are right. You +always are. And so clever! I will go. Sure, sure. Come now, or they +will think we conspire." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan dismounted, and was warmly greeted by the family. The girls rose +and courtesied, blushing with the coquetry of their race. Roldan cared +little for girls at any time, and to-night was doubly abstracted, his +ear straining at every distant hoof-beat. He retired as early as he +politely could, but not to sleep. Indeed, he became so nervous that he +could not wait until the family slept. +</P> + +<P> +"Better to brave them, Adan," he said to his more phlegmatic friend, +"than that sergeant, should he get here before we leave. Come, come, +let us go." +</P> + +<P> +They dropped out of the window and stole to the corral where the riding +horses were kept. It was surrounded by a high wall, and the gate was +barred with iron; but they managed to remove the bars without noise, +saddled fresh horses and led them forth and onward for a half mile, +then mounted and were off like the wind. +</P> + +<P> +They knew the country down the coast on the beaten road, but they dared +not follow this, and struck inland. The air was now of an agreeable +warmth; the full moon was so low and brilliant that Roldan called out +he could count the bristling hairs on a coyote's back. +</P> + +<P> +In less than two hours they were climbing a mountain trail leading +through a dense redwood forest. In these depths the moon's rays were +scattered into mere flecks dropping here and there through the thick +interlacing boughs of the giant trees. Those boughs were a hundred feet +and more above their heads. About them was a dense underforest of young +redwoods, pines, and great ferns; and swarming over all luxuriant and +poisonous creepers. +</P> + +<P> +They were silent for a time. The redwood forests are very quiet and +awesome. At night one hears but the rush of the mountain torrent, the +cry of a panther or a coyote, the low sigh of wind in the treetops. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, Roldan," exclaimed Adan, suddenly. "Think did we meet a bear?" +</P> + +<P> +"We probably shall," said Roldan, coolly. "These forests have many +'grizzlies,' as the Americans call them." +</P> + +<P> +"But what should we do, Roldan?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, kill him, surely." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you ever seen one?" +</P> + +<P> +"Never." +</P> + +<P> +"But it is said that they are very large, my friend, larger than you or +I." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps. Keep quiet. I like to hear the forest talk." +</P> + +<P> +"What strange fancies you have, Roldan. A forest cannot talk." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh—hush." +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, yi, Roldan! Roldan!" +</P> + +<P> +The horses were standing upright, neighing pitifully. Adan gave a +hoarse gurgle and crossed himself. +</P> + +<P> +"The adventures have begun," said Roldan. +</P> + +<P> +In a great swath of moonlight on a ledge some yards above them, +standing on his hind legs and swinging his forepaws goodnaturedly, was +an immense grey bear. Suddenly he extended his arms sociably, almost +affectionately. +</P> + +<P> +"We cannot retreat down that steep trail," said Roldan, rapidly. "He +could follow faster and the horses would fall. To the left! in the +brush, quick!—a bear cannot run sideways on a mountain." +</P> + +<P> +The boys dug their spurs into the trembling mustangs, who responded +with a snort of pain and plunged into the thicket. Only the bold skill +of the riders saved them from pitching sidewise down the steep slope, +despite the brush, for they were unshod and their knees had weakened. +</P> + +<P> +But the grizzly, alas! was still master of the situation. In less than +a moment the boys saw him lumbering along above them. He evidently had +possession of a trail, more or less level. +</P> + +<P> +"Dios de mi alma!" cried Adan. "If he gets ahead of us he will come +down and meet us somewhere. We shall be lost—eaten even as a cat eats +a mouse, a coyote a chicken." +</P> + +<P> +"You will look well lining the dark corridors of the bear, my friend. +Your yellow jacket with those large red roses, which would make a bull +sweat, would hang like tapestry in the houses of Spain. Those hide +boots, spotted with mud, and the blood of the calf, would keep him from +wanting another meal for many a long day—" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, thou fearless one! Why, it is said that if the grizzly even raises +his paw and slaps the face every feature is crushed out of shape." +</P> + +<P> +"I should not be surprised." +</P> + +<P> +They plunged on, tearing their clothes on the spiked brush and the +thorns of the sweetbrier, fragrant lilac petals falling in a shower +about them, great ferns trodden and rebounding. The air was heavy with +perfume and the pungent odour of redwood and pine. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan had passed Adan. Suddenly his horse stumbled and would have gone +headlong had not his expert rider pulled him back on his haunches. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it? What is it?" cried Adan, who also had been obliged to pull +in abruptly, and who liked horses less when they stood on their hind +legs. "Is it the bear upon us? But, no, I hear him—above and beyond. +What are you doing, my friend?" +</P> + +<P> +Roldan had dismounted and was on his hands and knees. In a half moment +he stood erect. +</P> + +<P> +"We are saved," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay? What?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is a hole, my friend—large and deep and round. Did you put any +meat in your saddle-bags?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, a good piece." +</P> + +<P> +"Raw?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Give it to me—quick. Do not unwrap it." +</P> + +<P> +Adan handed over the meat, then dismounted also. +</P> + +<P> +"A bear-trap?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, a natural one. Come this way, before I unwrap the meat." +</P> + +<P> +The boys forced their way to the south of the large hole, dragging the +still terrified horses, who were not disposed to respond to anything +less persuasive than the spur. Roldan approached the edge of the +excavation and shook the meat loose, flinging the paper after it. As +the smell of fresh beef pervaded the air it was greeted by a growl like +rising thunder, and almost simultaneously the huge unwieldy form of the +bear hurled itself down through the brush. The boys held their breath. +Even Roldan felt a singing in his ears. But the grizzly, without +pausing to ascertain his bearings, went down into the hole at a leap. +He made one mouthful of the meat, then appeared to realise that he was +in a trap. With a roar that made the horses rear and neigh like +stricken things, he flung himself against the sides of his prison, drew +back and leaped clumsily, tore up the earth, and galloped frantically +to and fro. But he was caught like a rat in a trap. +</P> + +<P> +The boys laughed gleefully and remounted their horses, which also +seemed to appreciate the situation, for they had quieted suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"Adios! Adios!" cried Roldan, as they forced their way up to the trail +the bear had discovered. "You will make a fine skeleton; we will come +back and look at you some day." +</P> + +<P> +But it was not the last they were to see of Bruin in the flesh. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +III +</H3> + +<P> +An hour later they began to descend the mountain on the other side, and +by dawn espied a ranch house in a valley. The white walls were pink +under the first streamers of the morning. The redwoods rose like a +solid black wall on the towering mountains on every side. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay!" exclaimed Roldan, drawing a deep sigh. "Sleep and a hot +breakfast. They will be good once more." +</P> + +<P> +"They will," answered Adan, who had been collapsing and digging his +knuckles into his eyes for an hour and more. +</P> + +<P> +They feared that no one might be stirring, but, as they approached the +verandah, the door opened and a stout smiling Californian, dressed in +brown small-clothes, appeared. +</P> + +<P> +"Who have we here?" he cried. "But you are early visitors, my young +friends." +</P> + +<P> +"We are dodging the conscript," said Roldan. "You will not betray us?" +</P> + +<P> +"I should think not. I'd hide my own boys, if the mountains did not do +that for me. Come in, come in. The house is yours, my sons. Burn it if +you will. Tired? Here. Go in and get into bed. The servants are not up, +but I myself will make you chocolate and a tortilla." +</P> + +<P> +The boys did not awaken for eight hours. When they emerged, somewhat +shamefacedly, they found the family assembled on the verandah, drinking +their afternoon chocolate, and impatient with curiosity. There were no +girls to criticise the dilapidated garments—which the kind hostess had +mended while the boys slept; but there were two youths of fourteen and +fifteen and two young men who were lying in hammocks and smoking +cigarritos. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan and Adan were made welcome at once. +</P> + +<P> +"My name is Jose Maria Perez," said the host, coming forward. "This is +my wife, Dona Theresa, and these are my sons, Emilio, Jorge, Benito, +and Carlos. What shall we call you, my sons?" +</P> + +<P> +"My name is Roldan Castanada of the Rancho Los Palos Verdes, and this +is my friend Adan Pardo of the Rancho Buena Vista." +</P> + +<P> +"Ay! we have distinguished visitors. But you were just as welcome +before. Sit down while I go and see if the big stew I ordered is done. +Caramba! but you must be hungry." +</P> + +<P> +The four lads quickly fraternised, and Roldan began at once to relate +their adventures, continuing them over the steaming dish of stew. When +he reached the point which dealt with the outwitting of the bear, Don +Emilio sprang from his hammock. +</P> + +<P> +"A bear trapped?" he cried. "A grizzly? We will have a fight with a +bull. You are rested, no? As soon as you have eaten, come and show us +the way." +</P> + +<P> +The boys, always ready for sport, and believing that they were beyond +the grasp of the law for the present, eagerly consented. An hour later +Don Emilio, Don Jorge, the four lads, and three vaqueros all sallied +forth to capture one poor bear. The vaqueros dragged a sled, and much +stout rope. +</P> + +<P> +When they reached the trap darkness had come, but the four boys held +lighted torches over the hole—this was their part. The bear, +disheartened with his long and futile effort to escape, lay on the +uneven surface below, alternately growling and roaring. As the torches +flared above him he sprang to his feet with a vast roar, his eyes as +green and glittering as marsh lights. In a moment a lasso had flown +over his head and he was on his back. But his formidable legs were not +to be encountered rashly. Each was lassoed in turn, also his back; then +his huge lunging body was dragged up the side of the excavation and +onto the sled. There he was bound securely; then the rope about his +neck was loosened and he was fed on a hind quarter of sheep. But it +placated him little. His anger was terrific. He roared until the echoes +awoke, and strained at the rope until it seemed as if his great muscles +must conquer. +</P> + +<P> +But he was powerless, and the procession started: first Roldan and +Benito with their torches; then two vaqueros dragging the sled, the +third holding the rope which encircled the bear's neck, ready to +tighten it on a second's notice. Following were Don Jorge and Don +Emilio, then the two other young torch bearers. Thus was poor Bruin +carried ignominiously out of the forest where he had been lord, to +perform for the benefit of the kind he despised. That night he rested +alone in a high walled corral, liberated by the quick knife of one of +the vaqueros, who sprang through the door just in time to save himself. +</P> + +<P> +There was an angry guest on the ranch that night. The bear's lungs, +which were of the best, had little repose, and he flung himself against +the earth walls of the corral until they quivered with the impact. The +horses in the neighbouring corrals whinnied; the cows in the fields +bellowed. It was a vocal night, and few slept. +</P> + +<P> +Nevertheless everybody was excited and good-natured next morning. +Immediately after breakfast they went out to the corral, and by means +of a ladder mounted the wall and stood on the broad summit. At a signal +from Don Emilio a vaquero opened the gate cautiously and drove in a +large bull, who had been carefully irritated since sunrise. +</P> + +<P> +The two unamiable beasts, glad of an object to vent their spleen upon, +flew at each other. The bear, giant as he was, was ignominiously rolled +in the dust by the furious onslaught of bulk and horns. He recovered +himself with surprising alacrity, however, and rushed at the bull. The +latter, off guard for the moment, and struggling for his lost breath, +was hurled on his back. He rolled over quickly, but before he could +gather his legs under him, the bear sat himself squarely upon the heavy +flanks. The bull jerked up his head, his eyes injected, his tongue +rolling out. The bear raised one of his mighty paws and dealt him a box +on the ear. The head fell with an ugly thud on the hard floor of the +corral. The bear adjusted himself comfortably and licked his paws. +</P> + +<P> +On the wall the onlookers were far more excited than the gladiators in +the arena. The Perezes sympathised with their personal property, but +Roldan and Adan felt that the bear was their menagerie, and that their +honour was at stake. Party feeling ran very high. Roldan and Benito +were twice separated by their anxious elders. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay! yi!" cried Carlos. "The bull wakes." +</P> + +<P> +The poor bull, in truth, despite the crushing weight on his vitals, +raised his head again, shook himself feebly, and was once more boxed +into unconsciousness. The side of his face was crushed; his body was +slowly flattening. The family encouraged him with tears and spirit. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, Ignacio, Ignacio, my poor one!" cried Don Jose. "Arouse thyself +and kill the brute. Ay! thou wert so beautiful, so elegant, thy sleek +sides like the satin of Dona Theresa—and he like a wild man that has +never washed. Where is thy pride, Ignacio? Arouse thyself!" +</P> + +<P> +Thus encouraged, the bull raised his head once more. The bear gave him +a whack that snapped his spinal cord, then rose and swung himself round +the enclosure with the arrogant mien of a bloated sultan who has swept +off a troublesome head. This attitude aroused Benito to fury. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, the cheat! the assassin!" he cried. "It was not a fair fight. Our +Ignacio had no chance—" +</P> + +<P> +"That is not true!" exclaimed Roldan. "He had the same chance at the +first. If you are not satisfied, Senorito Benito, then fight me." +</P> + +<P> +No sooner said than done. The boys, who stood some distance from the +others, doubled their fists and rushed at each other like two fighting +cocks. They pommelled for several minutes, then locked their arms about +each other and went reeling about the wall, to the horror of the +others, who dared not approach lest they should inflame them further. +</P> + +<P> +"Jump down! Jump down, you imbeciles!" cried Don Jose. "Do you wish to +be food for the bear? A misstep—" The words ended in a hoarse gurgle. +Dona Theresa shrieked. Adan and Carlos sobbed. The young men turned +cold and weak. The two boys had fallen headlong into the corral. +</P> + +<P> +They were sobered and fraternal in a moment. The bear stood upon his +hind legs and opened his arms invitingly. He stood in front of the gate. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay! ay!" gasped Benito. "He will eat us!" +</P> + +<P> +"No; he will eat the bull first; but he will hug us to death—that is, +if he gets us—which he won't. Adan!" he cried, "lower the ladder." +</P> + +<P> +Benito began to cry, his terror enhanced by the babel of voices on the +wall, each of which was suggesting a different measure. On the opposite +wall and in the branches of a neighbouring tree were the Indian +servants and the vaqueros. They stared stupidly, with shaking lips. +</P> + +<P> +Adan had recovered his presence of mind. With a firm hand, he lowered +the ladder. But his wit was not quick. He should have carried it along +the wall and placed it behind the boys. Instead, it descended several +yards away. The bear, who appeared to be no fool, lowered his forepaws +and trotted slowly toward the boys. +</P> + +<P> +"Juan!" shouted Roldan to a vaquero. "Lasso the bull and drag him to +the west side—far from the gate." +</P> + +<P> +The vaquero, alert enough under orders, swung the lasso with supple +wrist—and missed. The boys dodged the bear, who seemed in no haste, +but stalked them methodically, nevertheless. The vaquero swung again. +This time the rope caught the horns, was tightened by a quick turn, and +the carcass went thudding across the yard. The bear gave a furious howl +and plunged after. The boys scampered up the ladder. Don Jose took each +by the collar and shook them soundly. When they were released they +embraced each other. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay! but I was inhospitable to fight my guest," sobbed Benito. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, my friend," said Roldan, with dignity, winking back the tears +started by various emotions. "It is I who should have had my ears boxed +by the bear for insulting my host, and bringing anguish to the house of +Perez." Then he embraced Adan, but this time mutely. +</P> + +<P> +Dona Theresa had been carried to her room, where she lay prostrated +with a nervous headache; but her family and guests did ample justice to +the chickens stewed in tomatoes, the red peppers and onions, the fried +rice, tamales, and dulces which her cook had prepared in honour of the +event. Excitement and good will reigned; even Don Jose had forgiven the +young offenders, and they all talked at once, at the top of their +voices, as fast as they could rattle and with no falling inflection. +Roldan and Adan were pressed to remain at the Hacienda Perez until the +search was over, and although the former had a secret yearning for +adventure he was more than half inclined to consent. +</P> + +<P> +After a brief siesta the entire male population of the hacienda retired +to the wall of the corral to pot the bear. It was agreed that each +should fire at once, and that he who missed should have no dulces for a +week. +</P> + +<P> +The bear was sitting near the middle of the corral, surly but replete, +for he had eaten of the bull. Don Jose gave the signal. Twenty-two +shots were fired. The bear gave a roar which awoke the echoes of the +forest, lunged frantically on shattered legs, then fell, an ugly heap +of dusty grey hair. +</P> + +<P> +As the smoke cleared and Don Jose was announcing that only two Indian +servants had missed, Benito clutched Roldan's arm suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"Look up," he said. "Do you see anything? Are not those men; soldiers?" +</P> + +<P> +Roldan looked up to a ledge of the high mountain before the house. A +bend of the trail traversed a clearing. In this open were three men on +horseback, motionless for the moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Adan!" shouted Roldan. He ran down the ladder. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot be sure that those are the soldiers," he called up to Don +Jose. "But I take no risks. We must go." +</P> + +<P> +The others descended hastily. "My sons will have to hide too," said Don +Jose. "There is plenty of time. In a moment those men will be in the +forest again and can see nothing more for half an hour. We must do +nothing while they watch—there! they have gone." +</P> + +<P> +He shouted to the vaqueros to saddle six fresh horses, and ordered the +house servants to pack the bags with food. +</P> + +<P> +"There is a cave in the mountain on the other side which I defy anyone +to find," said Don Jose. "If there were a war my sons should fight, but +I need them now." +</P> + +<P> +While the horses were saddling, Roldan and Adan consulted together. At +the end of a few moments the former went up to Don Jose. +</P> + +<P> +"I think it would be wiser to separate," he said. "Adan and I will go +one way, your sons another. That will put them off the track; and the +cave, Carlos says, is not very large." +</P> + +<P> +"As you like," said Don Jose, who was perturbed and busy. "A vaquero +will go with you for a distance and advise you." +</P> + +<P> +The truth was, Roldan fancied lying inert in a cave for several days as +little as he fancied the somnolent life of a barrack, and Adan, who had +a secret preference for the cave, was too loyal to oppose him. +</P> + +<P> +In ten minutes the horses were ready, affectionate good-byes said, and +Roldan and Adan, followed by many good wishes, and prayers to return, +started southeastward through a dense canon. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IV +</H3> + +<P> +The vaquero guided the boys rapidly through the canon. The almost +perpendicular walls, black with a dense growth of brush and scrub +trees, towered so high above them that the atmosphere was damp and the +long strip of sky was like a pale-blue banner. The trail was well worn, +and there was nothing to impede their progress. The mustangs responded +to the lifted bridle and ran at breakneck speed. They emerged at the +end of half an hour. It was an abrupt sally, and the great level plain +before them seemed a blaze of sunlight. +</P> + +<P> +"Bueno," said the vaquero, halting. "Ride straight ahead. Keep to the +trail. At night you will come to a river. Before you reach it all trace +of you will be lost, because between now and there are many side +trails, and as the ground is so hard they cannot tell which you take. +Cross the river and take the trail to the left. That will bring you to +the Mission—about twenty miles farther—where the good padres will let +you rest and give you fresh horses. The senor, meanwhile, will throw +the officers off the scent. But if you are wise, you will make for the +Sierras and hide there. Adios, senor, adios, senor;" and he wheeled +about and disappeared into the darkness of the canon. +</P> + +<P> +"We are like the babes in the wood," said Adan. "I feel as if we never +should find our way home again." +</P> + +<P> +"We shall," said Roldan, stoutly; although he, too, felt the chill of +the immense solitude. "And we have begun well! What an adventure to +start with! I am sure we shall have more." +</P> + +<P> +Adan crossed himself. +</P> + +<P> +The boys rode at a long even gallop, the high chaparral closing behind +them. Every half hour they paused, and Roldan, dismounting, held his +ear to the ground. But as yet they were unpursued. +</P> + +<P> +A soft wind blew over the plain, fragrant with the honeydew of the +chaparral. The sun set in a great bank of yellow cloud. Then the night +came suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +A few moments later Roldan called: "Halt!" and held up his hand. "I +hear the rush of the water," he said. "We must be near the river." +</P> + +<P> +"It sounds as if it was high," said Adan. "It has rained hard this +month. Suppose these horses don't swim?" +</P> + +<P> +"We'll make them. Come on." +</P> + +<P> +"Ay! yi!" exclaimed Adan, not many moments after. +</P> + +<P> +They pulled up suddenly on the banks of the river, a body of water +about three hundred yards wide. It was swollen almost level with the +high banks. The tumultuous waters were racing as if Neptune astride +them was fleeing from angry gods. There is something unhuman in the +roar of an angry river: it has a knell in it. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan and Adan looked at each other. The latter's face had paled. +Roldan contracted his lids suddenly, and when his friend met the glance +that grew between them he compressed his lips and involuntarily +straightened himself: he knew its significance. +</P> + +<P> +"We must cross," said Roldan. "It would never do to spend the night on +this side. If they followed, they would never suspect us of crossing. +If we remained here, we could not hear them until they were upon us." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," said Adan. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan raised his bridle. The mustang did not move forward, but +cowered. "I don't like to hurt horses," said the young don, "but he's +got to go." He clapped his spurs savagely against the animal's sides, +and the next moment the waves were lashing about him. +</P> + +<P> +Adan was beside him at once, and together they breasted the rushing +waters. The mustangs were strong and made fair headway, incited by +terror and the spur. The water was very cold, but the boys scarcely +felt it. Their eyes were strained toward the opposite shore, measuring +the distance, which seemed to grow less very slowly. The stars were +thick and the moon was floating just above the chaparral, but the +darkness about them was grim, and only a narrow line of white indicated +the shore. +</P> + +<P> +The horses were not able to keep a straight course. The current lashed +them about more than once, but they righted, shook the water from their +quivering nostrils, and plunged on. +</P> + +<P> +The boys' glance so persistently sought their haven that they saw +nothing of what was passing about them. They were within twenty yards +of the shore. Adan, having the stronger beast, was some little distance +ahead. He did not observe it. He was registering a vow that if he +reached land in safety he would be drafted every year of his life +before he would ford another river after heavy rain. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Roldan became conscious that the wiry little body between his +gripping knees had relaxed somewhat the tension of its muscles. Was the +poor brute collapsing? Roldan leaned over and patted his neck. It +responded for a moment, then fell back again. Roldan set his lips. As +he did so he cast about him the instinctive glance of those in peril. A +huge log was bearing down upon him like a projectile. +</P> + +<P> +In a second his feet were out of his stirrups and he was crouching on +the mustang's back. The log struck the beast full in the side, tossing +Roldan as if he had been a feather. The mustang gave a hoarse neigh, +unheard above the roar of the water. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan, keeping his face from the pounding waves as best he could, +struck out for the bank. But the current was too much for his slender +body, plucky as it was. He made a mighty effort and shouted,— +</P> + +<P> +"Adan!" +</P> + +<P> +The high clear note pierced to his companion's ear. Adan turned his +head, uttered a cry, and pulled his unwilling mustang about. But the +current was carrying the white face on the waves rapidly past. +</P> + +<P> +"Lariat!" Roldan managed to scream. +</P> + +<P> +Adan's faculties had been paralysed for the moment, but they responded +almost automatically to that imperious will. He unwound the lariat +rapidly from the pommel, hastily gathered the loops, then flung it with +sure hand straight at his friend. It fell about Roldan's neck. The boy +jerked it over his shoulders, then signed to Adan to proceed. +</P> + +<P> +Adan once more urged his horse forward, not daring to look behind. +Roldan made no attempt to swim; he merely used his arms to keep his +head above water. There were but a few yards farther. The mustang, +despite his double load, made them, and scrambled up the bank. Adan, +realising for the first time that he was stiff with cold, scrambled off +and pulled in the rope with hands that were aching and almost numb. He +heard Roldan strike the bank, a moment later the snapping of brush. +Roldan's head rose into view, Adan gave a last despairing tug, and a +moment later the two boys lay on their backs, panting for breath. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +V +</H3> + +<P> +"Do you want any more adventures?" asked Adan feebly, after a time. +</P> + +<P> +"Not at present," said Roldan. +</P> + +<P> +He raised himself stiffly. "Come," he said, "this will never do. We +shall both have rheumatism. We must have a fire at once." +</P> + +<P> +Adan groaned pathetically, but got on his feet. They had found refuge +in the open; but a grove of trees was near, and in a quarter of an hour +they had piled a heap of branches and chaparral as high as an Indian +pyre, hunted up two pieces of flint, and sent sparks flying through the +dry mass. +</P> + +<P> +The boys divested themselves of their dripping clothes and hung them +close to the fire, then raced up and down with what energy was left in +them to scotch the chill night air. Finally they paused breathless +before the pile, which was now roaring merrily. +</P> + +<P> +"I should like to know what we are to have for supper," said Roldan. +"That Mission is twenty miles away, and I for one can't walk to it. +Climb up a tree and see if there is a light anywhere." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks, senor," said Adan, "when my clothes are dry." +</P> + +<P> +"True, we must keep our skin. I have it!" He sprang on the back of the +mustang, who also had fallen upon reaching the shore but had risen to +nibble for supper, and stood on the tips of his feet. "I can see well," +he announced. "But all the same I can see nothing. We must stay here." +</P> + +<P> +He dismounted, and relieving the mustang of the heavy saddle, emptied +the bags. "The bread and sweets are soaked," he said, "not fit for a +pig to eat; but we can do something with the meat. Fetch some coals." +</P> + +<P> +Adan with infinite difficulty managed to scrape a few coals apart from +the bonfire, and over this they scorched the meat. As they crouched on +the ground they looked like two little white savages, and they were +neither comfortable nor happy. +</P> + +<P> +"We must keep this fire going all night," said Roldan, "or we shall be +eaten by bears, to say nothing of rattlesnakes—" +</P> + +<P> +"Hist!" whispered Adan. "I hear one." Both boys sprang to their feet. +</P> + +<P> +"Where?" +</P> + +<P> +"Near the horse." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan seized his pistol and ran in the direction indicated, keeping +his eyes on the ground. Suddenly he paused. Something just beyond the +light was growing into a series of graceful loops. A long neck slowly +lifted itself and two baleful eyes fixed upon Roldan. He raised his +pistol, and the rattler was beheaded as neatly as if it were stuffed +and dismembered with a pen knife. It shot out to full length, and the +clever marksman took it by its horny tail and dragged it to the fire. +</P> + +<P> +"He didn't know that we'd have him for supper," said Adan, gleefully. +"Here, let us eat our steak and then I'll skin him." +</P> + +<P> +The steak proved tough, and when it had been disposed of with many +grumblings, the rattlesnake was skinned and roasted, and proved very +delicate and edible. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," said Roldan, "we must sleep." Their clothes being dry they +dressed; and after inspecting with a torch a circle of about two +hundred yards to see that there were no snake holes, they built a hasty +ring of chaparral, set fire to it that beasts and reptiles should keep +their distance, then lay down and slept. Roldan was always a light +sleeper, and with the fire on his mind awoke every few hours and +gathered fresh chaparral or roused the heavier Adan. Coyotes wailed in +the distance, and once as Roldan gathered brush he heard again the +deadly rattle. But they were not disturbed, and even the skies were +kind, for although clouds gathered, they passed. +</P> + +<P> +They awoke in the morning, fresh and vigorous—but also hungry; and +there was little to eat. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think I should fancy rattlesnake for breakfast," said Roldan, +and Adan shuddered at the mere thought. They cooked a small piece of +meat, all that was left of their store, and it but whetted their +appetite. +</P> + +<P> +"There's only one thing to do," said Roldan, "and that is to get to the +Mission as quickly as possible. Chocolate! Beans! possibly chicken! +Think of it. Come! Come!" +</P> + +<P> +Adan scrambled to his feet and saddled the mustang. It was agreed that +they should ride him by turns, the other running at a brisk trot. +</P> + +<P> +The sun was barely up when they started. A light mist lay on the +turbulent waters and puffed among the sweet-scented chaparral. Roldan +rode during the first hour, Adan running ahead, his glance darting from +right to left, but encountering eyes neither malignant nor savage. +Shortly after he mounted the horse the mist lifted and rolled back to +the ocean. They had left the chaparral some time before and now +discovered that they were in an open plain. In the distance were high +hills over which wound a white trail. Between these hills and the +travellers was a moving mass of something. Adan reined in suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"Roldan," he said, "are those horses? You have the longer sight." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan made a funnel of his hand. "Surely, surely!" he cried. "What +luck! I hate walking. They are probably wild, but I never saw the +mustang I could not lasso." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, you can do the lassoing," said Adan, grimly. "My thumb nearly +went off last night, and is twice its size." +</P> + +<P> +"Adan," said his friend, laying his hand on his comrade's knee. "I +haven't thanked you. I haven't mentioned it; but it is because—well—I +lay awake an hour last night trying to think of something to +say—and—and—thinking that I loved you better than my own brothers—" +</P> + +<P> +"That will do, then," said Adan, gruffly. "We'll be kissing each other +in a minute as we did at the Hacienda Perez; and I think that we are +getting too big for that. I hear that American boys never kiss each +other." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't they?" asked Roldan, pricking up his ears. "How I should like to +know some American boys. They must know so many things that we do not. +Who told you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Antonio Scarpia has been in America, you know—in Boston. He came back +last month and rode over a few days ago for the night. I asked him many +questions. He says they never show any feeling except when they get +mad, and that they walk and row and play ball—with the feet, +caramba!—and run about in the snow. He says they would think we were +like girls with our fine clothes and our hammocks—" +</P> + +<P> +"Girls!" cried Roldan, indignantly. "I'd like to see American or any +other boys do better with that bear than we did, or lasso a friend in +the midst of a boiling river as you did. And if they come here to laugh +at us they'll find one pair of fists that are not soft if they do have +lace ruffles over them. And I'd like to see them live all day on a +horse as we do." +</P> + +<P> +"True, true, you are always right," said Adan, soothingly. "Ay, I think +those horses are coming this way. Better get up." +</P> + +<P> +He moved back onto the anquera and Roldan sprang to his place and +unwound the lariat. Like all of its kind, it was a slender woven cord +about eighteen feet in length and made of tough strips of untanned +hide. It was an admirable weapon in skilled hands, but not to be +trifled with by the amateur. Many a careless Californian had lost a +finger or thumb, and more than one had owed it lockjaw. +</P> + +<P> +The wild horses advanced rapidly for a time, but when they saw that the +brother to which curiosity had attracted them was apparently of an +eccentric build they suddenly paused and scattered. Roldan raised the +bridle and dashed in pursuit; but the others were unincumbered, fleet +of foot and terrified. They fled like the wind. +</P> + +<P> +"Drop off!" commanded Roldan, reining in. "Quick! I WILL have one." +</P> + +<P> +Adan slid to the ground and the mustang sprang lightly forward. Roldan +had singled out a well-built black, a little heavier than his mates and +consequently somewhat in their rear. The mustang, who had slept off his +fatigue, had no need of spur; he seemed to enter into the spirit of the +chase—possibly realised that if the chase failed he might have a +double load to carry. He dashed over the rough adobe plain, Roldan +holding the bridle high in his left hand, the coiled lasso in his +right. Adan waddled after, far in the rear. The other horses had fled +to the four winds, but the pursued, occasionally ducking his head and +kicking up his hind legs as if in contempt of the pretensions of mere +man, made straight for the hills. Being undisciplined, however, he got +over the ground clumsily, stumbled once or twice in the wide cracks of +the adobe soil, and finally stopped short for want of wind. He swung +about and glared defiantly at his pursuers out of injected eyes. He had +never seen a lasso before, possibly not a man; but his instinct told +him that the horse and rider behind him were not roving the plain in +his own aimless fashion. He stood pawing the ground and shaking his +great red nostrils. Suddenly to his surprise the part of the horse new +to him lifted itself, and a black coiling something, graceful and swift +as a rattlesnake, sprang through the air with a sharp audible rush. A +quarter of a moment later he neighed with rage and terror: his neck was +in a vice. +</P> + +<P> +He gave a leap that nearly dragged Roldan from his saddle; but that +expert young gentleman had secured the lariat to the high pommel of his +saddle in a trice, and Don Jose Perez's mustang had thereafter to bear +the brunt of the strain. +</P> + +<P> +The wild animal pulled and tugged and tore up the ground; but finding +that he but increased his own discomfort, he gradually subsided, and +when Roldan finally turned about and rode slowly toward Adan he +followed meekly enough. +</P> + +<P> +When Adan saw the procession start in his direction he sat down on a +stone to rest, and when it reached him he obeyed orders and sprang on +the mustang's back as Roldan slipped off. +</P> + +<P> +"That was well done, my friend," he said approvingly. "I could see it +all; but I thought my eyes would fly out of my head." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan walked cautiously up to his prize and attempted to pat it gently +on the head. But it was some moments before he was able to touch the +beast, who was sulky, cross, and frightened. When he did he swiftly +loosened the lariat, and this procured him a meed of favour. The horse +then allowed himself to be patted all down the side and back, nor once +raised his hoof. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Roldan sprang to his back, gripping the mane with his hands, +the flanks with his knees. But this was one liberty too much. The horse +stood on his hind legs, made as if to go over backward, then suddenly +stiffened all four legs and sprang up and down as automatically as if +worked by a spring. Roldan was now in his element. He had broken in +more than one bucking horse. He remained as immovable as a fly on the +top of a coach, only giving an occasional prick with his spur to madden +the animal and wear him out the sooner. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan had cast the lariat from the animal's neck as soon as he +mounted, and it was well that he had, for his quarry made a sudden dash +and did not stop for half a mile,—when he paused on his forefeet, +waving his hind in the air. +</P> + +<P> +But still Roldan kept his seat, Adan shouting: "Bravo! Bravo!" by way +of encouragement. +</P> + +<P> +The battle lasted nearly an hour; then the mustang confessed himself +conquered, and the boys sought out the trail, from which they had +wandered far, and continued their journey. +</P> + +<P> +"Caramba!" exclaimed Roldan, "but I am famished, not to say tired. If +it had been ten miles instead of twenty, it would not have been worth +while." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VI +</H3> + +<P> +They rode on rapidly, too hungry to talk. The ground began to rise, and +they advanced through hills sprouting with the early green of winter. +Once they paused, and tethering the horses where they could feed, shot +several quail and roasted them. But the pangs of hunger were by no +means allayed, and when, in the early afternoon, they saw the white +walls of the Mission below them, they gave a shout of joy. +</P> + +<P> +The Mission stood in the middle of a valley, well away from woods and +hills, and surrounded by a large vineyard and orchard. On the long +corridor traversing the building adjoining the church, several figures +in habit and cowl walked slowly behind the arches. Indians were in the +vineyards and orchards and moving about the rancheria adjacent to the +main buildings. Cattle were browsing on the hills. A stream tangled in +willows cut a zig-zag course across the valley. +</P> + +<P> +The boys rode quickly down the hillside. As the padres heard the +approaching hoof-beats they paused in their walk, and shading their +eyes with their hands gazed earnestly at the travellers. +</P> + +<P> +"Friends! Friends!" cried Roldan gaily, as the tired steeds trotted up +to the corridor. The boys dismounted and made a deep reverence. One of +the priests, a man with a grave stern face came forward. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you, my children?" he asked. "You are the sons of aristocrats, +and yet you are torn and unkempt, and one of you has ridden many +leagues without a saddle. Are you runaways? The shelter of the Mission +is for all, but we do not countenance insubordination." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan introduced himself and his friend. "We are runaways, my father," +he added, "but from the government; and we have arranged that our +parents shall not be anxious. We do not wish to be drafted." +</P> + +<P> +The priest's brow relaxed. The padres had little respect for a system +that owed its existence mainly to the vanity of governors and generals, +and the present governor, Micheltorena, had by no means won the +approval of the Church. +</P> + +<P> +"You are welcome, my sons," he said. "If the officers come we cannot +deny your presence; but I do not think they will find their way here, +and we certainly shall not send for them. You are hungry and tired, no?" +</P> + +<P> +"Father, we could eat our horses." +</P> + +<P> +The padre laughed, and calling a young brother who was piously telling +his beads bade him go and see that a hasty luncheon was prepared. An +Indian came and took the mustangs, and the boys were led by the +hospitable priest into a large room, comfortably furnished, the walls +hung with some very good religious pictures. +</P> + +<P> +The padres, in truth, were glad of visitors at any time. They were +clever educated men who had given their lives to christianising +brainless savages in a sparsely settled country; and any news of the +outer world was very welcome. They pushed back their hoods and sat +about the boys, their faces beaming with interest and amusement as they +listened to the adventures of those wayward youths. And as all men, +even priests, love courage and audacity, they clapped their hands +together more than once or embraced the lads heartily. +</P> + +<P> +When luncheon was announced and the doors of the long refectory thrown +open, the boys were shown in as if they had been princes and told to +satisfy themselves. This they did, nor ever uttered a word. The priests +had tactfully withdrawn. Roldan and Adan ate enough beans, rice, cold +chicken, tongue, and dulces to make up for their prolonged fast, and +finished with a cup of chocolate and a bunch of grapes. After that they +went to sleep in two clean little cells, to which they were conducted, +nor awakened until all the air was ringing with the sweet-voiced +clangor of mission bells. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan turned on his elbow and looked out of the window. The square was +rapidly filling with Indians, some running in willingly enough, others +driven in at the end of the leash by the lay brethren. All knelt on the +ground for a few moments. Roldan, whose eyes were very keen, and, +during these days, preternaturally sharpened, noted that several of the +Indians were whispering under cover of the loud mutterings about them. +The face of the Californian Indian is not pleasant to contemplate at +any time: it is either stupid or sinister. Roldan fancied he detected +something particularly evil in the glance of the whispering savages, +and resolved to warn the priests. +</P> + +<P> +The scene was peaceful enough. The cattle browsing on the hills gave +the landscape an air of great repose, and the mountains beyond were +lost under a purple mist. The large stone fountain in the court +splashed lazily. As the worshippers rose and withdrew, the silver bells +rang out a merry peal, announcing that the morrow would be Sunday. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan fell asleep again. When he awoke it was dark outside, but on the +table by his cot was a lighted taper and a dish of fruit. He ate of the +fine grapes and pears, then rose and opened his door. In the small room +beyond a young priest was seated at a table, bending over a large leaf +of parchment, to which he was applying a pen with quick delicate +strokes. He looked up with a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you doing?" asked Roldan, curiously, approaching the table. +</P> + +<P> +"Illuminating the manuscripts of a mass. Look." And he displayed the +exquisite border to the music, the latter written with equal precision +and neatness. "This will be alive when I am not even dust. No one will +know that I did it; but I like the thought that it may live for +centuries." +</P> + +<P> +"If I did it, I should sign my name to it," said Roldan, with his first +prompting of ambition. "But I never could do that; I have not the +patience. I mean to be governor of the Californias." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you may be," said the young priest, gravely. +</P> + +<P> +"Are all your Indians docile?" asked Roldan, abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +The priest raised his head. "Why do you ask?" +</P> + +<P> +Roldan related his suspicions. +</P> + +<P> +The priest shot a furtive glance through the open window at the dark +square. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," he said slowly. "Sometimes I have thought—you see, +many are stubborn and intractable, and have to be flogged and chained. +Privately I think we are wasting our energies. We will leave California +several beautiful monuments for posterity to wonder at, but as for the +Indians we will end where we began. They are always escaping and +running back to the mountains. Their every instinct is for barbarism; +they have not one for civilization, nor can any be planted whose roots +will not trail over the surface. The good Lord intended them to be +savages, nothing more; and it is mistaken sentimentalism—However, it +is not for me to criticise, and I beg, Don Roldan, that you will not +repeat what I have said." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I shall not; but tell me, do you think there is danger?" +</P> + +<P> +"We have one rather bright young Indian—there are about a dozen +exceptions in all California, and they are treacherous. His name is +Anastacio, and he has great influence with the other Indians. A good +many of them are angry at present because they have been punished for +stealing grapes and stores, and just now they are rather excited +because it has been proposed to banish Anastacio to a Mission where +there are more soldiers,—he is regarded as the inciter of the +outrages." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you soldiers here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Eleven. The guard house is in the left hand corner of the square. But +what could they do in an uprising? We must get rid of Anastacio. I will +go now and speak to Padre Flores." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan went out into the square and strolled over to the soldiers' +quarters. The door was closed, but light streamed from an uncovered +window, and he had a good view of the guard room. A half dozen soldiers +were lying about on benches, half-dressed, smoking the eternal +cigarrito. Two were at a table writing. None looked alert, but as +Roldan passed out of the plaza to the open beyond, he encountered a +sentinel who was ready to gossip with the young don and told him that +three more were on duty on the several sides of the square. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan strolled on to the rancheria, a collection of six or eight +hundred huts of mud and straw among a thicket of willows by the creek. +Here all was dark and quiet. He glanced through several of the +uncurtained windows and saw whole families peacefully asleep. Suddenly +he paused and held his breath, at the same time retreating into the +heavy shade of a willow. A number of doors had opened almost +simultaneously; there was the sharp crunch of dry brush, and dark +figures glided, with the snake-like motion peculiar to the Indian, +toward the upper end of the rancheria. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan waited a moment, then followed softly. He had set himself the +duty of saving the Mission which had shown him hospitality, and was not +to be deterred. Moreover, the spirit of adventure was by no means +quenched. +</P> + +<P> +In a few moments he paused opposite a large hut, from which issued a +subdued murmur. The window had been covered, but a thin ray of light +pierced through a crack in the door, and to this Roldan applied his eye. +</P> + +<P> +The room was crowded with Indians standing respectfully about a man in +the middle of the room, whom Roldan knew instinctively to be Anastacio. +He was big and clean-limbed and sinewy, with small cunning eyes, a +resolute mouth and chin, and an air of perfect fearlessness. Roldan +warmed to him, and looked with admiration and envy at the muscles on +his splendid limbs. +</P> + +<P> +He was speaking rapidly in the native patois, and Roldan could gather +little of his meaning beyond what his gestures conveyed. He shook his +fist in the direction of the Mission, snapped his fingers in scorn, +pointed toward the mountains, then made the motion of speeding an arrow +from the bow, at the same time contracting his face hideously. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan stayed as long as he dared, then returned hastily to the +Mission. A friar was locking up for the night, and began to chide the +young guest for being out so late, but Roldan interrupted him +impatiently. +</P> + +<P> +"Can I see Padre Flores to-night?" he asked. "I must see him. It is +important." +</P> + +<P> +"He has retired to his cell, but I will take your message; and he never +denies himself to those that need him." +</P> + +<P> +He went to the end of the corridor and tapped at a door. In a few +moments he returned. +</P> + +<P> +"Padre Flores will see you," he said. +</P> + +<P> +The priest was standing by the little altar in the corner of his cell +when Roldan entered. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it, my son?" he asked. "Have you learned anything new? Padre +Estenega has told me of your suspicions." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan rapidly related what he had seen. The priest's face became grave +and anxious. +</P> + +<P> +"There is trouble brewing, I fear," he said. Then he smiled suddenly. +"You ran away to avoid fighting. It would be odd if you found yourself +in the midst of it." +</P> + +<P> +"I did not run away to avoid fighting," said Roldan, flushing hotly. +"Pardon, father; I meant that you have misunderstood. I do not choose +to be shut up in a barrack against my will, but I am ready to fight; +and, although I am not yet sixteen, you shall see that I can help you +protect your Mission. And Adan too." +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure of it. I did but tease you. And your part shall begin +to-night. You are rested, no?" +</P> + +<P> +"I feel as if I wanted no more sleep for a week." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well. Tell brother Antonio—whom you met on the corridor just +now—to let you in the church by the side door and give you the key, +with which you will lock yourself in. Then go up into the belfry and +watch. It is the full of the moon and clear. If you merely see a dozen +or more figures gliding about the rancheria, that will mean that they +are plotting, and intend no action to-night. If you see several +hundred, run down and bring me word. But if you see a mass of men rise +at once and descend upon the west gate, ring the bells. I shall go and +warn the soldiers, and every priest and brother will sleep on his +pistol to-night. But I don't think they are organised as yet. Before +dawn I shall send a messenger to the nearest town for reinforcements. +Go, my son. You are a brave and clever lad." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan ran down the corridor and secured admission to the church. When +he had locked the door behind him, the vast dark building, beneath +whose tiles priests lay buried, shook his spirit as night and the +plains had not done, and he wished that he had brought Adan. Then he +jerked his shoulders, reflected that cowards did not carry off the +prizes of the world, and determined that his first should be the +admiration and approval of the priests and soldiers of this great +Mission. He walked rapidly down the nave, trying not to hear the hollow +echo of his footsteps, then opened several doors before he found the +one behind which was the spiral stair leading to the belfry. His supple +legs carried him swiftly up the steep ascent, and in a moment he was +straining his eyes in the direction of the rancheria. +</P> + +<P> +The belfry was about ten feet square. The massive walls contained three +large apertures, through which the clear sonorous notes of the great +bells carried far. Just beneath the arch Roldan had selected as +observatory, and on the side opposite the plaza was the private garden +of the padres, surrounded by cloisters. An aged figure, cowled, his +arms folded, was pacing slowly. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan, glancing over his shoulder, saw Padre Flores return from the +soldiers' quarters; but in the rancheria there was no motion but the +swaying tops of the willows, and no sound anywhere but the hoot of the +owl and the yap of the coyote. +</P> + +<P> +It was a long and lonely watch. Roldan felt as if he were suspended in +air, cut off from Earth and all its details. Although his military +instinct had been aroused and he burned for fight, his spirit grew +graver in that isolation, and he resolved to do all he could to save +the Mission from attack. It was there for peace and good deeds, and its +preservation was of far more importance than a small pair of spurs for +Master Roldan. +</P> + +<P> +Nevertheless, Roldan was to win his spurs. +</P> + +<P> +Toward morning he saw an Indian, attended by a priest, let himself out +of a gate and steal toward the corral. A few moments later he +reappeared, leading a mustang up the valley in the shadow of the trees. +The priest re-entered the gate, and Roldan knew that the messenger had +gone forth for help. +</P> + +<P> +At sunrise a brother came running up the stair. "Better go down," he +said, smiling. "I am going to ring for mass, and it will deafen you. +You saw nothing, of course?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"We did not expect it, and slept. It takes time to organise." +</P> + +<P> +"Have they any weapons?" +</P> + +<P> +"Their bows and arrows. We have always thought it best to leave them +those in case of assault by savage tribes." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan descended the stair as the bells rang out their peremptory +summons. Although he was tired and sleepy, he determined to remain in +the church during mass, and knelt near the altar by a pillar where he +could command a view of the nave. Almost the first to enter was +Anastacio. He carried himself proudly—like a warrior, thought +Roldan—and advancing to the altar bowed low, then knelt stiffly, his +eyes closed. +</P> + +<P> +The others drifted in slowly: the women kneeling on the right, the men +on the left. Finally all the priests and brothers, except Padre Flores, +who conducted the service, entered and knelt in the aisle. Padre +Flores' garments were as rich as any worn in old Spain, and the +candelabra about him were as massive. The images of the saints were +clad in white satin embroidered with gold and silver thread. On the +walls were many high-coloured paintings of saints, softened by the +flood of light from the wax candles. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan watched keenly all the faces within the line of his vision. They +were mostly sleepy. Suddenly, as his glance shifted, it encountered the +eyes of Anastacio. Those powerful crafty orbs were fixed upon him under +drawn brows. +</P> + +<P> +"He suspects me," thought Roldan, and then once more demonstrated that +several of his talents were diplomatic. He glanced past the Indian +indifferently to the women, then to the priests, and from there to the +paintings and altar, his regard but that of the curious traveller. +</P> + +<P> +When Roldan left the church he encountered Adan, who evidently had +entered last and knelt near the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Where did you go last night?" Adan demanded loudly. +</P> + +<P> +"I sat up talking to the priests and roaming about the square," replied +Roldan. Anastacio was almost at his elbow. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I had had sleep enough by twelve o'clock and I went into your +cell, and then spent the rest of the night waiting for you to come +back." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope breakfast is ready. Come." +</P> + +<P> +They went to the refectory, where Padre Flores embraced Roldan +heartily, but made no allusion to his watch; there were Indian servants +present. After breakfast the two boys walked up and down the middle of +the square, and Roldan related his experience of the night. Adan +listened with open mouth and shortened breath. +</P> + +<P> +"Caramba!" he ejaculated. "Is there to be a fight?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure of it. Are you frightened?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not I. I'd rather fight Indians than ford a river. But do you think we +can hold out?" +</P> + +<P> +"We can try. And if they don't make the attack to-night, we shall have +the better chance, because the reinforcement will arrive to-morrow. But +that Anastacio suspects me, and doubtless he has discovered in some way +that the messenger has gone. I am sure there will be trouble to-night, +and I am going now to get a good sleep. Do you sleep, too; and see that +you eat no dulces for supper, lest they make you heavy." +</P> + +<P> +He awoke about four in the afternoon. There was a babel of voices in +the plaza, and he sprang out of bed, excited with the thought that war +had begun. But he saw only a typical Mission Sabbath afternoon. Several +hundred Indians were seated on the ground in groups of two or three, +gambling furiously. Through the open gates opposite, Roldan could see a +spirited horse-race, a crowd of Indians betting at the top of their +voices. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan went to the kitchen and asked for a cold luncheon, then sought +Padre Flores. The priest was in his cell, and as he saw Roldan he +motioned to him to close the door. +</P> + +<P> +"I can learn nothing, my son," he said; "but something in the air tells +me that there will be trouble to-night. Will you watch again?" +</P> + +<P> +"I will, my father." +</P> + +<P> +"We will all sleep on our pistols. Now listen. All we can do is to +protect the gates. If you ring once that means that the Indians are +advancing on the south gate, the one nearest the rancheria. But they +are crafty, and will doubtless seek to enter by one less guarded. Two +peals will mean the west gate, three the east, and a wild irregular +clamour the north. Can you remember?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can, my father," said Roldan, proudly. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe you. Go up into the tower at sundown, which is the hour when +the gates are closed. As soon as you have finished ringing you can come +down and join in the fight. The arms will be kept in the room where we +sat yesterday until your meal was made ready. Now go, my son, and God +bless you. Ah!" he called after him. "Wait a moment. Get a cassock and +put it on. It will make you shapeless among the bells. Otherwise you +might be seen." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan was at his post as soon as the Indians had been driven through +the gates for the night. They straggled about the valley, still talking +excitedly; but there was nothing unusual in this, the watcher had been +told. Gradually they moved toward the rancheria, disappeared into it, +and the valley was as quiet as it had been the night before. +</P> + +<P> +In the great court there were rifts of light at irregular intervals; +the heavy wooden shutters of every window were ajar. Roldan felt the +nervous tension of those minds below, and with it a sense of +companionship, very different from the oppressive loneliness of his +previous watch. +</P> + +<P> +The clock of the Mission had just struck eleven when Roldan stood +suddenly erect and hooped his hands about his eyes. Something was +moving in the willows beside the river. The moon shone full on the +rancheria, and when the outer edge of the latter appeared to broaden +and project itself the effect was noticeable at once. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan watched breathlessly. In a moment there could no longer be any +doubt: a broad compact something was moving down the valley toward the +Mission. And an army of cats could not have made less sound. +</P> + +<P> +He laid his hand on the bell rope. The Indians came swiftly, but their +course was not yet defined. When within a hundred yards of the Mission +they deflected suddenly to the right. Their destination was not the +south gate. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan closed his eyes for a half moment to relieve them of the strain, +then opened them and held his breath. Only the outer fringe of the +little army could now be seen; it was crawling close to the western +wall. In a few moments they were beneath Roldan; he could hear the +slight impact with the air. Then once more he strained his eyes until +he thought they would fly from his head, and his lungs seemed bursting. +They were approaching the west gate. +</P> + +<P> +They passed it. There could be no doubt now that they purposed to +attack the north gate; but Roldan dared not ring until they were well +away from the west side, lest they change their plans and his signal +mislead. +</P> + +<P> +As they reached the corner of the wall they suddenly accelerated their +pace as if impatience mastered them. When the tail of the procession +had whisked about and Roldan saw a compact mass move like a black cloud +before the wind toward the north gate, he caught the rope in both hands +and jangled with all his might. +</P> + +<P> +The great clapper hurled itself against the mighty sides of the bell +with a violence which split the nerves and made the ear-drums creak. +The blood surged to Roldan's head, carrying chaos with it. He had a +confused sense of a flood of light in the plaza below, but could hear +no other sound except the deafening uproar in his ears. Suddenly +something gave way beneath his feet. He had an awful feeling of +disintegration, of solid parting from solid in empty space. He kicked +out wildly. His feet touched nothing. Then his head suddenly cleared, +although the deep tones of the bell still seemed echoing there, and he +became aware that his descent had stopped, and that his hands, torn and +aching, were still clutching the rope. He knew what had happened. He +had stepped too far and gone through one of the arches. +</P> + +<P> +There was no time for fright. He began to pull himself up by the rope, +hand over hand. At the same time he was acutely conscious of many +things. The Indians were yelling like demoniacs and battering at the +gate. In the garden on the other side, the old priest was shouting Ave +Marias in a high quavering voice. A breeze had sprung up and Roldan +felt the chill in it. And he felt the weight of the cassock. The heavy +woollen garment fatigued his arms and impeded his progress. Were it not +for that he could scramble up like a monkey. +</P> + +<P> +He was within two feet of the top. Suddenly he felt a slackening of the +rope, accompanied by a faint sickening sound. The rope was old, it was +giving way. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan made a wild lurch for the projecting floor of the belfry. The +rope broke. He went down. +</P> + +<P> +He had heard that a drop, however swift, might seem to occupy hours to +the doomed. To his whirling horror-struck brain this descent certainly +seemed very long. It was almost as if he were sauntering. Nor was he +tumbling over and over. He had shut his eyes tight when the rope +snapped. He opened them, gave a shuddering glance downward, then +laughed almost hysterically: his cassock, ample even for a man, had +caught the breeze and spread out on all sides like a parachute. +</P> + +<P> +And although the descent occupied but a moment longer, he comprehended +the situation, with his abnormally sharpened senses, as clearly as +though he stood on high with a spy glass. +</P> + +<P> +All the inhabitants of the Mission proper—the priests, brothers, +soldiers, and house servants—were standing before the north gate, +firearms in hand. Beyond were some twenty-five Indians battering and +yelling, making noise enough to induce the belief that they numbered +ten times as many more. The rest were not to be seen, but it was not +difficult for Roldan to suspect their purpose. +</P> + +<P> +He lighted on the stone steps of the church, tore off his heavy +garment, and ran toward the north gate. As he did so the east gate fell +with a crash, and five hundred Indians rushed into the plaza. +</P> + +<P> +They uttered no sound. The guard at the upper end of the square was not +aware of their advent until Roldan reached them. He was out of breath, +but he caught the arm of the man nearest him and pointed. In a second +the word had passed, and the handful of defendants stared helplessly at +the advancing hordes. But only for a moment. Padre Flores shouted to +fall into line, then ordered them not to fire in the same breath. +Anastacio, somewhat ahead of his followers, was approaching with a +white rag in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +When within a yard of the missionaries he paused and saluted +respectfully. +</P> + +<P> +"A word, my fathers," he commanded, and in excellent Spanish. +</P> + +<P> +"Go on," said Padre Flores, sternly. +</P> + +<P> +"We have not come to kill," said Anastacio, slowly and with great +distinctness: the noise beyond the north gate had ceased. "You know +that we never kill the priests, nor do we care for blood. We have come +for the stores of the Mission—all your great winter supply, except a +small quantity which we will leave you that you may not suffer until +you can get more. We are tired of this life. We belong to the +mountains. We cannot see that we are any better for your teachings, and +we certainly are not as strong. Now let us do our work in peace, and +all will be well. But if you fire, we let our arrows go, and we are +twenty to one." +</P> + +<P> +All turned anxiously to Padre Flores. They were not warlike, and if no +bodily harm was intended they could see no reason for resistance. +</P> + +<P> +"You have us at disadvantage," said Padre Flores, coldly. "I cannot +sacrifice those in my charge, if you do not mean to kill. I agree to +your terms on one condition: that we retain our firearms. I pass my +word that no one shall shoot. I cannot take your word—nor that of any +Indian. As you say, our teachings are thrown away." +</P> + +<P> +"I take yours," said Anastacio, undisturbed. "All I ask is that you +remain here under charge of twenty of my followers until I call them +away." +</P> + +<P> +He marched off, after planting his guard; and for the next two hours he +and his men looted the Mission and packed the trove on horses which had +been brought up, or on the backs of the bigger Indians. At the end of +that time he shouted to his prisoners to come down and enter the +Mission. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan and Adan had been exchanging bitter condolences over the +humiliating change in the warlike programme, but the raw air of the +morning had chilled their enthusiasm, and Roldan, moreover, began to +feel reaction from the shock to his nerves. It was not every day that a +boy sailed down through forty feet of space and lit on his feet, and +his nerves were out of tune. +</P> + +<P> +When Anastacio called, he went with the rest, but lagged behind. The +door of the Mission sala was open. The priests entered first, their +heads scornfully erect; then the brethren, the soldiers, and servants. +As Roldan and Adan were about to enter, the door was suddenly pulled +to, coarse hands were clapped over their mouths, and, kicking, +struggling, biting, scratching, they were borne swiftly across the +courtyard and out of the gates. There they were set on their feet, and +found themselves face to face with Anastacio. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't yell," he said. "There is no one to come to the rescue. We shall +not hurt you unless you try to run away. Then I myself will beat you. +Get on that horse, both of you." +</P> + +<P> +"I am tired," said Roldan, indifferently. "I want to sleep." +</P> + +<P> +"Sleep? Very well. Come here." +</P> + +<P> +He lifted him upon a large horse, then mounted behind and encircled him +with one arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Go to sleep," he said; and cantered rapidly down the valley, followed +by his thieving horde. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VII +</H3> + +<P> +When Roldan awoke he shivered slightly: the breath of winter was about +him. He peered into the dusk, but could only gather that he was in a +forest of huge trees on the side of a mountain. High above the wind was +surging. He had a curious sense of travelling through the depths of the +sea in a vacuum, the roar of suspended waters just over his head. +Behind, between the giant trees, was a moving column of horses and men. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are we?" he asked Anastacio. +</P> + +<P> +"In the mountains, in a redwood forest. My pueblo is not far." +</P> + +<P> +"What mountains? What forest?" +</P> + +<P> +"That you will not know." +</P> + +<P> +"Where is Adan?" +</P> + +<P> +"On a stout mustang between two faithful followers of mine." +</P> + +<P> +"They are unnecessary. He would not leave me." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps not. Sometimes the white man lies and sometimes he is true." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan sat up; his tired head had rested against the shoulder of his +captor. +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose I get behind you," he said. "It will be more comfortable for +us both. That is, if you can trust me," with an attempt at sarcasm. +</P> + +<P> +"I trust you. Get behind." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan slipped down, sprang up, then strained his eyes once more into +the depths of the forest. Nothing moved but that winding procession. +Occasionally a coyote yapped or a wildcat yelled. Suddenly something +fell against his face, pricking it gently. He looked over Anastacio's +shoulder. They were passing into an open. The air was full of white, +whirling particles. +</P> + +<P> +"It snows," said Anastacio; "but we are soon there." +</P> + +<P> +"We are in the Sierras," thought Roldan. He looked about with intense +interest; he had never seen snow before; and to penetrate the mystery +of the mighty Sierras had been one of the hopes of his life. The ground +was white, and crunched under the horses' hoofs. The air was thick with +snow-stars glittering under the full radiance of the moon. Roldan +forgot that he was a captive. His mind had made its first impulse to +the mysteries of night and solitude during the few moments between his +entry into another forest and the encounter with the bear; it now made +its first real opening. He was vaguely troubled by the embryonic +thoughts that in their maturity come to men who have lived and +suffered, when they are alone in a forest at night, far from other men. +</P> + +<P> +Again they plunged into the forest. No snow penetrated the treetops, +knit together by centuries and storms. All was black again, and the +deep ocean of leaf and branch roared faintly overhead. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan felt oppressed and thoughtful. He looked into the future and saw +himself a man. He would be governor of the Californias, and make +himself a good and great man, wiser than the idle caballeros who +patronised him; he would teach them the folly of their useless lives. +</P> + +<P> +"Look," said Anastacio, abruptly. "We are here. It is a pueblo of my +fathers, and will serve us now." +</P> + +<P> +He pointed with his riding switch through the trees to a vague +whiteness, and in a moment they emerged into another open. It was a +clearing some three hundred feet square, crowded with dilapidated +hovels, white under a light fall of snow. It was in the heart of the +Sierras, on the flat of a peak; and high on every side reared other +peaks, glittering with snow, black with redwoods. The snow clouds had +passed. The moon rode in a dark blue sky set thick with stars. The +silence, the repose, were appalling. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan jumped to the ground, and accompanied by Anastacio, ran up and +down to get the cold and fatigue of night travel out of his body. In a +few moments they were joined by Adan, who came waddling up, his broad +face knit with perplexity and delight. +</P> + +<P> +"I leave you now," said Anastacio, "but remember—if you attempt to +escape you carry poisoned arrows in your backs." +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, Roldan!" exclaimed Adan, when their formidable host was out of +hearing. "But this was more than we bargained for. I don't know whether +I like it or not." +</P> + +<P> +"I must say I don't like the idea of being in the power of +savages—Indians," said Roldan, contemptuously. "But as we started out +for adventure we must take black bread with white. I think I do rather +like this, but I shall not if we have to stay here too long and nothing +happens." +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't anything likely to happen?" asked Adan, anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"How can one tell? And who could find this place? But if worst comes to +worst we'll run away—and not with poisoned arrows in our backs, +either." +</P> + +<P> +"That we will," said Adan, emphatically. "We've done that before." +</P> + +<P> +The boys were given a good supper of meat roasted over coals, and a +slice of Mission cake, then were escorted by Anastacio to the largest +of the huts. +</P> + +<P> +"Enter and sleep," he said. "It is my hut. I shall sleep beside you." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VIII +</H3> + +<P> +The boys slept soundly between two excellent Mission blankets in a +corner of the hut, whose walls and floors had been well swept with +Mission brooms. Anastacio, despite his contempt for the trammels of +civilisation, had developed an aristocratic taste or two. He slept by +the door, but when the boys awoke he was not there. The pueblo, but for +two sentinels standing before the door, was apparently deserted. The +sun was looking over the highest peak, suffusing the black aisles of +the forest with a rosy glow, reddening the snow on hut and level and +rocky heights. There was not a sound except the faint murmur of the +treetops. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is the world?" asked Roldan. "Are there ranches, with cavalcades +and bull-fights, lazy caballeros lying in hammocks smoking cigarritos, +or dancing the night through with silly girls? Dios de mi alma! I feel +as if I did not care." +</P> + +<P> +"Caramba!" exclaimed Adan, "I am famished. Do you suppose they have +left us anything to eat?" +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose there is nothing to do but ask one of these dogs to be good +enough to give us breakfast—no, not ask. I could starve, but not beg +of an Indian." +</P> + +<P> +He beckoned haughtily to one of the sentinels, who approached and +saluted respectfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Breakfast," said the young don, curtly. "We wish to eat at once." +</P> + +<P> +The Indian went over to a large stone oven and took out four meal +cakes, which he carried to the boys, then fetched them fruit and wine. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is Anastacio and the others?" asked Roldan, breakfast over. +</P> + +<P> +"In the temascal." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan sprang to his feet. "Do you hear that, Adan?" he cried. "We have +always wanted to see Indians in temascal." To the sentinel, "Take us +there at once." +</P> + +<P> +The Indian scowled. "But for you, senor, we, too, are in the temascal." +</P> + +<P> +"Take us to the temascal," said Roldan, peremptorily, and the savage, +in whom servility had been planted by civilisation, yielded to the will +of the aristocrat. He bent his shoulders and said: "Bueno; come!" +</P> + +<P> +The boys followed him through the brush, the sweet-scented chaparral on +which the honey-dew still lingered, to another and smaller clearing. +Here were several long rows of earthen huts, three or four feet high, +out of which smoke poured through an aperture in the roof of each. Near +by was a broad creek to which the bank sloped gently from the clearing. +The creek, some three feet deep, murmured over coloured stones and +sprouting trees. The long fine strands of the ice grass trailed far +over the water, motionless. Huge bunches of maidenhair, delicate as +green lace, clung to the steep bluffs on the opposite side. Forests of +ferns grew close to the water's edge. Down through a rift in the cliffs +tumbled a mountain stream over its rocky bed. +</P> + +<P> +"Are they stewing in those things?" asked Roldan. +</P> + +<P> +The Indian nodded. Roldan, followed closely by Adan, approached one of +the temascals and opened the door cautiously. At first they could see +nothing, so dense was the smoke; but when much had rushed out through +the new opening, they saw two prostrate figures, sweating from every +pore. Their eyes were closed, they breathed stertorously. The +expression on their heavy faces was beatific. +</P> + +<P> +"Caramba!" exclaimed Adan, as Roldan closed the door, "I am glad they +like it. What a lot of trouble to get clean." +</P> + +<P> +"As they never take a bath, they couldn't get clean any other way; and +besides it rests them after any great exertion—Mission raiding, for +instance—and they also fancy it drags every humour out through the +pores of the skin. They'll be coming out soon. Let us go down to the +creek and wait." +</P> + +<P> +The smoke was ascending upward in straight columns through the still +air, scarcely clouding the brilliant morning, not a wreath wandering +into the aisles of the forest. The sun climbed higher, melting the +light fall of snow, its rays dancing among the silver ripples of the +water, vivifying the many greens about the creek. +</P> + +<P> +The boys amused themselves flinging pebbles at the darting trout and +discussing chances of escape. +</P> + +<P> +"We must not fly too soon," said Roldan, "or we shall run into the +soldiers. Of course they are scouring the country after these robbers." +</P> + +<P> +"This is a good place to hide in until the Mission food gives out; but +I'd prefer even the barracks to living on acorns—Ay, look!" +</P> + +<P> +The door of one of the temascals had opened. A limp figure tottered +forth and down to the bank. He almost fell into the creek, but had +sufficient wit uncooked to rest his head on a projecting stone. +Presently came another, then another, and another, until the bright +rocks were covered with dusky forms, the heads bobbing just above the +surface, supported on stump or stone. The boys barely recognised +Anastacio. Where was that commanding presence, that haughty mien? Bowed +like an old man, blind from smoke, with simmering brain, he reeled into +the water with as little dignity as his creatures. +</P> + +<P> +But in less than an hour all had sprung forth briskly, danced about in +the sun to dry, and started on a run for the pueblo. Roldan and Adan +followed close, knowing that a feast alone would satisfy appetite after +the temascal. And in a little time the smell of roast meat pervaded the +morning, great cakes were roasting. The boys were invited to eat apart +with Anastacio. At the conclusion of the meal the host, who had not +spoken, solemnly poured out three glasses of fire-water. He swallowed +his at a gulp. The boys sipped a few drops, winking rapidly. Then +Roldan thought it time to speak: his chief was visibly thawed. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you keeping us for?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Ransom." Anastacio lit a cigarrito—one of the padre's—and lay back +on a bearskin. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know why we ran away? To escape the conscription. If you give +us up, all our adventures, our dangers, our escapes, will be as +nothing, and we shall be punished besides." +</P> + +<P> +Anastacio moved his eyes to Roldan's with a flash of interest. +</P> + +<P> +"Good! I hate the government. You shall stay here until the time of +conscription is over. Then I will get a big sack of Mexican dollars, a +herd of cattle, a caponara of horses, and much tobacco and whiskey. Who +are your fathers?" +</P> + +<P> +Roldan explained. +</P> + +<P> +Anastacio flushed under his thick skin. "Good. I will double the +ransom—and the guard." +</P> + +<P> +"The conscription will be over in a few weeks—" +</P> + +<P> +"You could not go before. We too must hide. Of course the soldiers are +behind. I have many scouts watching. Now go to sleep." +</P> + +<P> +The following week was clear and bright, but very cold. The boys, bred +in the warm basin of California, must have suffered had not Anastacio +ordered one of his minions to make them coat and boots from the skin of +the coyote. Every morning the chief drilled his men with the tactics of +a born commander who had let no opportunity for observation escape him. +The military discipline of the pueblo was only relaxed for three hours +in the afternoon, during which time the Indians were given full taste +of the freedom they coveted that they might battle for it the more +passionately when the time came. They gambled, slept, shot game in the +forest, exercised the horses, which were in corral about a mile from +the camp. The boys shot deer with Anastacio, and wrestled in the plaza. +Occasionally the taciturn Indian unbent when sitting by the great +bonfire in the open at night, and told wild tales of savage life before +the padres came. Roldan admired his splendid supple body and fearless +manhood, but the Indian was too sinister to inspire affection. Adan was +loudly bored. Roldan's ardent imagination sustained him. +</P> + +<P> +At the end of the week the scouts having failed to discover any sign of +the enemy, Anastacio determined to go down to the river in the valley +for a fortnight's salmon fishing. He, too, was bored. The fangs of +civilisation are long and tenacious. +</P> + +<P> +It was on a brilliant winter's morning that Anastacio, his captives, +and his five hundred men wound their way down through the cold forest +on the mountain into the soft warm air of the valley. There had been no +rain for three weeks, and the river was not more than half full; and it +was very quiet. They camped on the bank, well away from the scattered +groups of trees, that they might not lose a ray of sunshine; and Roldan +and Adan forgot that they were under constant surveillance. There were +no tents; they slept in the open air, the boys in the centre of a +square of Indians. During the day they caught many fine salmon, and +salted what they did not eat, to sell to the rancheros. +</P> + +<P> +It was on the sixth night that Roldan, who was wakeful, suddenly raised +himself on his elbow and listened intently. Far away, above the murmur +of the river, the audible slumbers of the camp, he heard a low, +precise, monotonous sound. He knew what it meant. For a moment he +hesitated. The chances of escape seemed to grow less daily. It was true +that he was in no danger, that he would eventually be restored to his +parents—but with his adventures cut short. He was fond of his home, +but it was always there, and he was keen for variety: his life had been +very uneventful. On the other hand, if that advancing army conquered +the Indians, might not his and Adan's captivity be far more distasteful +than it was at present? He sprang up and called Anastacio. In a second +that warrior was on his feet and had leaped over his alert sentinels +into the square. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen." +</P> + +<P> +Anastacio threw himself full length and laid his ear to the ground. A +moment later he was erect again. He caught Roldan by one shoulder and +Adan by the other. By this time every Indian in the camp was pressing +about his chief. +</P> + +<P> +"They are not two miles away," said Anastacio. "And the dawn will be +here in an hour. There are ten miles between us and the mountains. I +don't wish to fight in the open without knowing their numbers." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan danced up and down with sudden excitement. "I have a plan," he +cried. "You can trust me. I don't want to go back." +</P> + +<P> +Anastacio bent his keen malevolent eyes close above the young +Spaniard's, then loosened his hold. +</P> + +<P> +"Bueno," he said. "I trust you." +</P> + +<P> +"The straw," said Roldan. "Bring it all here." +</P> + +<P> +Anastacio gave the order, and an immense carreta of straw was trundled +up. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," said Roldan, "gather it into bunches the size of a man's head +and tie each firmly. The tide is running toward the enemy, and it is +too dark to see clearly. Do you understand, senor?" +</P> + +<P> +Anastacio made a loud exclamation, caught Roldan in his arms and +kissed him, much to that haughty young gentleman's disgust, then tied +the first bunch himself. Roldan, Adan, and some forty of the quicker +Indians rapidly manipulated the straw, and in little more than ten +minutes had cast a hundred round compact bundles into the hurrying +tide. As they sailed away they certainly looked, under the heavy shadow +of the banks and the black-blue of the sky, like an army of men +swimming with the desperate haste of terror, their heads alone above +water. +</P> + +<P> +"Now!" cried Anastacio, "to the mountains." +</P> + +<P> +They had brought only pack-horses. There was nothing to do but run, and +Anastacio, driving his entire following ahead of him, sped to cover. It +was not twenty minutes before they heard a sharp volley of musketry, +and if their breath had not been short they would have laughed aloud at +the success of Roldan's strategy. The sky was turning grey as they +reached the straggling outposts of the forest on the mountain. The +firing had ceased. Their ruse had doubtless been discovered. +</P> + +<P> +"We will hide for twenty-four hours and rest," Anastacio said to +Roldan, who was the only person he condescended to hold converse with, +although he allowed Adan to sun himself in his presence. "By that time, +too, I shall know their numbers. If they are many I'll draw them into +the mountains and fire from ambush. If few, they shall have open fight." +</P> + +<P> +"You will let us see it?" asked Roldan, eagerly. "Of course I cannot +fight my own people; but I don't want to be sent to the pueblo, and I +do want to see a fight." +</P> + +<P> +Anastacio hesitated. "Bueno," he said, "I owe you much. You give me the +word of the California don that unless I am killed you will not run +away?" +</P> + +<P> +"I promise. There is nothing else to do. That is to say, I promise not +to run away before this battle is over." +</P> + +<P> +"That is what I mean," said Anastacio, curtly. "Now we will sleep." +</P> + +<P> +He disposed his men in the forest above a narrow, rocky canon into +which the enemy would hardly venture. Roldan volunteered to keep watch +with the two sentinels, and returned with them to the outskirts of the +forest. The enemy was marching steadily across the valley. After a time +they halted, and lay down for a time. Early in the afternoon they +resumed march, then halted again within a mile of the mountain, sending +two scouts ahead. By this time Anastacio had joined his sentinels, and +all four hid in the underforest between the great trees. +</P> + +<P> +The scouts, keeping as much under cover as was possible, crept up the +lower spur of the mountain, their glance describing a constant +half-circle. When they were within a few feet of the fugitives, +Anastacio raised his bow and discharged two arrows in rapid succession. +One buried itself in the jugular of the foremost scout, and he huddled +down among the soft leaves without a cry. The other, equally well +aimed, entered the shoulder of the second scout, where it quivered +violently for a few seconds, then was torn forth and flung to the +ground with a cry of defiance. The Californian, disregarding his wound, +raised himself to his full height and pointed his pistol. But vaguely: +the quiet, feathery young redwoods told no tales. Then his eye fell +upon his dead brother. He turned and fled. +</P> + +<P> +"They will not enter the forest," said Anastacio; "and when I am ready +they will fight, not before. Have you pencil and paper, senor?" +</P> + +<P> +Roldan produced a treasured note-book that a relative had brought him +from Boston. +</P> + +<P> +"Write," said the chief; and he dictated:— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +SENOR DON CAPITAN,—At noon to-morrow we fight in the valley near the +eight oak trees and the two madronos. Do you wish to fight sooner you +can come into the mountains. It will be better for us. +<BR><BR> +ANASTACIO. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +He tore out the leaf, crawled down the mountain as non-apparently as a +python, and pinned it high on an outstanding redwood, then returned and +told his sentinels to sleep, replacing them with others. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IX +</H3> + +<P> +That evening Anastacio called Roldan to him. +</P> + +<P> +"I fear treachery," he said. "Who can trust five hundred men that have +learned too much? And the white men, they have better brains than mine. +I watch to-night. Will you watch with me, senor?—that I can sleep +before morning and rest for the fight." +</P> + +<P> +"I will," said Roldan, enthusiastically. "And Adan also?" +</P> + +<P> +"It matters not." +</P> + +<P> +When the dusk was so thick in the aisles that every moving frond looked +like a man looming suddenly, one of the sentinels returned with the +news that the paper had been taken from the tree, and that the +Californians had pitched tents, and to all appearance were at rest for +the night. +</P> + +<P> +It was not likely that the enemy would venture into the forest at +night. They were not a large body, they were not pressed for time, nor +were they the heroes of many wars. The Indians were comparatively safe +until morning; nevertheless, Anastacio was too good a general to relax +vigilance. When night came he and the two boys went down the mountain +and sent the outpost back to sleep. They ventured out where the trees +grew far apart, and the brilliant stars of California illumined the +great valley like so many thousand watch-fires. +</P> + +<P> +The three sat down side by side, their gaze directed steadily downward +and outward. +</P> + +<P> +"Why do you fight at all?" asked Roldan. "You could stay in these +mountains until the Californians were dust, and not be caught." +</P> + +<P> +"And live like hunted beasts. I like the valley; the sun in winter, the +cool mountains in summer. If I am victor to-morrow, all the Indians in +California will call me chief. They will run here from every Mission +and hacienda, and from every hill and mountain, like little ones to +their good father; and we will drive the priests out of the country, +and make the hidalgos, the caballeros, the soft silk-dressed donas our +friends or our slaves—as they wish. California belongs to us. The +Great Spirit put us here, not the white man. If it was for them why did +they not grow out of the earth as we did? Why were we put here at all +if our land was not for us? We were happy until these priests came to +drive us mad making boots and mud bricks and wine all day, driven like +dogs to the kennel, flogged when we wanted to lie in the sun—" +</P> + +<P> +"But, Anastacio," interrupted Roldan, who had listened to this strange +outburst with the vague consciousness that the soul of an expiring race +had opened its lips for a brief moment, "you are far more clever than +most Indians. If it were not for the priests you would be no better +than the most ignorant of them." +</P> + +<P> +"If I am clever now, senor, was I not clever in the beginning? You do +not make cake out of bran. The Great Spirit sent his light into me and +said: 'Thou shalt be a great chief.' I could have done as well and +better without the priests. What good did it do me to read and tell my +beads and make chocolate? Was I happy at the Mission? Not for one moon, +senor. I felt as if I had a wild beast chained in me that choked and +panted for the free life of my youth, of my fathers. I ran away from +the Mission twenty-three times—and was brought back and flogged. Many +times I would have crushed my head with a stone had it not been that +all the other Indians of the Mission ran to me like dogs, and that I +could make them tremble with a word and obey with a look. I knew that +the Great Spirit had given me what these poor creatures had not, and +that one day I would give California to them again. It has begun." +</P> + +<P> +"But we have better things to eat and drink and more comfortable houses +and clothes than you have in your pueblos. I like what the priests call +'civilisation.'" +</P> + +<P> +"It is for the white man, not for the Indian with a skin like the earth +and a heart like the wild-cat. If we did not know of fine bread and +thin wine and heavy shoes and cursed bags about our legs we should not +want them. Padre Flores says that he and the other priests came here to +make us happy. Why not let us be happy in our own way? We needed no +teaching." +</P> + +<P> +Years after, Roldan, who grew to know the world well and many men, +recalled the conversation of that night, and meditated upon the strange +workings of the human mind: the fundamental philosophy of life differs +little in the brain of the savage and the brain of the student-thinker. +</P> + +<P> +"We are told that we must progress, grow better," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Hundreds and hundreds of years Indians lived and died here before the +priests came. All legends say they were happy. Now they 'progress,' and +suffer—in the body and in the spirit. One life is for us, another for +you. Should the white man have many children and children's children +until all the mountains and valleys of California are his, then will +all the Indians die, even though they are treated well for they are +slaves—no more. Are they happy? For what were they made? To be slaves +and die from the earth before they are threescore and ten, to be no +more remembered than the beasts of the field?" +</P> + +<P> +"I hope you'll win to-morrow," cried Roldan, his young mind moved to +pity, and profoundly disturbed. "You can never get California away from +the Spaniard, and I can't wish you to; but you might, if you rallied +all the Indians to you, become powerful enough to live in the way you +like best, and I hope you will. Why should men say: 'I am better than +you; I will make you like myself?' How do we know? I have ridden like +the wind, and coliared a bull with the best vaquero in the Californias, +but I am afraid my mind has had fifteen years of siesta. Now—well, I +shall be governor of the Californias one day, and then I shall send all +the Indians back to the mountains." +</P> + +<P> +Anastacio put out his hand, and the two civilisations decreed by Nature +to stand apart from the beginning to the end of time clasped in brief +friendship. +</P> + +<P> +"I will be your friend," said the Indian, "and the white man need not +despise the friendship of a great chief. California is a fair land. +Others will come to it besides the Spaniard. If Anastacio has thousands +of Indians to run to his call they will fight when he bids them." +</P> + +<P> +"Caramba! you are right," exclaimed Roldan. "Those Americans—" +</P> + +<P> +"American boys?" asked Adan, eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," said Anastacio, "I sleep. Awake me when the sky turns grey." +</P> + +<P> +He stretched himself out and slept at once. The boys drew close +together and speculated upon the fateful morrow. They agreed to remain +close together, out of sight of the enemy, but where they could watch +the Indian forces. If Anastacio fell they would flee at once. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +X +</H3> + +<P> +The small Californian force—it numbered little over two hundred +men—was under the command of Juan Pardo Mesa, a captain notable for +his victorious encounters with Indians and for his knowledge of their +cunning. He was on the alert at dawn next morning, and long before the +sun had spurned the tops of the Coast range, his assumption of +meditated treachery was confirmed. A rising wind had set the young +redwoods in motion. Before long the practised eye of Captain Mesa saw +an increased agitation among the feathery branches, his ear caught a +slight crackling. His men were flat on the ground. He stood in the +shadow of a large oak. A moment later a dusky form crept out to where +the brush grew more sparsely, hesitated a moment, and apparently passed +back word that all was well; he was immediately followed by many of his +kind; and the lower slope of the mountain, burnt bare by fire, seemed +suddenly swarming with huge black rats. +</P> + +<P> +Mesa waited until they were well away from cover, then gave the +expected order: two hundred muskets, carbines, and flintlock pistols +were discharged, and one piece of artillery. +</P> + +<P> +But Anastacio, no mean general himself, was also on the alert for the +unexpected. In a few moments he had marshalled his forces in the form +of a hollow square, and ordered them to discharge their arrows from a +recumbent position. Owing to the heavy shadows, the aim of the +Californians had been uncertain, and only a few of the Indians had +fallen. Roldan and Adan were safe behind two large redwoods just above +the Indian army. +</P> + +<P> +The firing continued steadily all the morning, but resulted in few +mortal wounds. There was not a poisoned arrow in the pueblo. The balls +did more serious damage, and several Indians rolled groaning down the +slope. The rest were undaunted. They were more than two to one, and had +implicit faith in their chief's assurance that they were bound to rout +the Spaniard. +</P> + +<P> +Under cover of the cloud of smoke his weapons had raised despite a +strong wind, Mesa executed two flank movements, justifying the tactics +of Anastacio: he detached forty men from the main body and directed +them to attack the Indians on both sides and to cut off their retreat +to the forest. They were almost upon the north and south ends of +Anastacio's square—after making a detour and advancing from a +distance—when the boys shouted a warning. In a moment arrows were +flying to right and left; and the answering volley was far more deadly +than the effects of firing up hill. The Indians stood their ground, +fitting their arrows with swift dexterity, encouraged by Anastacio, who +glided from point to point like a hungry cobra, discharging two arrows +to every man's one. His only hope was to keep the Californians at long +range until losses compelled the latter to retreat: at close quarters +arrows would be no match for firearms. +</P> + +<P> +The battle began at five in the morning. It was at four in the +afternoon that Roldan passed his hand across his burning eyeballs, then +gripped Adan's arm and said through his teeth,— +</P> + +<P> +"Anastacio is hit. I saw him shake from head to foot." +</P> + +<P> +"Madre de dios! Shall we run?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet. My brain is on fire. War is awful, and yet I burn to have a +pistol in my hands. I am sorry for Anastacio—but Dios de mi alma!—to +see a brave Spanish officer bite the dust with the arrow of a dog in +his brain! Ay, he moves! He is not dead." +</P> + +<P> +"His hand is as steady—but—do you notice?—all are not firing." +</P> + +<P> +"The arrows are giving out. There is only one end. But I must see it +through. Mary! Mary! They are breaking." +</P> + +<P> +The Indians, finding themselves almost without arrows, had sprung to +their feet, intending to make a rush for cover; but Mesa had +anticipated this move, and almost immediately his men had closed with +the savages, knocking them on the head with the butt-end of their +muskets, discharging their pistols at short range. The Indians used +both tooth and nail, yelling like wildcats. The cool imperturbability +of the earlier part of the day had fled with their arrows. Anastacio +fought like a tiger. Despite his wounded thigh he stood firmly on his +feet, snatched the musket from a man his hands had throttled, and +whirled it about his head, threatening death to all that approached. +His face was swollen with passion, his eyes were starting from their +sockets, his long hair tossed wildly. The boys watched him with cold +extremities and hot cheeks and eyes. They were oblivious to the rest of +the battlefield. The fate of the indomitable chief, upon whose life the +freedom of a race perhaps depended, would have riveted the attention of +older and wiser brains. His movements were easy to follow; he was head +above all and shoulders above many. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly the boys gave a gasp. The head of Anastacio was no longer to +be seen above that surging throng. Had he been wounded in a vital part? +A moment later they gave a hoarse gurgling cry and clung together, +shaking like children in icy water. The head of Anastacio rose +again—above the crowd, then higher,—higher,—until it looked down +upon the squirming mass from six feet above. It was on the end of a +pole. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XI +</H3> + +<P> +The boys turned and fled, scrambling blindly upwards. Instinctively +they ran in the direction of the pueblo, and when they were finally +obliged to sit down and fight for their lost breath they realised the +course they had taken. +</P> + +<P> +The horror was still in their eyes, but neither spoke of what for a +long while to come must be uppermost in his mind. +</P> + +<P> +"I think we may as well go to the pueblo," said Roldan, as soon as he +could speak. "We must have food, and we are very tired. We can rest +there a few days, then take two of the horses—we can do nothing +without horses—and start out again. If any of the Indians escape and +come back, they will not have spirit enough left to touch us." +</P> + +<P> +"Bueno," said Adan. "The Mission blankets are there and they are soft, +and that oven makes good cakes. I hope the Indians go all with the +soldiers. I never want to see another." +</P> + +<P> +The boys resumed their flight, but more leisurely. They had no +difficulty in keeping to the trail, but it wound over many a weary +mile. Night comes early in the mountain forest, and before two hours +had passed they were groping their way along the narrow road cut +through the dense brush, and clinging to each other. They were brave +lads; but long fasting, and excitement, and a terrible climax to the +most trying day of their lives, had flung gunpowder among their nerves. +</P> + +<P> +It was midnight when they reached the pueblo. The stars illumined +fitfully the deserted huts, black in the heavy shadows. A coyote was +yapping dismally, owls hooted in the forest. Both boys had a vision of +deep beds and hot suppers on the ranchos of their respective parents, +but they shut their teeth and raided the larder. There they found +well-cured meats and dried fruits, which appeased their mighty +appetites; then they went into Anastacio's hut, and wrapping themselves +in the Mission blankets were soon asleep. +</P> + +<P> +It was Adan who awoke Roldan violently in the morning. +</P> + +<P> +"The soldiers!" he whispered hoarsely. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, peered through a rift between +the wall of the hut and the shrunken hide which formed the door. A half +dozen soldiers stood in the plaza, glancing speculatively about. +</P> + +<P> +"I see no trace of them," said one. "I cannot believe they would come +back to this place. Surely it was, as I said, more natural for them to +hide at the edge of the forest until we had gone." +</P> + +<P> +"That dog said there was food here, and that they were more afraid of +us than of a long walk at night. Wherever they are, we find them. They +are a prize second only to the head of Anastacio. Search the huts." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan sprang to his feet, pulling Adan with him. "Come," he said; +"follow me, and run as if you were as lean as a coyote. Remember they +won't shoot." +</P> + +<P> +He flung aside the hide door. The two boys flashed out and round the +corner of the hut before the tired eyes and brains of the soldiers had +time to grasp the happening. A moment later they were in hot pursuit, +firing in the air, shouting terrific threats. But the rested and agile +legs of the boys had a good start, and plunged into narrow ways where +horses could not follow; and doubling, twisting, following paths but +recently beaten by Anastacio in pursuit of deer, Roldan and Adan were +soon far beyond the reach or ken of the men of war. It was an hour, +however, before they thought it wise to arrest their flight and pause +to recuperate in a redwood tree hollowed by fire. Two weeks of exposure +and unwonted exertions had hardened Adan's superfluous flesh, and he +was scarcely more spent than his clean-limbed friend, although every +step had been taken with protest. +</P> + +<P> +"Caramba!" he said, in a hoarse whisper at length. "When I am back on +the rancho I won't walk for a year." +</P> + +<P> +"You will have the habit by that time, my friend, and will walk in your +sleep. When I am governor you will be generalissimo of all the forces +and will keep your army as lively as an ant-hill." +</P> + +<P> +"That is too long ahead, and we have not enough wind to argue about it. +What are we going to do now? How shall we get horses to leave this +forest? Where shall we sleep to-night? What shall we have for dinner? I +could eat a whole side of venison." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you won't, my friend. Let me think." +</P> + +<P> +After a time he said: "We must stay here until night. Then we will go +back to the pueblo if we can find the way. As for food, we can have +none to-day. There are no berries at this time of year, and we have +nothing to shoot game with. Other people have gone the day without +food, and we can. When we get back to the pueblo, even if we cannot +reach the larder, we can find the corral without being seen. I don't +believe that the soldiers have found it, and the Indians in charge of +the mustangs will let us have two when they know what has happened. +Now, do not let us talk. It will make us more hungry." +</P> + +<P> +Adan groaned, but accepted the decree of silence. The day wore on to +noon, and in the unbroken stillness the boys ventured out of the grimy +tree and lay at full length on the turf. The great redwoods towered in +endless corridors, their straight columns unbroken by branch or twig +for a hundred and fifty feet. Through the green close arbours above +came an occasional rift of sunshine, but the aisles were full of cold +green light. The boys shivered in their coyote skin coats and drew +close together; they dared not run about to keep warm; they must +husband their strength, and hunger was biting. There was no wind in the +tree-tops, no murmur of creek, only the low hum of the forest, that in +their strained ear-sense grew to a roar. Finally they fell asleep, and +it was dark when Roldan awoke. He shook Adan. +</P> + +<P> +"Come," he said; and his partner, grumbling but acquiescent, got to his +feet and tramped heavily over the soft ground. +</P> + +<P> +They had fled beyond paths, and Roldan could only trust to his locality +sense, which he knew to be good. But more than once they were brought +to halt before a wall of brush, which no man could have penetrated +without an axe. Then they would feel their way along its irregular +bristling side for a mile or more before it thinned sufficiently for +egress. Frequently they heard the deadly rattle, and more than once the +near cry of a panther, but there was nothing to do but push on. +Precautions would have availed them nothing, and there was no refuge +nearer than the pueblo. Sometimes they walked down aisles unchoked by +brush but full of moving shadows, above which sounded the lonely +continuous hooting of the owl. Now and again bats whirred past, and +once a startled wildcat scurried across the path and darted up a tree, +crying with terror. +</P> + +<P> +"If we only don't meet a bear," thought Roldan, who dared not speak +lest his voice should shake courage and terrors apart. +</P> + +<P> +It was midnight when Adan announced with what emphasis was left in +him,— +</P> + +<P> +"We are lost." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan answered through his teeth: "Yes, but I think I hear the creek. +When we find that, all we have to do is to follow it south." +</P> + +<P> +"My heart is in the South," muttered Adan. "We might follow that." +</P> + +<P> +"I am ashamed of you," said Roldan, with a lofty scorn which was good +for five words and no more. +</P> + +<P> +It was a half hour later that they stood upon the high bank of the +creek and looked gratefully up at the broad strip of night light. After +the dense shadows of the forest the cold light of stars seemed more +radiant than noon-day. +</P> + +<P> +"We cannot follow along the bank for more than a little way at a time, +on account of the ferns and brush," said Roldan. "We should walk three +times the distance, and perhaps get lost again. I am going to wade. +Will you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Madre de dios! And get rheumatism? My teeth clack together at the +thought." +</P> + +<P> +"You will not be able to keep still long enough to get rheumatism, my +friend. By the grace of Mary we shall be on horseback all day +to-morrow. The water is not a foot deep, and the chill only lasts a +moment. Take off your boots." +</P> + +<P> +"What is left of them," muttered Adan. But they were better than no +boots, and he took them off, and slung them round his neck. Roldan +scrambled down the bank and plunged into the creek. Adan, after a +moment's hesitation, followed with audible reluctance. He thrust the +tip of one foot into the icy water, withdrew it with a shout, tried the +other; then seeing that Roldan was splashing far ahead, jumped in with +both feet and ran along the slippery rocks, wondering when the change +of temperature would occur. His teeth clattered loudly. He pulled in +and executed a war-dance on the stones, then sat down on a fallen +boulder and rubbed his feet violently. Roldan kept steadily on, mindful +of his dignity as leader; but only as Adan joined him had his teeth +ceased from clattering and the warmth crawled back to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +Cold, hungry, inexpressibly weary, the boys plodded on, sometimes in +the clear light of stars, sometimes under the chill blackness of +meeting trees. Fish and other slimy things darted across their feet; +they stepped to their waists into more than one treacherous pool. The +dark blue of the sky had turned to grey when Roldan raised his arm and +pointed to a squat dark object on the summit of the cliff. +</P> + +<P> +"A hut," he said. "We are at the pueblo." +</P> + +<P> +The boys crawled softly up the almost perpendicular bank and peered +over the edge. To all appearances the pueblo was deserted. If the +soldiers were there—and their horses were not—they slept within the +huts. The animal instinct, so bravely repressed, overcame the +adventurers. They ran across the open to the hut where the food was +kept, and ate for fifteen minutes without speaking or taking the +trouble to hide themselves. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XII +</H3> + +<P> +When they had satisfied their appetites they made two large packages of +dried meat and fruit, tying them securely with straw to their right +arms: saddle-bags there were none. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a horse," whispered Adan. "Do you think the soldiers have gone?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think they are lost, and as they did not stop to tie their horses +when they started after us, they won't see them again until they get +back to camp. Come." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan peered cautiously into each of the huts in turn; all were empty. +Then the boys started for the corral, which the soldiers would not have +passed either on their way to the pueblo or in pursuit of the runaways. +They found the Indians in charge sound asleep in their hut, and did not +think it worth while to awaken them. The two mustangs they led forth, +vicious brutes at best, were very restless from prolonged inactivity. +Roldan's submitted to the saddle, but bolted as soon as he felt a +determined pair of legs about his sides; and as our adventurer had +neither whip nor spurs, all he could do was to hang on and shout to +Adan to follow close. This was the only thing that Adan's mustang was +willing to do, and the boys were borne blindly on, down one path, up +another, plunging deeper into the black recesses of the forest until +they knew no more of their whereabouts than if they had dropped from +another sphere. +</P> + +<P> +After many weary miles the mustangs slackened, and the boys dismounted +and cut two slender but stinging whips. After that they rose once more +to the proud supremacy of man over brute. But the situation was full of +peril. They were hopelessly lost, the redwoods were the home of the +grizzly and the panther, and they might come upon the soldiers at any +moment. But there was nothing to do but to ride on, and at least they +had horses and food. +</P> + +<P> +They descended whenever descent was possible, for at the foot of the +mountain lay the open valley; but there were no trails; in all +likelihood they were where no man, red or white, had ever been before; +they had to force their way where the brush was thinnest, and as often +their flight was toward loftier heights. +</P> + +<P> +As the day wore on the temperature fell, even in those forest depths +where the sun had not penetrated for a thousand years. The beauty of +the forest palled upon Roldan: those everlasting aisles with their grey +motionless columns, their green sinister light, the delicate fern wood +below, the dense mat of branch and leaf so high above. The redwoods +oppress and terrify when they have man completely at their mercy. They +look as if they could speak if they would, roar louder than the storms +that have never shaken them. But they know the value of silence, and +the silence of their inmost depths is awful. +</P> + +<P> +After many hours the boys rode out upon a bare peak. But its outlook +told them nothing. Behind rose other peaks, below was the dense +primeval forest, rising and falling on other slopes. There was no +glimpse of valley anywhere. The sky was heavy with the grey lurid +clouds of concentrated storm. +</P> + +<P> +"We will eat," said Roldan, briefly; "but not too much." +</P> + +<P> +They tethered the mustangs that the beasts might eat of the abundant +grass, and consumed a small quantity of their store. Then they +stretched at full length on the ground to rest their weary bodies. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us stay here the night," said Adan, with a cavernous yawn. +</P> + +<P> +"It is hardly darker by night than by day in the forest, but perhaps it +is well to rest." +</P> + +<P> +"I am one ache, no more," murmured Adan, and went to sleep. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan pillowed his head on his arm and for once followed lead. He +awoke suddenly, his face wet and stinging. White stars were whirling, +the ground was white, the forest was half obliterated. +</P> + +<P> +He shook Adan and dragged him to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"We must get into the redwoods at once," he said. "We shall be buried +here." +</P> + +<P> +Adan gasped but cinched his saddle; the boys sprang upon the now +tractable mustangs and plunged into the forest below. The brush was +thin, and they pushed their way downward as rapidly as the steep +descent would permit. Sometimes the forest protected them from the +storm, at others the trees grew wide apart and the riders were exposed +to its pitiless rush. In these open spaces they could see nothing, +could only push blindly on, brushing the stinging particles from their +faces, their hands and feet almost numb. The snow in the open was +already as high as the horses' knees. There was no wind, only that +silent sweeping of the heavens. In the depths the high branches of the +redwoods groaned ominously under the stiffening weight, like giants in +pain. +</P> + +<P> +The forest thinned. The snow had its will of the earth. There was no +refuge under the larger trees that still stood, like outposts, here and +there; the branches were too high above. Once Adan suggested through +his stiff lips and unruly teeth that they turn back and take refuge in +some dense grove above; but Roldan shook his head peremptorily. He had +heard of the fearful storms of the Sierras; they lasted for days, and +the snow stood its ground for weeks. Their only hope was the valley. +</P> + +<P> +But they descended only to rise again: in the white darkness of the +storm they dared not attempt to skirt the base of the peaks; they must +keep straight on, to the west, for there lay the valley. +</P> + +<P> +Occasionally, where a grove of trees stood close and the snow lay +shallow, the boys got off and wrestled, rousing the blood in their legs +and arms; then urged their mustangs to greater speed. But the poor +brutes were very weary, and the blood in their veins was almost torpid. +Once they stood still and shook, whinnying pitifully. A huge grizzly, +so powdered as to be hardly distinguishable from the drifts about him, +floundered along to the right. The boys crossed themselves and awaited +their fate, with the apathy of numb and despairing brains; but the +monster was evidently aiming for the warmth of his home, and took no +notice of the meal in four courses standing in the middle of the path. +</P> + +<P> +The night deepened. The snow thickened and sped down with an audible +rush, a sting in each beautiful white bee. The boys nodded, roused +themselves, fell forward, their arms mechanically stiffening about the +horses' necks. Once they flung out their hands and feet with a +smothered shriek. A tongue of flame seemed to leap down their throats +and hiss through their veins, while the world roared and heaved about +them. Then all sensation was over. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIII +</H3> + +<P> +Roldan opened his eyes. His brain was heavy; he was conscious only of +an intense warmth. His arms appeared to be bound to his sides, his +whole body in a vise. He kicked out with a vigorous return of the +instinct of independence. The action shook his brain free and he +understood: he was tightly wrapped in a blanket, and there were other +blankets upon him. He raised his head. The room was one of familiar +lineaments,—whitewashed walls, a mat by the iron bed, an altar in the +corner, linen with elaborate drawn-work on bureau and washstand. The +blood poured upward to the young adventurer's face. Was this his room? +Had he been ill and dreamed strange happenings? He freed his arms and +sat up. No; there was no room in his father's house exactly like this, +monotonous as were the furnishing and architecture of the time. +</P> + +<P> +He took his head between his hands and thought; the events of the past +weeks marched through his brain in rapid and precise succession—up to +a certain point: his senses had been frozen in the Sierras. From a +raging snowstorm to this blistering bed all was blank. +</P> + +<P> +He disencumbered himself, slipped to the floor, and opened the door, +then scrambled back to bed as best he could; his legs felt as if they +had been boned. He was also one vast desire for food and drink. But +that glimpse through the door had raised his spirits. He was in a great +adobe house surrounding a court in which a fountain splashed among +ferns and little orange-trees. It was the house of a grandee, but there +was none like it in the neighbourhood of the Rancho de los Palos Verdes. +</P> + +<P> +He waited with what patience he could muster until his open door should +attract attention, listening to the murmur of the fountain, inhaling +the fragrance of orange and magnolia, wondering if Adan, too, were +safe, angrily resenting his weakness. +</P> + +<P> +The door cautiously opened wide, and a woman, stout, brown, but of +exceeding grace and elegance, entered and bent over him. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-day, senora," said Roldan, politely. "I am very hungry. Where am +I? And is Adan here?" +</P> + +<P> +The lady smiled and patted his cheek with a shapely and flashing hand. +</P> + +<P> +"He is well and sleeping, my son, and you are both in the Casa of Don +Tiburcio Carillo, of the Rancho Encarnarcion, in a great valley many, +many leagues from the Sierras and the snow—Madre de dios! Pobrecitos! +So cold you must have been, so frightened—and you the sons of great +rancheros, no?" +</P> + +<P> +Roldan modestly named his fortunate status, then sat up and kissed her +hand, as he had seen his gallant brothers kiss the hands of lovely +young donas. The lady looked much pleased and drew a chair beside the +bed. Roldan wondered if he should ever satisfy his raging appetite, but +was too polite to mention the subject again, and determined to satisfy +his curiosity instead. +</P> + +<P> +"Senora, tell me how we came here," he asked. "My head will burst until +I know." +</P> + +<P> +"Our bell mare, the most valuable on our rancho, strayed far the day +before yesterday. All that day and the next six vaqueros looked for +her. One traced her to the Sierras and went on in spite of the storm. +He found her, and, just afterward—you. He thought you were dead, but +poured aguardiente down your throats. You swallowed but did not awaken, +although he shook you and pounded you. Then he strapped your +friend—Adan, no? upon the back of Lolita, took you in his arms, and +galloped for home—you were almost at the foot of the mountain. Ay! but +I was frightened when you came. Gracias a dios that you are well and +not frozen. Bueno, I go to send you a good breakfast. Hasta luego." +</P> + +<P> +She went out, and Roldan lay wondering if the breakfast were already +cooked. The door opened again. Roldan sat up. But it was Adan. He wore +a long nightgown and dug his knuckles into his eyes. His knees, too, +were shaky. +</P> + +<P> +"Hist, Roldan," he whispered loudly. "Are you there, or do I dream?" +</P> + +<P> +"Come into my bed and have breakfast—breakfast, Adan!" +</P> + +<P> +Adan gathered his remaining energies, bolted across the room, and +climbed into bed. +</P> + +<P> +"Dios de mi alma, Roldan," he gasped. "Where are we, and why are we +sweltered like sick babies? This is a fine place. Ay! may I never see +snow nor a redwood again!" +</P> + +<P> +Roldan told what he knew of the beginning of their new chapter, and +soon after he finished two Indian servants entered with trays, set them +on the bed, and retired. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay! this looks like home," cried Adan, almost in tears. "Chocolate! +Tortillas! Chicken with yellow rice!" He crossed himself fervently and +attacked the fragrant meal. +</P> + +<P> +It was not a large breakfast, for it was many hours since they had +eaten before; they left not a grain of rice nor a shred on a bone. But +half-satisfied, although very comfortable, they made up their minds to +dress. On the chair was a complete outfit, suitable for a young don. +Roldan concluded it had been thoughtfully placed at his disposal that +he might not appear in the sala of Casa Carillo garbed like a coyote. +How he hated the memory of that ugly and infested garment. +</P> + +<P> +"I, too, have a silk jacket and breeches by my bed," said Adan, "and a +lace shirt and silk stockings, and shoes with buckles. There must be +those of our age in the Casa Carillo, my friend. Bueno! I go to make a +caballero of myself. Hasta luego." +</P> + +<P> +He opened the door and peered out, then ran hastily down the corridor +to his room. Who knew but there might be girls at the Casa Carillo? +Horrible thought! +</P> + +<P> +The boys met a half hour later on the corridor, still weak, but +magnificent to look upon. Roldan's head was very high, despite his +protesting knees: he felt himself again. +</P> + +<P> +"It is the hour of siesta," he said. "Let us lie in these hammocks and +wait. Ay! but it is warm, and the sky is blue, and the sun looks like +the copper lamp of my mother—the one that came from Boston. Who—even +an Indian—would live in the mountains when the valleys are so big and +warm?" +</P> + +<P> +They extended themselves in two hammocks swung across the corridor and +watched the many doors on the several sides of the court. All were +closed, and the forest had hardly been more quiet than the Casa Carillo +in its hour of siesta. Through the arch of the gateway they could see +the green of fields, a corner of a vineyard, and rolling hills. On +either side of the entrance was a large magnolia-tree with broad +shining leaves and bunches of cream-white fragrance. The oranges were +very yellow, the palms very stately, the red tiles on the sloping roofs +above the white walls looked very fresh and red. There was colour and +beauty everywhere; and the boys were quite at peace, and content to be +so. Their appetite for adventure was dulled for the moment. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIV +</H3> + +<P> +A door on the opposite corridor opened and a youth came forth. He +jerked his head diffidently at the guests and took the longest way +round instead of crossing the court; but when he reached the boys, who +were risen and awaiting him, he wore a dignified air of welcome, as +befitted a young gentleman of his race. +</P> + +<P> +"Welcome to Casa Carillo, senores," he said gravely. "The house is +yours. Burn it if you will. I, myself, Rafael Carillo, am your slave." +</P> + +<P> +To which Roldan replied: "We are at your feet, for you and yours have +rescued us from death and given us food and clothing when we most +needed it. Our lives are yours to do with as you wish." +</P> + +<P> +"Then would we keep you here always, Don Roldan and Don Adan. All +guests are welcome at Casa Carillo, but doubly those that need it." +</P> + +<P> +Then, formalities over, as boys are pretty much alike the world round, +Rafael was soon pouring forth eager questions, and our heroes were +reliving the events of the past weeks. Arm in arm they strolled out +into the wide beautiful valley, green with sprouting winter, the +distant mountains of terrible memory quivering under a dark blue mist. +</P> + +<P> +"Hist!" said Rafael, suddenly. "Do you know what day this is?" +</P> + +<P> +"Day?" The adventurers had lost all count of time. +</P> + +<P> +"It is the day before Christmas, my friends." +</P> + +<P> +"No! Madre de dios!" Roldan and Adan stood still. For a moment they +felt homesick. They saw the reproachful faces of their parents and +brothers and sisters, to say nothing of visions of unclaimed presents. +But Rafael gave them no time for regrets. He was the only child at +home, and delighted with his new companions. +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow many people will come," he said. "I have ten married sisters +and brothers. They all come from their ranchos, and many more. It will +be very gay, my friends." +</P> + +<P> +"Good," said Roldan, dismissing regret. "We will enjoy." +</P> + +<P> +"And after Christmas is gone I know of something else," said Rafael, +mysteriously. He glanced about. They stood in the midst of a great +vineyard, each engaged upon a large purple bunch. "Come," said Rafael, +with an air of mystery. "Not here. Some one may hide beneath the vines." +</P> + +<P> +It was extremely unlikely, but the adventurers liked the suggestion and +followed their host breathlessly into the open field. "One day in the +summer," whispered Rafael, his eyes rolling about, "I went with four +vaqueros with a present of venison to Father Osuna. He was not at the +Mission, and a brother told us that he walked among the hills. I +thought I would go to meet him and receive his blessing. For a time I +saw no one, and I thought, 'Caramba! but the padre has long legs this +hot weather!' Just then he stood before me. He had walked out of the +side of the hill through a hole no wider than himself. He sweated like +a bull after coliar, and his cassock was gathered in his two hands, +leaving his bare shanks no more sacred than an Indian's. He did not +look like a priest at all, and I forgot to kneel to him, but stared +with my mouth open. And what do you think he did, my friends? He turned +white like the hand of a dona in her teens and—and—dropped his +cassock. And—" +</P> + +<P> +"Well? well?" +</P> + +<P> +"What do you think rolled to the ground, my friends? Chunks of yellow +stuff that glittered, and a shower of sparkling yellow sand—beautiful +as sunshine on the floor. I gave a cry and ran to pick it up. I had +never seen anything so beautiful, I never had wanted anything so much. +I felt that I would die for it in that moment, my friends. But that +priest, what do you think he did? He gave a yell of rage, as if he +could tear me in pieces, and flung himself all over that sunshine of +earth. 'My gold!' he cried. 'Mine! mine! You shall not take it from +me.' 'If it is yours it is not mine, my father,' I said, feeling +ashamed,—though I still wanted it; 'I will help you to pick it up.' He +got up then, his face very red again, and I could see that he was +trying to put on his dignity as fast as he had put down his cassock—he +looked better with both in place. 'My son,' he said,'the day is warm +and I am very tired, and, I fear, a little ill. These rocks are +nothing. They please my eye, and I pick them up sometimes as I walk +among the hills. Leave them there. I do not want them. We will return +to the Mission.' 'If you do not want them, then may I have them?' I +asked—the blood flew all over my body, my friends. He scowled as if I +had asked him for the candles on the altar. 'No,' he said, 'you +cannot.' Then he put his big hand on my shoulder—he could twist your +neck in a minute with those hands—'Listen to me, my son,' he said, +very soft, and looking so kind now, you can't think. 'There is poison +in those stones, pretty as they are, deadly poison. It has murdered +millions of souls and hundreds of bodies. Therefore I will not let you +touch it—only a priest can touch it without ruining his soul. +Therefore I forbid you—-forbid you—' he shouted this over me, 'to +tell any one of what you have seen to-day. Neither your father nor your +mother—no one. Do you understand?' I said 'Yes,' but I did not +promise, and he was excited and did not notice. Then he dragged me +away, and I looked about for other rocks that glittered. But there were +none—not anywhere. And then I knew that they had come out of the hill; +but I said nothing, and when we got back to the Mission and had had +dinner and he was himself again and would have spoken alone with me, I +ran and got on my horse, and all the brothers stood on the corridor to +see me go. He came up to me and blessed me, and whispered: 'Tell no +one, my son. If you do'—and he gave me a look that made my hair +crackle at the roots. And to this day I have told no one. Did I tell my +parents the priest would know in six hours. No boy has stayed here that +I like. But now—" +</P> + +<P> +"We will go to the hill and see for ourselves," said Roldan, promptly, +and Adan gasped with horror and delight. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, I knew you would. I am brave, but I dared not go myself—that +padre is too big. I wake up in the night and see his hands pawing in +the air. But three of us—we need fear no one." +</P> + +<P> +"We will go as soon as the guests are gone. I have heard of this +'gold.' In Europe—I have an uncle who has travelled and has told me +many things—bueno, in Europe, they make it into money and give it for +things in big houses they call shops. Even here, in Monterey, and +perhaps the other towns, they have a little—it comes from Mexico. My +uncle said that one reason we were so happy was because we had so +little money—none at all, we might say. That we got what we wanted out +of the earth, or by trading with one another or with the skippers from +Boston, who are glad to give us what we need from other lands in return +for our hides and tallow. So, if we find this 'gold' perhaps we had +better say nothing about it; but to find it—that will be a great, a +grand adventure." +</P> + +<P> +"We'll tell if we find it," said Adan, philosophically. +</P> + +<P> +The boys concocted a plan of campaign to their satisfaction, then went +home to supper. Don Tiburcio and his wife, Dona Martina, were already +seated at the table in the big bare room. The grandee was a huge man +with a soft profile, and cheeks as large and cream-hued as one of the +magnolias hanging in the patio. He had an expression of indolent +good-nature above his straight mouth, and long hands that looked lean +and hard when they closed suddenly. He was a man of much influence in +the politics of his country. His small-clothes were of dark green cloth +with large silver buttons, the lace on his linen was fine and abundant. +Dona Martina wore a gown of stiff flowered silk and a profusion of +topaz ornaments. As the boys entered and bowed respectfully, Don +Tiburcio eyed them keenly, but shook them cordially by the hand. +</P> + +<P> +"So you are the son of Mateo Castanada," he said to Roldan. "It is +evident enough, although you have something in the face that he has +not. Otherwise I should not have done him to death in more than one +political battle. Well, my sons, you are very welcome, and the longer +you stay with us the better. The officers passed here some days +ago—Rafael hid in the garret for the two days I feasted them, and they +do not know that I have a son so young. Well, you are in good time to +help my son enjoy his Christmas." +</P> + +<P> +There was an abundant supper of meat with hot pepper-sauce, tomatoes +and eggs baked together, and many dulces. The boys wondered if dried +meat and coarse cakes were part of an adventurous dream. +</P> + +<P> +The next morning chocolate was brought to the boys at half-past five, +after which they dressed, and mounting the mustangs awaiting their +pleasure in the courtyard, went off for a morning canter. At Roldan's +suggestion they reconnoitred the hills behind the Mission and got the +bearings definitely shaped in their minds; the great raid was to be at +night. They returned to a big breakfast at nine o'clock, then rode out +again to meet the expected guests. It was but a few moments before they +saw several cavalcades approaching from as many different directions. +The young men and women, in silken clothes of every hue, were on horses +caparisoned with velvet, carved leather, and silver; in many instances +a girl had proud possession of the saddle, while her swain bestrode the +anquera behind, his arm supporting her waist. Roldan wondered if +anything would ever induce him to sacrifice his dignity like that. (It +may be remarked here, as this history has only to do with the famous +Californian's boyhood, that the day came when he could bow the knee to +the fair sex with as graceful an ardour as did he not employ his +sterner moments making laws and enforcing them.) The older folk +travelled in carretas, the conveyance of the country, a springless +wagon set on wheels cut from the solid thickness of the tree. It was +driven by gananes, sitting astride the mustangs and singing lustily. +The interior was lined with satin and padded, but was probably +uncomfortable enough. Everybody looked smiling and happy, and a number +of lads left their respective parties and cantered over to Rafael and +his guests. A few moments later they all galloped at the top speed of +their much-enduring mustangs to a great clump of oaks, where they +dismounted and listened with breathless interest to the adventures of +Roldan and Adan. All had been drafted, and must leave for barracks with +the new year. They complimented the adventurers in a curious mixture of +stately Spanish and eager youthfulness, and their admiration was so +apparent that our heroes would have doubled the dangers of the past on +the spot. +</P> + +<P> +When they returned home to dinner the great space before the house was +filled with shining horses pawing the ground under their heavy saddles. +The court and corridors were an animated scene, overflowing with dons +and donas in brilliant array. When dinner was over and the grown-up +guests and young girls were lingering over the Christmas dulces, all +the boys slipped away and went out to the huge kitchen, where countless +Indian servants were busy or resting. They demanded four dozen eggs and +help to blow them at once. The maids hastened to do the bidding of the +little dons, and in less than a quarter of an hour the eggs were free +of their natural contents, and all were busy refilling them with flour, +or cologne, or scraps of gold and silver paper. Then the boys stuffed +the fronts of their shirts, their sleeves, and their pockets with the +eggs, and hid themselves among the palms of the court. Presently the +guests came forth and scattered about the corridor, smiling and +chatting in the soft subdued Spanish way. Suddenly twelve eggs, thrown +with supple wrist and aimed with unfailing dexterity, flew through the +air and crashed softly on the backs of caballeros' curls and donas' +braids, flour powdering, gold and silver paper glittering on the dense +blackness of those Californian tresses, cologne shooting down dignified +spines. There was a chorus of shrieks, and then, as every head whisked +about, and as a blow did not count unless it struck at the back, the +boys ran up to the corridors, dodged under vengeful arms and continued +the battle. Finally they were chased out into the open, and the guests +having been provided with the remaining eggs by Dona Martina, the +battle waged fierce and hot until, exhausted, the guests retired for +siesta. +</P> + +<P> +But siesta was brief that day. In less than an hour's time all had +reappeared and were mounting for the race. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XV +</H3> + +<P> +The race took place in a field a mile from the house, on a straight +track. Four vaqueros in black velvet small-clothes trimmed with silver, +spotless linen, and stiff glazed black sombreros, walked up and down, +leading the impatient mustangs. Two of these horses were a beautiful +bronze-gold in colour, with silver manes and tails, a breed peculiar to +the Californias; one was black, the other as white as crystal. The +family and guests of Casa Carillo sat on their horses, in their +carretas, or stood just outside the fence surrounding the field. At one +end were the several hundred Indians employed by Don Tiburcio, and +several hundred more from the Mission. Father Osuna had also joined the +party from the Casa, and Roldan, who had seen hundreds of horse-races +and was built on a more complex plan than his contemporaries, got as +close to the priest as he dared and gave him his undivided attention. +Padre Osuna was a man of unusual height and heaviness of build. His +black eyes were set close to his fine Roman nose. The mouth was so +tightly compressed that its original curves were quite destroyed, and +the intellectual development of the brow was very marked. His hands +exerted a peculiar fascination over Roldan. They were of huge size, +even for so big a man, lean and knotted, with square-tipped fingers. +The skin on them was fine and brown; it looked as soft as a woman's. He +used them a good deal when talking, and not ungracefully; but they +seemed to claw and grasp the air, to be independent of the arms hidden +in the voluminous sleeves of the smart brown cassock. Other people +watched those hands too—they seemed to possess a magnetism of their +own; and every one showed this priest great deference: he was one of +the most successful disciplinarians in the Department of California, a +brilliant speaker, an able adviser in matters of state, and a man of +many social graces. +</P> + +<P> +"More agreeable to meet in the sala of the Mission than in a cave at +midnight," thought Roldan. "Still—" His scent for danger, particularly +if it involved a matching of wits, was very keen. +</P> + +<P> +The word was given. The race began. The dons shouted, the lovely faces +between the bright folds of the rebosos flushed expectantly. From the +black mass of Indians opposite came a mighty gurgle, which gradually +broke into a roar,— +</P> + +<P> +"The black! Fifty hides on the black!" +</P> + +<P> +"The little bronze! She is a length ahead! Madre de dios! Six doubloons +of Mexico on the little bronze!" +</P> + +<P> +The priest pushed his way to the speaker, a wealthy ranchero who had +been more than once to Mexico. +</P> + +<P> +"The white against the bronze, senor," he said. "Twenty otter skins to +the six doubloons of Mexico." +</P> + +<P> +"Done, your reverence. I am honoured that you bet with me. But the +white—have you thought well, my father?" +</P> + +<P> +"She breathes well, and her legs are very clean." +</P> + +<P> +"True, my father, but look at the muscles of the little bronze. How +they swell! And the fire in the nostrils!" +</P> + +<P> +"True, Don Jaime; and if she wins, the skins are yours." +</P> + +<P> +As the horses darted down the track almost neck to neck, the excitement +routed Spanish dignity. The dons stood up in their saddles, shouting +and betting furiously. The women clapped their white idle hands, and +cheered, and bet—but with less recklessness: a small jewel or a +second-best mantilla. As they could not remember what they had bet when +the excitement was over, these debts were never paid; but it pleased +them mightily to make their little wagers. The men were betting +ranchitas, horses, cattle, and, finally, their jewels and saddles and +serapes. For each horse represented a different district of the +Department, and there was much rivalry. +</P> + +<P> +The priest did not shout, and he made no more bets, but his eyes never +left those figures speeding like arrows from the bow, the riders +motionless as if but the effigies of men strapped to the creatures of +fire beneath. Sometimes the black gained then the little bronze; once +the white dashed a full three yards beyond his fellows, and Roldan saw +the great hands of the priest, which had been clinched against his +shoulders, open spasmodically, then close harder than ever as the white +quickly dropped back again. +</P> + +<P> +It was a very close race. The excitement grew tense and painful. Even +Roldan felt it finally, and forgot the priest. The big bronze had quite +dropped out of it and was lagging homeward, hardly greeted by a hiss. +The others were almost neck and neck, the little bronze slightly in the +lead. "She wins," thought Roldan, "No! No! The black! the black! Ay, +no, the bronze! but no! no! Ay! Ay! Ay!" A roar went up that ended in a +shriek. The black had won. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan looked at the priest. His skin was livid, his nostrils +twitching. But his mouth and eyes told nothing. +</P> + +<P> +The crowd rode home, still excited, gay, cheerful. Their losses +mattered not. Were not their acres numbered by the hundred thousand? +Did they not have more horses and cattle than they would ever count? In +those days of pleasure and plenty, of luxury and unconsidered +generosity, a rancho, a caponara the less, meant a loss neither to be +felt nor remembered. +</P> + +<P> +After the bountiful supper the guests loitered for a time in the +courtyard, then the sala was cleared and the dance began. Several of +the girls danced alone, while the caballeros clapped and shouted. Then +all waltzed or took part in their only square dance, the contradanza. +They kept it up until morning. Needless to say, our heroes went to bed +at an early hour. +</P> + +<P> +They were up the next morning with the dawn, and in company with Rafael +and the other guests of their own age, went for their canter. This time +they avoided the hills behind the Mission, as they had no wish to share +their secret, and a chance word might divulge all. They rode toward the +hills at the head of the valley. Roldan was still the hero of the hour, +and Rafael, although the most generous of boys, resented it a little. +He was not without ambitions of his own, and determined to seize the +first opportunity to remind his companions that the son of Don Tiburcio +Carillo, the greatest ranchero of that section of the Californias, had +not the habit to occupy the humble position of tag-behind even to so +brilliant and adventurous a guest as Roldan Castanada. +</P> + +<P> +He soon found his opportunity. +</P> + +<P> +As they reached the first hill they saw a bull feeding on its summit. +"Aha!" cried the young don of the Rancho Encarnacion. "Now I will make +for you a little morning entertainment, my friends. Coliar! coliar!" +</P> + +<P> +"No! no!" cried the boys. "The hill is too steep. It is like the side +of a house. You will break your neck, my friend." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan said: "It is dangerous, but it could be done." +</P> + +<P> +"I can do it," said Rafael, proudly, "and I shall." +</P> + +<P> +The other boys, good sportsmen as they all were, shouted, "No! no!" +again; but Rafael laughed gaily, and forced his horse up the almost +perpendicular declivity, leisurely unwinding his lariat from the high +pommel of his saddle, and tossing it into big snake-like loops, which +he gathered one by one into his hand, the last about his thumb. The +bull fed on unsuspecting, for the early green of winter was very +delicious after eight months of unrelenting sunshine. When Rafael +reached the summit he rode back for some distance, then came at the +bull full charge, yelling like a demon. The bull, terrified and +indignant, gave a mighty snort and leaped over the brow of the hill. It +was much like descending the slightly inclined side of a cliff, but he +kept his footing. The boys held their breath as Rafael rode straight +over the brow in the wake of the bull. With one hand he held the bridle +in a tight grip, in the other he held aloft the coils of the lariat. It +looked like a huge snake, and quivered as if aware that it was about to +spring. There was no cheering; the boys were too much alarmed. A +mis-step and there would be a hideous heap at the foot of the hill. +</P> + +<P> +The little mustang appeared scarcely to touch the uneven surface of the +descent. He looked as if galloping in air, and tossed his head fiercely +as though to shake the rising sun out of his eyes. The bull seemed +continually gathering himself for a great leap, his clumsy bulk heaving +from side to side. But a quarter of the distance had been traversed +when the great curves of the lasso sprang forward, and, amidst a hoarse +murmur from the boys, caught the bull below the horns. But that was +all. The bull would not down! There would be no coliar! He merely ran +on—the brute! the beast!—jerking his horns defiantly, putting down +his head, nearly dragging Rafael from the saddle. But no! but no! +Rafael has risen in his saddle, he has forced his mustang the harder, +he is almost level with the bull—he has passed! He gives a great jerk, +dragging the bull to his knees, then another, and the bull is on his +side and rolling over and over down the hill, Rafael following fast, +slackening his lariat. The boys now cheer wildly, although danger is +not over—yes, in another moment it is, and Rafael, smiling +complacently, is at the foot of the hill, disengaging the humbled bull. +</P> + +<P> +"Bravo!" said a voice from behind the horses. All turned with a start. +It was the priest. "Coliar was never better done," he added graciously; +and Rafael felt that the day was his. +</P> + +<P> +The priest had ridden up unnoted in the tense excitement of the last +few moments. He sat a big powerful horse, and his bearing was as +military as that of the two great generals of the Californias, Castro +and Vallejo. +</P> + +<P> +As the boys, congratulations and modest acknowledgement over, were +making for home and breakfast, the priest pressed his horse close to +Roldan's. "I interested you much at the race yesterday, Don Roldan," he +said, with a good-humoured smile. "Why was that?" +</P> + +<P> +Roldan was not often embarrassed, but he was so taken aback at the +abrupt sally he forgot to be flattered that the priest had evidently +thought it worth while to inquire his name; and stammered: "I—well, +you see, my father, you are not like other priests." Which was not +undiplomatic. +</P> + +<P> +The priest smiled, this time with a faint flush of unmistakable +pleasure. "You are right, my son, I am not as other priests in this +wilderness. Would to Heaven I were, or—" +</P> + +<P> +"Or that you were in Spain?" Roldan could not resist saying, then +caught his breath at his temerity. +</P> + +<P> +The priest turned about and faced him squarely. "Yes," he said +deliberately, "and that I were a cardinal of Rome. Such words I have +never uttered to mortal before; but if I am not as other men, neither +are you as other lads. Some day you will be a Castro or an Alvarado; it +is written in your face. Perhaps something more, for changes may come +and your opportunities be greater. But I—I am no longer young; there +is no hope in California for me." +</P> + +<P> +"Why do you not return to Spain?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have written. They will not answer. In my youth I was wild. They +forced me to come here. I had no money. I was obliged to obey. I have +christianized a few hundred worthless savages who were better off in +their barbarism, and I have made myself a power among a few thousand +men of whom the outer world, the great world, knows nothing. My Mission +is the most prosperous in the Californias—and I—" he set and ground +his teeth. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan thought of the gold. "When I am governor of the Californias, my +father," he said, "I shall send you back to Spain, for then I shall +have great influence—and much gold." +</P> + +<P> +At the last word the priest's eyes flamed with so fierce a light that +Roldan shrank back repelled, feeling himself in the presence of a +passion of which he had no knowledge. But the priest controlled himself +at once. "Thank you, my son," he said with a brilliant smile. "And I do +not ask you to guard as your own what I have said. It is a part of the +power of such natures as yours that you know what to repeat and what to +leave unsaid." Then as they approached the house he suddenly took +Roldan's slender elegant hand in one of his mighty paws, shook it +heartily, and flinging his bridle to a vaquero, sprang lightly to the +ground and entered the courtyard, leaving our hero in a condition of +flattered bewilderment. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVI +</H3> + +<P> +That day there was to be a grand rodeo, or "round-up:" the branding of +cattle; not only of the stock belonging to Don Tiburcio, but of many of +his neighbours, which would be driven over to his rancho for the +operation. This was one of the great occasions of the year. Immediately +after breakfast the neighbours began to arrive, magnificently mounted, +sparkling with gold and silver lace, their wives and daughters each +surrounded by her cavalcade. About ten the gorgeous company, led by the +host, started for an immense corral about three miles from the house. +The boys were well to the front, and established themselves on the wall +of the corral. The rest of the party remained on their horses, but +mounted the little slopes. The green winter landscape had suddenly +become a blaze of colour, and never was there a more animated scene. +Over all hung a light haze. The distant mountains, which could be seen +from the outer valley, were almost invisible. The priest, a huge brown +figure, on his big brown horse, stood on the very apex of the highest +knoll. +</P> + +<P> +Presently, from various directions rose a low deep murmur, then a +rumble of growing volume as of an approaching earthquake. Men and women +grasped their bridles with firmer fingers, and pressed still nearer to +the crests of the many mounds. Then over the hills on every side came a +mass of tossing horns and sleek shining bodies, separated here and +there by a shouting vaquero, whose black and silver seemed pierced at +every point by those white curving horns. The cattle, several thousand +in number, trotted over the hills and toward the corral swiftly, but in +good order, held well in check by the careful vaqueros. There was no +cheering, for excitement was to be avoided. The cattle would stand any +amount of the shouting they were used to, but little from unaccustomed +throats. +</P> + +<P> +In the corral, at its farther end, stood, by an oven, a tall muscular +Indian, the most famous brander in that part of the country. He was +stripped to the waist, and as the first steer was driven through the +narrow gate, he plucked a red-hot iron from the coals. The beast, +kicking and bellowing, was flung to the ground by a dexterous twist of +his tail, two more Indians held him in position, and the branding was +accomplished. +</P> + +<P> +Almost before he was up another was prostrate; and they followed each +other in such rapid succession that the wonder was some were not +branded twice. As fast as each brute received his mark he was driven +out of another gate and over the hills, lest his ill-nature should be +the cause of wild disorder. +</P> + +<P> +The vaqueros handled their dangerous charges with admirable skill, +keeping those to be branded in groups of a hundred or more at some +distance from the corral, riding round them constantly with peremptory +shouts. Other vaqueros, belonging to the same herd, segregated the +animals immediately required and drove them in a straight line for the +corral. There was not a moment of pause. The vaqueros, the brander, and +his assistants seemed impervious to fatigue; the cattle, shifting +uneasily in their bands, leaped eagerly from the lines at the first +signal from the vaquero bearing down on them like a fury from the +corral. On the far side, otherwise deserted, the sore indignant beasts +scampered as fast as their legs could carry them whithersoever their +vaquero chose to drive. +</P> + +<P> +After two hours or more, the atmosphere was charged with a certain +breathless excitement, as was natural enough. The constant cyclonic +rush of vaqueros and cattle, the angry bellowings, the increasing +masses of animals, the furious shouts of the men, had changed a +peaceable landscape into a vast theatre full of tragic possibilities. +The waiting cattle were growing more and more restless, and there was a +low rumble among them. Don Tiburcio motioned to his guests that it was +time to leave; moreover, it was nearing the dinner hour. +</P> + +<P> +"Rafael!" he called. His son turned his head impatiently, but prepared +to obey; the Californian youth was brought up on rigid lines. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, must we go?" cried Adan. "I could stand here till night, even +without dinner, my friends." +</P> + +<P> +"I, too, am sorry," began Roldan. "But what is the matter?" +</P> + +<P> +The great masses of cattle had begun to heave suddenly. They were +uttering hoarse growls of terror. The mustangs of the vaqueros stood +suddenly still, quivering. Then, abruptly, a horrible stillness fell. +All things breathing seemed to petrify. But only for numbered seconds. +From beneath came a low roar, gathering in volume like the progression +of a tidal wave; then the world heaved and rocked. +</P> + +<P> +"Temblor! temblor!" went up as from one mighty horrified throat. The +priest shouted to the boys: "Stay where you are;" to Don Tiburcio and +his guests: "With all your speed after me." +</P> + +<P> +They understood his meaning. The cattle were leaping over one another, +bellowing madly, giving no heed to the hoarse cries of the terrified +vaqueros. In a moment a blaze of colour was flying down the valley, a +long brown arm lifted high above it. In twenty seconds five thousand +tossing horns and blazing eyes and heaving flanks were in pursuit. +</P> + +<P> +The vaqueros did their best, although their faces were white and their +lips shaking. Three that were between the uniting herds, had their legs +crushed into their mustangs' sides, and were borne along and aloft, +shrieking horribly, adding to the fury of the stampede. Another, trying +to head the cattle off, rode into a sudden split in the hard adobe soil +and went down beneath those iron feet. +</P> + +<P> +The boys clung together. The wall was broad, but it rocked +continuously, whether from other shocks or from the hoof-assaulted +earth it would have been impossible to say. A curving outer flank of +the flying mass bulged against it, and it quivered horribly with the +impact. The boys strained their eyes after the retreating points of +colour. Would they escape? Were the frightened mustangs fleeter of foot +than those maddened brutes? And if they were—the Casa! +</P> + +<P> +"I think," said Roldan, "that we had better get down on the other side. +This wall may go down any minute; and the cattle are all looking in one +direction." +</P> + +<P> +"You are right," said Rafael. "This way—Ay de mi!" +</P> + +<P> +There was another heave of the earth, distinct from the steady +vibration of stampeding cattle. The adobe wall rocked violently, +sprang, twisted, crumbled to the ground, a heap of dust. +</P> + +<P> +For a moment the boys were invisible. Then they emerged, one by one, +choking and spitting, rubbing their eyes with their knuckles. When they +had recovered some measure of vision they huddled together, staring +with affrighted eyes at the moving wall of cattle not twenty yards to +their left, hardly able to keep their balance. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Roldan pulled his wits together. "Sit down," he said. "We are +the colour now of the earth. If we keep quiet and look no taller than +weeds they will not see us and we shall not be hurt." +</P> + +<P> +The boys dropped to the ground and sat in silence, staring ahead of +them. Would that rushing, heaving, bellowing mass have no end? It was +indeed a long time before the last line, curiously compact, swept by. +Occasionally the earth jumped with brief abruptness, causing hair to +crackle at the roots, and dust-laden as it was, make as if to rise on +end. The squirrels were screeching in the trees. The birds pitifully +twittered. Even the leaves rustled in response to those terrible +quivers. +</P> + +<P> +The cattle were a red streak at the end of the perspective. The boys +rose, shook themselves, and walked heavily to their tethered mustangs. +The poor beasts were trembling and whinnying; they greeted their young +masters with a quavering neigh of relief. The boys mounted; but +although they rode rapidly, with ever increasing impatience, they +paused every few moments to listen; there was likely to be a return +stampede at any moment. More than once they were obliged to swerve +suddenly aside from yawning rifts, and they passed a spring of boiling +water, spouting and hissing upward, which had not been there in the +morning. They were too frightened to talk; not only the paralysing awe +of the earthquake was upon them, but the least imaginative saw his home +levelled to the ground, his relatives and friends trodden down into the +cracking earth. Hills lay between them and the Casa Encarnacion. +</P> + +<P> +There were two exits from the valley where the branding had taken +place: one, very narrow, to the right, which led directly to the house, +the other straight ahead, almost as broad as the valley itself. The +boys saw at a glance that pursued and pursuers had taken the more +spacious way, and they followed without consultation. +</P> + +<P> +The crushed grass looked like green blood, but there was no other +evidence of slaughter; the mustangs had been fleeter than the cattle. +The latter had evidently kept well together, for on either side of a +swath some three hundred yards in width, the grass stood high. +</P> + +<P> +They were in a wide valley now; they could see the great mountains, +still faint under their vapourous mist, the redwoods as rigid of +outline as if the heart of the world beneath had never changed its +measure. Just beyond this valley was a wood, then the Mission. Were +twenty thousand hoofs trampling among its ruins? +</P> + +<P> +They left the valley, entered the wood, galloped down its narrow path, +and emerged. The Mission stood on its plateau above the river, as +serene and proud as the redwoods on the mountain. She had held her own +against many earthquakes and would against many more. But there was not +a horn, a horse, a man, nor a woman to be seen. +</P> + +<P> +The boys dismounted, not daring to think. They walked toward the +buildings, then paused to listen. Through the open doors of the church +rolled the sonorous tones of Padre Osuna's voice, intoning mass. The +boys ran forward to enter the building. They paused on the threshold, +held by a sight, the like of which had never been seen in California +before, and never shall be again. +</P> + +<P> +Near the entrance of the vast building were a multitude of half-clothed +dusky forms, prone. Between them and the altar were more than an +hundred horses, caparisoned with silver and carved leather, and gay +anquera. They stood as if petrified. On them, huddled to the arching +necks, in an attitude of prostrate devotion, were magnificent bunches +of colour; scarce an outline could be seen of the proudly attired men +and women who had fled before a tidal wave of tossing horns. Father +Osuna, in his coarse brown woollen robes, stood before the altar, +chanting the mass of thanksgiving. The church blazed with the light of +many candles. The air was thick and sweet with incense. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVII +</H3> + +<P> +After the mass was over the boys learned the sequel of the morning's +terrible adventure. Between the second valley and the wood the cattle, +diverted by one of those mysterious impulses which govern masses of all +grades of intelligence, had deflected suddenly and raced for the hills. +The gay company was much shaken, but somewhat restored by the calm of +the church and the solemn monotonous roll of Father Osuna's voice. They +cantered slowly homeward, and crossed themselves fervently when they +saw the Casa Encarnacion none the worse for her shaking, beyond a few +fallen tiles. After dinner and siesta they recovered their natural +spirits, and the men and boys went forth with the vaqueros to hunt the +cattle. These were found at the foot of the mountain, weary and humble. +Not a horn was tossed in defiance at the volley of abuse hurled upon +them, and they allowed themselves to be driven to the ranches of their +respective owners without a protest. +</P> + +<P> +That evening the household and guests of Casa Encarnacion spent in +music and dancing; so light of heart and careless of mind were the +people of that time and country. +</P> + +<P> +A number of cattle had been trampled to death in the stampede, and the +bodies lay within a few miles of the mountains. It was inevitable that +bears would come out to eat the carcasses. On the night of the day of +terrifying memory no one felt equal to the exertion of another ten mile +ride and the subsequent battle with a possible herd of bears. But at +eight o'clock on the following night Don Tiburcio, Padre Osuna, the +boys, some ten of the caballeros, and as many vaqueros mounted and rode +forth for a good night's sport. The moon was thin and low. As they +approached the spot where the first of the wild band had succumbed to +fatigue they saw a dark object moving beside the carcass. The approach +was stealthy, but the bear suddenly raised his head. In a second five +or six lassos had sprung through the air. One caught the bear—a brown +bear of moderate size—about the neck, another about a hind leg. The +brute drew his legs together like a bucking horse and leaped into the +air, then plunged toward his tormentors; but those that had him in +lasso galloped in different directions, and poor bruin was quickly +strained and strangled to death. Two vaqueros were left to skin him, +and the party rode on. In a very few moments they saw a moving group +some distance ahead. Spurring their mustangs they dashed forward, +letting the lassos fly. Now the sport became truly exciting and +dangerous. Some six or eight brown bears, of varying sizes, growled +furiously and bounded toward the intruders. Three were caught in the +meshes of the rope, the others were making straight for the horses. +There was only one thing to do. The men put spurs and galloped rapidly +away, the bears plunging heavily in pursuit. When the men had +outdistanced the bears by a hundred yards or more, they wheeled +suddenly and trotted back, once more letting fly the lasso. This time +all but one were roped; as they kicked in fury, their hind legs were +caught by the lariats held in reserve; and there followed a scene of +plunging and springing, galloping, shouting, growling; and neighing, +for the mustangs were fully alive to their part. +</P> + +<P> +The one bear at liberty rode straight for Roldan. +</P> + +<P> +He had hurled his lasso with the rest, and it was trailing. He jerked +about and fled for a mile or more, holding on with his legs while both +hands were occupied gathering in the rope and coiling it about the high +pommel of his saddle. Then he turned and charged full at the bear, who +was hot in pursuit and no mean runner. He hurled the lariat. It fell +short, and lay quivering on the ground like a huge wounded snake. +Roldan gave an exclamation, of surprise as much as of dismay: he was an +expert with the rope. He turned, however, dragging it in. It caught +about the mustang's hind legs. The beast went down, neighing with +horror. Roldan tried to jerk him to his feet. He seemed hopelessly +entangled. Roldan extricated himself, knowing that he was comparatively +safe, as bears prefer horse-meat to man's. He had no sooner got his +feet free of the boots than the mustang leaped to his feet and fled +like a hare, dragging the lariat in a straight line after him. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan was alone, the bear not ten yards away. The rest of his party +were a mile and more behind. No one apparently had noticed his flight +with the solitary bear. The light was uncertain and the excitement over +there intense. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan took to his agile young heels. But the bear gathered himself and +leaped, not once but several times. There was no doubt that his blood +was up, and that he meant a duel to the death. Roldan turned with a +catching of what breath was left in him. He mechanically drew his knife +from its pocket and flourished it at the advancing bear. Bruin cared as +little for steel as for rope. He came on with a mighty growl. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan gave one rapid glance about. There was not even a tree in sight. +From his point of departure an object seemed approaching, but it was +too dark to tell as yet whether it was a horseman or another bear. The +brute was almost on him, panting mightily. All the senses between +Roldan's skeleton and his skin concentrated in the determination to +live. He sprang forward and plunged his long knife into the protruding +injected eye of the bear, then leaped aside, his dripping knife in his +hand, and danced about the maddened beast with the agility of a modern +prize-fighter. The bear, too, danced, as if obsessed by some infernal +music; and the skipping, and leaping, and dodging, and waltzing of +these two would have been ludicrous had it not been a matter of life +and horrid death. Through it all Roldan was vaguely conscious of +approaching hoofbeats, but there was no room in his consciousness for +hope or despair. He was not even aware that he was panting as if his +lungs and throat were bursting, nor even that his vision was a trifle +blurred from constant and rapid change of focus and surcharged veins. +But he executed his dance of life as unerringly as if fresh from his +bed and bath. The bear, a clumsy creature at best, and streaming and +blinded with his blood, was slackening a little, but there was life in +him yet, and twice its measure of vengeance. Suddenly he lay down, but +became so abruptly inert that Roldan was not deceived. Instead of +putting himself within reach of those waiting arms he fled with all his +strength. It was then that he knew how fully that strength was spent: +his lungs and legs refused to work with his will and impulse after the +first hundred yards, and he fell to the ground with a sensation of +utter indifference, longing only for physical rest. He heard the bear +plunging after, the loud sound of a horse's hoofs, mingled with a +single shout, then gave up his consciousness. +</P> + +<P> +He awoke in a few moments. Adan was bending over him, propping his +head. "The bear?" he demanded, ashamed of the pitiful quality of his +voice. +</P> + +<P> +"I came just in time to rope him," replied Adan. "You were a fool, my +friend, to go off alone like that—but very brave," he added hastily, +knowing that Roldan did not like criticism. +</P> + +<P> +"You are quite right. And this is the second time you and your lariat +have saved me. Perhaps it may be the other way some time." +</P> + +<P> +"Likely it will if you go on hunting for adventures as the old women +hunt for fleas of a night. Do you feel able to get on my horse? It will +carry the two of us." +</P> + +<P> +"If I were not equal to that much I should find another bear and go to +sleep in his arms." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVIII +</H3> + +<P> +At last the night arrived for the gold quest. The guests had gone. +Roldan, Adan, and Rafael were alone on their side of the great house. +They waited, kicking their heels together with leashed impatience, +until eleven o'clock. The family and servants of Casa Encarnacion went +to bed at ten o'clock, but it was the custom of Don Tiburcio to go the +rounds a half or three quarters of an hour later and see that his +strict laws were as strictly obeyed. To-night, when he opened the doors +of the three young dons in succession, heels were still, and breathing +was as monotonous as his own would be an hour later. At eleven the boys +dressed and swung from their windows, not daring to leave by the +courtyard. Nor did they dare go to the corral and abstract three +horses. Much to their distaste, for there was nothing the Californian +hated so much as to travel on two legs, they were obliged to walk the +miles between the Casa and the hills. But their legs were young and +their brains eager; in little over an hour they were in sight of the +Mission. +</P> + +<P> +It looked very white and ghostly in the pale blaze of the moon, a huge +mass, full of prayer and discontent. Close beside it, but without the +walls, the Indians slept in the rancheria, quiescent enough, for they +had no Anastacio. At midnight the great bells in the tower had rung +out, filling the valley with their sweet silver clamour; but as the +boys approached and skirted the wall, some distance to the right, the +Mission might have been as lifeless as it is this year, in its +desertion and decay. +</P> + +<P> +The hills were a mile behind. The Mission, like all of its kind, stood +on a broad open, that no hostile tribe might approach unseen. Cows and +horses lay in their first heavy sleep, their breathing hardly ruffling +the profound stillness. So great an air of repose did the silent walls +and sleeping beasts give to the landscape that the boys felt the quiet +of the night as they had not done in the other valley, and drew closer +together, almost holding their breath lest the priests might hear it. A +quarter of an hour later they were among the hills and standing before +the aperture whose secrets were known only to Padre Osuna. They glanced +at each other out of the corners of their eyes. Brave as they were, +they did not altogether like the idea of a possible encounter with a +rattlesnake or a bear in the dark and narrow confines of a cave. And if +there should be another earthquake! However, they had not come to turn +back, and Roldan pushed boldly in, the others following close. +</P> + +<P> +For a time their way lay along a narrow passage. They had made two +abrupt turns before they dared to light the lantern they had brought. +When Rafael did, it revealed nothing but earthy walls and the imprint +of feet on the ground. After a little, however, the passage suddenly +widened, and it was Adan who uttered the first exclamation of surprise. +It was, indeed, a hoarse gurgle. The walls were veined with what +appeared to be irregular bands of dirty crystal, pricked with +glittering yellow. There were, perhaps, a thousand of these little +points bared from the jealous earth, and they shone with a steady +baleful glare, magnetising six youthful eyes, stirring in three +careless brains the ghosts of ancient gold-lust, whose concrete +substance lay in the marble vaults of Spain. Immediately Roldan's +sympathy went out to the priest; and he knew that that commanding +intelligence could teach him one thing the less. +</P> + +<P> +There was a rough pick on the ground, and many junks of quartz. Roldan +struck and rubbed two pieces together. In a moment his palm was filled +with jagged pieces of yellow metal. He blew on them lovingly, then put +them in his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"Dios de mi alma!" gasped Rafael, whose eyes were bulging from his +head. "It is as beautiful as the stars of the sky,—the stars in the +milky way with the film over them." +</P> + +<P> +"But we need no more stars," said Adan. "We shall take away our pockets +full, but what shall we do with it? Surely this was not made to rot +with the earth. But it is too small for what you call money, if that is +so big as you say, Roldan. It would make fine nails for a church door." +</P> + +<P> +"Now is not the time to think what you will do with it," said Roldan. +"It is enough that we have it to get. Much is very loose in the +crystal. Rub free all that you can, and fill every pocket. We will take +all we can carry away, and come again and again. Some day, when we are +men, perhaps, we will find a use for it. I for one do not believe that +anything that makes you love it can do harm. Does not the Church teach +us to love all things? Now let us work and not talk." +</P> + +<P> +The boys in turn hacked out great pieces of quartz and rubbed the free +gold loose. Much of it could only be crushed out in machinery made for +the purpose, but a sufficient quantity of the quartz was poor and soft. +As the boys worked, they grew more and more silent, more and more +absorbed. They forgot their delight in rodeo, coliar, bear-hunts, +bull-fights, riding about the ranches from morning till noon, the race, +the religious processions, the dulces of their mothers' cooks. A new +and mighty passion possessed them, the strongest they had ever known. +Their lips were pressed hard together—those soft Spanish lips that +were usually half apart—their eyes glowed with a steady fire. Their +chests rose and fell in short regular spasms. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly a thrill ran through Roldan. He had felt it before when a +rattlesnake, ready to strike, had fixed its green malignant eyes upon +him. He flashed the lantern about swiftly, twisting his neck with deep +anxiety. It would be no minor adventure to encounter a coiled rattler +in this narrow place. Then he saw something white shining out of the +darkness high above the rays, a large white disk, in which glittered +two points of light inexpressibly infuriate. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan sprang to his feet with a warning cry. The other boys, greed +routed by the danger sense, were on their feet as quickly. As the three +lads, none very tall for his age, faced the gigantic bulk of the +priest, they looked cornered and helpless. +</P> + +<P> +The priest, unconsciously beyond doubt, lifted his huge hands, opening +and shutting them slowly. The movement had an ugly significance, and +the hands, in the miserable glimmer of light, looked like great bats, +and seemed to pervade the cavern. Involuntarily the boys squirmed. Then +Roldan, mindful always of his proud position as captain of his small +band, stepped in front of that band and spoke with a vocal control that +did him much credit, considering that his heart seemed to be kicking in +the middle of his stomach. +</P> + +<P> +"These hills are just beyond the Mission grant, Padre Osuna," he said. +"Nor are they on any rancho. Therefore what is in them is as much ours +as any man's. This is the first time that we have been here, but it +will not be the last; and when I am the governor of all the +Californias, I shall send many Indians to dig the very heart out of +these hills. So pick out all that you can now, Padre Osuna, for ten +years hence—" +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke fear gave place to exultation in finding himself pitted +against a man whom he intuitively respected more than any he had ever +met, and whom he knew most men feared and none understood. Moreover, he +heard two sets of teeth clattering behind him, and that alone would +have sent the blood of a born leader of men back to its skin. +</P> + +<P> +But his speech did not proceed to the finish. The priest swooped down +and caught the three necks between his hands, easily spanning them, +pressing the heads hard together. Then he lifted the boys high in the +air and held them there, a kicking, humiliated trio. The blanched olive +of his face was reflected in the pallid brows at the extremity of his +rigid arms. His voice, which had been lost in passion, found itself. +</P> + +<P> +"And when your Indians come, Senor Don Roldan," he said, "they will +find three skeletons six feet beneath the floor of this cave. You will +never leave this cave, not one of you. When you are dead for want of +food and drink, I shall return and bury you. And no one will seek you +here." Suddenly he dashed them to the ground. "A thousand curses go +with you," he shrieked, "to make a murderer of me. I was near enough to +hell before—" +</P> + +<P> +"And our fingers will scratch the ground beneath your feet," +interrupted Roldan, who between mortification and rage felt equal +himself to murder, but determined as ever to hold his own. "Our skulls +will grin at you from every corner as you work—" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care!" shouted the priest. "I don't care! Here you rot. This +gold is mine. No man shall touch it but myself." +</P> + +<P> +"But if we promise never to return, and to tell no man of what we +know," interposed Rafael, feebly. +</P> + +<P> +The priest laughed. "With the glitter of gold in your brains? You could +not keep an oath on the cross." He turned swiftly and strode down the +passage. +</P> + +<P> +"What will he do?" gasped Adan. +</P> + +<P> +"Roll a stone over the entrance and secure it with others," said +Roldan. "There are plenty nigh. If we follow, he will beat us back with +those fists, and one blow would crack our skulls in two." +</P> + +<P> +"Then what shall we do? Rot here? Starve to death? Madre de dios!" +</P> + +<P> +"We have been between the teeth of death before, have we not? We shall +have many more adventures, my friends." +</P> + +<P> +But although he spoke confidently he was profoundly disturbed. This was +no ordinary predicament. He knew that unless the priest relented they +stood small chance of seeing sun and stars again. Would he relent? +Roldan's own indomitable will and growing ambitions responded to the +awful forces in the man, overgrown and abnormal as they had become. +That the priest had some great end in view to which this gold was the +means, and that the gold itself had roused in him a controlling +passion, he could not doubt. The priest himself had told him something, +the gold the rest. With a sudden impulse of hatred Roldan emptied his +pockets of the metal and stamped upon it. He quieted suddenly, then +stamped again, with added vigour. Then he dropped and laid his ear to +the ground. +</P> + +<P> +"Stamp, Adan," he said, "and hard." +</P> + +<P> +Adan shook his blood through his veins, and obeyed. Roldan sprang to +his feet. "We are above the tunnel of the Mission," he said. "And we +have a pickaxe. All we have to do is to dig." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIX +</H3> + +<P> +It was three hours later that a mass of loosened earth caved suddenly, +carrying Adan with it. A wild yell came back. It stopped abruptly, the +tag end of it shot forth like the quick last blast from a trumpet. +</P> + +<P> +"Hi, Adan!" called Roldan, excitedly, peering down into the dark. "Are +you hurt?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know not! I know not! It is darker than a dungeon of a Mission." The +voice was quite distinct. It came from no great depth. +</P> + +<P> +"Get out of the way," called Roldan. "I am coming." He waited a moment, +then dropped, falling on a mass of soft earth. Adan had prudently +retreated a few steps. He ran forward and helped Roldan to his feet, +just as Rafael came flying down. +</P> + +<P> +"Now for the other end," said Roldan. "This air is not too good. And +that devil may return any moment." +</P> + +<P> +They ran down the tunnel. It was wide and high, built for flying +priests, should the Mission be besieged and captured by savage tribes. +The air was close and heavy, but free from noxious gases. Bats whirred +past and rats scampered before them. Roldan paused after a moment and +lit his lantern. Its thin ray leaped but a few feet ahead, but would +frighten away any wild beast of the forest that might have wandered in. +</P> + +<P> +The tunnel was straight. It also appeared to be endless. +</P> + +<P> +"We have walked twenty leagues," groaned Adan, at the end of an hour. +</P> + +<P> +"Two," said Roldan. "Without doubt this tunnel ends at the mountains, +and they are four leagues from the Mission. But you have taken longer +walks than this, my friend. Do you remember that night in the +mountains?" +</P> + +<P> +"I had forgotten it for one blessed week. Rafael, to what have we +brought you? Your poor muscles are soft, where ours are now as hard as +a deserter's from an American barque—ay, yi!" +</P> + +<P> +"If they have but the chance to become soft once more after they too +are hard!" muttered Rafael, who was panting and lagging. "That priest! +that priest!" +</P> + +<P> +"It is true," said Roldan, pausing abruptly. "You will not dare to +return home at present—nor we. It is flight once more—to Los Angeles. +We will stay there—where he would not dare touch us if he came—until +he repents or makes sure that we will have told if we intend to tell. +Will you come?" +</P> + +<P> +"Will I? I would go to Mexico if I could. I feel that there is not room +in the Californias for those hands and myself." +</P> + +<P> +"I will take care of you," said Roldan, proudly, anxious to rout the +memory of his recent humiliation. "But come." And Rafael, too weary and +bewildered to resent the authority of his erst-while rival, trudged +obediently in the rear. +</P> + +<P> +"It grows colder," said Adan, significantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Roldan. "We near the mountains." +</P> + +<P> +Adan stopped. "Is it the mountains again?" he asked. "If it is, then I, +for one, prefer the priest." +</P> + +<P> +"The mountains never scared you half as badly as the priest did," said +Roldan, cruelly. "And to say nothing of the fact that we need never get +lost in the mountains again, the embrace of a grizzly would be no +harder and more death-sure than one in the great arms of that fiend +that wears a cassock." +</P> + +<P> +"True. You are always right. But promise that whatever happens you will +not lead us into the Sierras." +</P> + +<P> +"I promise," said Roldan, much flattered by this unconscious tribute to +his leadership. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think that priest is really a devil?" asked Rafael, in an +awestruck voice. +</P> + +<P> +"When a man has insulted you, you do not know what you think of him," +said Roldan, flushing hotly. "If he only were not a priest I'd fight +him, big as he is. But at least I can outwit him. It consoles me to +think of his fury when he goes to the cave and finds us gone." +</P> + +<P> +"We'd better get out of this tunnel before we talk about having the +best of the priest," said Adan. "Suppose he returns to kill us +himself—" +</P> + +<P> +"He will not return until to-morrow. Then he will have repented. He +will promise to let us go free if we keep his secret. But he will not +have that satisfaction, my friends. Yesterday he had a friend in Roldan +Castanada; I would have done anything for him, gladly kept his secret. +But to-day he has an enemy that he will do well to fear. A Spaniard +never forgets an insult." +</P> + +<P> +"What shall you do?" asked Rafael, eagerly. "Expose him?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I do nothing mean. But I proclaim at Los Angeles that gold has +been discovered in the Californias, and in six days the hills will +swarm, and the priest in his cell will gnash his teeth." +</P> + +<P> +"Ay!" exclaimed Adan. "Do you feel that?" +</P> + +<P> +An icy blast swept down the tunnel, roughening skin and shortening +breath. A few moments later the low rhythm as of distant water came to +their ears. Roldan and Adan recognised that familiar music, and set +their teeth. +</P> + +<P> +"And I prayed that I might never see another redwood," muttered Adan, +crossing himself. +</P> + +<P> +The tunnel stopped abruptly. They stood before a mass of brushwood, +piled thickly to keep out wild beasts and delude the searching eye of +hostile Indians. Beyond, seen in patches, was a dazzle of white. +</P> + +<P> +"Snow, of course," said Adan, with a groan. +</P> + +<P> +The boys pulled the branches apart without much difficulty: the priests +had studied facility of egress and had raised the barrier from within. +In a few moments the boys stood in the sunlight; and the mountains +hemmed them in. +</P> + +<P> +Adan stamped his foot savagely on the hard snow. "We are where we +started a week ago," he said. "No more, no less." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Roldan, who also had felt demoralised for a moment. "The +priests were too clever for that. They would want to get into the +shelter of the mountains, no more. I believe that from the top of that +point above the tunnel we can see the valley." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, we can at least look," said Rafael, who was bitterly weary and +hungry, but determined not to be outdone by these hardened adventurers. +</P> + +<P> +The boys made their way up the declivity as best they could through the +heavy snowdrifts, pulling themselves up by clutching at young trees and +scrub. They were thinly clad and very cold, and hunger was loud of +speech. When after a half-hour's weary climb, they reached the summit, +they drew a long sigh of relief, but their enthusiasm was too moderate +for words in present physical conditions. The valley lay below. Far +away, beyond leagues of low hills and wide valleys something white +reflected the sun. It was the Mission. +</P> + +<P> +"We have not a moment to rest, unless we can find a safe hiding-place," +said Roldan. "If he should return and find us gone, he would follow at +once." +</P> + +<P> +"Where shall we go?" asked the others, who, however, felt a quickening +of blood and muscle at the thought that the priest might be under their +feet even then. +</P> + +<P> +"How near is the next rancho, and whose is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"A league beyond the Mission grant. It is Don Juan Ortega's." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well, we go there and ask for horses." +</P> + +<P> +The boys made their way rapidly down the slope, which after all was +only that of a foot-hill. Beyond were other foot-hills, and they +skirted among them, finally entering a canon. It was as dark and cold +and damp as the last hour of the tunnel had been, but the narrow river, +roaring through its middle, had caught all the snow, and there was +scarce a fleck on the narrow tilted banks. The hill opposite was the +last of the foot-hills; but how to reach it? The current was very +swift, and boys knew naught of the art of swimming in that land of +little water. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Roldan raised his hand with an exclamation of surprise and +pointed to a ledge overhanging the stream. A hut stood there, made of +sections of the redwood and pine. From its chimney, smoke was curling +upward. +</P> + +<P> +The boys were too hungry to pause and reflect upon the possibility of a +savage inmate; they scrambled up the bank and ran along the ledge to +the hut. The door was of hide. They knocked. There was no response. +They flung the door aside and entered. No one was in the solitary room +of the hut, but over a fire in the deep chimney place hung a large pot, +in which something of agreeable savour bubbled. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan glanced about. "I'd rather be invited," he said doubtfully. +</P> + +<P> +But Adan had gone straight for the pot. He lifted it off the fire, +fetched three broken plates and battered knives and forks from a shelf, +and helped his friends and himself. Then he piously crossed himself and +fell to. It was not in human necessities to withstand the fragrance of +that steaming mess of squirrel, and the boys had disposed of the entire +potful before they raised their eyes again. When they did, Rafael, who +sat opposite the door, made a slight exclamation, and the others turned +about quickly. A man stood there. +</P> + +<P> +He was quite unlike any one they had ever seen. A tall lank man with +rounded shoulders, lean leather-like cheeks, a preternatural length of +jaw, drab hair and chin whiskers, and deeply-set china-blue eyes, made +up a type uncommon in the Californias, that land of priest, soldier, +caballero, and Indian. He was clad in coyote skins, and carried a gun +in his hand, a brace of rabbits slung over one shoulder. He did not +speak for some seconds, and when he did, it was to make a remark that +was not understood. He said: "Well, I'll be durned!" +</P> + +<P> +His expression was not forbidding, and Roldan recovered himself at +once. He stood up and bowed profoundly. +</P> + +<P> +"Senor," he said, "I beg that you will pardon us. We would have craved +your hospitality had you been here, but as it was, our hunger overcame +us: we have not eaten for many hours. But I am Roldan Castanada of the +Rancho de los Palos Verdes, senor, and I beg that you will one day let +me repay your hospitality in the house of my fathers." +</P> + +<P> +"Holy smoke!" exclaimed the man, "all that high-falutin' lingo for a +potful of squirril. But you're welcome enough. I don't begrudge anybody +sup." Then he broke into a laugh at the puzzled faces of his guests, +and translated his reply into very lame Spanish. The boys, however, +were delighted to be so hospitably received, and grinned at him, warm, +replete, and sheltered. +</P> + +<P> +The man began at once to skin a rabbit. "Seein' as how you haint left +me nothin', I may as well turn to," he said. "And it ain't every day +I'm entertainin' lords." +</P> + +<P> +The boys did not understand the words, but they understood the act, and +reddened. +</P> + +<P> +"I myself will cook the rabbit for you, senor," said Adan. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you kin," and the man nodded acquiescence. +</P> + +<P> +"You are American, no?" asked Roldan. +</P> + +<P> +"I am, you bet." +</P> + +<P> +"From Boston, I suppose?" +</P> + +<P> +The man guffawed. "Boston ought to hear that. She'd faint. No, young +'un, I'm not from no such high-toned place as Boston. I'm a Yank +though, and no mistake. Vermont." +</P> + +<P> +"Is that in America?" +</P> + +<P> +"In Meriky? Something's wrong with your geography, young man. It's one +of the U. S. and no slouch, neither." +</P> + +<P> +He spoke in a curious mixture of English and of Spanish that he adapted +as freely as he did his native tongue. The boys stared at him, +fascinated. They thought him the most picturesque person they had ever +met. +</P> + +<P> +"When did you come?" asked Roldan. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll answer any more questions you've got when I've got this yere +rabbit inside of me. P'r'aps as you've been hungry you know that it +doesn't make the tongue ambitious that way. I'll have a pipe while it's +cookin'." +</P> + +<P> +He was shortly invisible under a rolling grey cloud. The tobacco was +the rank stuff used by the Indians. The boys wanted to cough, but would +have choked rather than be impolite, and finally stole out with a +muttered remark about the scenery. +</P> + +<P> +When they returned their host had eaten his breakfast and smoked his +second pipe. +</P> + +<P> +"Come in," he said heartily. "Come right in and make yourselves ter +home. My name's Jim Hill. I won't ask yourn as I wouldn't remember them +if I did. These long-winded Spanish names are beyond me. Set. Set. +Boxes ain't none too comfortable, but it's the best I've got." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, this box is most comfortable," Roldan hastened to assure him. "And +we are very thankful to have anything to sit on at all, senor. You +could not guess the many terrible adventures we have had in the last +few weeks." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed! Adventures? I want ter know! You look as if hammocks was more +to your taste. Oh, no offence," as Roldan's eyes flashed. "But you are +fine looking birds, and no mistake. Howsomever, we'll hear all about +them presently. It's polite to answer questions first. You was asking +me a while back how I come here. I come over those mountains, young +man, and I don't put in the adjectives I applied to them in the process +outer respect to your youth. But they'd make a man swear if he'd spent +his life psalm singin' before." +</P> + +<P> +"We know," said Roldan, grimly. "We've been in them. What did you eat? +And did you get lost?" +</P> + +<P> +"I ate red ants mor' 'n once, and I usually was lost. When I arrived at +that Mission down yonder the amount of flesh I had between my bones and +my skin wouldn't have filled a thimble. But that priest—he's a great +man if ever there was one—soon fixed me up. I lived like a prince for +a month, and I could be there yet if I liked, but I'd kinder got used +to livin' alone and I liked it, so I come here. Besides, I found so +much prayin' and bell ringin' wearin' on the nerves, to say nothin' of +too many Indians. I ain't got no earthly use for Indians. Why priests +or anybody else run after Indians beats me. Where I was brought up 't +was the other way. They're after us with a scalpin' knife, and if we're +after them at all it's with all the lead we kin git. If the murderin' +dirty beasts is willin' to stay where they belong, well, I for one +believe in lettin' 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you—ah—like the priest, Don Jim?" +</P> + +<P> +"What? Well, that's better than 'Don Himy,' as they call me down there. +You bet I like the priest. He's a gentleman, and as square as they make +'em, that is, with a poor devil like me; I guess he's one too much for +your dons when he feels that way. But he's a man every inch of him, +afraid of nothin' under God's heaven, and as kind and generous as a—as +some women. What he rots in this God-forsaken place for I can't make +out." +</P> + +<P> +"What did you come to California for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that ain't bad. I come here, my son, because I was lookin' for a +cold climate. My own was warm, accordin' to my taste, and somehow +Californy seemed as if it ought to be fur enough away to be cool and +nice." +</P> + +<P> +"It's very hot in the valleys." +</P> + +<P> +"So it is. So it is. But as you see, I prefer the mountains." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you often go to the Mission?" +</P> + +<P> +"Every month or so I go down and have a chin with Padre Osuna. It keeps +my Spanish in, and I shouldn't like to lose sight of him. I got word +from him the other day that he wanted to see me mighty particular, and +I'm wonderin' what's in the wind. Maybe you heard him say." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Roldan; but he guessed. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," said Hill, "spin your yarn. I'm just pinin' to hear those +adventures." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan appreciated the sarcasm, but was too secure in the wealth of the +past month to resent it. He began at the beginning and told the story +with his curious combination of reserve and dramatic fire. As he had +already told it several times it ran glibly off his tongue and had +several inevitable embellishments. The man, whose cold blue eyes had +wandered at first, finally fixed themselves on Roldan; and his whole +face gradually softened. When Roldan finished with his and Adan's +rescue by Don Tiburcio's vaquero, he held out his hand and said +solemnly,— +</P> + +<P> +"Shake." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan allowed his hand to be gripped by that hairy paw; he was too +elated to resent it as a familiarity. +</P> + +<P> +"You've got pluck," continued Hill, "and I respect pluck mor' 'n +anything else on earth. You're a man and a gentleman, and Californy'll +be proud of you yet. Got any more?" +</P> + +<P> +Roldan related the tale of Rafael's prowess with the bull, his own +encounter with the bear, and Adan's timely interference. Hill then +shook the hands of the two other boys, and told them that as long as he +had a roof above his head they could share it, and that he'd do +anything to help them but steal horses, so help him Bob. Roldan then +told the tale of the earthquake and stampede. +</P> + +<P> +"Ugh!" exclaimed Hill, with a shudder. "That's one thing I can't +abide—your earthquakes. I tell you it's enough to take the grit outen +a grizzly to hear the land sliden on the mountain and the big redwoods +that has got their roots about the bed-rock come roarin' down. When an +earthquake comes I go and stand in the middle of the creek so as I can +see what's comin' all round. Once I was on the side of the mountain +when one of those shakes come and I slid down twenty feet before I +could stop myself. It's just the one thing that has happened to me that +I can't help thinkin' about. Well, what kin I do for you? You're +welcome to stay here, but this hut ain't no great shakes for such as +you. Be you goin' home, now that the conscription's over?" +</P> + +<P> +"No!" said Roldan, emphatically, "we are not. There are other reasons +why we must go to Los Angeles as quickly as we can. Could you get us +three horses?" +</P> + +<P> +"I could get them from the priest—" +</P> + +<P> +"No! no!" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, what's the row with the priest? Got in his black books? I +shouldn't like to do that myself." +</P> + +<P> +"You said just now that you would do anything for us. Would you even +hide us from the priest if he came here?" +</P> + +<P> +"I would. And I ain't the one to ask questions. If you don't want to +see the priest, it's not Jim Hill that will assist him to find you. +Been there myself." +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't you get us three horses from my father's corral—the Rancho +Encarnacion?" asked Rafael. +</P> + +<P> +"I could, if you'd go with me; but horse-stealing is just the one thing +I agreed not to do." +</P> + +<P> +"You might go with him, Rafael," said Roldan. "You would get there +after dark if you started now; and even if the vaqueros were not asleep +they would not call your father." +</P> + +<P> +"And I could send a message to my parents," said Rafael, eagerly. "Then +they would not worry. Yes, I will go. The priest would not dare to harm +me while I was with the Senor Hill." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, the two of us would be a match for even him, if it came to that," +said Hill. "Well, we'll start right now, there bein' no call for delay. +We'll have to foot it, as my mustang's laid up. If the priest should +turn up here—which ain't likely—jest run up that ladder inter the +garret and pull it after yer. Well, hasta luego, as they say in these +parts. Make yourselves ter home." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XX +</H3> + +<P> +"Now," said Roldan, as Rafael and Hill trudged into the perspective of +the canon, "we must sleep, but by turns. That priest will surely go to +the cave to-day, and when he finds us gone he'll come straight for the +mountains; and not through the tunnel either; he'll come on that big +brown horse of his. You sleep first, for two hours, and I'll watch—" +</P> + +<P> +"You first, my friend—" Suppressing a mighty yawn. +</P> + +<P> +"It is easier for me to keep awake. Lie down on that horrible bed. I do +not so much mind waiting a little longer." +</P> + +<P> +Adan lifted his nose at the bunk covered with a bearskin, then flung +himself upon it, and was asleep in three minutes. Roldan sat with his +eyes applied to a rift between the hide-door and the wall. It commanded +a view of the opposite wall of the canon, over which wound a zig-zag +horse trail. +</P> + +<P> +The sun, which had hung directly above the canon when Hill and Rafael +departed, had slid toward the west, leaving the canon cold and dark +again, and Roldan was about to call Adan, when he sprang to his feet, +and stood rigid, cold with fear. +</P> + +<P> +On the brow of the wall opposite, three hundred feet above his head, +stood a powerful brown horse. On him was a huge figure clad in a brown +cassock, the hood drawn well over the face. It was impossible to +distinguish features at that distance, but Roldan fancied that those +terrible eyes were holding his own. He recovered himself and dragged +Adan out of bed. +</P> + +<P> +"The priest!" he said. "Help me to wash these dishes—quick. It will +take him some time to get down." +</P> + +<P> +Adan stumbled across the room, plunged the dishes into a pail of +drinking water, then handed them to Roldan, who dried them hastily and +piled them on the shelf. Then he flung the water across the clay floor +of the hut. +</P> + +<P> +"Get up the ladder," he commanded. Adan scrambled up. Roldan followed, +and pulled the ladder after him. The garret was very low, and half full +of skins. They could not stand upright. It was also bitterly cold. Each +hastily wrapped a skin about his body, and lay full length, Roldan on +his face, his eyes applied to a chink in the rough floor. +</P> + +<P> +A few moments later the door was flung aside and the priest strode in. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan shuddered, but not with personal fear. The priest looked like a +man who had just left the rack of his native Spain. His hair—the hood +had fallen back—stood on end, his face and tightened lips were livid, +his eyes rolled wildly. +</P> + +<P> +"Jim!" he said hoarsely. "Jim!" +</P> + +<P> +He left the hut as abruptly as he had entered it. +</P> + +<P> +"He has gone to look at the mouth of the tunnel," whispered Roldan. +"What fools we were not to cover it up again. Then he would have walked +its length to find us, and the horses might have come before he +returned. Well, he cannot get us until he pulls the roof down." +</P> + +<P> +"He could do it," whispered Adan, grimly. "Those hands! Dios de mi +alma!" +</P> + +<P> +"He will think we have gone somewhere with Don Jim." +</P> + +<P> +The priest returned in less than half an hour. His face, if anything, +was still more terrible to look upon. There was a touch of foam on his +lips. His great hands were clinched. He strode over to the bunk and +lifted the heaped-up bearskin. Suddenly he pressed his face into the +fur. +</P> + +<P> +"Perfume—Dona Martina's," he exclaimed. "They have been here." +</P> + +<P> +He raised his face to the ceiling, and the boys held their mouths open +that their teeth might not clack together. They closed their eyes: +instinct bade them give heed to visual magnetism. Roldan immediately +wanted to cough, Adan to scratch his nose. The next few moments were +the most agonised of their lives. They felt the priest lift his hands +and pass them slowly along the ceiling, they felt those eyes searching +every crevice. Then they felt him grip the edge of the aperture and +lift himself until his eyes were above the garret floor. But it was +pitch dark. He could not even see the ladder, much less the boys under +the bear skins. +</P> + +<P> +The priest dropped to the floor and seated himself upon a box, dropping +his face into his hands. There he sat, motionless, for hours. The boys +buried their heads in the skins and went to sleep. +</P> + +<P> +They were awakened by the sound of voices. A candle flared below. Hill +had entered. He and the priest were alone. +</P> + +<P> +"They were here, sir, that's true enough. I've just taken them to the +Sennor Carriller's and pointed them fur home. They seemed in a hurry to +vamos these parts." +</P> + +<P> +The priest groaned and struck his fist on the table. "Then they are +leagues away by this." +</P> + +<P> +"They be, for a fact. Their horses was fresh and they was powerful +keen. They was just sweaten' to git home." +</P> + +<P> +"And Rafael Carillo? Did he go with them?" +</P> + +<P> +"He didn't. He allowed to, but his father warnt agreeable. In fact he +was—savin' your grace—cussed disagreeable. He corralled us as we was +corrallen the horses; and although he was mighty mad at such French +leave, he said, speakin' of the other two kids, that they could take +the two horses and git, and the sooner the better, and if they never +come lookin' for adventures in these parts agin the better he'd be +pleased." +</P> + +<P> +The priest did not appear to doubt him. He was looking through the +doorway. Roldan could not see his face, but he saw the stare of wonder +on Hill's. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," said the priest, after a moment, and his voice was hardly +audible. "I shall return now. Can you come down to the Mission +to-morrow—no, the day after. I have a secret to confide to you, and it +will not be to your disadvantage to know it. I had no intention of +telling any one, but I need help, and now more than ever. There is no +time to be lost. Can you come early?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll be there between dawn and ten o'clock." +</P> + +<P> +"That will do. Good night." And the priest went out. +</P> + +<P> +No one spoke until the sound came up to them of a horse fording the +creek. Then Hill said cautiously,— +</P> + +<P> +"Hi, there, young uns." +</P> + +<P> +"In the name of Mary let us come down, Don Jim," hissed Roldan, through +the crack. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I guess you kin. He's climbin' the hill, and I don't see as +there's anything to bring him back. I hope the fleas ain't et ye alive." +</P> + +<P> +The boys lowered the ladder as rapidly as their stiff fingers would +permit, and a moment later stood on the floor of the room, shaking +themselves vigorously. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's Rafael?" demanded Roldan. +</P> + +<P> +"Tucked in his little warm bed with a warmer hide, I guess. The old man +caught us in the very act of horse stealin'. Holy smoke, but he did +cuss. I ain't got no pride in Yankee cussin' left." +</P> + +<P> +"What did Rafael tell him?" interrupted Roldan, eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"He told him as how he had made up his mind to go home with you for a +little paseo—" +</P> + +<P> +"Did he say nothing about the priest?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothin'. Never opened his head about the priest—" +</P> + +<P> +"When I'm governor I'll reward him," said Roldan, warmly. +</P> + +<P> +"When you're President of the United States you might make him +Secretary of State—" +</P> + +<P> +"But the horses? the horses?" +</P> + +<P> +"They're tethered just over the mountain. I suspicioned the priest +might be here, seein' as you were expectin' him, more or less." +</P> + +<P> +"Did Don Tiburcio say about me—us—what you told the priest?" +</P> + +<P> +"He did, and more of it. He was as mad as a bear with a sore head. You +see, he hadn't had no peace of mind for some hours, and as for the old +lady I believe she's been havin' high strikes regular since breakfast. +Now, I'm hospitable, but my advice to you is to git. Like as not the +priest'll see old Carriller to-morrow, and then the cat'll come out. I +kin git outen it all right enough—I'll say as how the old man didn't +see you, that you were restin' on the other side of the wall. Like as +not he'll believe me, but he thinks you're pointed fur home, and if he +wants you badly, he'll follow. You'd better go South fur a month or so +and go home by barque. I'll fetch the horses down now and put them in +my shed. That'll rest 'em a bit and keep 'em warm, and then you kin +start the minute it's daylight." +</P> + +<P> +"You have been a friend to us in trouble, Don Jim, and I shall never +forget it." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't mention it, Rolly, don't mention it. I kinder like excitement, +when I ain't the hero, so ter speak. There's only one thing I've got to +ask in return: Have you got a grudge agin the priest?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have." +</P> + +<P> +"Be you meditatin' revenge?" +</P> + +<P> +"A Spaniard never forgives an insult." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, . . . have you got it in yer power to injure Padre Osuna in the +sight o' men?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have, and worse—for him." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't do it, young man," said Hill, solemnly. "Don't do it. It ain't +worth shucks to ruin a man fur personal spite. You'll find that out the +minute you've done it. You'll feel small and mean; and if you want to +be a great man—and I kin see you're ambitious—that ain't the way to +go to work. Padre Osuna has his faults, but he's a big man; there ain't +none bigger in the Californies; and he ain't the man to ruin, without +thinkin' a lot about it aforehand." +</P> + +<P> +"He insulted me horribly," said Roldan, shutting his teeth. "I will +never respect myself until I wipe out the memory of that moment." +</P> + +<P> +"He lost his temper, I suspicion, and whacked ye, like as not. Well, +I'll admit that is hard on a don of your size. But, take my word for +it, you'll feel a sight better if you mount the high horse and forgive +him, treat him with silent contempt. Nothin' makes you feel as good as +that. Tried it myself." +</P> + +<P> +"I must think about it, Don Jim." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, do. And maybe you'll remember that I asked ye as a favour to let +the priest off this time. He's been the best friend I ever had, and +he's been the friend of many, young 'un." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan stepped forward impulsively and grasped Hill's hand. "I will +never speak," he said. "And you can say to Rafael that I wish him never +to speak, either. Only, in return, Don Jim, I insist that you do not +tell him that I promised you this. He shall not think that I fear him." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I ain't goin' to have no conversation with him on the subject. +Don't you worry about that. Now, I'll go after the mustangs. You lie +down, and when I come back I'll cook that there rabbit for yer. You kin +git dinner at the Ortegas', but don't stay there too long, for the +priest's mighty sharp." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXI +</H3> + +<P> +The boys were once more adrift in the wilderness. It was with mixed +emotions that they said good-bye to the hospitable American and rode +forth to new experiences and dangers. They were now tried adventurers; +they knew their mettle; they also had a far more definite idea of what +danger and experience meant than when they had fled from home with the +light heart of ignorance. Roldan felt several years older, and Adan had +moments of reflection. Moreover, the fine point of novelty had worn +toward bluntness. Nevertheless, they felt no immediate desire to return +to leading strings, and were glad of an excuse to pursue their way +south. Los Angeles was a famous city, the rival of Monterey,—which +neither had seen,—and a fitting climax to an exciting volume. The +exact arrangement of that climax was compassed by the imagination of +neither. +</P> + +<P> +For two miles they kept in line with the foot-hills, then rode rapidly +toward the valley, impatient for its warmth. So far, barring their +sojourn in the Sierras, they had been favoured with fine weather; but +winter was growing older every day, and the sky was thick and grey this +morning. +</P> + +<P> +The Casa Ortega stood on the shores of a large lake. The banks were +thickly wooded. On its southern curve was a high mountain. As the boys +approached, a vaquero sprang upon a mustang and rode toward them +rapidly. Roldan recognised one of the men that had been at the rodeo. +</P> + +<P> +"At your feet, senores," said the vaquero. "The Senor Don is away, and +all the family; but I am mayor domo, and in his absence I place the +house at your disposal." +</P> + +<P> +"My father will reward you," said Roldan, graciously. "We would ask +that you give us dinner, a thick poncho each, for I fear that it will +rain before we reach Los Angeles, and that you will direct us which way +to go. The ponchos shall be replaced with fine new ones as soon as we +have returned home." +</P> + +<P> +"Don Carlos would not hear of the return of the ponchos, senor. But +surely the senores will remain a few days, until the storm is over?" +</P> + +<P> +"We dare not. But we will rest; and we have good appetites." +</P> + +<P> +The mayor domo, still protesting, held the horses while the boys +dismounted, then showed them to two bedrooms and bade them rest while +dinner was preparing. "It will be an hour," he said. "I beg that the +senores will sleep." +</P> + +<P> +The boys did sleep, and it was two hours before they were called. Then +they ate a steaming dinner, and forgot their fear of the priest: the +meagre diet of squirrel and rabbit of the past thirty-six hours had +lowered their spirits' temperature. +</P> + +<P> +When they left the room the mayor domo awaited them with two thick +woollen ponchos—large squares of cloth with a slit in the middle for +the head. +</P> + +<P> +"These will keep the rain out," he said, as he slipped them over the +boys' heads. "And there is food for two days in the saddle-bags, and +pistols in the holsters. Keep to the right of the lake, and enter the +mountains by the horse trail. It winds over the lower ridges. The +senores cannot lose themselves, for they should be on the other side +before dark—that mountain is the meeting of the two ranges and beyond +there are no more for many leagues. Then the senores must keep straight +on, straight on—never turning to the left, for that way lies the +terrible Mojave desert. By-and-by they will cross a river, and after +that Los Angeles is not far. Between the mountain and the river is an +hacienda, where they will find welcome for the night." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan thanked him profusely, then said: "I have reasons for not +wishing ANY ONE to know that I have not returned to my father's house. +I beg that you will tell no one, not even a priest, that we have been +here, for three days at least." +</P> + +<P> +"The senor's wishes shall be obeyed. The Senor Don returns not for a +week. No one shall know until then of the honour that has been done to +his house." +</P> + +<P> +The boys rode rapidly through the wood over a broad road that had +evidently been traversed many times. The sky was leaden, but no rain +fell. Nor was there any wind. The lake could not have been smoother +were it frozen, although it reflected the grey above. Wild ducks and +snipe broke its monotony at times, now and again a jungle of tules. In +less than an hour the travellers were ascending the mountain by easy +grades, a black forest of pines about them. It was darker here, but the +road was clearly defined, and they talked gaily of adventures past and +to come. In Los Angeles they had many relatives, and they knew that a +royal welcome would be given them. They would see the gay life of which +they had heard so much from their brothers; and they magnanimously +resolved that after a week of it they would return to their anxious +parents. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay!" exclaimed Adan, interrupting these pleasant anticipations, "it +rains at last." +</P> + +<P> +A few drops fell; then the rain came with a rush. For some time the +wind had been rising; suddenly it seemed to leap upward to meet the +emptying clouds, then filled the pine-tops with a great roar, rattling +the hard branches, bending the slender trunks. The boys were on the +down grade, and there was no danger of losing the path, although the +rain had put out the sallow flame of the sun. They pricked their horses +and made the descent as rapidly as possible. But it was another hour +before they were on level ground once more. The rain was still falling +in torrents; the wind flung it in their eyes as fast as they dashed it +from their lashes. They could not see a yard ahead. The light of the +hacienda was nowhere visible. If its owner was away from home and his +house in darkness, then was their plight a sorry one indeed. +</P> + +<P> +"There is only one thing to do," said Roldan, putting his hand +funnel-wise to Adan's ear. "We must keep due south until we come to the +river. Then, at least, we cannot go wrong." +</P> + +<P> +"And that river we must cross!" said Adan, with a groan. "Dios de mi +alma!" +</P> + +<P> +Roldan had great faith in his sense of locality, but in a blinding rain +on a black night with a mighty wind roaring inside one's very skull, +and whirling the heavy poncho about one's ears every few moments, it +was difficult to preserve any sense at all. They galloped on, however, +occasionally pausing to shout, straining their eyes into the darkness +on every side. But nothing came back to eye or ear. Apparently they had +the wilderness to themselves. There was no sign of even an Indian +pueblo. +</P> + +<P> +It was during one of these halts that the boys ejaculated +simultaneously: "The river!" +</P> + +<P> +"No," shouted Roldan, a moment later "it is only a creek." +</P> + +<P> +"Are we lost?" demanded Adan; and even the loud tone had a note of +pained resignation in it. +</P> + +<P> +"No; I think this must be what he meant. Some of the low people say +river for everything but the ocean. It is shallow, and we cannot turn +back. Come." +</P> + +<P> +They rode along the bank until they came to an easy slope, then +crossed, and cantered on. In a very short time the storm was behind +them and the stars burst out, but there was no sign of habitation. They +kept on for an hour longer, hoping for a welcome twinkle below; but not +even a coyote crossed their path. As far as they could see in the +starlight they were on a plain of illimitable reach, bare but for low +shrubs whose kind they could not determine, although once Adan's coat +caught on a prickly surface. The atmosphere was warm and very dry. +</P> + +<P> +Finally Roldan reined in. +</P> + +<P> +"We must rest," he said, "and build a fire, or we shall be stiff +to-morrow. And it is long past the hour for supper." +</P> + +<P> +"The sooner we eat and sleep and dry, the better for me," said Adan. +</P> + +<P> +The boys dismounted and tied their horses to a palm, then looked about +for firewood. There was not a tree to be seen; they had not passed one +since they left the creek. Nor could they see any sign of flint with +which they might set fire to a clump of palms. +</P> + +<P> +Adan, who had been on his knees, suddenly remarked: "There is not a +blade of grass, Roldan. What will the mustangs do?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are eating the palm, perhaps that will do them until to-morrow. +But the poor things must be as hungry as twenty. Come, let us strip, +hang our things up, and run. The water is in my bones." +</P> + +<P> +The boys peeled off the clinging steaming garments and ran up and down +until hunger sent them to the saddle bags. The mayor domo had provided +them abundantly, and once more they looked upon the world with hopeful +eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"But we must sleep," said Roldan, "and it is not going to be easy for +mind or body—if there are rattlers about—with no fire. We must take +it in turns. It is warm; we do not need our clothes—ah!"—for Adan was +snoring. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan was very tired but not sleepy. His brain, indeed, seemed +unusually alert, and he got up after a time and prowled about, pistol +in hand. He had been in solitudes before, solitude of plain and valley +and mountain; but there was something in his present surroundings that +reminded him of nothing he had heard of or seen. It was not only the +intense stillness, unbroken by so much as the flutter of a leaf, nor +even the vast expanse. The place seemed to possess a character of its +own, and its character was sinister and forbidding. Once or twice he +had been in the cemetery of the Mission near his father's rancho, and +the ugly feeling that he stood too close to death came back to him; +why, he could not define. There was no sign of a cross anywhere; but he +felt that he stood in a dead world, nevertheless. Once the ground +quivered beneath his feet, and the horrible idea occurred to him that +Southern California had been swallowed by an earthquake, and that only +this desolation was left. +</P> + +<P> +He went back to his comrade, who slept soundly beside the horses, also +extended and breathing deeply. It was nearly morning when he woke Adan, +so little aptitude had his brain for sleep. But when Adan sat up he +fell asleep almost immediately, and when he awoke the sun was high. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXII +</H3> + +<P> +Roldan raised himself on his elbow and looked about him. Adan was some +quarter of a mile away, approaching him, leading the mustangs. Cleaving +the horizon on four sides was a vast plain. On it was not a tree, nor +even a hut. Here and there were clumps of palms and cacti, as stark as +if cut from pale green stone. At vast intervals were short, isolated +mountains, known in the vernacular as "buttes." On the ground was not +the withered remnant of a blade of grass; but there were many fissures, +and some of them were deep and wide. Of the things that crawl and +scamper and fly there was no sign, not even a hole in the ground; for +even reptiles must have food to eat, and there was nothing here to +sustain man nor beast. The fleckless sky was a deep, hot blue; a +blood-red sun toiled heavily toward the zenith. +</P> + +<P> +"Adan!" shouted Roldan; he was suddenly mad for sound of any sort. A +discouraged "Halloa!" came promptly back. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan dressed himself rapidly. His clothes were quite dry; indeed the +very atmosphere of this strange beautiful place was so dry that it +seemed to crumble in the nostrils. As he finished dressing Adan reached +him. The horses' heads were hanging listlessly. Adan's face had lost +its ruddy colour. +</P> + +<P> +"Roldan," he said, "where are we?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know not," said Roldan, setting his lips. +</P> + +<P> +"I left you to look for water, and there are not even tarantulas in +this accursed place. There is no water, not a drop. Nor a handful of +stubble for the horses." +</P> + +<P> +"We must go back the way we came, and start once more from the foot of +the mountain." +</P> + +<P> +"Can you remember from which point we entered this place? This soil +might be rock; there is not a hoof-print anywhere." +</P> + +<P> +"We should have gone south and we came east. On the northwestern +horizon is something which looks like mountains—a long range—almost +buried in mist. There is no sign of a range anywhere else; so the only +thing to do is to go back to them; they are our mountains; I feel sure +of that." +</P> + +<P> +"If the horses do not give out. They are empty and choking, poor +things. Well, there is no reason we should not eat, and, thanks be to +that good mayor domo, we still have a bottle of wine. But I would give +something for a gourd of water. However, we have not been girls yet, +and we will not begin now, my friend." +</P> + +<P> +The boys ate their breakfast, but their spirits felt little lighter, +even after a long draught of wine. The awful quiet of the place, broken +only by an occasional whinny from the mustangs, seemed to press hard +about them, thickening the blood in their veins. Roldan was filled with +forebodings he could not analyse, and strove to coax forth from its +remote brain-cell something that had wandered in, he could not recall +when nor where. +</P> + +<P> +They saddled the mustangs, mounted, and were about to make for the +northwest when Adan gave a hoarse gurgle, caught Roldan's arm, pulled +him about, and pointed with shaking hand to the south. +</P> + +<P> +"Dios de mi alma!" exclaimed Roldan. "It is Los Angeles. We were right, +after all. But why were we never told that it was so beautiful?" +</P> + +<P> +On the southern horizon, half veiled in pale blue mist, showed a +stately city, with domes and turrets and spires and many lofty +cathedrals. It was a white city; there were no red tiles to break those +pure and lovely lines, to blotch that radiant whiteness; even the red +sun withheld its angry shafts. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan gazed, his lips parting, his breath coming quickly. If his +imagination had ever attempted to picture heaven, its wildest flight +would have resembled but fallen short of that living beauty before him. +It was mystifying, exalting. It was worth the dangers and discomforts +of the past month multiplied by twelve, just to have one moment's +glimpse of such perfection. And it was Los Angeles! A city of the +Californias, built by Indian hands! No wonder his family had been +careful to leave its wonders out of the table talk; had he known, he +would have been at its feet long since. +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't the wine?" asked Adan, feebly. +</P> + +<P> +"No. There must have been a fog before; Los Angeles is near the sea." +</P> + +<P> +"Shall we start?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but slowly. The poor mustangs! But it will not be long now. We +cannot be more than two leagues from there. See, it grows plainer every +moment; the fog must have been very heavy." +</P> + +<P> +They cantered on slowly, the mustangs responding automatically to the +light prick of the spur. The beautiful alluring city looked to be +floating in cloud; it smiled and beckoned, inciting even the weary +famished brutes to effort. But at the end of an hour Roldan reined in +with a puzzled expression. "I do not understand," he said. "It seemed +not two leagues away when we started, and we have come that far and +more, and still it seems exactly the same distance beyond." +</P> + +<P> +"The atmosphere is so clear," suggested Adan. "But I wish we were +there. My mouth is parched, my tongue is dry—and the horses, Roldan. +Soon they will be as limp as sails in a calm." +</P> + +<P> +"True, but we could easily walk the distance now. We could return for +them at once with water and food." But he was beginning to feel vaguely +uneasy once more. The odd sensation of death, of a buried world, had +returned. Could it be that that fair city beyond was heaven? Surely, he +thought with unconscious humour, it was very un-Californian. +</P> + +<P> +They passed the lonely buttes, the parched beds of lakes, salt-coated. +Still they saw not a living thing; still the city seemed to recede with +the horizon, its sharp beautiful outlines unchanged. For some time the +horses had been trotting unevenly. Gradually they relaxed into a dogged +amble, their heads down, their tongues out. Every now and again they +half paused, with quivering knees. +</P> + +<P> +Adan's was the first to collapse; it fell to its knees, then rolled +over, Adan scrambling from under, unhurt. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan also dismounted, and both boys, without a word, unsaddled the +poor brutes, thrust the pistols into their belts and what was left of +the provisions into their pockets. They cast off their ponchos, then +once more turned their faces to the south. But they did not advance. +They stood with distended eyes and suspended breath. The city had +disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +Adan was the first to find speech. "A fog?" he asked. "A rain storm?" +</P> + +<P> +"There is neither. The horizon is as blue and clear as it is on the +north and east and west. It is a miracle. Let me think a moment." +</P> + +<P> +He sat down and took his head between his hands. After a while he +looked up. "For hours I have been trying to remember something," he +said. "Do you remember what that mayor domo said to us?—Keep straight +on, straight on, never turning to the left, for that way lies the +terrible Mojave desert, I barely heard his last words at the time; that +is the reason I have had such a time remembering. We are in the Mojave +desert, my friend." +</P> + +<P> +Adan, whose mouth was still wide open, sat down and rolled his eyes +from east to west. "Caramba!" he ejaculated finally. +</P> + +<P> +"I could say a good deal more than Caramba. All that I have heard of +this Mojave comes back to me. There is no water on it, no living thing +but half choked cacti and stunted palms. Men who are lost on it go mad +and die of thirst—" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, yi, yi!" +</P> + +<P> +"Si, senor. However, it might be much worse. It is winter, not +summer,—when the heat kills in a day; we have food and a little wine; +we are young and very strong; we have not come so many leagues that we +cannot walk back. And we have each other. Think, were we alone!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it might be worse," said Adan, "but all the same it might be six +or eight leagues to the northwest better. And that city? What was it? +Where has it gone?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know." Privately he believed that it had been a glimpse of +heaven, and was disturbed lest it might have been a portent of death. +But his mind was too active, his nature too independent to sit down +under superstition. If he died on the desert, it would not be through +lack of effort to get out of it. +</P> + +<P> +He stood up, setting his lips. "Come," he said. "We gain nothing by +sitting here, and we are both fresh; we can walk many leagues before +night." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know which way to go?" asked Adan. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan swept the horizon with his eyes. The buttes they had passed had +displaced the solitary landmark of the morning. There was not a +hoof-beat on the hard split ground. Roldan shrugged his shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"We can at least follow the sun. Los Angeles must be due west. Come." +</P> + +<P> +The sun was past the zenith and sloping to the west. The boys turned +their backs upon it and trudged on, only pausing once for a half-hour +to divide the meagre remains of their store. Evening came; the sun +leaned his elbows on the horizon in front of them, leered at the +contracted visages and blinking eyes resolutely facing him, then slid +leisurely down; and night came suddenly. The boys flung themselves on +the ground and slept. +</P> + +<P> +They awoke consumed with hunger and thirst. Their mouths and nostrils +were coated with the fine irritating dust of the desert, scarcely +visible but always felt. But their smarting eyes were greeted by a +refreshing sight: not a half-league before them, directly in their +course, was a lake, a lake as blue as the metallic sky above, and +lightly fringed with palms and orange-trees. Beyond was a forest of +silver leaves—an olive orchard. +</P> + +<P> +"A Mission!" exclaimed Roldan, and even Adan sprang to his feet and +marched westward with some enthusiasm. But alas! although they trudged +with dogged persistence for fully a league, striving to forget the +gnawing at their vitals in the exquisite prospect filling the eye, the +lake seemed to march ahead of them, in perfect time with their weary +feet. Suddenly the two boys paused and faced each other. +</P> + +<P> +"This accursed desert is bewitched," said Roldan. His face was white, +but more with anger than fear; for the first time in his life he +realised the helplessness of man when at the mercy of nature, and he +did not like the sensation. He had a strong, and by this time, well +developed instinct to govern, to bend others to his will, and he swore +now that he would walk out of this desert unharmed if only for the +pleasure of cheating a force mightier than himself. He turned and +looked at the sun. +</P> + +<P> +"We have been going in a wrong direction," he said. "That lake has been +shifting gradually toward the southwest, and taken us nearly a league +out of our course. The first thing we know we will be in Baja +California, where there is nothing but deserts, and they are all on +mountain tops. We must strike north again. I am sure that last night we +were due west of Los Angeles." +</P> + +<P> +"But the lake? the Mission?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do not believe there is any lake. There are things you and I do not +understand in this world—although we are learning—and I believe that +this strange desert has the power to make scenes like the theatres they +who have travelled tell us of. Be sure that lake will disappear like +the city." +</P> + +<P> +They turned north in order to get in line with the sun; and out of the +tail of their eyes they saw the lake march with them. When they finally +turned to the west again it faced them once more. They linked arms +suddenly and trudged on, hungry, parched, beset by superstitious fears, +but not forgetting to turn every half hour and glance at the sun until +he passed the meridian and pointed for the west. And suddenly the lake +seemed to slip behind a wall. +</P> + +<P> +"There is really something there this time," said Roldan, closing one +eye and curving his hand about the other. "It is ugly enough to be +real. It is no use to say how far anything is in this place, but I +should think we would reach it before long." +</P> + +<P> +And long before they did reach it they knew what it was—a thicket of +cacti some two miles long and of unknown depth. The plants were eight +or ten feet high, and the broad thick leaves, spiked, as only the +leaves of the cactus are, looked to be welded together. But that was +from a distance. When the boys reached the thicket they saw that the +plants in reality were some feet apart, although there appeared to be +no end to them. The boys sat down suddenly, their strength deserting +them. They threw their arms forward on their knees and dropped their +heads. For a half hour or more they sat motionless, then Roldan looked +up and fixed his glassy eyes on the forbidding wall, which at close +proximity seemed to girt the horizon. +</P> + +<P> +"If we tried to go round it," he said, "there is no knowing where we +should find ourselves. We had better go straight ahead, if possible. If +it is too thick we can turn back." +</P> + +<P> +"At least we could not see this horrible desert for a while," said +Adan. "I am willing." +</P> + +<P> +"And, who knows? Los Angeles may be just on the other side." +</P> + +<P> +Their utterance was thick. Their veins felt as if packed with lead, not +so much from need of food as need of drink. But they stumbled to their +feet and entered the cactus forest. They were obliged to pursue their +way in single file; the spikes were long, and many of the larger leaves +abutted so obstructively that they were obliged to go down on their +hands and knees and crawl. Nor could they maintain a straight course, +but zig-zagged among the great plants as nature permitted. More than +once they heard the rip of silk, more than once blood sprang through +their skin. Their progress was slow and fraught with peril, their only +consolation that the end must come sooner or later. +</P> + +<P> +Night came suddenly. They were near an open a few feet in +circumference. They lay down side by side, knowing that a step at night +might mean instant blindness. +</P> + +<P> +The cactus never moves, not even in a storm. There was not a breath of +wind to-night. The thick dull green plant-trees looked as solid as +stone, a petrified forest. The sky had never seemed so high above, the +stars so hard and bright. +</P> + +<P> +Adan moistened his lips with his tongue. "Do you feel that you can last +another day?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I expect to die of old age." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if you do, it won't be the fault of the Mojave desert. You have +courage, and so have I; but this is worse than all—Do you feel that?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have felt it many times before, to-day. It is said that parts of the +Mojave shake all the time." +</P> + +<P> +"We can swear to that. Supposing a great shake came, how could we get +out of this?" +</P> + +<P> +"We are as well here as anywhere. Let us sleep, and rise with the sun." +</P> + +<P> +But although he spoke confidently, almost contemptuously, he was +possessed with a wild desire to spring to his feet and fight his way +out of this terrible prison. He had seen a huge fish flounder in a net, +and looked on callously. He should never witness such another sight +without a responsive thrill of horror. Were he paralysed from crown to +heel he could not be more helpless in this thicket of needles. The vast +unpeopled desert had been bad enough, but it had been intoxicating +liberty to this. Tired as he was, he moved his hands and feet +constantly; supineness was impossible. He wondered how men felt when in +prison, and vowed that when he held the law in his hands he would +invent some other way of punishment. For his part he would rather be +shot at once. +</P> + +<P> +Being young and healthy, he fell asleep after a time. When he awoke the +sky was grey, the stars had gone. He shook Adan. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no sunrise to be seen from this place," he said, "but I am +sure of the direction now. I took note of that big cactus ahead, last +night—Hist!" +</P> + +<P> +"Dios de mi alma!" whispered Adan, his tongue rolling out. "In this +place! It is worse than earthquake." +</P> + +<P> +Nothing was to be seen from where they stood, but from no great +distance came the faint hollow rattle which strikes terror to man in +the wilderness. The volume of sound was suddenly augmented: there +appeared to be a duet. Immediately it was supplemented by a loud +furious hissing; a moment later by a whirr and impact. +</P> + +<P> +"There are two, and they are fighting," whispered Adan, his eyes +bulging. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan advanced softly to an aperture between two leaves of a cactus, +then lifted his finger to his shoulder and beckoned. Adan turned +mechanically in the opposite direction; but curiosity overcame him, and +he joined Roldan. +</P> + +<P> +Between two plants not three feet apart two rattlesnakes were engaged +in mortal combat. They coiled with incredible rapidity, flew at each +other with burning eyes and darting tongues, burying a fang somewhere +in the tense bristling armours. The lashing tails struck the spiked +surface of the cactus and augmented their fury; occasionally they +whipped about, hissing deliriously, then returning as swiftly to the +only enemy in sight. They had coiled and struck some four or five +times, whipping all over their narrow arena, when as if by common +consent, they retreated to extreme opposite points, coiled as lightning +strikes, and leapt at each other. Even Roldan gave a hoarse cry of +surprise, and as for Adan, he fell into vocabulary: one serpent had +darted straight down the throat of the other. For a moment there was a +fearful lashing. The choking serpent, with protruding eyes, like small +green coals, and jaws distended in agony, strove to dislodge his +suffocating enemy, and the other humped his back and leapt backward in +frantic efforts to reach the air again. But suddenly their struggles +ceased; they flattened to the ground, only the tails moving +automatically. What was left looked like a monster of some unknown +species; a creature with no head, a huge belly, and two tails. +</P> + +<P> +"Caramba!" exclaimed Adan, "I could not eat that even if we had +anything to cook it with. It looks like a mass of poison." +</P> + +<P> +"I should like to know where that poison was last night. It may be a +good sign, however: as they are the first living things we have seen, +we may be near to the edge of the desert." +</P> + +<P> +Adan crossed himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Come," continued Roldan, "let us move on, before hunger tempts us too +far." +</P> + +<P> +Once more they started on their tortuous way. They walked very slowly, +both from necessity and inclination: the excitement of the fight over, +their physical necessities pressed heavily; they kept as close together +as they could, but rarely spoke: they were too hungry. Both were +oppressed by the fear that at any minute they would come upon a solid +wall of cacti and be obliged to retrace their steps, and both knew that +might mean a stunning blow to courage. At times the constant +zig-zagging, the unalterable, smooth, grey-green surface of the cacti, +made them halt dizzily, for both brain and body were sick for want of +food. But by degrees the wood grew thinner and thinner; and when the +sun was half way between the zenith and the western horizon, they left +behind the last straggling outpost and found themselves on the edge of +a creek, the same doubtless that they had crossed three nights before. +They gave each other a feeble simultaneous slap on the back, gathered +their energies, ran down the bank, and took a long draught of the +running water. +</P> + +<P> +"I feel better," said Roldan, finally, "but hungrier than ever. There +are quail in that chaparral over there. I'll go after them, and do you +hunt for flint and build a fire." +</P> + +<P> +He crossed the creek and entered the brush beyond. Almost +simultaneously there was a loud whirr of wings, and a large flock of +quail rose from the chaparral a few feet ahead of him. He had only his +pistols, but he was a good shot, and he decapitated two of the birds in +rapid succession. Then he reloaded and killed a squirrel. When he +returned, Adan was on his knees, with his large cheeks distended, +coaxing a handful of dried leaves and twigs into flame. It was a half +hour before the pyre was large enough for the sacrifice, but after that +the birds and squirrel, which meanwhile had been skinned and washed in +the creek, were but a short time singeing. It was an ill-cooked meal, +but when it was over Roldan said solemnly,— +</P> + +<P> +"I have eaten of all the delicious dishes of the Californias, including +many dulces, but nothing ever tasted as good as this; no, not even the +first breakfast at Casa Encarnacion." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor to me," said Adan, emphatically, and he crossed himself. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXIII +</H3> + +<P> +"Hallo!" shouted a peremptory voice. "Hallo! Hallo!" +</P> + +<P> +"It's the Senor Jim," gasped Adan. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan sprang to his feet. "Hallo!" he cried. +</P> + +<P> +There was a heavy trampling in the chaparral, and a moment later Hill +rode into view. He took off his sombrero and waved it at the boys, but +did not speak until he had crossed the creek and dismounted. Then he +turned and regarded them with his keen hard eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Well!" he exclaimed, "I never calkilated to see you alive agin, and +that's a fact. Hed some more adventures, I presume. Look as if ye'd hed +more adventures than grub." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed we have, Don Jim," said Roldan, solemnly. "Should you like to +hear them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Should I? Well, I guess. You and your adventures have kinder made me +feel young once more." +</P> + +<P> +Roldan told the painful story. +</P> + +<P> +"Holy smoke!" exclaimed Hill, in conclusion, "you are tough! And two +mirages in the bargain. I was lost on Mojave once, and to my mind the +mirages was the wust part of the hull game." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" asked Roldan. "What are mirages?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mirages, Rolly, are what ought to be and ain't, what you want and +can't git, and they bear a hell-fired resemblance to life. I see you +don't quite understand. Well, that there beautiful city and that there +beautiful lake was what we call mirage for want of better name!" And he +explained to them the meaning of the phenomenon, as far as he +understood it. +</P> + +<P> +"We have certainly learned a good deal since we left home," said +Roldan, thoughtfully. +</P> + +<P> +"There's room for more. There's room for more. Now, I suppose you'd +like to know how I come here. Wall, I've got a confession to make fust, +and seein' as you've been so nigh to death in the last few days, +p'r'aps you'll furgive me. The day after you left I went down to see +the priest, as agreed. I found him—well, I don't know as I'll tell +everything, not even to excuse myself. It's enough to say that he was +half luny between fear and remorse. He told me—I suppose he'd got to +that state where he had to tell somebody or bust—about leavin' you in +the tunnel to die, and bein' willin' after to kill you with his own +hands—he was that mad. But he felt terrible sorry, and said that if +you told on him it would serve him right; only that would mean +ruin—ruin—ruin—a terrible word, young man. And he's not a day over +forty and calkilates to git out of Californy with that there gold and +be a big-bug in his native land. I hesitated some time, fur I ain't no +slouch at keepin' a promise; but in the end I had to tell him. Why, a +man's a criminal if he don't put another man out of misery when he +kin—" +</P> + +<P> +"You did quite right," interrupted Roldan. "I am glad that he was +punished, but I would not have any one punished for ever." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'm glad you feel that way. He felt good, I kin tell you that. +He looked ten years younger in five minutes, for he said as how he knew +you'd keep your word. I went straight off and managed to have a word +with young Carrillo. It warnt no trouble to make him promise to keep +his mouth shet; he's more afraid of the priest than he is of his +father's green-hide lariat, and that's sayin' a heap. When I went back +to the Mission I told the priest that I thought as how I'd go on to +Ortega's, and see if you got there all right. When I got there and +heard as how you hed crossed the mountains in a terrible storm I just +hed to go on. I made straight for old Sanchez', who has a hacienda and +raises grapes just this side of the river. He was drunk as usual, but +his servants hedn't seen nothin' of you, and then I was seriously +alarmed. That was at night, and I couldn't do nothin' until daylight, +so I got a good sleep and the next mornin' I started for Mojave. I know +it pretty well, and there was no danger of gittin' lost. At nightfall I +found your horses and ponchos—the horses was dead, poor things. I +slept on the desert that night, and the next mornin' rode back as hard +as I could put, suspicionin' that you would have sense enough to strike +west. I went round the corner of that there cactus wood, never thinkin' +ye were in it, and I expect I got well to this side before you was out. +When I got to this creek I rode up and down it, then crossed over, +thinkin' ye might hev gone on. It was only when I saw smoke that I said +to myself for the fust time: 'There they be.' And you bet it did me +good, for I was powerful worried." +</P> + +<P> +"Don Jim," said Roldan, "you are a kind and good man. I love you, and I +will always be your friend." +</P> + +<P> +"So. Well, I'm powerful glad to hear that. You ain't much like 'Merican +kids, but you're pretty clever all the same, and I like ye better 'n +any boy I ever know'd, hanged if I don't. Don't be jealous, sonny"—to +Adan—"I like ye too—but Rolly—well!" +</P> + +<P> +"You would not like Roldan half so well if it were not for me," said +Adan, whose face expressed nothing. +</P> + +<P> +"So. Well. Now, be ye rested? We want to git to old Sanchez' fur a good +supper and a soft bed to-night." +</P> + +<P> +The boys rose with alacrity. Hill bade them mount his powerful horse, +and walked beside them. +</P> + +<P> +Sanchez' house was only three miles away, but the road lay through +chaparral which sprang across in many places. It was heavy dusk when +they emerged. For some time past they had heard wild eccentric cries, +and their three pistols were cocked. As they rode through a grove of +trees beyond the chaparral, they saw a dark something rolling toward +them. In an instant Hill had snatched the boys from the horse and swung +them to the limb of a tree. +</P> + +<P> +"Hide yourselves among the leaves," he said, "and don't even breathe +mor' 'n you kin help." +</P> + +<P> +He gave the horse a sharp cut with his switch and it galloped on; then +he climbed a neighbouring tree with the agility of a wildcat, and +crouched. +</P> + +<P> +The boys gazed into the dusk with distended eyes. The cloud came on +with inconceivable rapidity. In a moment it outlined itself. Those were +living creatures, fleeing. A stampede? No, men. . . . What? Indians? +</P> + +<P> +They were within a hundred yards now, and their lithe naked forms, the +tomahawks and bows and arrows gripped in their clenched hands, could +plainly be seen; a moment later, their evil faces, distorted with fear. +In the middle distance behind them was a huge column of fire. A strange +figure seemed leaping among the flames. It was from this scarlet column +that the strange noises came. The Indians made no sound beyond their +impact with the atmosphere. +</P> + +<P> +They deflected suddenly and passed to the right of the grove; a moment +later the three in ambush heard them crashing through the brush. Hill +waited until the sound had grown faint in the distance before he swung +himself down and helped the boys to the ground. +</P> + +<P> +"That was a close shave," he said. "Them was murderin' savages, no +weak-kneed Mission variety. I'd give two cents to know what scared 'em +and what's goin' on over yonder. They were on the rampage, which same +means thievin' and killin', or my name ain't Jim Hill." +</P> + +<P> +"We're used to Indians," said Adan, with gentle pride. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, be ye? Well, if them Indians had caught you fryin' your supper, +you'd have got as well acquainted with the next world in just about +three quarters of an hour. Well, we've all got to foot it now; but it +ain't far. I'm powerful anxious to know what's goin' on over to +Sanchez'! Mebbe two tribes met and them's the victors offerin' up the +tail end of that there valiant army. Golly Moroo, but they did look +scared." +</P> + +<P> +They walked on rapidly, but without further conversation; they were all +hungry, and the boys were still very fagged. As they approached the +blazing mass, the figure seemed to leap more wildly still among the +flames, the cries to grow hoarser and more grotesque. All about was +heavy blackness. The slender branches of the burning pine writhed and +hissed; they might have been a pyramid of rattlesnakes caught in +spouting flame. Overhead the stars had disappeared beyond a heavy cloud +of smoke. It was a sight to strike terror to the heart of civilised +man; small wonder that the superstitious children of the mountain and +desert had fled in panic. +</P> + +<P> +They had advanced a few yards farther when suddenly Hill flung himself +on the ground and gave vent to a series of hysterical yells, at the +same time rolling over and over, clutching at the grass. Roldan, +seriously alarmed, and wondering if any other boys in the history of +the Californias had ever had so much to try their nerves, ran to his +assistance; he caught him by his lean shoulders, and shook him soundly. +</P> + +<P> +"Don Jim! Don Jim!" he exclaimed. "Are you ill, my friend? You have +some whisky in your flask, no?" +</P> + +<P> +At this Hill burst into a loud guffaw. Roldan and Adan looked at each +other helplessly. The Spanish do not laugh often, and although the boys +dimly realised that Hill's explosion resembled—remotely—the dignified +concession of their race to the ridiculous, yet they feared that this +was a diseased and possibly fatal variety. +</P> + +<P> +But in a moment Hill sat up. He wiped his eyes, and with some +difficulty controlled his voice. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I ain't ill, young 'uns," he said. "But them Indians 'ud be pretty +sick if they knowed what they run from. That there object cavortin' +round that there bonfire is old Sanchez, and he's drunk. Oh, Lord!" And +once more Hill gave way to mirth. +</P> + +<P> +"He did more good than harm to get drunk this time," said Roldan, +smiling sympathetically. +</P> + +<P> +"You're right, Rolly. You've got a long head. If old Sanchez had set +down to supper sober to-night, there'd be a war-dance round another +bonfire this minute, and his scalp 'ud be bobbin' bravely. I don't +approve of liquor," he added cautiously, remembering the young ideas +shooting before him. "I only said that there be exceptions to all +rules, and this is one of them." +</P> + +<P> +"I understand," said Roldan, drily. "I am not thinking of following the +Senor Sanchez' example. But do you suppose that was really what +frightened the Indians?" +</P> + +<P> +"Just. Well, I guess! They've probably got some idee of the devil, and +they thought that was him, sure 's fate." +</P> + +<P> +He sprang to his feet, ran forward, caught the bacchanalian about the +shoulders, and rushed him in the direction of the dimly-looming house, +throwing one of his own long legs into the air every now and again. The +boys ran after. When they reached the house its master was extended on +a settee in the living-room, and Hill was telling the tale of their +narrow escape to the frightened household. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think they'll come back," he said in conclusion. "But it's +jest as well to have your guns ready, and for one or two of ye to set +up all night. We three'd like grub and beds as quick as you kin git 'em +ready." +</P> + +<P> +Never had beds felt so sweet as they did that night. The boys awoke +refreshed, themselves again; and no Indians had returned to disturb +their slumbers. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXIV +</H3> + +<P> +Hill met them as they entered the living-room. His eyes were full of +news. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, boys," he said, "I don't know that you're in fur another +adventure, but ye kin call it by that name when you git home if you +like; leastways there ain't no doubt about it's bein' an experience." +</P> + +<P> +The boys forgot the waiting breakfast. "What is it?" they demanded +simultaneously. "Quick! quick!" +</P> + +<P> +"It's this. I don't suppose you know more about the history of your +country 'n most kids do. Well, Alvarado and General Castro are your two +big men—" +</P> + +<P> +"We know that," interrupted Roldan, scornfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you do? Then mebbe you know who'se govenor at the present moment." +</P> + +<P> +"Micheltorena. He was sent from Mexico. People don't like him, and they +despise the men he brought with him, still more." +</P> + +<P> +"So. Well, I allus did say you was a remarkable kid, Rolly. However, +this is the way the case stands now. Alvarado's mad as hops to be +ousted for a furriner, so to speak, and Castro's been bilin' fur some +time, because General Vallejo's been promoted ahead of him. So the two +on 'em determined on a revolution. They had a skirmish on Salinas +plains that didn't decide much, and then Alvarado and Castro marched +south, from ranch to ranch,—you just levanted in time,—persuadin' the +rancheros to uphold their cause and give 'em their sons. As they have a +way with 'em, of course they got all the recruits they wanted, to say +nothin' of the finest horses in stock—caponara after caponara. They +say the sight when they marched into Los Angeles was somethin' to go +hungry for. Of course all Los Angeles went over to such triumphant +lookin' rebels, and to-day or to-morrow there's goin' to be a big +battle. I only heard this mornin'. Old Sanchez' brother come post haste +about two hours ago fur his gun and as many men and horses as he could +drum up. Of course Alvarado marched down the coast valleys, so old +Carillo and his neighbours are eatin' their breakfast in blissful +ignorance." +</P> + +<P> +"And shall we really see a great battle?" demanded Roldan, faintly. He +was pale, his nostrils were twitching, "Alvarado! Castro! Micheltorena!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you kin, if you bolt that there breakfast. The horses'll be here +in about twenty minutes, and a battle's somethin' I'm pinin' to see, +too." +</P> + +<P> +The boys ate their breakfast rapidly and in silence. A half hour later +they were galloping furiously for Los Angeles, escorted by the equally +enthusiastic Hill. The river was low and quiet. The horses swam it +without let from tide or snag. Even Adan forgot to cross himself. +Beyond was the high hill that lies directly to the north of Los +Angeles. Its surface seemed in motion; it looked like a huge ant-hill. +</P> + +<P> +"Them's women," said Hill, a few moments after they had left the river +behind them. "Women and children. The fight must be on. Hist! Do you +hear that?" +</P> + +<P> +All three reined in. The sound of cannonading, distant but distinct, +came to their ears. Without a word they lashed their mustangs and made +for the city. They entered it in a few moments. It looked like a +necropolis. Not a human being was to be seen. They spurred back to the +hill and began the ascent, then paused for a few moments. It was a wild +and tragic scene. Hundreds of women and children, their hair streaming +in the high wind, were kneeling with uplifted crosses, praying aloud, +when they were not weeping. A few men, Americans, were passing to and +fro among them, administering encouragement; but their gaze also was +directed anxiously to the north. +</P> + +<P> +Hill dismounted and approached one of the Americans, conferred with him +a moment, then returned to the impatient boys. +</P> + +<P> +"They are fightin' in the San Fernando valley, three leagues to the +north," he said. "We've got no time to lose." +</P> + +<P> +They were less than an hour reaching the battlefield. During that hour +Roldan scarcely knew how he felt. When he left the hacienda he was +possessed by an intense curiosity only; but with that first dull boom +something new and fierce had leapt to life within him. Every few +moments his fingers moved round to the hip-pocket that held his +pistols. The weeping women and children had made him quiver from head +to foot. As they approached the battlefield, and powder-smoke mingled +with the green fragrance of winter, he thought that his nostrils would +burst. His ear-drums were splitting with the thunder of cannon. +Suddenly Hill caught him by the arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Look!" he cried. "There be Alvarado and Castro over there, and +Micheltorena on t' other side. Ain't they magnificent specimens? Why, +what's the matter?" +</P> + +<P> +"Let me go!" said Roldan. His face was deeply flushed, his eyes blazed. +"Come, Adan! come, Adan!" he shouted. "An Alvarado! an Alvarado!" +</P> + +<P> +"Holy smoke!" cried Hill. "You don't say you're meanin' to fight after +sweatin' fur a month to git clear of the hull business?" +</P> + +<P> +But Roldan, grasping the bridle of the less enthusiastic Adan, was +already far ahead. The boys rode straight into the melee, firing +through the smoke until their ammunition was exhausted. Even Adan after +the first few moments lost all sense of fear, and following Roldan's +example, snatched the gun from a fallen soldier and fired and reloaded +until his hands were blistered, and his eyes half sightless with smoke. +</P> + +<P> +Roldan, obeying his dominant instinct, pushed his way rapidly to the +front, attracting much attention. Some one recognised him, and during +one of the many pauses of this not very systematic and furious battle +some one cheered the little don. The cheer was taken up vociferously. +It boomed across the battlefield. A moment later a man came dashing +across with a flag of truce: the cheering was supposed by the enemy to +herald the advance of reinforcements. The truce was accepted without +explanations, and Roldan was hurried into the presence of Alvarado. +That famous governor was sitting on a magnificent charger, caparisoned +with carved leather, red velvet, silver, and gold. His black eyes were +smiling, although the rest of his pale stern face was composed. +</P> + +<P> +"So this is the runaway," he said. "I demanded you from your father, +and he was much embarrassed to confess that you had fled to escape the +conscription. Well, I am glad you did, for you have saved the day for +me. But it is time you were in Monterey, for you've got the face of the +leader of men, and the sooner your education begins the better. Will +you come with me? Your father will not refuse." +</P> + +<P> +The blood was pounding in Roldan's ears, but he managed to reply calmly +that he would go. +</P> + +<P> +He was then presented to General Castro, a man of fine military +bearing, with classic features, but dark and stern. His eyes were as +sombre as Alvarado's: doubtless both knew that their day would be +short, their great gifts wasted in this far-away land, as remote from +the great civilisations where lasting reputations are made as had it +been on another planet. +</P> + +<P> +He shook Roldan warmly by the hand, but he did not smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he said, "it will be a pleasure to train you; and as you are +young and malleable you will adapt yourself to the new order of things +when it comes. Both Alvarado and I will write to your father; I am sure +he will send you to us in Monterey." +</P> + +<P> +And then they graciously dismissed him. +</P> + +<P> +As the boys left the battlefield they came upon Hill, who was sitting +on a hillock eating a sandwich. When Roldan had told his story the +American replied: +</P> + +<P> +"Shake! Rolly, you've got a heap o' genius, but you've got a durned +sight more luck. You'll git there—one way or nother—if the skies +fall. And I wish ye luck, I do for a fact." +</P> + +<P> +"Don Jim," said Roldan, gravely, "have you another sandwich? We are +very hungry." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Valiant Runaways, by Gertrude Atherton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VALIANT RUNAWAYS *** + +***** This file should be named 3706-h.htm or 3706-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/0/3706/ + +Produced by Judy Boss. HTML version by Al Haines. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Valiant Runaways + +Author: Gertrude Atherton + +Posting Date: May 13, 2009 [EBook #3706] +Release Date: February, 2003 +First Posted: July 30, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VALIANT RUNAWAYS *** + + + + +Produced by Judy Boss. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + +The Valiant Runaways + + +By + +GERTRUDE ATHERTON + + + +TO + +GEORGE AND GILBERT JONES + +Of New York + + +WITHOUT WHOSE ENCOURAGEMENT THIS YARN WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN FINISHED + + + +The Valiant Runaways + + + +I + +Roldan Castanada walked excitedly up and down the verandah of his +father's house, his thumbs thrust into the red silk sash that was +knotted about his waist, his cambric shirt open at the throat as if +pulled impatiently apart; the soft grey sombrero on the back of his +curly head making a wide frame for his dark, flushed, scowling face. + +There was nothing in the surroundings to indicate the cause of his +disturbance. The great adobe house, its white sides and red tiles +glaring in the bright December sun, would have been as silent as a tomb +but for the rapid tramping of Roldan and the clank of his silver spurs +on the pavement. On all sides the vast Rancho Los Palos Verdes cleft +the horizon: Don Mateo Castanada was one of the wealthiest grandees in +the Californias, and his sons could gallop all day without crossing the +boundary line of their future possessions. The rancho was as level as +mid-ocean in a calm; here and there a wood or river broke the sweep; +thousands of cattle grazed. Now and again a mounted vaquero, clad in +small-clothes vivified with silver trimmings, dashed amongst tossing +horns, shouting and warning. + +But Roldan saw none of these things. There was reason for his disquiet. +News had arrived an hour before which had thrown his young mind into +confusion: the soldiers were out for conscripts, and would in all +probability arrive at the Rancho Los Palos Verdes that evening or the +following morning. Roldan, like all the Californian youth, looked +forward to the conscription with apprehension and disgust. Not that he +was a coward. He could throw a bull as fearlessly as his elder +brothers; he had ridden alone at night the length of the rancho in +search of a pet colt that had strayed; and he had once defended the +women of the family single handed against a half dozen savages until +reinforcements had arrived. Moreover, the stories of American warfare +which he had managed to read, despite the prohibition of the priests, +had stirred his soul and fired his blood. But army life in California! +It meant languishing in barracks, hoping for a flash in the pan between +two rival houses, or a possible revolt against a governor. If the +Americans should come with intent to conquer! Roldan ground his teeth +and stamped his foot. Then, indeed, he could not get to the battlefield +fast enough. But the United States would never defy Mexico. They were +clever enough for that. His anger left him, and he gave a little +regretful sigh. Not only would he like that kind of a battle, but it +would be great fun to know some American boys. Then he shook his head +impatiently and dismissed these tourist thoughts. The present alone was +to be considered. + +There were two ways to avoid conscription. One was to marry--Roldan +sniffed audibly; the other lay in flight and eluding the men until +their round was over for the year. + +Roldan did not like the idea of running away from anything; he and +several of his father's vaqueros had once made an assault upon a band +of cattle thieves and hunted them into the mountains: that was much +more to his taste. Nevertheless there was one thing he liked less than +showing his heels, and that was giving up his liberty. Not to gallop at +will over the rancho, or sleep in a hammock, to coliar the bulls and +shout with the vaqueros at rodeo, to be the first at the games and the +races, to wear his silken clothes and lace ruffles, and eat the +delightful dishes his mother's cooks prepared! And then he was a very +high-spirited young gentleman. Although the same obedience, almost +reverence, was exacted of him by his parents that was a part of the +household religion in California, yet as the youngest child, who had +been delicate during his first five years, he had managed to get very +badly spoiled. He did not relish the idea of leading a life of monotony +and discipline, of performing hourly duties which did not suit his +taste, above all of being ordered to leave his father's house as if he +were a mere Indian. No, he decided, he would not go into the army--not +this year nor any other year. He would defy the governor and all his +men. + +When Roldan made up his mind he acted promptly. No time was to be lost +in this case. Now was the hour of siesta; he could have no better time +to get away. A note would relieve his parents of a certain amount of +anxiety; and if they did not know where he was they could not be held +accountable. His blood tingled at the presentiment of the adventures he +should have in that perilous journey through a country of which he knew +nothing beyond his father's and the adjoining rancho. And as adventures +would be but half spiced if experienced alone, he determined--and not +from selfish motives only--to save his best beloved friend, Adan Pardo, +from the grasp of the law likewise. + +He went within and slung about himself two pistols and a dagger. After +he had made a small bundle of linen and raided the pantry, he went out +to the corral, saddled his horse and packed the saddle bags, wound his +lariat securely about the pommel, then galloped away on a series of +adventures memorable in the annals of California. + + + +II + +Roldan's way lay over his father's leagues until two hours after +nightfall. As he passed, every now and again, a herd of cattle, +lounging vaqueros called to him: "Ay, Don Roldan, where do you go?" or, +"The little senor chooses a hot day for his ride." But he excited no +curiosity. Like all Californians he half lived in the saddle; and he +was often seen riding in the direction of Don Esteban Pardo's rancho, +to spend a few days with his chosen friend. + +As he approached the house he saw the family sitting on the long +verandah: the pretty black-eyed girls in full white gowns, their dark +hair flowing to the floor, or braided loosely; Don Esteban, a silk +handkerchief knotted about his head, reclining in a long chair beside +his wife, a stout woman, coffee-coloured with age, attired in a dark +silk gown flowered with roses. Indian servants came and went with +cooling drinks. Although it was December, Winter had loitered and +fallen into deeper sleep than usual on her journey South this year. + +Adan was leaning against a pillar, moody and bored. He was the youngest +of the boys. His brothers, elegant caballeros, who spent most of their +time in the capital or on other ranches, were kind to their younger +brother, but not companionable. Therefore, when Roldan galloped into +sight, he gave a shout of joy and ran down the road. Roldan drew rein +some distance from the house, that the conference, which must take +place immediately, might be unheard by older ears. + +"Listen, my friend," he said rapidly, interrupting Adan's voluble +hospitality. "The soldiers are out for conscripts--" + +"Ay, yi!--" + +"Now listen, and don't talk until I am done. I WILL NOT be drafted as +if I had no will of my own, and rot in a barrack while others enjoy +life. Neither will you if you have the spirit of a Pardo and are worthy +to be the friend of Roldan Castanada. So--I fly. Do you +understand?--and you go with me. We will dodge these servants of a +tyrant government the length and breadth of the Californias. When the +danger is over for this year we will return--not before. Now, you will +ask me to go to my room as soon as possible after you have given me +some supper, for I am tired and want sleep. You also will take a nap. +When all is quiet I shall call you and we will start." + +Adan had listened to this harangue with bulging eyes and tongue rolling +over his teeth. But Roldan never failed to carry the day. He was a born +leader. Adan's was the will that bent; but his talent for good +comradeship and his quiet self-respect saved him from servility. + +In appearance he was in sharp contrast to the slender Roldan, of the +classic features and fiery eyes. Short, roly-poly, with a broad, +good-natured face, his attire was also unmarked by the extreme elegance +which always characterised Roldan. In summer he wore calico +small-clothes, in winter unmatched articles of velvet or cloth, and an +old sombrero without silver. + +"Ay! yi!" he gasped. "Ay, Roldan! Holy Mary! But you are right. You +always are. And so clever! I will go. Sure, sure. Come now, or they +will think we conspire." + +Roldan dismounted, and was warmly greeted by the family. The girls rose +and courtesied, blushing with the coquetry of their race. Roldan cared +little for girls at any time, and to-night was doubly abstracted, his +ear straining at every distant hoof-beat. He retired as early as he +politely could, but not to sleep. Indeed, he became so nervous that he +could not wait until the family slept. + +"Better to brave them, Adan," he said to his more phlegmatic friend, +"than that sergeant, should he get here before we leave. Come, come, +let us go." + +They dropped out of the window and stole to the corral where the riding +horses were kept. It was surrounded by a high wall, and the gate was +barred with iron; but they managed to remove the bars without noise, +saddled fresh horses and led them forth and onward for a half mile, +then mounted and were off like the wind. + +They knew the country down the coast on the beaten road, but they dared +not follow this, and struck inland. The air was now of an agreeable +warmth; the full moon was so low and brilliant that Roldan called out +he could count the bristling hairs on a coyote's back. + +In less than two hours they were climbing a mountain trail leading +through a dense redwood forest. In these depths the moon's rays were +scattered into mere flecks dropping here and there through the thick +interlacing boughs of the giant trees. Those boughs were a hundred feet +and more above their heads. About them was a dense underforest of young +redwoods, pines, and great ferns; and swarming over all luxuriant and +poisonous creepers. + +They were silent for a time. The redwood forests are very quiet and +awesome. At night one hears but the rush of the mountain torrent, the +cry of a panther or a coyote, the low sigh of wind in the treetops. + +"Ay, Roldan," exclaimed Adan, suddenly. "Think did we meet a bear?" + +"We probably shall," said Roldan, coolly. "These forests have many +'grizzlies,' as the Americans call them." + +"But what should we do, Roldan?" + +"Why, kill him, surely." + +"Have you ever seen one?" + +"Never." + +"But it is said that they are very large, my friend, larger than you or +I." + +"Perhaps. Keep quiet. I like to hear the forest talk." + +"What strange fancies you have, Roldan. A forest cannot talk." + +"Oh--hush." + +"Ay, yi, Roldan! Roldan!" + +The horses were standing upright, neighing pitifully. Adan gave a +hoarse gurgle and crossed himself. + +"The adventures have begun," said Roldan. + +In a great swath of moonlight on a ledge some yards above them, +standing on his hind legs and swinging his forepaws goodnaturedly, was +an immense grey bear. Suddenly he extended his arms sociably, almost +affectionately. + +"We cannot retreat down that steep trail," said Roldan, rapidly. "He +could follow faster and the horses would fall. To the left! in the +brush, quick!--a bear cannot run sideways on a mountain." + +The boys dug their spurs into the trembling mustangs, who responded +with a snort of pain and plunged into the thicket. Only the bold skill +of the riders saved them from pitching sidewise down the steep slope, +despite the brush, for they were unshod and their knees had weakened. + +But the grizzly, alas! was still master of the situation. In less than +a moment the boys saw him lumbering along above them. He evidently had +possession of a trail, more or less level. + +"Dios de mi alma!" cried Adan. "If he gets ahead of us he will come +down and meet us somewhere. We shall be lost--eaten even as a cat eats +a mouse, a coyote a chicken." + +"You will look well lining the dark corridors of the bear, my friend. +Your yellow jacket with those large red roses, which would make a bull +sweat, would hang like tapestry in the houses of Spain. Those hide +boots, spotted with mud, and the blood of the calf, would keep him from +wanting another meal for many a long day--" + +"Ay, thou fearless one! Why, it is said that if the grizzly even raises +his paw and slaps the face every feature is crushed out of shape." + +"I should not be surprised." + +They plunged on, tearing their clothes on the spiked brush and the +thorns of the sweetbrier, fragrant lilac petals falling in a shower +about them, great ferns trodden and rebounding. The air was heavy with +perfume and the pungent odour of redwood and pine. + +Roldan had passed Adan. Suddenly his horse stumbled and would have gone +headlong had not his expert rider pulled him back on his haunches. + +"What is it? What is it?" cried Adan, who also had been obliged to pull +in abruptly, and who liked horses less when they stood on their hind +legs. "Is it the bear upon us? But, no, I hear him--above and beyond. +What are you doing, my friend?" + +Roldan had dismounted and was on his hands and knees. In a half moment +he stood erect. + +"We are saved," he said. + +"Ay? What?" + +"It is a hole, my friend--large and deep and round. Did you put any +meat in your saddle-bags?" + +"Ay, a good piece." + +"Raw?" + +"Yes." + +"Give it to me--quick. Do not unwrap it." + +Adan handed over the meat, then dismounted also. + +"A bear-trap?" he asked. + +"Yes, a natural one. Come this way, before I unwrap the meat." + +The boys forced their way to the south of the large hole, dragging the +still terrified horses, who were not disposed to respond to anything +less persuasive than the spur. Roldan approached the edge of the +excavation and shook the meat loose, flinging the paper after it. As +the smell of fresh beef pervaded the air it was greeted by a growl like +rising thunder, and almost simultaneously the huge unwieldy form of the +bear hurled itself down through the brush. The boys held their breath. +Even Roldan felt a singing in his ears. But the grizzly, without +pausing to ascertain his bearings, went down into the hole at a leap. +He made one mouthful of the meat, then appeared to realise that he was +in a trap. With a roar that made the horses rear and neigh like +stricken things, he flung himself against the sides of his prison, drew +back and leaped clumsily, tore up the earth, and galloped frantically +to and fro. But he was caught like a rat in a trap. + +The boys laughed gleefully and remounted their horses, which also +seemed to appreciate the situation, for they had quieted suddenly. + +"Adios! Adios!" cried Roldan, as they forced their way up to the trail +the bear had discovered. "You will make a fine skeleton; we will come +back and look at you some day." + +But it was not the last they were to see of Bruin in the flesh. + + + +III + +An hour later they began to descend the mountain on the other side, and +by dawn espied a ranch house in a valley. The white walls were pink +under the first streamers of the morning. The redwoods rose like a +solid black wall on the towering mountains on every side. + +"Ay!" exclaimed Roldan, drawing a deep sigh. "Sleep and a hot +breakfast. They will be good once more." + +"They will," answered Adan, who had been collapsing and digging his +knuckles into his eyes for an hour and more. + +They feared that no one might be stirring, but, as they approached the +verandah, the door opened and a stout smiling Californian, dressed in +brown small-clothes, appeared. + +"Who have we here?" he cried. "But you are early visitors, my young +friends." + +"We are dodging the conscript," said Roldan. "You will not betray us?" + +"I should think not. I'd hide my own boys, if the mountains did not do +that for me. Come in, come in. The house is yours, my sons. Burn it if +you will. Tired? Here. Go in and get into bed. The servants are not up, +but I myself will make you chocolate and a tortilla." + +The boys did not awaken for eight hours. When they emerged, somewhat +shamefacedly, they found the family assembled on the verandah, drinking +their afternoon chocolate, and impatient with curiosity. There were no +girls to criticise the dilapidated garments--which the kind hostess had +mended while the boys slept; but there were two youths of fourteen and +fifteen and two young men who were lying in hammocks and smoking +cigarritos. + +Roldan and Adan were made welcome at once. + +"My name is Jose Maria Perez," said the host, coming forward. "This is +my wife, Dona Theresa, and these are my sons, Emilio, Jorge, Benito, +and Carlos. What shall we call you, my sons?" + +"My name is Roldan Castanada of the Rancho Los Palos Verdes, and this +is my friend Adan Pardo of the Rancho Buena Vista." + +"Ay! we have distinguished visitors. But you were just as welcome +before. Sit down while I go and see if the big stew I ordered is done. +Caramba! but you must be hungry." + +The four lads quickly fraternised, and Roldan began at once to relate +their adventures, continuing them over the steaming dish of stew. When +he reached the point which dealt with the outwitting of the bear, Don +Emilio sprang from his hammock. + +"A bear trapped?" he cried. "A grizzly? We will have a fight with a +bull. You are rested, no? As soon as you have eaten, come and show us +the way." + +The boys, always ready for sport, and believing that they were beyond +the grasp of the law for the present, eagerly consented. An hour later +Don Emilio, Don Jorge, the four lads, and three vaqueros all sallied +forth to capture one poor bear. The vaqueros dragged a sled, and much +stout rope. + +When they reached the trap darkness had come, but the four boys held +lighted torches over the hole--this was their part. The bear, +disheartened with his long and futile effort to escape, lay on the +uneven surface below, alternately growling and roaring. As the torches +flared above him he sprang to his feet with a vast roar, his eyes as +green and glittering as marsh lights. In a moment a lasso had flown +over his head and he was on his back. But his formidable legs were not +to be encountered rashly. Each was lassoed in turn, also his back; then +his huge lunging body was dragged up the side of the excavation and +onto the sled. There he was bound securely; then the rope about his +neck was loosened and he was fed on a hind quarter of sheep. But it +placated him little. His anger was terrific. He roared until the echoes +awoke, and strained at the rope until it seemed as if his great muscles +must conquer. + +But he was powerless, and the procession started: first Roldan and +Benito with their torches; then two vaqueros dragging the sled, the +third holding the rope which encircled the bear's neck, ready to +tighten it on a second's notice. Following were Don Jorge and Don +Emilio, then the two other young torch bearers. Thus was poor Bruin +carried ignominiously out of the forest where he had been lord, to +perform for the benefit of the kind he despised. That night he rested +alone in a high walled corral, liberated by the quick knife of one of +the vaqueros, who sprang through the door just in time to save himself. + +There was an angry guest on the ranch that night. The bear's lungs, +which were of the best, had little repose, and he flung himself against +the earth walls of the corral until they quivered with the impact. The +horses in the neighbouring corrals whinnied; the cows in the fields +bellowed. It was a vocal night, and few slept. + +Nevertheless everybody was excited and good-natured next morning. +Immediately after breakfast they went out to the corral, and by means +of a ladder mounted the wall and stood on the broad summit. At a signal +from Don Emilio a vaquero opened the gate cautiously and drove in a +large bull, who had been carefully irritated since sunrise. + +The two unamiable beasts, glad of an object to vent their spleen upon, +flew at each other. The bear, giant as he was, was ignominiously rolled +in the dust by the furious onslaught of bulk and horns. He recovered +himself with surprising alacrity, however, and rushed at the bull. The +latter, off guard for the moment, and struggling for his lost breath, +was hurled on his back. He rolled over quickly, but before he could +gather his legs under him, the bear sat himself squarely upon the heavy +flanks. The bull jerked up his head, his eyes injected, his tongue +rolling out. The bear raised one of his mighty paws and dealt him a box +on the ear. The head fell with an ugly thud on the hard floor of the +corral. The bear adjusted himself comfortably and licked his paws. + +On the wall the onlookers were far more excited than the gladiators in +the arena. The Perezes sympathised with their personal property, but +Roldan and Adan felt that the bear was their menagerie, and that their +honour was at stake. Party feeling ran very high. Roldan and Benito +were twice separated by their anxious elders. + +"Ay! yi!" cried Carlos. "The bull wakes." + +The poor bull, in truth, despite the crushing weight on his vitals, +raised his head again, shook himself feebly, and was once more boxed +into unconsciousness. The side of his face was crushed; his body was +slowly flattening. The family encouraged him with tears and spirit. + +"Ay, Ignacio, Ignacio, my poor one!" cried Don Jose. "Arouse thyself +and kill the brute. Ay! thou wert so beautiful, so elegant, thy sleek +sides like the satin of Dona Theresa--and he like a wild man that has +never washed. Where is thy pride, Ignacio? Arouse thyself!" + +Thus encouraged, the bull raised his head once more. The bear gave him +a whack that snapped his spinal cord, then rose and swung himself round +the enclosure with the arrogant mien of a bloated sultan who has swept +off a troublesome head. This attitude aroused Benito to fury. + +"Ay, the cheat! the assassin!" he cried. "It was not a fair fight. Our +Ignacio had no chance--" + +"That is not true!" exclaimed Roldan. "He had the same chance at the +first. If you are not satisfied, Senorito Benito, then fight me." + +No sooner said than done. The boys, who stood some distance from the +others, doubled their fists and rushed at each other like two fighting +cocks. They pommelled for several minutes, then locked their arms about +each other and went reeling about the wall, to the horror of the +others, who dared not approach lest they should inflame them further. + +"Jump down! Jump down, you imbeciles!" cried Don Jose. "Do you wish to +be food for the bear? A misstep--" The words ended in a hoarse gurgle. +Dona Theresa shrieked. Adan and Carlos sobbed. The young men turned +cold and weak. The two boys had fallen headlong into the corral. + +They were sobered and fraternal in a moment. The bear stood upon his +hind legs and opened his arms invitingly. He stood in front of the gate. + +"Ay! ay!" gasped Benito. "He will eat us!" + +"No; he will eat the bull first; but he will hug us to death--that is, +if he gets us--which he won't. Adan!" he cried, "lower the ladder." + +Benito began to cry, his terror enhanced by the babel of voices on the +wall, each of which was suggesting a different measure. On the opposite +wall and in the branches of a neighbouring tree were the Indian +servants and the vaqueros. They stared stupidly, with shaking lips. + +Adan had recovered his presence of mind. With a firm hand, he lowered +the ladder. But his wit was not quick. He should have carried it along +the wall and placed it behind the boys. Instead, it descended several +yards away. The bear, who appeared to be no fool, lowered his forepaws +and trotted slowly toward the boys. + +"Juan!" shouted Roldan to a vaquero. "Lasso the bull and drag him to +the west side--far from the gate." + +The vaquero, alert enough under orders, swung the lasso with supple +wrist--and missed. The boys dodged the bear, who seemed in no haste, +but stalked them methodically, nevertheless. The vaquero swung again. +This time the rope caught the horns, was tightened by a quick turn, and +the carcass went thudding across the yard. The bear gave a furious howl +and plunged after. The boys scampered up the ladder. Don Jose took each +by the collar and shook them soundly. When they were released they +embraced each other. + +"Ay! but I was inhospitable to fight my guest," sobbed Benito. + +"Ay, my friend," said Roldan, with dignity, winking back the tears +started by various emotions. "It is I who should have had my ears boxed +by the bear for insulting my host, and bringing anguish to the house of +Perez." Then he embraced Adan, but this time mutely. + +Dona Theresa had been carried to her room, where she lay prostrated +with a nervous headache; but her family and guests did ample justice to +the chickens stewed in tomatoes, the red peppers and onions, the fried +rice, tamales, and dulces which her cook had prepared in honour of the +event. Excitement and good will reigned; even Don Jose had forgiven the +young offenders, and they all talked at once, at the top of their +voices, as fast as they could rattle and with no falling inflection. +Roldan and Adan were pressed to remain at the Hacienda Perez until the +search was over, and although the former had a secret yearning for +adventure he was more than half inclined to consent. + +After a brief siesta the entire male population of the hacienda retired +to the wall of the corral to pot the bear. It was agreed that each +should fire at once, and that he who missed should have no dulces for a +week. + +The bear was sitting near the middle of the corral, surly but replete, +for he had eaten of the bull. Don Jose gave the signal. Twenty-two +shots were fired. The bear gave a roar which awoke the echoes of the +forest, lunged frantically on shattered legs, then fell, an ugly heap +of dusty grey hair. + +As the smoke cleared and Don Jose was announcing that only two Indian +servants had missed, Benito clutched Roldan's arm suddenly. + +"Look up," he said. "Do you see anything? Are not those men; soldiers?" + +Roldan looked up to a ledge of the high mountain before the house. A +bend of the trail traversed a clearing. In this open were three men on +horseback, motionless for the moment. + +"Adan!" shouted Roldan. He ran down the ladder. + +"I cannot be sure that those are the soldiers," he called up to Don +Jose. "But I take no risks. We must go." + +The others descended hastily. "My sons will have to hide too," said Don +Jose. "There is plenty of time. In a moment those men will be in the +forest again and can see nothing more for half an hour. We must do +nothing while they watch--there! they have gone." + +He shouted to the vaqueros to saddle six fresh horses, and ordered the +house servants to pack the bags with food. + +"There is a cave in the mountain on the other side which I defy anyone +to find," said Don Jose. "If there were a war my sons should fight, but +I need them now." + +While the horses were saddling, Roldan and Adan consulted together. At +the end of a few moments the former went up to Don Jose. + +"I think it would be wiser to separate," he said. "Adan and I will go +one way, your sons another. That will put them off the track; and the +cave, Carlos says, is not very large." + +"As you like," said Don Jose, who was perturbed and busy. "A vaquero +will go with you for a distance and advise you." + +The truth was, Roldan fancied lying inert in a cave for several days as +little as he fancied the somnolent life of a barrack, and Adan, who had +a secret preference for the cave, was too loyal to oppose him. + +In ten minutes the horses were ready, affectionate good-byes said, and +Roldan and Adan, followed by many good wishes, and prayers to return, +started southeastward through a dense canon. + + + +IV + +The vaquero guided the boys rapidly through the canon. The almost +perpendicular walls, black with a dense growth of brush and scrub +trees, towered so high above them that the atmosphere was damp and the +long strip of sky was like a pale-blue banner. The trail was well worn, +and there was nothing to impede their progress. The mustangs responded +to the lifted bridle and ran at breakneck speed. They emerged at the +end of half an hour. It was an abrupt sally, and the great level plain +before them seemed a blaze of sunlight. + +"Bueno," said the vaquero, halting. "Ride straight ahead. Keep to the +trail. At night you will come to a river. Before you reach it all trace +of you will be lost, because between now and there are many side +trails, and as the ground is so hard they cannot tell which you take. +Cross the river and take the trail to the left. That will bring you to +the Mission--about twenty miles farther--where the good padres will let +you rest and give you fresh horses. The senor, meanwhile, will throw +the officers off the scent. But if you are wise, you will make for the +Sierras and hide there. Adios, senor, adios, senor;" and he wheeled +about and disappeared into the darkness of the canon. + +"We are like the babes in the wood," said Adan. "I feel as if we never +should find our way home again." + +"We shall," said Roldan, stoutly; although he, too, felt the chill of +the immense solitude. "And we have begun well! What an adventure to +start with! I am sure we shall have more." + +Adan crossed himself. + +The boys rode at a long even gallop, the high chaparral closing behind +them. Every half hour they paused, and Roldan, dismounting, held his +ear to the ground. But as yet they were unpursued. + +A soft wind blew over the plain, fragrant with the honeydew of the +chaparral. The sun set in a great bank of yellow cloud. Then the night +came suddenly. + +A few moments later Roldan called: "Halt!" and held up his hand. "I +hear the rush of the water," he said. "We must be near the river." + +"It sounds as if it was high," said Adan. "It has rained hard this +month. Suppose these horses don't swim?" + +"We'll make them. Come on." + +"Ay! yi!" exclaimed Adan, not many moments after. + +They pulled up suddenly on the banks of the river, a body of water +about three hundred yards wide. It was swollen almost level with the +high banks. The tumultuous waters were racing as if Neptune astride +them was fleeing from angry gods. There is something unhuman in the +roar of an angry river: it has a knell in it. + +Roldan and Adan looked at each other. The latter's face had paled. +Roldan contracted his lids suddenly, and when his friend met the glance +that grew between them he compressed his lips and involuntarily +straightened himself: he knew its significance. + +"We must cross," said Roldan. "It would never do to spend the night on +this side. If they followed, they would never suspect us of crossing. +If we remained here, we could not hear them until they were upon us." + +"Very well," said Adan. + +Roldan raised his bridle. The mustang did not move forward, but +cowered. "I don't like to hurt horses," said the young don, "but he's +got to go." He clapped his spurs savagely against the animal's sides, +and the next moment the waves were lashing about him. + +Adan was beside him at once, and together they breasted the rushing +waters. The mustangs were strong and made fair headway, incited by +terror and the spur. The water was very cold, but the boys scarcely +felt it. Their eyes were strained toward the opposite shore, measuring +the distance, which seemed to grow less very slowly. The stars were +thick and the moon was floating just above the chaparral, but the +darkness about them was grim, and only a narrow line of white indicated +the shore. + +The horses were not able to keep a straight course. The current lashed +them about more than once, but they righted, shook the water from their +quivering nostrils, and plunged on. + +The boys' glance so persistently sought their haven that they saw +nothing of what was passing about them. They were within twenty yards +of the shore. Adan, having the stronger beast, was some little distance +ahead. He did not observe it. He was registering a vow that if he +reached land in safety he would be drafted every year of his life +before he would ford another river after heavy rain. + +Suddenly Roldan became conscious that the wiry little body between his +gripping knees had relaxed somewhat the tension of its muscles. Was the +poor brute collapsing? Roldan leaned over and patted his neck. It +responded for a moment, then fell back again. Roldan set his lips. As +he did so he cast about him the instinctive glance of those in peril. A +huge log was bearing down upon him like a projectile. + +In a second his feet were out of his stirrups and he was crouching on +the mustang's back. The log struck the beast full in the side, tossing +Roldan as if he had been a feather. The mustang gave a hoarse neigh, +unheard above the roar of the water. + +Roldan, keeping his face from the pounding waves as best he could, +struck out for the bank. But the current was too much for his slender +body, plucky as it was. He made a mighty effort and shouted,-- + +"Adan!" + +The high clear note pierced to his companion's ear. Adan turned his +head, uttered a cry, and pulled his unwilling mustang about. But the +current was carrying the white face on the waves rapidly past. + +"Lariat!" Roldan managed to scream. + +Adan's faculties had been paralysed for the moment, but they responded +almost automatically to that imperious will. He unwound the lariat +rapidly from the pommel, hastily gathered the loops, then flung it with +sure hand straight at his friend. It fell about Roldan's neck. The boy +jerked it over his shoulders, then signed to Adan to proceed. + +Adan once more urged his horse forward, not daring to look behind. +Roldan made no attempt to swim; he merely used his arms to keep his +head above water. There were but a few yards farther. The mustang, +despite his double load, made them, and scrambled up the bank. Adan, +realising for the first time that he was stiff with cold, scrambled off +and pulled in the rope with hands that were aching and almost numb. He +heard Roldan strike the bank, a moment later the snapping of brush. +Roldan's head rose into view, Adan gave a last despairing tug, and a +moment later the two boys lay on their backs, panting for breath. + + + +V + +"Do you want any more adventures?" asked Adan feebly, after a time. + +"Not at present," said Roldan. + +He raised himself stiffly. "Come," he said, "this will never do. We +shall both have rheumatism. We must have a fire at once." + +Adan groaned pathetically, but got on his feet. They had found refuge +in the open; but a grove of trees was near, and in a quarter of an hour +they had piled a heap of branches and chaparral as high as an Indian +pyre, hunted up two pieces of flint, and sent sparks flying through the +dry mass. + +The boys divested themselves of their dripping clothes and hung them +close to the fire, then raced up and down with what energy was left in +them to scotch the chill night air. Finally they paused breathless +before the pile, which was now roaring merrily. + +"I should like to know what we are to have for supper," said Roldan. +"That Mission is twenty miles away, and I for one can't walk to it. +Climb up a tree and see if there is a light anywhere." + +"Thanks, senor," said Adan, "when my clothes are dry." + +"True, we must keep our skin. I have it!" He sprang on the back of the +mustang, who also had fallen upon reaching the shore but had risen to +nibble for supper, and stood on the tips of his feet. "I can see well," +he announced. "But all the same I can see nothing. We must stay here." + +He dismounted, and relieving the mustang of the heavy saddle, emptied +the bags. "The bread and sweets are soaked," he said, "not fit for a +pig to eat; but we can do something with the meat. Fetch some coals." + +Adan with infinite difficulty managed to scrape a few coals apart from +the bonfire, and over this they scorched the meat. As they crouched on +the ground they looked like two little white savages, and they were +neither comfortable nor happy. + +"We must keep this fire going all night," said Roldan, "or we shall be +eaten by bears, to say nothing of rattlesnakes--" + +"Hist!" whispered Adan. "I hear one." Both boys sprang to their feet. + +"Where?" + +"Near the horse." + +Roldan seized his pistol and ran in the direction indicated, keeping +his eyes on the ground. Suddenly he paused. Something just beyond the +light was growing into a series of graceful loops. A long neck slowly +lifted itself and two baleful eyes fixed upon Roldan. He raised his +pistol, and the rattler was beheaded as neatly as if it were stuffed +and dismembered with a pen knife. It shot out to full length, and the +clever marksman took it by its horny tail and dragged it to the fire. + +"He didn't know that we'd have him for supper," said Adan, gleefully. +"Here, let us eat our steak and then I'll skin him." + +The steak proved tough, and when it had been disposed of with many +grumblings, the rattlesnake was skinned and roasted, and proved very +delicate and edible. + +"Now," said Roldan, "we must sleep." Their clothes being dry they +dressed; and after inspecting with a torch a circle of about two +hundred yards to see that there were no snake holes, they built a hasty +ring of chaparral, set fire to it that beasts and reptiles should keep +their distance, then lay down and slept. Roldan was always a light +sleeper, and with the fire on his mind awoke every few hours and +gathered fresh chaparral or roused the heavier Adan. Coyotes wailed in +the distance, and once as Roldan gathered brush he heard again the +deadly rattle. But they were not disturbed, and even the skies were +kind, for although clouds gathered, they passed. + +They awoke in the morning, fresh and vigorous--but also hungry; and +there was little to eat. + +"I don't think I should fancy rattlesnake for breakfast," said Roldan, +and Adan shuddered at the mere thought. They cooked a small piece of +meat, all that was left of their store, and it but whetted their +appetite. + +"There's only one thing to do," said Roldan, "and that is to get to the +Mission as quickly as possible. Chocolate! Beans! possibly chicken! +Think of it. Come! Come!" + +Adan scrambled to his feet and saddled the mustang. It was agreed that +they should ride him by turns, the other running at a brisk trot. + +The sun was barely up when they started. A light mist lay on the +turbulent waters and puffed among the sweet-scented chaparral. Roldan +rode during the first hour, Adan running ahead, his glance darting from +right to left, but encountering eyes neither malignant nor savage. +Shortly after he mounted the horse the mist lifted and rolled back to +the ocean. They had left the chaparral some time before and now +discovered that they were in an open plain. In the distance were high +hills over which wound a white trail. Between these hills and the +travellers was a moving mass of something. Adan reined in suddenly. + +"Roldan," he said, "are those horses? You have the longer sight." + +Roldan made a funnel of his hand. "Surely, surely!" he cried. "What +luck! I hate walking. They are probably wild, but I never saw the +mustang I could not lasso." + +"Yes, you can do the lassoing," said Adan, grimly. "My thumb nearly +went off last night, and is twice its size." + +"Adan," said his friend, laying his hand on his comrade's knee. "I +haven't thanked you. I haven't mentioned it; but it is because--well--I +lay awake an hour last night trying to think of something to +say--and--and--thinking that I loved you better than my own brothers--" + +"That will do, then," said Adan, gruffly. "We'll be kissing each other +in a minute as we did at the Hacienda Perez; and I think that we are +getting too big for that. I hear that American boys never kiss each +other." + +"Don't they?" asked Roldan, pricking up his ears. "How I should like to +know some American boys. They must know so many things that we do not. +Who told you?" + +"Antonio Scarpia has been in America, you know--in Boston. He came back +last month and rode over a few days ago for the night. I asked him many +questions. He says they never show any feeling except when they get +mad, and that they walk and row and play ball--with the feet, +caramba!--and run about in the snow. He says they would think we were +like girls with our fine clothes and our hammocks--" + +"Girls!" cried Roldan, indignantly. "I'd like to see American or any +other boys do better with that bear than we did, or lasso a friend in +the midst of a boiling river as you did. And if they come here to laugh +at us they'll find one pair of fists that are not soft if they do have +lace ruffles over them. And I'd like to see them live all day on a +horse as we do." + +"True, true, you are always right," said Adan, soothingly. "Ay, I think +those horses are coming this way. Better get up." + +He moved back onto the anquera and Roldan sprang to his place and +unwound the lariat. Like all of its kind, it was a slender woven cord +about eighteen feet in length and made of tough strips of untanned +hide. It was an admirable weapon in skilled hands, but not to be +trifled with by the amateur. Many a careless Californian had lost a +finger or thumb, and more than one had owed it lockjaw. + +The wild horses advanced rapidly for a time, but when they saw that the +brother to which curiosity had attracted them was apparently of an +eccentric build they suddenly paused and scattered. Roldan raised the +bridle and dashed in pursuit; but the others were unincumbered, fleet +of foot and terrified. They fled like the wind. + +"Drop off!" commanded Roldan, reining in. "Quick! I WILL have one." + +Adan slid to the ground and the mustang sprang lightly forward. Roldan +had singled out a well-built black, a little heavier than his mates and +consequently somewhat in their rear. The mustang, who had slept off his +fatigue, had no need of spur; he seemed to enter into the spirit of the +chase--possibly realised that if the chase failed he might have a +double load to carry. He dashed over the rough adobe plain, Roldan +holding the bridle high in his left hand, the coiled lasso in his +right. Adan waddled after, far in the rear. The other horses had fled +to the four winds, but the pursued, occasionally ducking his head and +kicking up his hind legs as if in contempt of the pretensions of mere +man, made straight for the hills. Being undisciplined, however, he got +over the ground clumsily, stumbled once or twice in the wide cracks of +the adobe soil, and finally stopped short for want of wind. He swung +about and glared defiantly at his pursuers out of injected eyes. He had +never seen a lasso before, possibly not a man; but his instinct told +him that the horse and rider behind him were not roving the plain in +his own aimless fashion. He stood pawing the ground and shaking his +great red nostrils. Suddenly to his surprise the part of the horse new +to him lifted itself, and a black coiling something, graceful and swift +as a rattlesnake, sprang through the air with a sharp audible rush. A +quarter of a moment later he neighed with rage and terror: his neck was +in a vice. + +He gave a leap that nearly dragged Roldan from his saddle; but that +expert young gentleman had secured the lariat to the high pommel of his +saddle in a trice, and Don Jose Perez's mustang had thereafter to bear +the brunt of the strain. + +The wild animal pulled and tugged and tore up the ground; but finding +that he but increased his own discomfort, he gradually subsided, and +when Roldan finally turned about and rode slowly toward Adan he +followed meekly enough. + +When Adan saw the procession start in his direction he sat down on a +stone to rest, and when it reached him he obeyed orders and sprang on +the mustang's back as Roldan slipped off. + +"That was well done, my friend," he said approvingly. "I could see it +all; but I thought my eyes would fly out of my head." + +Roldan walked cautiously up to his prize and attempted to pat it gently +on the head. But it was some moments before he was able to touch the +beast, who was sulky, cross, and frightened. When he did he swiftly +loosened the lariat, and this procured him a meed of favour. The horse +then allowed himself to be patted all down the side and back, nor once +raised his hoof. + +Suddenly Roldan sprang to his back, gripping the mane with his hands, +the flanks with his knees. But this was one liberty too much. The horse +stood on his hind legs, made as if to go over backward, then suddenly +stiffened all four legs and sprang up and down as automatically as if +worked by a spring. Roldan was now in his element. He had broken in +more than one bucking horse. He remained as immovable as a fly on the +top of a coach, only giving an occasional prick with his spur to madden +the animal and wear him out the sooner. + +Roldan had cast the lariat from the animal's neck as soon as he +mounted, and it was well that he had, for his quarry made a sudden dash +and did not stop for half a mile,--when he paused on his forefeet, +waving his hind in the air. + +But still Roldan kept his seat, Adan shouting: "Bravo! Bravo!" by way +of encouragement. + +The battle lasted nearly an hour; then the mustang confessed himself +conquered, and the boys sought out the trail, from which they had +wandered far, and continued their journey. + +"Caramba!" exclaimed Roldan, "but I am famished, not to say tired. If +it had been ten miles instead of twenty, it would not have been worth +while." + + + +VI + +They rode on rapidly, too hungry to talk. The ground began to rise, and +they advanced through hills sprouting with the early green of winter. +Once they paused, and tethering the horses where they could feed, shot +several quail and roasted them. But the pangs of hunger were by no +means allayed, and when, in the early afternoon, they saw the white +walls of the Mission below them, they gave a shout of joy. + +The Mission stood in the middle of a valley, well away from woods and +hills, and surrounded by a large vineyard and orchard. On the long +corridor traversing the building adjoining the church, several figures +in habit and cowl walked slowly behind the arches. Indians were in the +vineyards and orchards and moving about the rancheria adjacent to the +main buildings. Cattle were browsing on the hills. A stream tangled in +willows cut a zig-zag course across the valley. + +The boys rode quickly down the hillside. As the padres heard the +approaching hoof-beats they paused in their walk, and shading their +eyes with their hands gazed earnestly at the travellers. + +"Friends! Friends!" cried Roldan gaily, as the tired steeds trotted up +to the corridor. The boys dismounted and made a deep reverence. One of +the priests, a man with a grave stern face came forward. + +"Who are you, my children?" he asked. "You are the sons of aristocrats, +and yet you are torn and unkempt, and one of you has ridden many +leagues without a saddle. Are you runaways? The shelter of the Mission +is for all, but we do not countenance insubordination." + +Roldan introduced himself and his friend. "We are runaways, my father," +he added, "but from the government; and we have arranged that our +parents shall not be anxious. We do not wish to be drafted." + +The priest's brow relaxed. The padres had little respect for a system +that owed its existence mainly to the vanity of governors and generals, +and the present governor, Micheltorena, had by no means won the +approval of the Church. + +"You are welcome, my sons," he said. "If the officers come we cannot +deny your presence; but I do not think they will find their way here, +and we certainly shall not send for them. You are hungry and tired, no?" + +"Father, we could eat our horses." + +The padre laughed, and calling a young brother who was piously telling +his beads bade him go and see that a hasty luncheon was prepared. An +Indian came and took the mustangs, and the boys were led by the +hospitable priest into a large room, comfortably furnished, the walls +hung with some very good religious pictures. + +The padres, in truth, were glad of visitors at any time. They were +clever educated men who had given their lives to christianising +brainless savages in a sparsely settled country; and any news of the +outer world was very welcome. They pushed back their hoods and sat +about the boys, their faces beaming with interest and amusement as they +listened to the adventures of those wayward youths. And as all men, +even priests, love courage and audacity, they clapped their hands +together more than once or embraced the lads heartily. + +When luncheon was announced and the doors of the long refectory thrown +open, the boys were shown in as if they had been princes and told to +satisfy themselves. This they did, nor ever uttered a word. The priests +had tactfully withdrawn. Roldan and Adan ate enough beans, rice, cold +chicken, tongue, and dulces to make up for their prolonged fast, and +finished with a cup of chocolate and a bunch of grapes. After that they +went to sleep in two clean little cells, to which they were conducted, +nor awakened until all the air was ringing with the sweet-voiced +clangor of mission bells. + +Roldan turned on his elbow and looked out of the window. The square was +rapidly filling with Indians, some running in willingly enough, others +driven in at the end of the leash by the lay brethren. All knelt on the +ground for a few moments. Roldan, whose eyes were very keen, and, +during these days, preternaturally sharpened, noted that several of the +Indians were whispering under cover of the loud mutterings about them. +The face of the Californian Indian is not pleasant to contemplate at +any time: it is either stupid or sinister. Roldan fancied he detected +something particularly evil in the glance of the whispering savages, +and resolved to warn the priests. + +The scene was peaceful enough. The cattle browsing on the hills gave +the landscape an air of great repose, and the mountains beyond were +lost under a purple mist. The large stone fountain in the court +splashed lazily. As the worshippers rose and withdrew, the silver bells +rang out a merry peal, announcing that the morrow would be Sunday. + +Roldan fell asleep again. When he awoke it was dark outside, but on the +table by his cot was a lighted taper and a dish of fruit. He ate of the +fine grapes and pears, then rose and opened his door. In the small room +beyond a young priest was seated at a table, bending over a large leaf +of parchment, to which he was applying a pen with quick delicate +strokes. He looked up with a smile. + +"What are you doing?" asked Roldan, curiously, approaching the table. + +"Illuminating the manuscripts of a mass. Look." And he displayed the +exquisite border to the music, the latter written with equal precision +and neatness. "This will be alive when I am not even dust. No one will +know that I did it; but I like the thought that it may live for +centuries." + +"If I did it, I should sign my name to it," said Roldan, with his first +prompting of ambition. "But I never could do that; I have not the +patience. I mean to be governor of the Californias." + +"I hope you may be," said the young priest, gravely. + +"Are all your Indians docile?" asked Roldan, abruptly. + +The priest raised his head. "Why do you ask?" + +Roldan related his suspicions. + +The priest shot a furtive glance through the open window at the dark +square. + +"I don't know," he said slowly. "Sometimes I have thought--you see, +many are stubborn and intractable, and have to be flogged and chained. +Privately I think we are wasting our energies. We will leave California +several beautiful monuments for posterity to wonder at, but as for the +Indians we will end where we began. They are always escaping and +running back to the mountains. Their every instinct is for barbarism; +they have not one for civilization, nor can any be planted whose roots +will not trail over the surface. The good Lord intended them to be +savages, nothing more; and it is mistaken sentimentalism--However, it +is not for me to criticise, and I beg, Don Roldan, that you will not +repeat what I have said." + +"Of course I shall not; but tell me, do you think there is danger?" + +"We have one rather bright young Indian--there are about a dozen +exceptions in all California, and they are treacherous. His name is +Anastacio, and he has great influence with the other Indians. A good +many of them are angry at present because they have been punished for +stealing grapes and stores, and just now they are rather excited +because it has been proposed to banish Anastacio to a Mission where +there are more soldiers,--he is regarded as the inciter of the +outrages." + +"Have you soldiers here?" + +"Eleven. The guard house is in the left hand corner of the square. But +what could they do in an uprising? We must get rid of Anastacio. I will +go now and speak to Padre Flores." + +Roldan went out into the square and strolled over to the soldiers' +quarters. The door was closed, but light streamed from an uncovered +window, and he had a good view of the guard room. A half dozen soldiers +were lying about on benches, half-dressed, smoking the eternal +cigarrito. Two were at a table writing. None looked alert, but as +Roldan passed out of the plaza to the open beyond, he encountered a +sentinel who was ready to gossip with the young don and told him that +three more were on duty on the several sides of the square. + +Roldan strolled on to the rancheria, a collection of six or eight +hundred huts of mud and straw among a thicket of willows by the creek. +Here all was dark and quiet. He glanced through several of the +uncurtained windows and saw whole families peacefully asleep. Suddenly +he paused and held his breath, at the same time retreating into the +heavy shade of a willow. A number of doors had opened almost +simultaneously; there was the sharp crunch of dry brush, and dark +figures glided, with the snake-like motion peculiar to the Indian, +toward the upper end of the rancheria. + +Roldan waited a moment, then followed softly. He had set himself the +duty of saving the Mission which had shown him hospitality, and was not +to be deterred. Moreover, the spirit of adventure was by no means +quenched. + +In a few moments he paused opposite a large hut, from which issued a +subdued murmur. The window had been covered, but a thin ray of light +pierced through a crack in the door, and to this Roldan applied his eye. + +The room was crowded with Indians standing respectfully about a man in +the middle of the room, whom Roldan knew instinctively to be Anastacio. +He was big and clean-limbed and sinewy, with small cunning eyes, a +resolute mouth and chin, and an air of perfect fearlessness. Roldan +warmed to him, and looked with admiration and envy at the muscles on +his splendid limbs. + +He was speaking rapidly in the native patois, and Roldan could gather +little of his meaning beyond what his gestures conveyed. He shook his +fist in the direction of the Mission, snapped his fingers in scorn, +pointed toward the mountains, then made the motion of speeding an arrow +from the bow, at the same time contracting his face hideously. + +Roldan stayed as long as he dared, then returned hastily to the +Mission. A friar was locking up for the night, and began to chide the +young guest for being out so late, but Roldan interrupted him +impatiently. + +"Can I see Padre Flores to-night?" he asked. "I must see him. It is +important." + +"He has retired to his cell, but I will take your message; and he never +denies himself to those that need him." + +He went to the end of the corridor and tapped at a door. In a few +moments he returned. + +"Padre Flores will see you," he said. + +The priest was standing by the little altar in the corner of his cell +when Roldan entered. + +"What is it, my son?" he asked. "Have you learned anything new? Padre +Estenega has told me of your suspicions." + +Roldan rapidly related what he had seen. The priest's face became grave +and anxious. + +"There is trouble brewing, I fear," he said. Then he smiled suddenly. +"You ran away to avoid fighting. It would be odd if you found yourself +in the midst of it." + +"I did not run away to avoid fighting," said Roldan, flushing hotly. +"Pardon, father; I meant that you have misunderstood. I do not choose +to be shut up in a barrack against my will, but I am ready to fight; +and, although I am not yet sixteen, you shall see that I can help you +protect your Mission. And Adan too." + +"I am sure of it. I did but tease you. And your part shall begin +to-night. You are rested, no?" + +"I feel as if I wanted no more sleep for a week." + +"Very well. Tell brother Antonio--whom you met on the corridor just +now--to let you in the church by the side door and give you the key, +with which you will lock yourself in. Then go up into the belfry and +watch. It is the full of the moon and clear. If you merely see a dozen +or more figures gliding about the rancheria, that will mean that they +are plotting, and intend no action to-night. If you see several +hundred, run down and bring me word. But if you see a mass of men rise +at once and descend upon the west gate, ring the bells. I shall go and +warn the soldiers, and every priest and brother will sleep on his +pistol to-night. But I don't think they are organised as yet. Before +dawn I shall send a messenger to the nearest town for reinforcements. +Go, my son. You are a brave and clever lad." + +Roldan ran down the corridor and secured admission to the church. When +he had locked the door behind him, the vast dark building, beneath +whose tiles priests lay buried, shook his spirit as night and the +plains had not done, and he wished that he had brought Adan. Then he +jerked his shoulders, reflected that cowards did not carry off the +prizes of the world, and determined that his first should be the +admiration and approval of the priests and soldiers of this great +Mission. He walked rapidly down the nave, trying not to hear the hollow +echo of his footsteps, then opened several doors before he found the +one behind which was the spiral stair leading to the belfry. His supple +legs carried him swiftly up the steep ascent, and in a moment he was +straining his eyes in the direction of the rancheria. + +The belfry was about ten feet square. The massive walls contained three +large apertures, through which the clear sonorous notes of the great +bells carried far. Just beneath the arch Roldan had selected as +observatory, and on the side opposite the plaza was the private garden +of the padres, surrounded by cloisters. An aged figure, cowled, his +arms folded, was pacing slowly. + +Roldan, glancing over his shoulder, saw Padre Flores return from the +soldiers' quarters; but in the rancheria there was no motion but the +swaying tops of the willows, and no sound anywhere but the hoot of the +owl and the yap of the coyote. + +It was a long and lonely watch. Roldan felt as if he were suspended in +air, cut off from Earth and all its details. Although his military +instinct had been aroused and he burned for fight, his spirit grew +graver in that isolation, and he resolved to do all he could to save +the Mission from attack. It was there for peace and good deeds, and its +preservation was of far more importance than a small pair of spurs for +Master Roldan. + +Nevertheless, Roldan was to win his spurs. + +Toward morning he saw an Indian, attended by a priest, let himself out +of a gate and steal toward the corral. A few moments later he +reappeared, leading a mustang up the valley in the shadow of the trees. +The priest re-entered the gate, and Roldan knew that the messenger had +gone forth for help. + +At sunrise a brother came running up the stair. "Better go down," he +said, smiling. "I am going to ring for mass, and it will deafen you. +You saw nothing, of course?" + +"Nothing." + +"We did not expect it, and slept. It takes time to organise." + +"Have they any weapons?" + +"Their bows and arrows. We have always thought it best to leave them +those in case of assault by savage tribes." + +Roldan descended the stair as the bells rang out their peremptory +summons. Although he was tired and sleepy, he determined to remain in +the church during mass, and knelt near the altar by a pillar where he +could command a view of the nave. Almost the first to enter was +Anastacio. He carried himself proudly--like a warrior, thought +Roldan--and advancing to the altar bowed low, then knelt stiffly, his +eyes closed. + +The others drifted in slowly: the women kneeling on the right, the men +on the left. Finally all the priests and brothers, except Padre Flores, +who conducted the service, entered and knelt in the aisle. Padre +Flores' garments were as rich as any worn in old Spain, and the +candelabra about him were as massive. The images of the saints were +clad in white satin embroidered with gold and silver thread. On the +walls were many high-coloured paintings of saints, softened by the +flood of light from the wax candles. + +Roldan watched keenly all the faces within the line of his vision. They +were mostly sleepy. Suddenly, as his glance shifted, it encountered the +eyes of Anastacio. Those powerful crafty orbs were fixed upon him under +drawn brows. + +"He suspects me," thought Roldan, and then once more demonstrated that +several of his talents were diplomatic. He glanced past the Indian +indifferently to the women, then to the priests, and from there to the +paintings and altar, his regard but that of the curious traveller. + +When Roldan left the church he encountered Adan, who evidently had +entered last and knelt near the door. + +"Where did you go last night?" Adan demanded loudly. + +"I sat up talking to the priests and roaming about the square," replied +Roldan. Anastacio was almost at his elbow. + +"Well, I had had sleep enough by twelve o'clock and I went into your +cell, and then spent the rest of the night waiting for you to come +back." + +"I hope breakfast is ready. Come." + +They went to the refectory, where Padre Flores embraced Roldan +heartily, but made no allusion to his watch; there were Indian servants +present. After breakfast the two boys walked up and down the middle of +the square, and Roldan related his experience of the night. Adan +listened with open mouth and shortened breath. + +"Caramba!" he ejaculated. "Is there to be a fight?" + +"I am sure of it. Are you frightened?" + +"Not I. I'd rather fight Indians than ford a river. But do you think we +can hold out?" + +"We can try. And if they don't make the attack to-night, we shall have +the better chance, because the reinforcement will arrive to-morrow. But +that Anastacio suspects me, and doubtless he has discovered in some way +that the messenger has gone. I am sure there will be trouble to-night, +and I am going now to get a good sleep. Do you sleep, too; and see that +you eat no dulces for supper, lest they make you heavy." + +He awoke about four in the afternoon. There was a babel of voices in +the plaza, and he sprang out of bed, excited with the thought that war +had begun. But he saw only a typical Mission Sabbath afternoon. Several +hundred Indians were seated on the ground in groups of two or three, +gambling furiously. Through the open gates opposite, Roldan could see a +spirited horse-race, a crowd of Indians betting at the top of their +voices. + +Roldan went to the kitchen and asked for a cold luncheon, then sought +Padre Flores. The priest was in his cell, and as he saw Roldan he +motioned to him to close the door. + +"I can learn nothing, my son," he said; "but something in the air tells +me that there will be trouble to-night. Will you watch again?" + +"I will, my father." + +"We will all sleep on our pistols. Now listen. All we can do is to +protect the gates. If you ring once that means that the Indians are +advancing on the south gate, the one nearest the rancheria. But they +are crafty, and will doubtless seek to enter by one less guarded. Two +peals will mean the west gate, three the east, and a wild irregular +clamour the north. Can you remember?" + +"I can, my father," said Roldan, proudly. + +"I believe you. Go up into the tower at sundown, which is the hour when +the gates are closed. As soon as you have finished ringing you can come +down and join in the fight. The arms will be kept in the room where we +sat yesterday until your meal was made ready. Now go, my son, and God +bless you. Ah!" he called after him. "Wait a moment. Get a cassock and +put it on. It will make you shapeless among the bells. Otherwise you +might be seen." + +Roldan was at his post as soon as the Indians had been driven through +the gates for the night. They straggled about the valley, still talking +excitedly; but there was nothing unusual in this, the watcher had been +told. Gradually they moved toward the rancheria, disappeared into it, +and the valley was as quiet as it had been the night before. + +In the great court there were rifts of light at irregular intervals; +the heavy wooden shutters of every window were ajar. Roldan felt the +nervous tension of those minds below, and with it a sense of +companionship, very different from the oppressive loneliness of his +previous watch. + +The clock of the Mission had just struck eleven when Roldan stood +suddenly erect and hooped his hands about his eyes. Something was +moving in the willows beside the river. The moon shone full on the +rancheria, and when the outer edge of the latter appeared to broaden +and project itself the effect was noticeable at once. + +Roldan watched breathlessly. In a moment there could no longer be any +doubt: a broad compact something was moving down the valley toward the +Mission. And an army of cats could not have made less sound. + +He laid his hand on the bell rope. The Indians came swiftly, but their +course was not yet defined. When within a hundred yards of the Mission +they deflected suddenly to the right. Their destination was not the +south gate. + +Roldan closed his eyes for a half moment to relieve them of the strain, +then opened them and held his breath. Only the outer fringe of the +little army could now be seen; it was crawling close to the western +wall. In a few moments they were beneath Roldan; he could hear the +slight impact with the air. Then once more he strained his eyes until +he thought they would fly from his head, and his lungs seemed bursting. +They were approaching the west gate. + +They passed it. There could be no doubt now that they purposed to +attack the north gate; but Roldan dared not ring until they were well +away from the west side, lest they change their plans and his signal +mislead. + +As they reached the corner of the wall they suddenly accelerated their +pace as if impatience mastered them. When the tail of the procession +had whisked about and Roldan saw a compact mass move like a black cloud +before the wind toward the north gate, he caught the rope in both hands +and jangled with all his might. + +The great clapper hurled itself against the mighty sides of the bell +with a violence which split the nerves and made the ear-drums creak. +The blood surged to Roldan's head, carrying chaos with it. He had a +confused sense of a flood of light in the plaza below, but could hear +no other sound except the deafening uproar in his ears. Suddenly +something gave way beneath his feet. He had an awful feeling of +disintegration, of solid parting from solid in empty space. He kicked +out wildly. His feet touched nothing. Then his head suddenly cleared, +although the deep tones of the bell still seemed echoing there, and he +became aware that his descent had stopped, and that his hands, torn and +aching, were still clutching the rope. He knew what had happened. He +had stepped too far and gone through one of the arches. + +There was no time for fright. He began to pull himself up by the rope, +hand over hand. At the same time he was acutely conscious of many +things. The Indians were yelling like demoniacs and battering at the +gate. In the garden on the other side, the old priest was shouting Ave +Marias in a high quavering voice. A breeze had sprung up and Roldan +felt the chill in it. And he felt the weight of the cassock. The heavy +woollen garment fatigued his arms and impeded his progress. Were it not +for that he could scramble up like a monkey. + +He was within two feet of the top. Suddenly he felt a slackening of the +rope, accompanied by a faint sickening sound. The rope was old, it was +giving way. + +Roldan made a wild lurch for the projecting floor of the belfry. The +rope broke. He went down. + +He had heard that a drop, however swift, might seem to occupy hours to +the doomed. To his whirling horror-struck brain this descent certainly +seemed very long. It was almost as if he were sauntering. Nor was he +tumbling over and over. He had shut his eyes tight when the rope +snapped. He opened them, gave a shuddering glance downward, then +laughed almost hysterically: his cassock, ample even for a man, had +caught the breeze and spread out on all sides like a parachute. + +And although the descent occupied but a moment longer, he comprehended +the situation, with his abnormally sharpened senses, as clearly as +though he stood on high with a spy glass. + +All the inhabitants of the Mission proper--the priests, brothers, +soldiers, and house servants--were standing before the north gate, +firearms in hand. Beyond were some twenty-five Indians battering and +yelling, making noise enough to induce the belief that they numbered +ten times as many more. The rest were not to be seen, but it was not +difficult for Roldan to suspect their purpose. + +He lighted on the stone steps of the church, tore off his heavy +garment, and ran toward the north gate. As he did so the east gate fell +with a crash, and five hundred Indians rushed into the plaza. + +They uttered no sound. The guard at the upper end of the square was not +aware of their advent until Roldan reached them. He was out of breath, +but he caught the arm of the man nearest him and pointed. In a second +the word had passed, and the handful of defendants stared helplessly at +the advancing hordes. But only for a moment. Padre Flores shouted to +fall into line, then ordered them not to fire in the same breath. +Anastacio, somewhat ahead of his followers, was approaching with a +white rag in his hand. + +When within a yard of the missionaries he paused and saluted +respectfully. + +"A word, my fathers," he commanded, and in excellent Spanish. + +"Go on," said Padre Flores, sternly. + +"We have not come to kill," said Anastacio, slowly and with great +distinctness: the noise beyond the north gate had ceased. "You know +that we never kill the priests, nor do we care for blood. We have come +for the stores of the Mission--all your great winter supply, except a +small quantity which we will leave you that you may not suffer until +you can get more. We are tired of this life. We belong to the +mountains. We cannot see that we are any better for your teachings, and +we certainly are not as strong. Now let us do our work in peace, and +all will be well. But if you fire, we let our arrows go, and we are +twenty to one." + +All turned anxiously to Padre Flores. They were not warlike, and if no +bodily harm was intended they could see no reason for resistance. + +"You have us at disadvantage," said Padre Flores, coldly. "I cannot +sacrifice those in my charge, if you do not mean to kill. I agree to +your terms on one condition: that we retain our firearms. I pass my +word that no one shall shoot. I cannot take your word--nor that of any +Indian. As you say, our teachings are thrown away." + +"I take yours," said Anastacio, undisturbed. "All I ask is that you +remain here under charge of twenty of my followers until I call them +away." + +He marched off, after planting his guard; and for the next two hours he +and his men looted the Mission and packed the trove on horses which had +been brought up, or on the backs of the bigger Indians. At the end of +that time he shouted to his prisoners to come down and enter the +Mission. + +Roldan and Adan had been exchanging bitter condolences over the +humiliating change in the warlike programme, but the raw air of the +morning had chilled their enthusiasm, and Roldan, moreover, began to +feel reaction from the shock to his nerves. It was not every day that a +boy sailed down through forty feet of space and lit on his feet, and +his nerves were out of tune. + +When Anastacio called, he went with the rest, but lagged behind. The +door of the Mission sala was open. The priests entered first, their +heads scornfully erect; then the brethren, the soldiers, and servants. +As Roldan and Adan were about to enter, the door was suddenly pulled +to, coarse hands were clapped over their mouths, and, kicking, +struggling, biting, scratching, they were borne swiftly across the +courtyard and out of the gates. There they were set on their feet, and +found themselves face to face with Anastacio. + +"Don't yell," he said. "There is no one to come to the rescue. We shall +not hurt you unless you try to run away. Then I myself will beat you. +Get on that horse, both of you." + +"I am tired," said Roldan, indifferently. "I want to sleep." + +"Sleep? Very well. Come here." + +He lifted him upon a large horse, then mounted behind and encircled him +with one arm. + +"Go to sleep," he said; and cantered rapidly down the valley, followed +by his thieving horde. + + + +VII + +When Roldan awoke he shivered slightly: the breath of winter was about +him. He peered into the dusk, but could only gather that he was in a +forest of huge trees on the side of a mountain. High above the wind was +surging. He had a curious sense of travelling through the depths of the +sea in a vacuum, the roar of suspended waters just over his head. +Behind, between the giant trees, was a moving column of horses and men. + +"Where are we?" he asked Anastacio. + +"In the mountains, in a redwood forest. My pueblo is not far." + +"What mountains? What forest?" + +"That you will not know." + +"Where is Adan?" + +"On a stout mustang between two faithful followers of mine." + +"They are unnecessary. He would not leave me." + +"Perhaps not. Sometimes the white man lies and sometimes he is true." + +Roldan sat up; his tired head had rested against the shoulder of his +captor. + +"Suppose I get behind you," he said. "It will be more comfortable for +us both. That is, if you can trust me," with an attempt at sarcasm. + +"I trust you. Get behind." + +Roldan slipped down, sprang up, then strained his eyes once more into +the depths of the forest. Nothing moved but that winding procession. +Occasionally a coyote yapped or a wildcat yelled. Suddenly something +fell against his face, pricking it gently. He looked over Anastacio's +shoulder. They were passing into an open. The air was full of white, +whirling particles. + +"It snows," said Anastacio; "but we are soon there." + +"We are in the Sierras," thought Roldan. He looked about with intense +interest; he had never seen snow before; and to penetrate the mystery +of the mighty Sierras had been one of the hopes of his life. The ground +was white, and crunched under the horses' hoofs. The air was thick with +snow-stars glittering under the full radiance of the moon. Roldan +forgot that he was a captive. His mind had made its first impulse to +the mysteries of night and solitude during the few moments between his +entry into another forest and the encounter with the bear; it now made +its first real opening. He was vaguely troubled by the embryonic +thoughts that in their maturity come to men who have lived and +suffered, when they are alone in a forest at night, far from other men. + +Again they plunged into the forest. No snow penetrated the treetops, +knit together by centuries and storms. All was black again, and the +deep ocean of leaf and branch roared faintly overhead. + +Roldan felt oppressed and thoughtful. He looked into the future and saw +himself a man. He would be governor of the Californias, and make +himself a good and great man, wiser than the idle caballeros who +patronised him; he would teach them the folly of their useless lives. + +"Look," said Anastacio, abruptly. "We are here. It is a pueblo of my +fathers, and will serve us now." + +He pointed with his riding switch through the trees to a vague +whiteness, and in a moment they emerged into another open. It was a +clearing some three hundred feet square, crowded with dilapidated +hovels, white under a light fall of snow. It was in the heart of the +Sierras, on the flat of a peak; and high on every side reared other +peaks, glittering with snow, black with redwoods. The snow clouds had +passed. The moon rode in a dark blue sky set thick with stars. The +silence, the repose, were appalling. + +Roldan jumped to the ground, and accompanied by Anastacio, ran up and +down to get the cold and fatigue of night travel out of his body. In a +few moments they were joined by Adan, who came waddling up, his broad +face knit with perplexity and delight. + +"I leave you now," said Anastacio, "but remember--if you attempt to +escape you carry poisoned arrows in your backs." + +"Ay, Roldan!" exclaimed Adan, when their formidable host was out of +hearing. "But this was more than we bargained for. I don't know whether +I like it or not." + +"I must say I don't like the idea of being in the power of +savages--Indians," said Roldan, contemptuously. "But as we started out +for adventure we must take black bread with white. I think I do rather +like this, but I shall not if we have to stay here too long and nothing +happens." + +"Isn't anything likely to happen?" asked Adan, anxiously. + +"How can one tell? And who could find this place? But if worst comes to +worst we'll run away--and not with poisoned arrows in our backs, +either." + +"That we will," said Adan, emphatically. "We've done that before." + +The boys were given a good supper of meat roasted over coals, and a +slice of Mission cake, then were escorted by Anastacio to the largest +of the huts. + +"Enter and sleep," he said. "It is my hut. I shall sleep beside you." + + + +VIII + +The boys slept soundly between two excellent Mission blankets in a +corner of the hut, whose walls and floors had been well swept with +Mission brooms. Anastacio, despite his contempt for the trammels of +civilisation, had developed an aristocratic taste or two. He slept by +the door, but when the boys awoke he was not there. The pueblo, but for +two sentinels standing before the door, was apparently deserted. The +sun was looking over the highest peak, suffusing the black aisles of +the forest with a rosy glow, reddening the snow on hut and level and +rocky heights. There was not a sound except the faint murmur of the +treetops. + +"Where is the world?" asked Roldan. "Are there ranches, with cavalcades +and bull-fights, lazy caballeros lying in hammocks smoking cigarritos, +or dancing the night through with silly girls? Dios de mi alma! I feel +as if I did not care." + +"Caramba!" exclaimed Adan, "I am famished. Do you suppose they have +left us anything to eat?" + +"I suppose there is nothing to do but ask one of these dogs to be good +enough to give us breakfast--no, not ask. I could starve, but not beg +of an Indian." + +He beckoned haughtily to one of the sentinels, who approached and +saluted respectfully. + +"Breakfast," said the young don, curtly. "We wish to eat at once." + +The Indian went over to a large stone oven and took out four meal +cakes, which he carried to the boys, then fetched them fruit and wine. + +"Where is Anastacio and the others?" asked Roldan, breakfast over. + +"In the temascal." + +Roldan sprang to his feet. "Do you hear that, Adan?" he cried. "We have +always wanted to see Indians in temascal." To the sentinel, "Take us +there at once." + +The Indian scowled. "But for you, senor, we, too, are in the temascal." + +"Take us to the temascal," said Roldan, peremptorily, and the savage, +in whom servility had been planted by civilisation, yielded to the will +of the aristocrat. He bent his shoulders and said: "Bueno; come!" + +The boys followed him through the brush, the sweet-scented chaparral on +which the honey-dew still lingered, to another and smaller clearing. +Here were several long rows of earthen huts, three or four feet high, +out of which smoke poured through an aperture in the roof of each. Near +by was a broad creek to which the bank sloped gently from the clearing. +The creek, some three feet deep, murmured over coloured stones and +sprouting trees. The long fine strands of the ice grass trailed far +over the water, motionless. Huge bunches of maidenhair, delicate as +green lace, clung to the steep bluffs on the opposite side. Forests of +ferns grew close to the water's edge. Down through a rift in the cliffs +tumbled a mountain stream over its rocky bed. + +"Are they stewing in those things?" asked Roldan. + +The Indian nodded. Roldan, followed closely by Adan, approached one of +the temascals and opened the door cautiously. At first they could see +nothing, so dense was the smoke; but when much had rushed out through +the new opening, they saw two prostrate figures, sweating from every +pore. Their eyes were closed, they breathed stertorously. The +expression on their heavy faces was beatific. + +"Caramba!" exclaimed Adan, as Roldan closed the door, "I am glad they +like it. What a lot of trouble to get clean." + +"As they never take a bath, they couldn't get clean any other way; and +besides it rests them after any great exertion--Mission raiding, for +instance--and they also fancy it drags every humour out through the +pores of the skin. They'll be coming out soon. Let us go down to the +creek and wait." + +The smoke was ascending upward in straight columns through the still +air, scarcely clouding the brilliant morning, not a wreath wandering +into the aisles of the forest. The sun climbed higher, melting the +light fall of snow, its rays dancing among the silver ripples of the +water, vivifying the many greens about the creek. + +The boys amused themselves flinging pebbles at the darting trout and +discussing chances of escape. + +"We must not fly too soon," said Roldan, "or we shall run into the +soldiers. Of course they are scouring the country after these robbers." + +"This is a good place to hide in until the Mission food gives out; but +I'd prefer even the barracks to living on acorns--Ay, look!" + +The door of one of the temascals had opened. A limp figure tottered +forth and down to the bank. He almost fell into the creek, but had +sufficient wit uncooked to rest his head on a projecting stone. +Presently came another, then another, and another, until the bright +rocks were covered with dusky forms, the heads bobbing just above the +surface, supported on stump or stone. The boys barely recognised +Anastacio. Where was that commanding presence, that haughty mien? Bowed +like an old man, blind from smoke, with simmering brain, he reeled into +the water with as little dignity as his creatures. + +But in less than an hour all had sprung forth briskly, danced about in +the sun to dry, and started on a run for the pueblo. Roldan and Adan +followed close, knowing that a feast alone would satisfy appetite after +the temascal. And in a little time the smell of roast meat pervaded the +morning, great cakes were roasting. The boys were invited to eat apart +with Anastacio. At the conclusion of the meal the host, who had not +spoken, solemnly poured out three glasses of fire-water. He swallowed +his at a gulp. The boys sipped a few drops, winking rapidly. Then +Roldan thought it time to speak: his chief was visibly thawed. + +"What are you keeping us for?" he asked. + +"Ransom." Anastacio lit a cigarrito--one of the padre's--and lay back +on a bearskin. + +"Do you know why we ran away? To escape the conscription. If you give +us up, all our adventures, our dangers, our escapes, will be as +nothing, and we shall be punished besides." + +Anastacio moved his eyes to Roldan's with a flash of interest. + +"Good! I hate the government. You shall stay here until the time of +conscription is over. Then I will get a big sack of Mexican dollars, a +herd of cattle, a caponara of horses, and much tobacco and whiskey. Who +are your fathers?" + +Roldan explained. + +Anastacio flushed under his thick skin. "Good. I will double the +ransom--and the guard." + +"The conscription will be over in a few weeks--" + +"You could not go before. We too must hide. Of course the soldiers are +behind. I have many scouts watching. Now go to sleep." + +The following week was clear and bright, but very cold. The boys, bred +in the warm basin of California, must have suffered had not Anastacio +ordered one of his minions to make them coat and boots from the skin of +the coyote. Every morning the chief drilled his men with the tactics of +a born commander who had let no opportunity for observation escape him. +The military discipline of the pueblo was only relaxed for three hours +in the afternoon, during which time the Indians were given full taste +of the freedom they coveted that they might battle for it the more +passionately when the time came. They gambled, slept, shot game in the +forest, exercised the horses, which were in corral about a mile from +the camp. The boys shot deer with Anastacio, and wrestled in the plaza. +Occasionally the taciturn Indian unbent when sitting by the great +bonfire in the open at night, and told wild tales of savage life before +the padres came. Roldan admired his splendid supple body and fearless +manhood, but the Indian was too sinister to inspire affection. Adan was +loudly bored. Roldan's ardent imagination sustained him. + +At the end of the week the scouts having failed to discover any sign of +the enemy, Anastacio determined to go down to the river in the valley +for a fortnight's salmon fishing. He, too, was bored. The fangs of +civilisation are long and tenacious. + +It was on a brilliant winter's morning that Anastacio, his captives, +and his five hundred men wound their way down through the cold forest +on the mountain into the soft warm air of the valley. There had been no +rain for three weeks, and the river was not more than half full; and it +was very quiet. They camped on the bank, well away from the scattered +groups of trees, that they might not lose a ray of sunshine; and Roldan +and Adan forgot that they were under constant surveillance. There were +no tents; they slept in the open air, the boys in the centre of a +square of Indians. During the day they caught many fine salmon, and +salted what they did not eat, to sell to the rancheros. + +It was on the sixth night that Roldan, who was wakeful, suddenly raised +himself on his elbow and listened intently. Far away, above the murmur +of the river, the audible slumbers of the camp, he heard a low, +precise, monotonous sound. He knew what it meant. For a moment he +hesitated. The chances of escape seemed to grow less daily. It was true +that he was in no danger, that he would eventually be restored to his +parents--but with his adventures cut short. He was fond of his home, +but it was always there, and he was keen for variety: his life had been +very uneventful. On the other hand, if that advancing army conquered +the Indians, might not his and Adan's captivity be far more distasteful +than it was at present? He sprang up and called Anastacio. In a second +that warrior was on his feet and had leaped over his alert sentinels +into the square. + +"What is it?" he demanded. + +"Listen." + +Anastacio threw himself full length and laid his ear to the ground. A +moment later he was erect again. He caught Roldan by one shoulder and +Adan by the other. By this time every Indian in the camp was pressing +about his chief. + +"They are not two miles away," said Anastacio. "And the dawn will be +here in an hour. There are ten miles between us and the mountains. I +don't wish to fight in the open without knowing their numbers." + +Roldan danced up and down with sudden excitement. "I have a plan," he +cried. "You can trust me. I don't want to go back." + +Anastacio bent his keen malevolent eyes close above the young +Spaniard's, then loosened his hold. + +"Bueno," he said. "I trust you." + +"The straw," said Roldan. "Bring it all here." + +Anastacio gave the order, and an immense carreta of straw was trundled +up. + +"Now," said Roldan, "gather it into bunches the size of a man's head +and tie each firmly. The tide is running toward the enemy, and it is +too dark to see clearly. Do you understand, senor?" + +Anastacio made a loud exclamation, caught Roldan in his arms and +kissed him, much to that haughty young gentleman's disgust, then tied +the first bunch himself. Roldan, Adan, and some forty of the quicker +Indians rapidly manipulated the straw, and in little more than ten +minutes had cast a hundred round compact bundles into the hurrying +tide. As they sailed away they certainly looked, under the heavy shadow +of the banks and the black-blue of the sky, like an army of men +swimming with the desperate haste of terror, their heads alone above +water. + +"Now!" cried Anastacio, "to the mountains." + +They had brought only pack-horses. There was nothing to do but run, and +Anastacio, driving his entire following ahead of him, sped to cover. It +was not twenty minutes before they heard a sharp volley of musketry, +and if their breath had not been short they would have laughed aloud at +the success of Roldan's strategy. The sky was turning grey as they +reached the straggling outposts of the forest on the mountain. The +firing had ceased. Their ruse had doubtless been discovered. + +"We will hide for twenty-four hours and rest," Anastacio said to +Roldan, who was the only person he condescended to hold converse with, +although he allowed Adan to sun himself in his presence. "By that time, +too, I shall know their numbers. If they are many I'll draw them into +the mountains and fire from ambush. If few, they shall have open fight." + +"You will let us see it?" asked Roldan, eagerly. "Of course I cannot +fight my own people; but I don't want to be sent to the pueblo, and I +do want to see a fight." + +Anastacio hesitated. "Bueno," he said, "I owe you much. You give me the +word of the California don that unless I am killed you will not run +away?" + +"I promise. There is nothing else to do. That is to say, I promise not +to run away before this battle is over." + +"That is what I mean," said Anastacio, curtly. "Now we will sleep." + +He disposed his men in the forest above a narrow, rocky canon into +which the enemy would hardly venture. Roldan volunteered to keep watch +with the two sentinels, and returned with them to the outskirts of the +forest. The enemy was marching steadily across the valley. After a time +they halted, and lay down for a time. Early in the afternoon they +resumed march, then halted again within a mile of the mountain, sending +two scouts ahead. By this time Anastacio had joined his sentinels, and +all four hid in the underforest between the great trees. + +The scouts, keeping as much under cover as was possible, crept up the +lower spur of the mountain, their glance describing a constant +half-circle. When they were within a few feet of the fugitives, +Anastacio raised his bow and discharged two arrows in rapid succession. +One buried itself in the jugular of the foremost scout, and he huddled +down among the soft leaves without a cry. The other, equally well +aimed, entered the shoulder of the second scout, where it quivered +violently for a few seconds, then was torn forth and flung to the +ground with a cry of defiance. The Californian, disregarding his wound, +raised himself to his full height and pointed his pistol. But vaguely: +the quiet, feathery young redwoods told no tales. Then his eye fell +upon his dead brother. He turned and fled. + +"They will not enter the forest," said Anastacio; "and when I am ready +they will fight, not before. Have you pencil and paper, senor?" + +Roldan produced a treasured note-book that a relative had brought him +from Boston. + +"Write," said the chief; and he dictated:-- + + +SENOR DON CAPITAN,--At noon to-morrow we fight in the valley near the +eight oak trees and the two madronos. Do you wish to fight sooner you +can come into the mountains. It will be better for us. + +ANASTACIO. + + +He tore out the leaf, crawled down the mountain as non-apparently as a +python, and pinned it high on an outstanding redwood, then returned and +told his sentinels to sleep, replacing them with others. + + + +IX + +That evening Anastacio called Roldan to him. + +"I fear treachery," he said. "Who can trust five hundred men that have +learned too much? And the white men, they have better brains than mine. +I watch to-night. Will you watch with me, senor?--that I can sleep +before morning and rest for the fight." + +"I will," said Roldan, enthusiastically. "And Adan also?" + +"It matters not." + +When the dusk was so thick in the aisles that every moving frond looked +like a man looming suddenly, one of the sentinels returned with the +news that the paper had been taken from the tree, and that the +Californians had pitched tents, and to all appearance were at rest for +the night. + +It was not likely that the enemy would venture into the forest at +night. They were not a large body, they were not pressed for time, nor +were they the heroes of many wars. The Indians were comparatively safe +until morning; nevertheless, Anastacio was too good a general to relax +vigilance. When night came he and the two boys went down the mountain +and sent the outpost back to sleep. They ventured out where the trees +grew far apart, and the brilliant stars of California illumined the +great valley like so many thousand watch-fires. + +The three sat down side by side, their gaze directed steadily downward +and outward. + +"Why do you fight at all?" asked Roldan. "You could stay in these +mountains until the Californians were dust, and not be caught." + +"And live like hunted beasts. I like the valley; the sun in winter, the +cool mountains in summer. If I am victor to-morrow, all the Indians in +California will call me chief. They will run here from every Mission +and hacienda, and from every hill and mountain, like little ones to +their good father; and we will drive the priests out of the country, +and make the hidalgos, the caballeros, the soft silk-dressed donas our +friends or our slaves--as they wish. California belongs to us. The +Great Spirit put us here, not the white man. If it was for them why did +they not grow out of the earth as we did? Why were we put here at all +if our land was not for us? We were happy until these priests came to +drive us mad making boots and mud bricks and wine all day, driven like +dogs to the kennel, flogged when we wanted to lie in the sun--" + +"But, Anastacio," interrupted Roldan, who had listened to this strange +outburst with the vague consciousness that the soul of an expiring race +had opened its lips for a brief moment, "you are far more clever than +most Indians. If it were not for the priests you would be no better +than the most ignorant of them." + +"If I am clever now, senor, was I not clever in the beginning? You do +not make cake out of bran. The Great Spirit sent his light into me and +said: 'Thou shalt be a great chief.' I could have done as well and +better without the priests. What good did it do me to read and tell my +beads and make chocolate? Was I happy at the Mission? Not for one moon, +senor. I felt as if I had a wild beast chained in me that choked and +panted for the free life of my youth, of my fathers. I ran away from +the Mission twenty-three times--and was brought back and flogged. Many +times I would have crushed my head with a stone had it not been that +all the other Indians of the Mission ran to me like dogs, and that I +could make them tremble with a word and obey with a look. I knew that +the Great Spirit had given me what these poor creatures had not, and +that one day I would give California to them again. It has begun." + +"But we have better things to eat and drink and more comfortable houses +and clothes than you have in your pueblos. I like what the priests call +'civilisation.'" + +"It is for the white man, not for the Indian with a skin like the earth +and a heart like the wild-cat. If we did not know of fine bread and +thin wine and heavy shoes and cursed bags about our legs we should not +want them. Padre Flores says that he and the other priests came here to +make us happy. Why not let us be happy in our own way? We needed no +teaching." + +Years after, Roldan, who grew to know the world well and many men, +recalled the conversation of that night, and meditated upon the strange +workings of the human mind: the fundamental philosophy of life differs +little in the brain of the savage and the brain of the student-thinker. + +"We are told that we must progress, grow better," he said. + +"Hundreds and hundreds of years Indians lived and died here before the +priests came. All legends say they were happy. Now they 'progress,' and +suffer--in the body and in the spirit. One life is for us, another for +you. Should the white man have many children and children's children +until all the mountains and valleys of California are his, then will +all the Indians die, even though they are treated well for they are +slaves--no more. Are they happy? For what were they made? To be slaves +and die from the earth before they are threescore and ten, to be no +more remembered than the beasts of the field?" + +"I hope you'll win to-morrow," cried Roldan, his young mind moved to +pity, and profoundly disturbed. "You can never get California away from +the Spaniard, and I can't wish you to; but you might, if you rallied +all the Indians to you, become powerful enough to live in the way you +like best, and I hope you will. Why should men say: 'I am better than +you; I will make you like myself?' How do we know? I have ridden like +the wind, and coliared a bull with the best vaquero in the Californias, +but I am afraid my mind has had fifteen years of siesta. Now--well, I +shall be governor of the Californias one day, and then I shall send all +the Indians back to the mountains." + +Anastacio put out his hand, and the two civilisations decreed by Nature +to stand apart from the beginning to the end of time clasped in brief +friendship. + +"I will be your friend," said the Indian, "and the white man need not +despise the friendship of a great chief. California is a fair land. +Others will come to it besides the Spaniard. If Anastacio has thousands +of Indians to run to his call they will fight when he bids them." + +"Caramba! you are right," exclaimed Roldan. "Those Americans--" + +"American boys?" asked Adan, eagerly. + +"Now," said Anastacio, "I sleep. Awake me when the sky turns grey." + +He stretched himself out and slept at once. The boys drew close +together and speculated upon the fateful morrow. They agreed to remain +close together, out of sight of the enemy, but where they could watch +the Indian forces. If Anastacio fell they would flee at once. + + + +X + +The small Californian force--it numbered little over two hundred +men--was under the command of Juan Pardo Mesa, a captain notable for +his victorious encounters with Indians and for his knowledge of their +cunning. He was on the alert at dawn next morning, and long before the +sun had spurned the tops of the Coast range, his assumption of +meditated treachery was confirmed. A rising wind had set the young +redwoods in motion. Before long the practised eye of Captain Mesa saw +an increased agitation among the feathery branches, his ear caught a +slight crackling. His men were flat on the ground. He stood in the +shadow of a large oak. A moment later a dusky form crept out to where +the brush grew more sparsely, hesitated a moment, and apparently passed +back word that all was well; he was immediately followed by many of his +kind; and the lower slope of the mountain, burnt bare by fire, seemed +suddenly swarming with huge black rats. + +Mesa waited until they were well away from cover, then gave the +expected order: two hundred muskets, carbines, and flintlock pistols +were discharged, and one piece of artillery. + +But Anastacio, no mean general himself, was also on the alert for the +unexpected. In a few moments he had marshalled his forces in the form +of a hollow square, and ordered them to discharge their arrows from a +recumbent position. Owing to the heavy shadows, the aim of the +Californians had been uncertain, and only a few of the Indians had +fallen. Roldan and Adan were safe behind two large redwoods just above +the Indian army. + +The firing continued steadily all the morning, but resulted in few +mortal wounds. There was not a poisoned arrow in the pueblo. The balls +did more serious damage, and several Indians rolled groaning down the +slope. The rest were undaunted. They were more than two to one, and had +implicit faith in their chief's assurance that they were bound to rout +the Spaniard. + +Under cover of the cloud of smoke his weapons had raised despite a +strong wind, Mesa executed two flank movements, justifying the tactics +of Anastacio: he detached forty men from the main body and directed +them to attack the Indians on both sides and to cut off their retreat +to the forest. They were almost upon the north and south ends of +Anastacio's square--after making a detour and advancing from a +distance--when the boys shouted a warning. In a moment arrows were +flying to right and left; and the answering volley was far more deadly +than the effects of firing up hill. The Indians stood their ground, +fitting their arrows with swift dexterity, encouraged by Anastacio, who +glided from point to point like a hungry cobra, discharging two arrows +to every man's one. His only hope was to keep the Californians at long +range until losses compelled the latter to retreat: at close quarters +arrows would be no match for firearms. + +The battle began at five in the morning. It was at four in the +afternoon that Roldan passed his hand across his burning eyeballs, then +gripped Adan's arm and said through his teeth,-- + +"Anastacio is hit. I saw him shake from head to foot." + +"Madre de dios! Shall we run?" + +"Not yet. My brain is on fire. War is awful, and yet I burn to have a +pistol in my hands. I am sorry for Anastacio--but Dios de mi alma!--to +see a brave Spanish officer bite the dust with the arrow of a dog in +his brain! Ay, he moves! He is not dead." + +"His hand is as steady--but--do you notice?--all are not firing." + +"The arrows are giving out. There is only one end. But I must see it +through. Mary! Mary! They are breaking." + +The Indians, finding themselves almost without arrows, had sprung to +their feet, intending to make a rush for cover; but Mesa had +anticipated this move, and almost immediately his men had closed with +the savages, knocking them on the head with the butt-end of their +muskets, discharging their pistols at short range. The Indians used +both tooth and nail, yelling like wildcats. The cool imperturbability +of the earlier part of the day had fled with their arrows. Anastacio +fought like a tiger. Despite his wounded thigh he stood firmly on his +feet, snatched the musket from a man his hands had throttled, and +whirled it about his head, threatening death to all that approached. +His face was swollen with passion, his eyes were starting from their +sockets, his long hair tossed wildly. The boys watched him with cold +extremities and hot cheeks and eyes. They were oblivious to the rest of +the battlefield. The fate of the indomitable chief, upon whose life the +freedom of a race perhaps depended, would have riveted the attention of +older and wiser brains. His movements were easy to follow; he was head +above all and shoulders above many. + +Suddenly the boys gave a gasp. The head of Anastacio was no longer to +be seen above that surging throng. Had he been wounded in a vital part? +A moment later they gave a hoarse gurgling cry and clung together, +shaking like children in icy water. The head of Anastacio rose +again--above the crowd, then higher,--higher,--until it looked down +upon the squirming mass from six feet above. It was on the end of a +pole. + + + +XI + +The boys turned and fled, scrambling blindly upwards. Instinctively +they ran in the direction of the pueblo, and when they were finally +obliged to sit down and fight for their lost breath they realised the +course they had taken. + +The horror was still in their eyes, but neither spoke of what for a +long while to come must be uppermost in his mind. + +"I think we may as well go to the pueblo," said Roldan, as soon as he +could speak. "We must have food, and we are very tired. We can rest +there a few days, then take two of the horses--we can do nothing +without horses--and start out again. If any of the Indians escape and +come back, they will not have spirit enough left to touch us." + +"Bueno," said Adan. "The Mission blankets are there and they are soft, +and that oven makes good cakes. I hope the Indians go all with the +soldiers. I never want to see another." + +The boys resumed their flight, but more leisurely. They had no +difficulty in keeping to the trail, but it wound over many a weary +mile. Night comes early in the mountain forest, and before two hours +had passed they were groping their way along the narrow road cut +through the dense brush, and clinging to each other. They were brave +lads; but long fasting, and excitement, and a terrible climax to the +most trying day of their lives, had flung gunpowder among their nerves. + +It was midnight when they reached the pueblo. The stars illumined +fitfully the deserted huts, black in the heavy shadows. A coyote was +yapping dismally, owls hooted in the forest. Both boys had a vision of +deep beds and hot suppers on the ranchos of their respective parents, +but they shut their teeth and raided the larder. There they found +well-cured meats and dried fruits, which appeased their mighty +appetites; then they went into Anastacio's hut, and wrapping themselves +in the Mission blankets were soon asleep. + +It was Adan who awoke Roldan violently in the morning. + +"The soldiers!" he whispered hoarsely. + +Roldan, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, peered through a rift between +the wall of the hut and the shrunken hide which formed the door. A half +dozen soldiers stood in the plaza, glancing speculatively about. + +"I see no trace of them," said one. "I cannot believe they would come +back to this place. Surely it was, as I said, more natural for them to +hide at the edge of the forest until we had gone." + +"That dog said there was food here, and that they were more afraid of +us than of a long walk at night. Wherever they are, we find them. They +are a prize second only to the head of Anastacio. Search the huts." + +Roldan sprang to his feet, pulling Adan with him. "Come," he said; +"follow me, and run as if you were as lean as a coyote. Remember they +won't shoot." + +He flung aside the hide door. The two boys flashed out and round the +corner of the hut before the tired eyes and brains of the soldiers had +time to grasp the happening. A moment later they were in hot pursuit, +firing in the air, shouting terrific threats. But the rested and agile +legs of the boys had a good start, and plunged into narrow ways where +horses could not follow; and doubling, twisting, following paths but +recently beaten by Anastacio in pursuit of deer, Roldan and Adan were +soon far beyond the reach or ken of the men of war. It was an hour, +however, before they thought it wise to arrest their flight and pause +to recuperate in a redwood tree hollowed by fire. Two weeks of exposure +and unwonted exertions had hardened Adan's superfluous flesh, and he +was scarcely more spent than his clean-limbed friend, although every +step had been taken with protest. + +"Caramba!" he said, in a hoarse whisper at length. "When I am back on +the rancho I won't walk for a year." + +"You will have the habit by that time, my friend, and will walk in your +sleep. When I am governor you will be generalissimo of all the forces +and will keep your army as lively as an ant-hill." + +"That is too long ahead, and we have not enough wind to argue about it. +What are we going to do now? How shall we get horses to leave this +forest? Where shall we sleep to-night? What shall we have for dinner? I +could eat a whole side of venison." + +"Well, you won't, my friend. Let me think." + +After a time he said: "We must stay here until night. Then we will go +back to the pueblo if we can find the way. As for food, we can have +none to-day. There are no berries at this time of year, and we have +nothing to shoot game with. Other people have gone the day without +food, and we can. When we get back to the pueblo, even if we cannot +reach the larder, we can find the corral without being seen. I don't +believe that the soldiers have found it, and the Indians in charge of +the mustangs will let us have two when they know what has happened. +Now, do not let us talk. It will make us more hungry." + +Adan groaned, but accepted the decree of silence. The day wore on to +noon, and in the unbroken stillness the boys ventured out of the grimy +tree and lay at full length on the turf. The great redwoods towered in +endless corridors, their straight columns unbroken by branch or twig +for a hundred and fifty feet. Through the green close arbours above +came an occasional rift of sunshine, but the aisles were full of cold +green light. The boys shivered in their coyote skin coats and drew +close together; they dared not run about to keep warm; they must +husband their strength, and hunger was biting. There was no wind in the +tree-tops, no murmur of creek, only the low hum of the forest, that in +their strained ear-sense grew to a roar. Finally they fell asleep, and +it was dark when Roldan awoke. He shook Adan. + +"Come," he said; and his partner, grumbling but acquiescent, got to his +feet and tramped heavily over the soft ground. + +They had fled beyond paths, and Roldan could only trust to his locality +sense, which he knew to be good. But more than once they were brought +to halt before a wall of brush, which no man could have penetrated +without an axe. Then they would feel their way along its irregular +bristling side for a mile or more before it thinned sufficiently for +egress. Frequently they heard the deadly rattle, and more than once the +near cry of a panther, but there was nothing to do but push on. +Precautions would have availed them nothing, and there was no refuge +nearer than the pueblo. Sometimes they walked down aisles unchoked by +brush but full of moving shadows, above which sounded the lonely +continuous hooting of the owl. Now and again bats whirred past, and +once a startled wildcat scurried across the path and darted up a tree, +crying with terror. + +"If we only don't meet a bear," thought Roldan, who dared not speak +lest his voice should shake courage and terrors apart. + +It was midnight when Adan announced with what emphasis was left in +him,-- + +"We are lost." + +Roldan answered through his teeth: "Yes, but I think I hear the creek. +When we find that, all we have to do is to follow it south." + +"My heart is in the South," muttered Adan. "We might follow that." + +"I am ashamed of you," said Roldan, with a lofty scorn which was good +for five words and no more. + +It was a half hour later that they stood upon the high bank of the +creek and looked gratefully up at the broad strip of night light. After +the dense shadows of the forest the cold light of stars seemed more +radiant than noon-day. + +"We cannot follow along the bank for more than a little way at a time, +on account of the ferns and brush," said Roldan. "We should walk three +times the distance, and perhaps get lost again. I am going to wade. +Will you?" + +"Madre de dios! And get rheumatism? My teeth clack together at the +thought." + +"You will not be able to keep still long enough to get rheumatism, my +friend. By the grace of Mary we shall be on horseback all day +to-morrow. The water is not a foot deep, and the chill only lasts a +moment. Take off your boots." + +"What is left of them," muttered Adan. But they were better than no +boots, and he took them off, and slung them round his neck. Roldan +scrambled down the bank and plunged into the creek. Adan, after a +moment's hesitation, followed with audible reluctance. He thrust the +tip of one foot into the icy water, withdrew it with a shout, tried the +other; then seeing that Roldan was splashing far ahead, jumped in with +both feet and ran along the slippery rocks, wondering when the change +of temperature would occur. His teeth clattered loudly. He pulled in +and executed a war-dance on the stones, then sat down on a fallen +boulder and rubbed his feet violently. Roldan kept steadily on, mindful +of his dignity as leader; but only as Adan joined him had his teeth +ceased from clattering and the warmth crawled back to his feet. + +Cold, hungry, inexpressibly weary, the boys plodded on, sometimes in +the clear light of stars, sometimes under the chill blackness of +meeting trees. Fish and other slimy things darted across their feet; +they stepped to their waists into more than one treacherous pool. The +dark blue of the sky had turned to grey when Roldan raised his arm and +pointed to a squat dark object on the summit of the cliff. + +"A hut," he said. "We are at the pueblo." + +The boys crawled softly up the almost perpendicular bank and peered +over the edge. To all appearances the pueblo was deserted. If the +soldiers were there--and their horses were not--they slept within the +huts. The animal instinct, so bravely repressed, overcame the +adventurers. They ran across the open to the hut where the food was +kept, and ate for fifteen minutes without speaking or taking the +trouble to hide themselves. + + + +XII + +When they had satisfied their appetites they made two large packages of +dried meat and fruit, tying them securely with straw to their right +arms: saddle-bags there were none. + +"Not a horse," whispered Adan. "Do you think the soldiers have gone?" + +"I think they are lost, and as they did not stop to tie their horses +when they started after us, they won't see them again until they get +back to camp. Come." + +Roldan peered cautiously into each of the huts in turn; all were empty. +Then the boys started for the corral, which the soldiers would not have +passed either on their way to the pueblo or in pursuit of the runaways. +They found the Indians in charge sound asleep in their hut, and did not +think it worth while to awaken them. The two mustangs they led forth, +vicious brutes at best, were very restless from prolonged inactivity. +Roldan's submitted to the saddle, but bolted as soon as he felt a +determined pair of legs about his sides; and as our adventurer had +neither whip nor spurs, all he could do was to hang on and shout to +Adan to follow close. This was the only thing that Adan's mustang was +willing to do, and the boys were borne blindly on, down one path, up +another, plunging deeper into the black recesses of the forest until +they knew no more of their whereabouts than if they had dropped from +another sphere. + +After many weary miles the mustangs slackened, and the boys dismounted +and cut two slender but stinging whips. After that they rose once more +to the proud supremacy of man over brute. But the situation was full of +peril. They were hopelessly lost, the redwoods were the home of the +grizzly and the panther, and they might come upon the soldiers at any +moment. But there was nothing to do but to ride on, and at least they +had horses and food. + +They descended whenever descent was possible, for at the foot of the +mountain lay the open valley; but there were no trails; in all +likelihood they were where no man, red or white, had ever been before; +they had to force their way where the brush was thinnest, and as often +their flight was toward loftier heights. + +As the day wore on the temperature fell, even in those forest depths +where the sun had not penetrated for a thousand years. The beauty of +the forest palled upon Roldan: those everlasting aisles with their grey +motionless columns, their green sinister light, the delicate fern wood +below, the dense mat of branch and leaf so high above. The redwoods +oppress and terrify when they have man completely at their mercy. They +look as if they could speak if they would, roar louder than the storms +that have never shaken them. But they know the value of silence, and +the silence of their inmost depths is awful. + +After many hours the boys rode out upon a bare peak. But its outlook +told them nothing. Behind rose other peaks, below was the dense +primeval forest, rising and falling on other slopes. There was no +glimpse of valley anywhere. The sky was heavy with the grey lurid +clouds of concentrated storm. + +"We will eat," said Roldan, briefly; "but not too much." + +They tethered the mustangs that the beasts might eat of the abundant +grass, and consumed a small quantity of their store. Then they +stretched at full length on the ground to rest their weary bodies. + +"Let us stay here the night," said Adan, with a cavernous yawn. + +"It is hardly darker by night than by day in the forest, but perhaps it +is well to rest." + +"I am one ache, no more," murmured Adan, and went to sleep. + +Roldan pillowed his head on his arm and for once followed lead. He +awoke suddenly, his face wet and stinging. White stars were whirling, +the ground was white, the forest was half obliterated. + +He shook Adan and dragged him to his feet. + +"We must get into the redwoods at once," he said. "We shall be buried +here." + +Adan gasped but cinched his saddle; the boys sprang upon the now +tractable mustangs and plunged into the forest below. The brush was +thin, and they pushed their way downward as rapidly as the steep +descent would permit. Sometimes the forest protected them from the +storm, at others the trees grew wide apart and the riders were exposed +to its pitiless rush. In these open spaces they could see nothing, +could only push blindly on, brushing the stinging particles from their +faces, their hands and feet almost numb. The snow in the open was +already as high as the horses' knees. There was no wind, only that +silent sweeping of the heavens. In the depths the high branches of the +redwoods groaned ominously under the stiffening weight, like giants in +pain. + +The forest thinned. The snow had its will of the earth. There was no +refuge under the larger trees that still stood, like outposts, here and +there; the branches were too high above. Once Adan suggested through +his stiff lips and unruly teeth that they turn back and take refuge in +some dense grove above; but Roldan shook his head peremptorily. He had +heard of the fearful storms of the Sierras; they lasted for days, and +the snow stood its ground for weeks. Their only hope was the valley. + +But they descended only to rise again: in the white darkness of the +storm they dared not attempt to skirt the base of the peaks; they must +keep straight on, to the west, for there lay the valley. + +Occasionally, where a grove of trees stood close and the snow lay +shallow, the boys got off and wrestled, rousing the blood in their legs +and arms; then urged their mustangs to greater speed. But the poor +brutes were very weary, and the blood in their veins was almost torpid. +Once they stood still and shook, whinnying pitifully. A huge grizzly, +so powdered as to be hardly distinguishable from the drifts about him, +floundered along to the right. The boys crossed themselves and awaited +their fate, with the apathy of numb and despairing brains; but the +monster was evidently aiming for the warmth of his home, and took no +notice of the meal in four courses standing in the middle of the path. + +The night deepened. The snow thickened and sped down with an audible +rush, a sting in each beautiful white bee. The boys nodded, roused +themselves, fell forward, their arms mechanically stiffening about the +horses' necks. Once they flung out their hands and feet with a +smothered shriek. A tongue of flame seemed to leap down their throats +and hiss through their veins, while the world roared and heaved about +them. Then all sensation was over. + + + +XIII + +Roldan opened his eyes. His brain was heavy; he was conscious only of +an intense warmth. His arms appeared to be bound to his sides, his +whole body in a vise. He kicked out with a vigorous return of the +instinct of independence. The action shook his brain free and he +understood: he was tightly wrapped in a blanket, and there were other +blankets upon him. He raised his head. The room was one of familiar +lineaments,--whitewashed walls, a mat by the iron bed, an altar in the +corner, linen with elaborate drawn-work on bureau and washstand. The +blood poured upward to the young adventurer's face. Was this his room? +Had he been ill and dreamed strange happenings? He freed his arms and +sat up. No; there was no room in his father's house exactly like this, +monotonous as were the furnishing and architecture of the time. + +He took his head between his hands and thought; the events of the past +weeks marched through his brain in rapid and precise succession--up to +a certain point: his senses had been frozen in the Sierras. From a +raging snowstorm to this blistering bed all was blank. + +He disencumbered himself, slipped to the floor, and opened the door, +then scrambled back to bed as best he could; his legs felt as if they +had been boned. He was also one vast desire for food and drink. But +that glimpse through the door had raised his spirits. He was in a great +adobe house surrounding a court in which a fountain splashed among +ferns and little orange-trees. It was the house of a grandee, but there +was none like it in the neighbourhood of the Rancho de los Palos Verdes. + +He waited with what patience he could muster until his open door should +attract attention, listening to the murmur of the fountain, inhaling +the fragrance of orange and magnolia, wondering if Adan, too, were +safe, angrily resenting his weakness. + +The door cautiously opened wide, and a woman, stout, brown, but of +exceeding grace and elegance, entered and bent over him. + +"Good-day, senora," said Roldan, politely. "I am very hungry. Where am +I? And is Adan here?" + +The lady smiled and patted his cheek with a shapely and flashing hand. + +"He is well and sleeping, my son, and you are both in the Casa of Don +Tiburcio Carillo, of the Rancho Encarnarcion, in a great valley many, +many leagues from the Sierras and the snow--Madre de dios! Pobrecitos! +So cold you must have been, so frightened--and you the sons of great +rancheros, no?" + +Roldan modestly named his fortunate status, then sat up and kissed her +hand, as he had seen his gallant brothers kiss the hands of lovely +young donas. The lady looked much pleased and drew a chair beside the +bed. Roldan wondered if he should ever satisfy his raging appetite, but +was too polite to mention the subject again, and determined to satisfy +his curiosity instead. + +"Senora, tell me how we came here," he asked. "My head will burst until +I know." + +"Our bell mare, the most valuable on our rancho, strayed far the day +before yesterday. All that day and the next six vaqueros looked for +her. One traced her to the Sierras and went on in spite of the storm. +He found her, and, just afterward--you. He thought you were dead, but +poured aguardiente down your throats. You swallowed but did not awaken, +although he shook you and pounded you. Then he strapped your +friend--Adan, no? upon the back of Lolita, took you in his arms, and +galloped for home--you were almost at the foot of the mountain. Ay! but +I was frightened when you came. Gracias a dios that you are well and +not frozen. Bueno, I go to send you a good breakfast. Hasta luego." + +She went out, and Roldan lay wondering if the breakfast were already +cooked. The door opened again. Roldan sat up. But it was Adan. He wore +a long nightgown and dug his knuckles into his eyes. His knees, too, +were shaky. + +"Hist, Roldan," he whispered loudly. "Are you there, or do I dream?" + +"Come into my bed and have breakfast--breakfast, Adan!" + +Adan gathered his remaining energies, bolted across the room, and +climbed into bed. + +"Dios de mi alma, Roldan," he gasped. "Where are we, and why are we +sweltered like sick babies? This is a fine place. Ay! may I never see +snow nor a redwood again!" + +Roldan told what he knew of the beginning of their new chapter, and +soon after he finished two Indian servants entered with trays, set them +on the bed, and retired. + +"Ay! this looks like home," cried Adan, almost in tears. "Chocolate! +Tortillas! Chicken with yellow rice!" He crossed himself fervently and +attacked the fragrant meal. + +It was not a large breakfast, for it was many hours since they had +eaten before; they left not a grain of rice nor a shred on a bone. But +half-satisfied, although very comfortable, they made up their minds to +dress. On the chair was a complete outfit, suitable for a young don. +Roldan concluded it had been thoughtfully placed at his disposal that +he might not appear in the sala of Casa Carillo garbed like a coyote. +How he hated the memory of that ugly and infested garment. + +"I, too, have a silk jacket and breeches by my bed," said Adan, "and a +lace shirt and silk stockings, and shoes with buckles. There must be +those of our age in the Casa Carillo, my friend. Bueno! I go to make a +caballero of myself. Hasta luego." + +He opened the door and peered out, then ran hastily down the corridor +to his room. Who knew but there might be girls at the Casa Carillo? +Horrible thought! + +The boys met a half hour later on the corridor, still weak, but +magnificent to look upon. Roldan's head was very high, despite his +protesting knees: he felt himself again. + +"It is the hour of siesta," he said. "Let us lie in these hammocks and +wait. Ay! but it is warm, and the sky is blue, and the sun looks like +the copper lamp of my mother--the one that came from Boston. Who--even +an Indian--would live in the mountains when the valleys are so big and +warm?" + +They extended themselves in two hammocks swung across the corridor and +watched the many doors on the several sides of the court. All were +closed, and the forest had hardly been more quiet than the Casa Carillo +in its hour of siesta. Through the arch of the gateway they could see +the green of fields, a corner of a vineyard, and rolling hills. On +either side of the entrance was a large magnolia-tree with broad +shining leaves and bunches of cream-white fragrance. The oranges were +very yellow, the palms very stately, the red tiles on the sloping roofs +above the white walls looked very fresh and red. There was colour and +beauty everywhere; and the boys were quite at peace, and content to be +so. Their appetite for adventure was dulled for the moment. + + + +XIV + +A door on the opposite corridor opened and a youth came forth. He +jerked his head diffidently at the guests and took the longest way +round instead of crossing the court; but when he reached the boys, who +were risen and awaiting him, he wore a dignified air of welcome, as +befitted a young gentleman of his race. + +"Welcome to Casa Carillo, senores," he said gravely. "The house is +yours. Burn it if you will. I, myself, Rafael Carillo, am your slave." + +To which Roldan replied: "We are at your feet, for you and yours have +rescued us from death and given us food and clothing when we most +needed it. Our lives are yours to do with as you wish." + +"Then would we keep you here always, Don Roldan and Don Adan. All +guests are welcome at Casa Carillo, but doubly those that need it." + +Then, formalities over, as boys are pretty much alike the world round, +Rafael was soon pouring forth eager questions, and our heroes were +reliving the events of the past weeks. Arm in arm they strolled out +into the wide beautiful valley, green with sprouting winter, the +distant mountains of terrible memory quivering under a dark blue mist. + +"Hist!" said Rafael, suddenly. "Do you know what day this is?" + +"Day?" The adventurers had lost all count of time. + +"It is the day before Christmas, my friends." + +"No! Madre de dios!" Roldan and Adan stood still. For a moment they +felt homesick. They saw the reproachful faces of their parents and +brothers and sisters, to say nothing of visions of unclaimed presents. +But Rafael gave them no time for regrets. He was the only child at +home, and delighted with his new companions. + +"To-morrow many people will come," he said. "I have ten married sisters +and brothers. They all come from their ranchos, and many more. It will +be very gay, my friends." + +"Good," said Roldan, dismissing regret. "We will enjoy." + +"And after Christmas is gone I know of something else," said Rafael, +mysteriously. He glanced about. They stood in the midst of a great +vineyard, each engaged upon a large purple bunch. "Come," said Rafael, +with an air of mystery. "Not here. Some one may hide beneath the vines." + +It was extremely unlikely, but the adventurers liked the suggestion and +followed their host breathlessly into the open field. "One day in the +summer," whispered Rafael, his eyes rolling about, "I went with four +vaqueros with a present of venison to Father Osuna. He was not at the +Mission, and a brother told us that he walked among the hills. I +thought I would go to meet him and receive his blessing. For a time I +saw no one, and I thought, 'Caramba! but the padre has long legs this +hot weather!' Just then he stood before me. He had walked out of the +side of the hill through a hole no wider than himself. He sweated like +a bull after coliar, and his cassock was gathered in his two hands, +leaving his bare shanks no more sacred than an Indian's. He did not +look like a priest at all, and I forgot to kneel to him, but stared +with my mouth open. And what do you think he did, my friends? He turned +white like the hand of a dona in her teens and--and--dropped his +cassock. And--" + +"Well? well?" + +"What do you think rolled to the ground, my friends? Chunks of yellow +stuff that glittered, and a shower of sparkling yellow sand--beautiful +as sunshine on the floor. I gave a cry and ran to pick it up. I had +never seen anything so beautiful, I never had wanted anything so much. +I felt that I would die for it in that moment, my friends. But that +priest, what do you think he did? He gave a yell of rage, as if he +could tear me in pieces, and flung himself all over that sunshine of +earth. 'My gold!' he cried. 'Mine! mine! You shall not take it from +me.' 'If it is yours it is not mine, my father,' I said, feeling +ashamed,--though I still wanted it; 'I will help you to pick it up.' He +got up then, his face very red again, and I could see that he was +trying to put on his dignity as fast as he had put down his cassock--he +looked better with both in place. 'My son,' he said,'the day is warm +and I am very tired, and, I fear, a little ill. These rocks are +nothing. They please my eye, and I pick them up sometimes as I walk +among the hills. Leave them there. I do not want them. We will return +to the Mission.' 'If you do not want them, then may I have them?' I +asked--the blood flew all over my body, my friends. He scowled as if I +had asked him for the candles on the altar. 'No,' he said, 'you +cannot.' Then he put his big hand on my shoulder--he could twist your +neck in a minute with those hands--'Listen to me, my son,' he said, +very soft, and looking so kind now, you can't think. 'There is poison +in those stones, pretty as they are, deadly poison. It has murdered +millions of souls and hundreds of bodies. Therefore I will not let you +touch it--only a priest can touch it without ruining his soul. +Therefore I forbid you---forbid you--' he shouted this over me, 'to +tell any one of what you have seen to-day. Neither your father nor your +mother--no one. Do you understand?' I said 'Yes,' but I did not +promise, and he was excited and did not notice. Then he dragged me +away, and I looked about for other rocks that glittered. But there were +none--not anywhere. And then I knew that they had come out of the hill; +but I said nothing, and when we got back to the Mission and had had +dinner and he was himself again and would have spoken alone with me, I +ran and got on my horse, and all the brothers stood on the corridor to +see me go. He came up to me and blessed me, and whispered: 'Tell no +one, my son. If you do'--and he gave me a look that made my hair +crackle at the roots. And to this day I have told no one. Did I tell my +parents the priest would know in six hours. No boy has stayed here that +I like. But now--" + +"We will go to the hill and see for ourselves," said Roldan, promptly, +and Adan gasped with horror and delight. + +"Ay, I knew you would. I am brave, but I dared not go myself--that +padre is too big. I wake up in the night and see his hands pawing in +the air. But three of us--we need fear no one." + +"We will go as soon as the guests are gone. I have heard of this +'gold.' In Europe--I have an uncle who has travelled and has told me +many things--bueno, in Europe, they make it into money and give it for +things in big houses they call shops. Even here, in Monterey, and +perhaps the other towns, they have a little--it comes from Mexico. My +uncle said that one reason we were so happy was because we had so +little money--none at all, we might say. That we got what we wanted out +of the earth, or by trading with one another or with the skippers from +Boston, who are glad to give us what we need from other lands in return +for our hides and tallow. So, if we find this 'gold' perhaps we had +better say nothing about it; but to find it--that will be a great, a +grand adventure." + +"We'll tell if we find it," said Adan, philosophically. + +The boys concocted a plan of campaign to their satisfaction, then went +home to supper. Don Tiburcio and his wife, Dona Martina, were already +seated at the table in the big bare room. The grandee was a huge man +with a soft profile, and cheeks as large and cream-hued as one of the +magnolias hanging in the patio. He had an expression of indolent +good-nature above his straight mouth, and long hands that looked lean +and hard when they closed suddenly. He was a man of much influence in +the politics of his country. His small-clothes were of dark green cloth +with large silver buttons, the lace on his linen was fine and abundant. +Dona Martina wore a gown of stiff flowered silk and a profusion of +topaz ornaments. As the boys entered and bowed respectfully, Don +Tiburcio eyed them keenly, but shook them cordially by the hand. + +"So you are the son of Mateo Castanada," he said to Roldan. "It is +evident enough, although you have something in the face that he has +not. Otherwise I should not have done him to death in more than one +political battle. Well, my sons, you are very welcome, and the longer +you stay with us the better. The officers passed here some days +ago--Rafael hid in the garret for the two days I feasted them, and they +do not know that I have a son so young. Well, you are in good time to +help my son enjoy his Christmas." + +There was an abundant supper of meat with hot pepper-sauce, tomatoes +and eggs baked together, and many dulces. The boys wondered if dried +meat and coarse cakes were part of an adventurous dream. + +The next morning chocolate was brought to the boys at half-past five, +after which they dressed, and mounting the mustangs awaiting their +pleasure in the courtyard, went off for a morning canter. At Roldan's +suggestion they reconnoitred the hills behind the Mission and got the +bearings definitely shaped in their minds; the great raid was to be at +night. They returned to a big breakfast at nine o'clock, then rode out +again to meet the expected guests. It was but a few moments before they +saw several cavalcades approaching from as many different directions. +The young men and women, in silken clothes of every hue, were on horses +caparisoned with velvet, carved leather, and silver; in many instances +a girl had proud possession of the saddle, while her swain bestrode the +anquera behind, his arm supporting her waist. Roldan wondered if +anything would ever induce him to sacrifice his dignity like that. (It +may be remarked here, as this history has only to do with the famous +Californian's boyhood, that the day came when he could bow the knee to +the fair sex with as graceful an ardour as did he not employ his +sterner moments making laws and enforcing them.) The older folk +travelled in carretas, the conveyance of the country, a springless +wagon set on wheels cut from the solid thickness of the tree. It was +driven by gananes, sitting astride the mustangs and singing lustily. +The interior was lined with satin and padded, but was probably +uncomfortable enough. Everybody looked smiling and happy, and a number +of lads left their respective parties and cantered over to Rafael and +his guests. A few moments later they all galloped at the top speed of +their much-enduring mustangs to a great clump of oaks, where they +dismounted and listened with breathless interest to the adventures of +Roldan and Adan. All had been drafted, and must leave for barracks with +the new year. They complimented the adventurers in a curious mixture of +stately Spanish and eager youthfulness, and their admiration was so +apparent that our heroes would have doubled the dangers of the past on +the spot. + +When they returned home to dinner the great space before the house was +filled with shining horses pawing the ground under their heavy saddles. +The court and corridors were an animated scene, overflowing with dons +and donas in brilliant array. When dinner was over and the grown-up +guests and young girls were lingering over the Christmas dulces, all +the boys slipped away and went out to the huge kitchen, where countless +Indian servants were busy or resting. They demanded four dozen eggs and +help to blow them at once. The maids hastened to do the bidding of the +little dons, and in less than a quarter of an hour the eggs were free +of their natural contents, and all were busy refilling them with flour, +or cologne, or scraps of gold and silver paper. Then the boys stuffed +the fronts of their shirts, their sleeves, and their pockets with the +eggs, and hid themselves among the palms of the court. Presently the +guests came forth and scattered about the corridor, smiling and +chatting in the soft subdued Spanish way. Suddenly twelve eggs, thrown +with supple wrist and aimed with unfailing dexterity, flew through the +air and crashed softly on the backs of caballeros' curls and donas' +braids, flour powdering, gold and silver paper glittering on the dense +blackness of those Californian tresses, cologne shooting down dignified +spines. There was a chorus of shrieks, and then, as every head whisked +about, and as a blow did not count unless it struck at the back, the +boys ran up to the corridors, dodged under vengeful arms and continued +the battle. Finally they were chased out into the open, and the guests +having been provided with the remaining eggs by Dona Martina, the +battle waged fierce and hot until, exhausted, the guests retired for +siesta. + +But siesta was brief that day. In less than an hour's time all had +reappeared and were mounting for the race. + + + +XV + +The race took place in a field a mile from the house, on a straight +track. Four vaqueros in black velvet small-clothes trimmed with silver, +spotless linen, and stiff glazed black sombreros, walked up and down, +leading the impatient mustangs. Two of these horses were a beautiful +bronze-gold in colour, with silver manes and tails, a breed peculiar to +the Californias; one was black, the other as white as crystal. The +family and guests of Casa Carillo sat on their horses, in their +carretas, or stood just outside the fence surrounding the field. At one +end were the several hundred Indians employed by Don Tiburcio, and +several hundred more from the Mission. Father Osuna had also joined the +party from the Casa, and Roldan, who had seen hundreds of horse-races +and was built on a more complex plan than his contemporaries, got as +close to the priest as he dared and gave him his undivided attention. +Padre Osuna was a man of unusual height and heaviness of build. His +black eyes were set close to his fine Roman nose. The mouth was so +tightly compressed that its original curves were quite destroyed, and +the intellectual development of the brow was very marked. His hands +exerted a peculiar fascination over Roldan. They were of huge size, +even for so big a man, lean and knotted, with square-tipped fingers. +The skin on them was fine and brown; it looked as soft as a woman's. He +used them a good deal when talking, and not ungracefully; but they +seemed to claw and grasp the air, to be independent of the arms hidden +in the voluminous sleeves of the smart brown cassock. Other people +watched those hands too--they seemed to possess a magnetism of their +own; and every one showed this priest great deference: he was one of +the most successful disciplinarians in the Department of California, a +brilliant speaker, an able adviser in matters of state, and a man of +many social graces. + +"More agreeable to meet in the sala of the Mission than in a cave at +midnight," thought Roldan. "Still--" His scent for danger, particularly +if it involved a matching of wits, was very keen. + +The word was given. The race began. The dons shouted, the lovely faces +between the bright folds of the rebosos flushed expectantly. From the +black mass of Indians opposite came a mighty gurgle, which gradually +broke into a roar,-- + +"The black! Fifty hides on the black!" + +"The little bronze! She is a length ahead! Madre de dios! Six doubloons +of Mexico on the little bronze!" + +The priest pushed his way to the speaker, a wealthy ranchero who had +been more than once to Mexico. + +"The white against the bronze, senor," he said. "Twenty otter skins to +the six doubloons of Mexico." + +"Done, your reverence. I am honoured that you bet with me. But the +white--have you thought well, my father?" + +"She breathes well, and her legs are very clean." + +"True, my father, but look at the muscles of the little bronze. How +they swell! And the fire in the nostrils!" + +"True, Don Jaime; and if she wins, the skins are yours." + +As the horses darted down the track almost neck to neck, the excitement +routed Spanish dignity. The dons stood up in their saddles, shouting +and betting furiously. The women clapped their white idle hands, and +cheered, and bet--but with less recklessness: a small jewel or a +second-best mantilla. As they could not remember what they had bet when +the excitement was over, these debts were never paid; but it pleased +them mightily to make their little wagers. The men were betting +ranchitas, horses, cattle, and, finally, their jewels and saddles and +serapes. For each horse represented a different district of the +Department, and there was much rivalry. + +The priest did not shout, and he made no more bets, but his eyes never +left those figures speeding like arrows from the bow, the riders +motionless as if but the effigies of men strapped to the creatures of +fire beneath. Sometimes the black gained then the little bronze; once +the white dashed a full three yards beyond his fellows, and Roldan saw +the great hands of the priest, which had been clinched against his +shoulders, open spasmodically, then close harder than ever as the white +quickly dropped back again. + +It was a very close race. The excitement grew tense and painful. Even +Roldan felt it finally, and forgot the priest. The big bronze had quite +dropped out of it and was lagging homeward, hardly greeted by a hiss. +The others were almost neck and neck, the little bronze slightly in the +lead. "She wins," thought Roldan, "No! No! The black! the black! Ay, +no, the bronze! but no! no! Ay! Ay! Ay!" A roar went up that ended in a +shriek. The black had won. + +Roldan looked at the priest. His skin was livid, his nostrils +twitching. But his mouth and eyes told nothing. + +The crowd rode home, still excited, gay, cheerful. Their losses +mattered not. Were not their acres numbered by the hundred thousand? +Did they not have more horses and cattle than they would ever count? In +those days of pleasure and plenty, of luxury and unconsidered +generosity, a rancho, a caponara the less, meant a loss neither to be +felt nor remembered. + +After the bountiful supper the guests loitered for a time in the +courtyard, then the sala was cleared and the dance began. Several of +the girls danced alone, while the caballeros clapped and shouted. Then +all waltzed or took part in their only square dance, the contradanza. +They kept it up until morning. Needless to say, our heroes went to bed +at an early hour. + +They were up the next morning with the dawn, and in company with Rafael +and the other guests of their own age, went for their canter. This time +they avoided the hills behind the Mission, as they had no wish to share +their secret, and a chance word might divulge all. They rode toward the +hills at the head of the valley. Roldan was still the hero of the hour, +and Rafael, although the most generous of boys, resented it a little. +He was not without ambitions of his own, and determined to seize the +first opportunity to remind his companions that the son of Don Tiburcio +Carillo, the greatest ranchero of that section of the Californias, had +not the habit to occupy the humble position of tag-behind even to so +brilliant and adventurous a guest as Roldan Castanada. + +He soon found his opportunity. + +As they reached the first hill they saw a bull feeding on its summit. +"Aha!" cried the young don of the Rancho Encarnacion. "Now I will make +for you a little morning entertainment, my friends. Coliar! coliar!" + +"No! no!" cried the boys. "The hill is too steep. It is like the side +of a house. You will break your neck, my friend." + +Roldan said: "It is dangerous, but it could be done." + +"I can do it," said Rafael, proudly, "and I shall." + +The other boys, good sportsmen as they all were, shouted, "No! no!" +again; but Rafael laughed gaily, and forced his horse up the almost +perpendicular declivity, leisurely unwinding his lariat from the high +pommel of his saddle, and tossing it into big snake-like loops, which +he gathered one by one into his hand, the last about his thumb. The +bull fed on unsuspecting, for the early green of winter was very +delicious after eight months of unrelenting sunshine. When Rafael +reached the summit he rode back for some distance, then came at the +bull full charge, yelling like a demon. The bull, terrified and +indignant, gave a mighty snort and leaped over the brow of the hill. It +was much like descending the slightly inclined side of a cliff, but he +kept his footing. The boys held their breath as Rafael rode straight +over the brow in the wake of the bull. With one hand he held the bridle +in a tight grip, in the other he held aloft the coils of the lariat. It +looked like a huge snake, and quivered as if aware that it was about to +spring. There was no cheering; the boys were too much alarmed. A +mis-step and there would be a hideous heap at the foot of the hill. + +The little mustang appeared scarcely to touch the uneven surface of the +descent. He looked as if galloping in air, and tossed his head fiercely +as though to shake the rising sun out of his eyes. The bull seemed +continually gathering himself for a great leap, his clumsy bulk heaving +from side to side. But a quarter of the distance had been traversed +when the great curves of the lasso sprang forward, and, amidst a hoarse +murmur from the boys, caught the bull below the horns. But that was +all. The bull would not down! There would be no coliar! He merely ran +on--the brute! the beast!--jerking his horns defiantly, putting down +his head, nearly dragging Rafael from the saddle. But no! but no! +Rafael has risen in his saddle, he has forced his mustang the harder, +he is almost level with the bull--he has passed! He gives a great jerk, +dragging the bull to his knees, then another, and the bull is on his +side and rolling over and over down the hill, Rafael following fast, +slackening his lariat. The boys now cheer wildly, although danger is +not over--yes, in another moment it is, and Rafael, smiling +complacently, is at the foot of the hill, disengaging the humbled bull. + +"Bravo!" said a voice from behind the horses. All turned with a start. +It was the priest. "Coliar was never better done," he added graciously; +and Rafael felt that the day was his. + +The priest had ridden up unnoted in the tense excitement of the last +few moments. He sat a big powerful horse, and his bearing was as +military as that of the two great generals of the Californias, Castro +and Vallejo. + +As the boys, congratulations and modest acknowledgement over, were +making for home and breakfast, the priest pressed his horse close to +Roldan's. "I interested you much at the race yesterday, Don Roldan," he +said, with a good-humoured smile. "Why was that?" + +Roldan was not often embarrassed, but he was so taken aback at the +abrupt sally he forgot to be flattered that the priest had evidently +thought it worth while to inquire his name; and stammered: "I--well, +you see, my father, you are not like other priests." Which was not +undiplomatic. + +The priest smiled, this time with a faint flush of unmistakable +pleasure. "You are right, my son, I am not as other priests in this +wilderness. Would to Heaven I were, or--" + +"Or that you were in Spain?" Roldan could not resist saying, then +caught his breath at his temerity. + +The priest turned about and faced him squarely. "Yes," he said +deliberately, "and that I were a cardinal of Rome. Such words I have +never uttered to mortal before; but if I am not as other men, neither +are you as other lads. Some day you will be a Castro or an Alvarado; it +is written in your face. Perhaps something more, for changes may come +and your opportunities be greater. But I--I am no longer young; there +is no hope in California for me." + +"Why do you not return to Spain?" + +"I have written. They will not answer. In my youth I was wild. They +forced me to come here. I had no money. I was obliged to obey. I have +christianized a few hundred worthless savages who were better off in +their barbarism, and I have made myself a power among a few thousand +men of whom the outer world, the great world, knows nothing. My Mission +is the most prosperous in the Californias--and I--" he set and ground +his teeth. + +Roldan thought of the gold. "When I am governor of the Californias, my +father," he said, "I shall send you back to Spain, for then I shall +have great influence--and much gold." + +At the last word the priest's eyes flamed with so fierce a light that +Roldan shrank back repelled, feeling himself in the presence of a +passion of which he had no knowledge. But the priest controlled himself +at once. "Thank you, my son," he said with a brilliant smile. "And I do +not ask you to guard as your own what I have said. It is a part of the +power of such natures as yours that you know what to repeat and what to +leave unsaid." Then as they approached the house he suddenly took +Roldan's slender elegant hand in one of his mighty paws, shook it +heartily, and flinging his bridle to a vaquero, sprang lightly to the +ground and entered the courtyard, leaving our hero in a condition of +flattered bewilderment. + + + +XVI + +That day there was to be a grand rodeo, or "round-up:" the branding of +cattle; not only of the stock belonging to Don Tiburcio, but of many of +his neighbours, which would be driven over to his rancho for the +operation. This was one of the great occasions of the year. Immediately +after breakfast the neighbours began to arrive, magnificently mounted, +sparkling with gold and silver lace, their wives and daughters each +surrounded by her cavalcade. About ten the gorgeous company, led by the +host, started for an immense corral about three miles from the house. +The boys were well to the front, and established themselves on the wall +of the corral. The rest of the party remained on their horses, but +mounted the little slopes. The green winter landscape had suddenly +become a blaze of colour, and never was there a more animated scene. +Over all hung a light haze. The distant mountains, which could be seen +from the outer valley, were almost invisible. The priest, a huge brown +figure, on his big brown horse, stood on the very apex of the highest +knoll. + +Presently, from various directions rose a low deep murmur, then a +rumble of growing volume as of an approaching earthquake. Men and women +grasped their bridles with firmer fingers, and pressed still nearer to +the crests of the many mounds. Then over the hills on every side came a +mass of tossing horns and sleek shining bodies, separated here and +there by a shouting vaquero, whose black and silver seemed pierced at +every point by those white curving horns. The cattle, several thousand +in number, trotted over the hills and toward the corral swiftly, but in +good order, held well in check by the careful vaqueros. There was no +cheering, for excitement was to be avoided. The cattle would stand any +amount of the shouting they were used to, but little from unaccustomed +throats. + +In the corral, at its farther end, stood, by an oven, a tall muscular +Indian, the most famous brander in that part of the country. He was +stripped to the waist, and as the first steer was driven through the +narrow gate, he plucked a red-hot iron from the coals. The beast, +kicking and bellowing, was flung to the ground by a dexterous twist of +his tail, two more Indians held him in position, and the branding was +accomplished. + +Almost before he was up another was prostrate; and they followed each +other in such rapid succession that the wonder was some were not +branded twice. As fast as each brute received his mark he was driven +out of another gate and over the hills, lest his ill-nature should be +the cause of wild disorder. + +The vaqueros handled their dangerous charges with admirable skill, +keeping those to be branded in groups of a hundred or more at some +distance from the corral, riding round them constantly with peremptory +shouts. Other vaqueros, belonging to the same herd, segregated the +animals immediately required and drove them in a straight line for the +corral. There was not a moment of pause. The vaqueros, the brander, and +his assistants seemed impervious to fatigue; the cattle, shifting +uneasily in their bands, leaped eagerly from the lines at the first +signal from the vaquero bearing down on them like a fury from the +corral. On the far side, otherwise deserted, the sore indignant beasts +scampered as fast as their legs could carry them whithersoever their +vaquero chose to drive. + +After two hours or more, the atmosphere was charged with a certain +breathless excitement, as was natural enough. The constant cyclonic +rush of vaqueros and cattle, the angry bellowings, the increasing +masses of animals, the furious shouts of the men, had changed a +peaceable landscape into a vast theatre full of tragic possibilities. +The waiting cattle were growing more and more restless, and there was a +low rumble among them. Don Tiburcio motioned to his guests that it was +time to leave; moreover, it was nearing the dinner hour. + +"Rafael!" he called. His son turned his head impatiently, but prepared +to obey; the Californian youth was brought up on rigid lines. + +"Ay, must we go?" cried Adan. "I could stand here till night, even +without dinner, my friends." + +"I, too, am sorry," began Roldan. "But what is the matter?" + +The great masses of cattle had begun to heave suddenly. They were +uttering hoarse growls of terror. The mustangs of the vaqueros stood +suddenly still, quivering. Then, abruptly, a horrible stillness fell. +All things breathing seemed to petrify. But only for numbered seconds. +From beneath came a low roar, gathering in volume like the progression +of a tidal wave; then the world heaved and rocked. + +"Temblor! temblor!" went up as from one mighty horrified throat. The +priest shouted to the boys: "Stay where you are;" to Don Tiburcio and +his guests: "With all your speed after me." + +They understood his meaning. The cattle were leaping over one another, +bellowing madly, giving no heed to the hoarse cries of the terrified +vaqueros. In a moment a blaze of colour was flying down the valley, a +long brown arm lifted high above it. In twenty seconds five thousand +tossing horns and blazing eyes and heaving flanks were in pursuit. + +The vaqueros did their best, although their faces were white and their +lips shaking. Three that were between the uniting herds, had their legs +crushed into their mustangs' sides, and were borne along and aloft, +shrieking horribly, adding to the fury of the stampede. Another, trying +to head the cattle off, rode into a sudden split in the hard adobe soil +and went down beneath those iron feet. + +The boys clung together. The wall was broad, but it rocked +continuously, whether from other shocks or from the hoof-assaulted +earth it would have been impossible to say. A curving outer flank of +the flying mass bulged against it, and it quivered horribly with the +impact. The boys strained their eyes after the retreating points of +colour. Would they escape? Were the frightened mustangs fleeter of foot +than those maddened brutes? And if they were--the Casa! + +"I think," said Roldan, "that we had better get down on the other side. +This wall may go down any minute; and the cattle are all looking in one +direction." + +"You are right," said Rafael. "This way--Ay de mi!" + +There was another heave of the earth, distinct from the steady +vibration of stampeding cattle. The adobe wall rocked violently, +sprang, twisted, crumbled to the ground, a heap of dust. + +For a moment the boys were invisible. Then they emerged, one by one, +choking and spitting, rubbing their eyes with their knuckles. When they +had recovered some measure of vision they huddled together, staring +with affrighted eyes at the moving wall of cattle not twenty yards to +their left, hardly able to keep their balance. + +Suddenly Roldan pulled his wits together. "Sit down," he said. "We are +the colour now of the earth. If we keep quiet and look no taller than +weeds they will not see us and we shall not be hurt." + +The boys dropped to the ground and sat in silence, staring ahead of +them. Would that rushing, heaving, bellowing mass have no end? It was +indeed a long time before the last line, curiously compact, swept by. +Occasionally the earth jumped with brief abruptness, causing hair to +crackle at the roots, and dust-laden as it was, make as if to rise on +end. The squirrels were screeching in the trees. The birds pitifully +twittered. Even the leaves rustled in response to those terrible +quivers. + +The cattle were a red streak at the end of the perspective. The boys +rose, shook themselves, and walked heavily to their tethered mustangs. +The poor beasts were trembling and whinnying; they greeted their young +masters with a quavering neigh of relief. The boys mounted; but +although they rode rapidly, with ever increasing impatience, they +paused every few moments to listen; there was likely to be a return +stampede at any moment. More than once they were obliged to swerve +suddenly aside from yawning rifts, and they passed a spring of boiling +water, spouting and hissing upward, which had not been there in the +morning. They were too frightened to talk; not only the paralysing awe +of the earthquake was upon them, but the least imaginative saw his home +levelled to the ground, his relatives and friends trodden down into the +cracking earth. Hills lay between them and the Casa Encarnacion. + +There were two exits from the valley where the branding had taken +place: one, very narrow, to the right, which led directly to the house, +the other straight ahead, almost as broad as the valley itself. The +boys saw at a glance that pursued and pursuers had taken the more +spacious way, and they followed without consultation. + +The crushed grass looked like green blood, but there was no other +evidence of slaughter; the mustangs had been fleeter than the cattle. +The latter had evidently kept well together, for on either side of a +swath some three hundred yards in width, the grass stood high. + +They were in a wide valley now; they could see the great mountains, +still faint under their vapourous mist, the redwoods as rigid of +outline as if the heart of the world beneath had never changed its +measure. Just beyond this valley was a wood, then the Mission. Were +twenty thousand hoofs trampling among its ruins? + +They left the valley, entered the wood, galloped down its narrow path, +and emerged. The Mission stood on its plateau above the river, as +serene and proud as the redwoods on the mountain. She had held her own +against many earthquakes and would against many more. But there was not +a horn, a horse, a man, nor a woman to be seen. + +The boys dismounted, not daring to think. They walked toward the +buildings, then paused to listen. Through the open doors of the church +rolled the sonorous tones of Padre Osuna's voice, intoning mass. The +boys ran forward to enter the building. They paused on the threshold, +held by a sight, the like of which had never been seen in California +before, and never shall be again. + +Near the entrance of the vast building were a multitude of half-clothed +dusky forms, prone. Between them and the altar were more than an +hundred horses, caparisoned with silver and carved leather, and gay +anquera. They stood as if petrified. On them, huddled to the arching +necks, in an attitude of prostrate devotion, were magnificent bunches +of colour; scarce an outline could be seen of the proudly attired men +and women who had fled before a tidal wave of tossing horns. Father +Osuna, in his coarse brown woollen robes, stood before the altar, +chanting the mass of thanksgiving. The church blazed with the light of +many candles. The air was thick and sweet with incense. + + + +XVII + +After the mass was over the boys learned the sequel of the morning's +terrible adventure. Between the second valley and the wood the cattle, +diverted by one of those mysterious impulses which govern masses of all +grades of intelligence, had deflected suddenly and raced for the hills. +The gay company was much shaken, but somewhat restored by the calm of +the church and the solemn monotonous roll of Father Osuna's voice. They +cantered slowly homeward, and crossed themselves fervently when they +saw the Casa Encarnacion none the worse for her shaking, beyond a few +fallen tiles. After dinner and siesta they recovered their natural +spirits, and the men and boys went forth with the vaqueros to hunt the +cattle. These were found at the foot of the mountain, weary and humble. +Not a horn was tossed in defiance at the volley of abuse hurled upon +them, and they allowed themselves to be driven to the ranches of their +respective owners without a protest. + +That evening the household and guests of Casa Encarnacion spent in +music and dancing; so light of heart and careless of mind were the +people of that time and country. + +A number of cattle had been trampled to death in the stampede, and the +bodies lay within a few miles of the mountains. It was inevitable that +bears would come out to eat the carcasses. On the night of the day of +terrifying memory no one felt equal to the exertion of another ten mile +ride and the subsequent battle with a possible herd of bears. But at +eight o'clock on the following night Don Tiburcio, Padre Osuna, the +boys, some ten of the caballeros, and as many vaqueros mounted and rode +forth for a good night's sport. The moon was thin and low. As they +approached the spot where the first of the wild band had succumbed to +fatigue they saw a dark object moving beside the carcass. The approach +was stealthy, but the bear suddenly raised his head. In a second five +or six lassos had sprung through the air. One caught the bear--a brown +bear of moderate size--about the neck, another about a hind leg. The +brute drew his legs together like a bucking horse and leaped into the +air, then plunged toward his tormentors; but those that had him in +lasso galloped in different directions, and poor bruin was quickly +strained and strangled to death. Two vaqueros were left to skin him, +and the party rode on. In a very few moments they saw a moving group +some distance ahead. Spurring their mustangs they dashed forward, +letting the lassos fly. Now the sport became truly exciting and +dangerous. Some six or eight brown bears, of varying sizes, growled +furiously and bounded toward the intruders. Three were caught in the +meshes of the rope, the others were making straight for the horses. +There was only one thing to do. The men put spurs and galloped rapidly +away, the bears plunging heavily in pursuit. When the men had +outdistanced the bears by a hundred yards or more, they wheeled +suddenly and trotted back, once more letting fly the lasso. This time +all but one were roped; as they kicked in fury, their hind legs were +caught by the lariats held in reserve; and there followed a scene of +plunging and springing, galloping, shouting, growling; and neighing, +for the mustangs were fully alive to their part. + +The one bear at liberty rode straight for Roldan. + +He had hurled his lasso with the rest, and it was trailing. He jerked +about and fled for a mile or more, holding on with his legs while both +hands were occupied gathering in the rope and coiling it about the high +pommel of his saddle. Then he turned and charged full at the bear, who +was hot in pursuit and no mean runner. He hurled the lariat. It fell +short, and lay quivering on the ground like a huge wounded snake. +Roldan gave an exclamation, of surprise as much as of dismay: he was an +expert with the rope. He turned, however, dragging it in. It caught +about the mustang's hind legs. The beast went down, neighing with +horror. Roldan tried to jerk him to his feet. He seemed hopelessly +entangled. Roldan extricated himself, knowing that he was comparatively +safe, as bears prefer horse-meat to man's. He had no sooner got his +feet free of the boots than the mustang leaped to his feet and fled +like a hare, dragging the lariat in a straight line after him. + +Roldan was alone, the bear not ten yards away. The rest of his party +were a mile and more behind. No one apparently had noticed his flight +with the solitary bear. The light was uncertain and the excitement over +there intense. + +Roldan took to his agile young heels. But the bear gathered himself and +leaped, not once but several times. There was no doubt that his blood +was up, and that he meant a duel to the death. Roldan turned with a +catching of what breath was left in him. He mechanically drew his knife +from its pocket and flourished it at the advancing bear. Bruin cared as +little for steel as for rope. He came on with a mighty growl. + +Roldan gave one rapid glance about. There was not even a tree in sight. +From his point of departure an object seemed approaching, but it was +too dark to tell as yet whether it was a horseman or another bear. The +brute was almost on him, panting mightily. All the senses between +Roldan's skeleton and his skin concentrated in the determination to +live. He sprang forward and plunged his long knife into the protruding +injected eye of the bear, then leaped aside, his dripping knife in his +hand, and danced about the maddened beast with the agility of a modern +prize-fighter. The bear, too, danced, as if obsessed by some infernal +music; and the skipping, and leaping, and dodging, and waltzing of +these two would have been ludicrous had it not been a matter of life +and horrid death. Through it all Roldan was vaguely conscious of +approaching hoofbeats, but there was no room in his consciousness for +hope or despair. He was not even aware that he was panting as if his +lungs and throat were bursting, nor even that his vision was a trifle +blurred from constant and rapid change of focus and surcharged veins. +But he executed his dance of life as unerringly as if fresh from his +bed and bath. The bear, a clumsy creature at best, and streaming and +blinded with his blood, was slackening a little, but there was life in +him yet, and twice its measure of vengeance. Suddenly he lay down, but +became so abruptly inert that Roldan was not deceived. Instead of +putting himself within reach of those waiting arms he fled with all his +strength. It was then that he knew how fully that strength was spent: +his lungs and legs refused to work with his will and impulse after the +first hundred yards, and he fell to the ground with a sensation of +utter indifference, longing only for physical rest. He heard the bear +plunging after, the loud sound of a horse's hoofs, mingled with a +single shout, then gave up his consciousness. + +He awoke in a few moments. Adan was bending over him, propping his +head. "The bear?" he demanded, ashamed of the pitiful quality of his +voice. + +"I came just in time to rope him," replied Adan. "You were a fool, my +friend, to go off alone like that--but very brave," he added hastily, +knowing that Roldan did not like criticism. + +"You are quite right. And this is the second time you and your lariat +have saved me. Perhaps it may be the other way some time." + +"Likely it will if you go on hunting for adventures as the old women +hunt for fleas of a night. Do you feel able to get on my horse? It will +carry the two of us." + +"If I were not equal to that much I should find another bear and go to +sleep in his arms." + + + +XVIII + +At last the night arrived for the gold quest. The guests had gone. +Roldan, Adan, and Rafael were alone on their side of the great house. +They waited, kicking their heels together with leashed impatience, +until eleven o'clock. The family and servants of Casa Encarnacion went +to bed at ten o'clock, but it was the custom of Don Tiburcio to go the +rounds a half or three quarters of an hour later and see that his +strict laws were as strictly obeyed. To-night, when he opened the doors +of the three young dons in succession, heels were still, and breathing +was as monotonous as his own would be an hour later. At eleven the boys +dressed and swung from their windows, not daring to leave by the +courtyard. Nor did they dare go to the corral and abstract three +horses. Much to their distaste, for there was nothing the Californian +hated so much as to travel on two legs, they were obliged to walk the +miles between the Casa and the hills. But their legs were young and +their brains eager; in little over an hour they were in sight of the +Mission. + +It looked very white and ghostly in the pale blaze of the moon, a huge +mass, full of prayer and discontent. Close beside it, but without the +walls, the Indians slept in the rancheria, quiescent enough, for they +had no Anastacio. At midnight the great bells in the tower had rung +out, filling the valley with their sweet silver clamour; but as the +boys approached and skirted the wall, some distance to the right, the +Mission might have been as lifeless as it is this year, in its +desertion and decay. + +The hills were a mile behind. The Mission, like all of its kind, stood +on a broad open, that no hostile tribe might approach unseen. Cows and +horses lay in their first heavy sleep, their breathing hardly ruffling +the profound stillness. So great an air of repose did the silent walls +and sleeping beasts give to the landscape that the boys felt the quiet +of the night as they had not done in the other valley, and drew closer +together, almost holding their breath lest the priests might hear it. A +quarter of an hour later they were among the hills and standing before +the aperture whose secrets were known only to Padre Osuna. They glanced +at each other out of the corners of their eyes. Brave as they were, +they did not altogether like the idea of a possible encounter with a +rattlesnake or a bear in the dark and narrow confines of a cave. And if +there should be another earthquake! However, they had not come to turn +back, and Roldan pushed boldly in, the others following close. + +For a time their way lay along a narrow passage. They had made two +abrupt turns before they dared to light the lantern they had brought. +When Rafael did, it revealed nothing but earthy walls and the imprint +of feet on the ground. After a little, however, the passage suddenly +widened, and it was Adan who uttered the first exclamation of surprise. +It was, indeed, a hoarse gurgle. The walls were veined with what +appeared to be irregular bands of dirty crystal, pricked with +glittering yellow. There were, perhaps, a thousand of these little +points bared from the jealous earth, and they shone with a steady +baleful glare, magnetising six youthful eyes, stirring in three +careless brains the ghosts of ancient gold-lust, whose concrete +substance lay in the marble vaults of Spain. Immediately Roldan's +sympathy went out to the priest; and he knew that that commanding +intelligence could teach him one thing the less. + +There was a rough pick on the ground, and many junks of quartz. Roldan +struck and rubbed two pieces together. In a moment his palm was filled +with jagged pieces of yellow metal. He blew on them lovingly, then put +them in his pocket. + +"Dios de mi alma!" gasped Rafael, whose eyes were bulging from his +head. "It is as beautiful as the stars of the sky,--the stars in the +milky way with the film over them." + +"But we need no more stars," said Adan. "We shall take away our pockets +full, but what shall we do with it? Surely this was not made to rot +with the earth. But it is too small for what you call money, if that is +so big as you say, Roldan. It would make fine nails for a church door." + +"Now is not the time to think what you will do with it," said Roldan. +"It is enough that we have it to get. Much is very loose in the +crystal. Rub free all that you can, and fill every pocket. We will take +all we can carry away, and come again and again. Some day, when we are +men, perhaps, we will find a use for it. I for one do not believe that +anything that makes you love it can do harm. Does not the Church teach +us to love all things? Now let us work and not talk." + +The boys in turn hacked out great pieces of quartz and rubbed the free +gold loose. Much of it could only be crushed out in machinery made for +the purpose, but a sufficient quantity of the quartz was poor and soft. +As the boys worked, they grew more and more silent, more and more +absorbed. They forgot their delight in rodeo, coliar, bear-hunts, +bull-fights, riding about the ranches from morning till noon, the race, +the religious processions, the dulces of their mothers' cooks. A new +and mighty passion possessed them, the strongest they had ever known. +Their lips were pressed hard together--those soft Spanish lips that +were usually half apart--their eyes glowed with a steady fire. Their +chests rose and fell in short regular spasms. + +Suddenly a thrill ran through Roldan. He had felt it before when a +rattlesnake, ready to strike, had fixed its green malignant eyes upon +him. He flashed the lantern about swiftly, twisting his neck with deep +anxiety. It would be no minor adventure to encounter a coiled rattler +in this narrow place. Then he saw something white shining out of the +darkness high above the rays, a large white disk, in which glittered +two points of light inexpressibly infuriate. + +Roldan sprang to his feet with a warning cry. The other boys, greed +routed by the danger sense, were on their feet as quickly. As the three +lads, none very tall for his age, faced the gigantic bulk of the +priest, they looked cornered and helpless. + +The priest, unconsciously beyond doubt, lifted his huge hands, opening +and shutting them slowly. The movement had an ugly significance, and +the hands, in the miserable glimmer of light, looked like great bats, +and seemed to pervade the cavern. Involuntarily the boys squirmed. Then +Roldan, mindful always of his proud position as captain of his small +band, stepped in front of that band and spoke with a vocal control that +did him much credit, considering that his heart seemed to be kicking in +the middle of his stomach. + +"These hills are just beyond the Mission grant, Padre Osuna," he said. +"Nor are they on any rancho. Therefore what is in them is as much ours +as any man's. This is the first time that we have been here, but it +will not be the last; and when I am the governor of all the +Californias, I shall send many Indians to dig the very heart out of +these hills. So pick out all that you can now, Padre Osuna, for ten +years hence--" + +As he spoke fear gave place to exultation in finding himself pitted +against a man whom he intuitively respected more than any he had ever +met, and whom he knew most men feared and none understood. Moreover, he +heard two sets of teeth clattering behind him, and that alone would +have sent the blood of a born leader of men back to its skin. + +But his speech did not proceed to the finish. The priest swooped down +and caught the three necks between his hands, easily spanning them, +pressing the heads hard together. Then he lifted the boys high in the +air and held them there, a kicking, humiliated trio. The blanched olive +of his face was reflected in the pallid brows at the extremity of his +rigid arms. His voice, which had been lost in passion, found itself. + +"And when your Indians come, Senor Don Roldan," he said, "they will +find three skeletons six feet beneath the floor of this cave. You will +never leave this cave, not one of you. When you are dead for want of +food and drink, I shall return and bury you. And no one will seek you +here." Suddenly he dashed them to the ground. "A thousand curses go +with you," he shrieked, "to make a murderer of me. I was near enough to +hell before--" + +"And our fingers will scratch the ground beneath your feet," +interrupted Roldan, who between mortification and rage felt equal +himself to murder, but determined as ever to hold his own. "Our skulls +will grin at you from every corner as you work--" + +"I don't care!" shouted the priest. "I don't care! Here you rot. This +gold is mine. No man shall touch it but myself." + +"But if we promise never to return, and to tell no man of what we +know," interposed Rafael, feebly. + +The priest laughed. "With the glitter of gold in your brains? You could +not keep an oath on the cross." He turned swiftly and strode down the +passage. + +"What will he do?" gasped Adan. + +"Roll a stone over the entrance and secure it with others," said +Roldan. "There are plenty nigh. If we follow, he will beat us back with +those fists, and one blow would crack our skulls in two." + +"Then what shall we do? Rot here? Starve to death? Madre de dios!" + +"We have been between the teeth of death before, have we not? We shall +have many more adventures, my friends." + +But although he spoke confidently he was profoundly disturbed. This was +no ordinary predicament. He knew that unless the priest relented they +stood small chance of seeing sun and stars again. Would he relent? +Roldan's own indomitable will and growing ambitions responded to the +awful forces in the man, overgrown and abnormal as they had become. +That the priest had some great end in view to which this gold was the +means, and that the gold itself had roused in him a controlling +passion, he could not doubt. The priest himself had told him something, +the gold the rest. With a sudden impulse of hatred Roldan emptied his +pockets of the metal and stamped upon it. He quieted suddenly, then +stamped again, with added vigour. Then he dropped and laid his ear to +the ground. + +"Stamp, Adan," he said, "and hard." + +Adan shook his blood through his veins, and obeyed. Roldan sprang to +his feet. "We are above the tunnel of the Mission," he said. "And we +have a pickaxe. All we have to do is to dig." + + + +XIX + +It was three hours later that a mass of loosened earth caved suddenly, +carrying Adan with it. A wild yell came back. It stopped abruptly, the +tag end of it shot forth like the quick last blast from a trumpet. + +"Hi, Adan!" called Roldan, excitedly, peering down into the dark. "Are +you hurt?" + +"I know not! I know not! It is darker than a dungeon of a Mission." The +voice was quite distinct. It came from no great depth. + +"Get out of the way," called Roldan. "I am coming." He waited a moment, +then dropped, falling on a mass of soft earth. Adan had prudently +retreated a few steps. He ran forward and helped Roldan to his feet, +just as Rafael came flying down. + +"Now for the other end," said Roldan. "This air is not too good. And +that devil may return any moment." + +They ran down the tunnel. It was wide and high, built for flying +priests, should the Mission be besieged and captured by savage tribes. +The air was close and heavy, but free from noxious gases. Bats whirred +past and rats scampered before them. Roldan paused after a moment and +lit his lantern. Its thin ray leaped but a few feet ahead, but would +frighten away any wild beast of the forest that might have wandered in. + +The tunnel was straight. It also appeared to be endless. + +"We have walked twenty leagues," groaned Adan, at the end of an hour. + +"Two," said Roldan. "Without doubt this tunnel ends at the mountains, +and they are four leagues from the Mission. But you have taken longer +walks than this, my friend. Do you remember that night in the +mountains?" + +"I had forgotten it for one blessed week. Rafael, to what have we +brought you? Your poor muscles are soft, where ours are now as hard as +a deserter's from an American barque--ay, yi!" + +"If they have but the chance to become soft once more after they too +are hard!" muttered Rafael, who was panting and lagging. "That priest! +that priest!" + +"It is true," said Roldan, pausing abruptly. "You will not dare to +return home at present--nor we. It is flight once more--to Los Angeles. +We will stay there--where he would not dare touch us if he came--until +he repents or makes sure that we will have told if we intend to tell. +Will you come?" + +"Will I? I would go to Mexico if I could. I feel that there is not room +in the Californias for those hands and myself." + +"I will take care of you," said Roldan, proudly, anxious to rout the +memory of his recent humiliation. "But come." And Rafael, too weary and +bewildered to resent the authority of his erst-while rival, trudged +obediently in the rear. + +"It grows colder," said Adan, significantly. + +"Yes," said Roldan. "We near the mountains." + +Adan stopped. "Is it the mountains again?" he asked. "If it is, then I, +for one, prefer the priest." + +"The mountains never scared you half as badly as the priest did," said +Roldan, cruelly. "And to say nothing of the fact that we need never get +lost in the mountains again, the embrace of a grizzly would be no +harder and more death-sure than one in the great arms of that fiend +that wears a cassock." + +"True. You are always right. But promise that whatever happens you will +not lead us into the Sierras." + +"I promise," said Roldan, much flattered by this unconscious tribute to +his leadership. + +"Do you think that priest is really a devil?" asked Rafael, in an +awestruck voice. + +"When a man has insulted you, you do not know what you think of him," +said Roldan, flushing hotly. "If he only were not a priest I'd fight +him, big as he is. But at least I can outwit him. It consoles me to +think of his fury when he goes to the cave and finds us gone." + +"We'd better get out of this tunnel before we talk about having the +best of the priest," said Adan. "Suppose he returns to kill us +himself--" + +"He will not return until to-morrow. Then he will have repented. He +will promise to let us go free if we keep his secret. But he will not +have that satisfaction, my friends. Yesterday he had a friend in Roldan +Castanada; I would have done anything for him, gladly kept his secret. +But to-day he has an enemy that he will do well to fear. A Spaniard +never forgets an insult." + +"What shall you do?" asked Rafael, eagerly. "Expose him?" + +"No, I do nothing mean. But I proclaim at Los Angeles that gold has +been discovered in the Californias, and in six days the hills will +swarm, and the priest in his cell will gnash his teeth." + +"Ay!" exclaimed Adan. "Do you feel that?" + +An icy blast swept down the tunnel, roughening skin and shortening +breath. A few moments later the low rhythm as of distant water came to +their ears. Roldan and Adan recognised that familiar music, and set +their teeth. + +"And I prayed that I might never see another redwood," muttered Adan, +crossing himself. + +The tunnel stopped abruptly. They stood before a mass of brushwood, +piled thickly to keep out wild beasts and delude the searching eye of +hostile Indians. Beyond, seen in patches, was a dazzle of white. + +"Snow, of course," said Adan, with a groan. + +The boys pulled the branches apart without much difficulty: the priests +had studied facility of egress and had raised the barrier from within. +In a few moments the boys stood in the sunlight; and the mountains +hemmed them in. + +Adan stamped his foot savagely on the hard snow. "We are where we +started a week ago," he said. "No more, no less." + +"No," said Roldan, who also had felt demoralised for a moment. "The +priests were too clever for that. They would want to get into the +shelter of the mountains, no more. I believe that from the top of that +point above the tunnel we can see the valley." + +"Well, we can at least look," said Rafael, who was bitterly weary and +hungry, but determined not to be outdone by these hardened adventurers. + +The boys made their way up the declivity as best they could through the +heavy snowdrifts, pulling themselves up by clutching at young trees and +scrub. They were thinly clad and very cold, and hunger was loud of +speech. When after a half-hour's weary climb, they reached the summit, +they drew a long sigh of relief, but their enthusiasm was too moderate +for words in present physical conditions. The valley lay below. Far +away, beyond leagues of low hills and wide valleys something white +reflected the sun. It was the Mission. + +"We have not a moment to rest, unless we can find a safe hiding-place," +said Roldan. "If he should return and find us gone, he would follow at +once." + +"Where shall we go?" asked the others, who, however, felt a quickening +of blood and muscle at the thought that the priest might be under their +feet even then. + +"How near is the next rancho, and whose is it?" + +"A league beyond the Mission grant. It is Don Juan Ortega's." + +"Very well, we go there and ask for horses." + +The boys made their way rapidly down the slope, which after all was +only that of a foot-hill. Beyond were other foot-hills, and they +skirted among them, finally entering a canon. It was as dark and cold +and damp as the last hour of the tunnel had been, but the narrow river, +roaring through its middle, had caught all the snow, and there was +scarce a fleck on the narrow tilted banks. The hill opposite was the +last of the foot-hills; but how to reach it? The current was very +swift, and boys knew naught of the art of swimming in that land of +little water. + +Suddenly Roldan raised his hand with an exclamation of surprise and +pointed to a ledge overhanging the stream. A hut stood there, made of +sections of the redwood and pine. From its chimney, smoke was curling +upward. + +The boys were too hungry to pause and reflect upon the possibility of a +savage inmate; they scrambled up the bank and ran along the ledge to +the hut. The door was of hide. They knocked. There was no response. +They flung the door aside and entered. No one was in the solitary room +of the hut, but over a fire in the deep chimney place hung a large pot, +in which something of agreeable savour bubbled. + +Roldan glanced about. "I'd rather be invited," he said doubtfully. + +But Adan had gone straight for the pot. He lifted it off the fire, +fetched three broken plates and battered knives and forks from a shelf, +and helped his friends and himself. Then he piously crossed himself and +fell to. It was not in human necessities to withstand the fragrance of +that steaming mess of squirrel, and the boys had disposed of the entire +potful before they raised their eyes again. When they did, Rafael, who +sat opposite the door, made a slight exclamation, and the others turned +about quickly. A man stood there. + +He was quite unlike any one they had ever seen. A tall lank man with +rounded shoulders, lean leather-like cheeks, a preternatural length of +jaw, drab hair and chin whiskers, and deeply-set china-blue eyes, made +up a type uncommon in the Californias, that land of priest, soldier, +caballero, and Indian. He was clad in coyote skins, and carried a gun +in his hand, a brace of rabbits slung over one shoulder. He did not +speak for some seconds, and when he did, it was to make a remark that +was not understood. He said: "Well, I'll be durned!" + +His expression was not forbidding, and Roldan recovered himself at +once. He stood up and bowed profoundly. + +"Senor," he said, "I beg that you will pardon us. We would have craved +your hospitality had you been here, but as it was, our hunger overcame +us: we have not eaten for many hours. But I am Roldan Castanada of the +Rancho de los Palos Verdes, senor, and I beg that you will one day let +me repay your hospitality in the house of my fathers." + +"Holy smoke!" exclaimed the man, "all that high-falutin' lingo for a +potful of squirril. But you're welcome enough. I don't begrudge anybody +sup." Then he broke into a laugh at the puzzled faces of his guests, +and translated his reply into very lame Spanish. The boys, however, +were delighted to be so hospitably received, and grinned at him, warm, +replete, and sheltered. + +The man began at once to skin a rabbit. "Seein' as how you haint left +me nothin', I may as well turn to," he said. "And it ain't every day +I'm entertainin' lords." + +The boys did not understand the words, but they understood the act, and +reddened. + +"I myself will cook the rabbit for you, senor," said Adan. + +"Well, you kin," and the man nodded acquiescence. + +"You are American, no?" asked Roldan. + +"I am, you bet." + +"From Boston, I suppose?" + +The man guffawed. "Boston ought to hear that. She'd faint. No, young +'un, I'm not from no such high-toned place as Boston. I'm a Yank +though, and no mistake. Vermont." + +"Is that in America?" + +"In Meriky? Something's wrong with your geography, young man. It's one +of the U. S. and no slouch, neither." + +He spoke in a curious mixture of English and of Spanish that he adapted +as freely as he did his native tongue. The boys stared at him, +fascinated. They thought him the most picturesque person they had ever +met. + +"When did you come?" asked Roldan. + +"I'll answer any more questions you've got when I've got this yere +rabbit inside of me. P'r'aps as you've been hungry you know that it +doesn't make the tongue ambitious that way. I'll have a pipe while it's +cookin'." + +He was shortly invisible under a rolling grey cloud. The tobacco was +the rank stuff used by the Indians. The boys wanted to cough, but would +have choked rather than be impolite, and finally stole out with a +muttered remark about the scenery. + +When they returned their host had eaten his breakfast and smoked his +second pipe. + +"Come in," he said heartily. "Come right in and make yourselves ter +home. My name's Jim Hill. I won't ask yourn as I wouldn't remember them +if I did. These long-winded Spanish names are beyond me. Set. Set. +Boxes ain't none too comfortable, but it's the best I've got." + +"Oh, this box is most comfortable," Roldan hastened to assure him. "And +we are very thankful to have anything to sit on at all, senor. You +could not guess the many terrible adventures we have had in the last +few weeks." + +"Indeed! Adventures? I want ter know! You look as if hammocks was more +to your taste. Oh, no offence," as Roldan's eyes flashed. "But you are +fine looking birds, and no mistake. Howsomever, we'll hear all about +them presently. It's polite to answer questions first. You was asking +me a while back how I come here. I come over those mountains, young +man, and I don't put in the adjectives I applied to them in the process +outer respect to your youth. But they'd make a man swear if he'd spent +his life psalm singin' before." + +"We know," said Roldan, grimly. "We've been in them. What did you eat? +And did you get lost?" + +"I ate red ants mor' 'n once, and I usually was lost. When I arrived at +that Mission down yonder the amount of flesh I had between my bones and +my skin wouldn't have filled a thimble. But that priest--he's a great +man if ever there was one--soon fixed me up. I lived like a prince for +a month, and I could be there yet if I liked, but I'd kinder got used +to livin' alone and I liked it, so I come here. Besides, I found so +much prayin' and bell ringin' wearin' on the nerves, to say nothin' of +too many Indians. I ain't got no earthly use for Indians. Why priests +or anybody else run after Indians beats me. Where I was brought up 't +was the other way. They're after us with a scalpin' knife, and if we're +after them at all it's with all the lead we kin git. If the murderin' +dirty beasts is willin' to stay where they belong, well, I for one +believe in lettin' 'em." + +"Do you--ah--like the priest, Don Jim?" + +"What? Well, that's better than 'Don Himy,' as they call me down there. +You bet I like the priest. He's a gentleman, and as square as they make +'em, that is, with a poor devil like me; I guess he's one too much for +your dons when he feels that way. But he's a man every inch of him, +afraid of nothin' under God's heaven, and as kind and generous as a--as +some women. What he rots in this God-forsaken place for I can't make +out." + +"What did you come to California for?" + +"Well, that ain't bad. I come here, my son, because I was lookin' for a +cold climate. My own was warm, accordin' to my taste, and somehow +Californy seemed as if it ought to be fur enough away to be cool and +nice." + +"It's very hot in the valleys." + +"So it is. So it is. But as you see, I prefer the mountains." + +"Do you often go to the Mission?" + +"Every month or so I go down and have a chin with Padre Osuna. It keeps +my Spanish in, and I shouldn't like to lose sight of him. I got word +from him the other day that he wanted to see me mighty particular, and +I'm wonderin' what's in the wind. Maybe you heard him say." + +"No," said Roldan; but he guessed. + +"Now," said Hill, "spin your yarn. I'm just pinin' to hear those +adventures." + +Roldan appreciated the sarcasm, but was too secure in the wealth of the +past month to resent it. He began at the beginning and told the story +with his curious combination of reserve and dramatic fire. As he had +already told it several times it ran glibly off his tongue and had +several inevitable embellishments. The man, whose cold blue eyes had +wandered at first, finally fixed themselves on Roldan; and his whole +face gradually softened. When Roldan finished with his and Adan's +rescue by Don Tiburcio's vaquero, he held out his hand and said +solemnly,-- + +"Shake." + +Roldan allowed his hand to be gripped by that hairy paw; he was too +elated to resent it as a familiarity. + +"You've got pluck," continued Hill, "and I respect pluck mor' 'n +anything else on earth. You're a man and a gentleman, and Californy'll +be proud of you yet. Got any more?" + +Roldan related the tale of Rafael's prowess with the bull, his own +encounter with the bear, and Adan's timely interference. Hill then +shook the hands of the two other boys, and told them that as long as he +had a roof above his head they could share it, and that he'd do +anything to help them but steal horses, so help him Bob. Roldan then +told the tale of the earthquake and stampede. + +"Ugh!" exclaimed Hill, with a shudder. "That's one thing I can't +abide--your earthquakes. I tell you it's enough to take the grit outen +a grizzly to hear the land sliden on the mountain and the big redwoods +that has got their roots about the bed-rock come roarin' down. When an +earthquake comes I go and stand in the middle of the creek so as I can +see what's comin' all round. Once I was on the side of the mountain +when one of those shakes come and I slid down twenty feet before I +could stop myself. It's just the one thing that has happened to me that +I can't help thinkin' about. Well, what kin I do for you? You're +welcome to stay here, but this hut ain't no great shakes for such as +you. Be you goin' home, now that the conscription's over?" + +"No!" said Roldan, emphatically, "we are not. There are other reasons +why we must go to Los Angeles as quickly as we can. Could you get us +three horses?" + +"I could get them from the priest--" + +"No! no!" + +"Why, what's the row with the priest? Got in his black books? I +shouldn't like to do that myself." + +"You said just now that you would do anything for us. Would you even +hide us from the priest if he came here?" + +"I would. And I ain't the one to ask questions. If you don't want to +see the priest, it's not Jim Hill that will assist him to find you. +Been there myself." + +"Couldn't you get us three horses from my father's corral--the Rancho +Encarnacion?" asked Rafael. + +"I could, if you'd go with me; but horse-stealing is just the one thing +I agreed not to do." + +"You might go with him, Rafael," said Roldan. "You would get there +after dark if you started now; and even if the vaqueros were not asleep +they would not call your father." + +"And I could send a message to my parents," said Rafael, eagerly. "Then +they would not worry. Yes, I will go. The priest would not dare to harm +me while I was with the Senor Hill." + +"Oh, the two of us would be a match for even him, if it came to that," +said Hill. "Well, we'll start right now, there bein' no call for delay. +We'll have to foot it, as my mustang's laid up. If the priest should +turn up here--which ain't likely--jest run up that ladder inter the +garret and pull it after yer. Well, hasta luego, as they say in these +parts. Make yourselves ter home." + + + +XX + +"Now," said Roldan, as Rafael and Hill trudged into the perspective of +the canon, "we must sleep, but by turns. That priest will surely go to +the cave to-day, and when he finds us gone he'll come straight for the +mountains; and not through the tunnel either; he'll come on that big +brown horse of his. You sleep first, for two hours, and I'll watch--" + +"You first, my friend--" Suppressing a mighty yawn. + +"It is easier for me to keep awake. Lie down on that horrible bed. I do +not so much mind waiting a little longer." + +Adan lifted his nose at the bunk covered with a bearskin, then flung +himself upon it, and was asleep in three minutes. Roldan sat with his +eyes applied to a rift between the hide-door and the wall. It commanded +a view of the opposite wall of the canon, over which wound a zig-zag +horse trail. + +The sun, which had hung directly above the canon when Hill and Rafael +departed, had slid toward the west, leaving the canon cold and dark +again, and Roldan was about to call Adan, when he sprang to his feet, +and stood rigid, cold with fear. + +On the brow of the wall opposite, three hundred feet above his head, +stood a powerful brown horse. On him was a huge figure clad in a brown +cassock, the hood drawn well over the face. It was impossible to +distinguish features at that distance, but Roldan fancied that those +terrible eyes were holding his own. He recovered himself and dragged +Adan out of bed. + +"The priest!" he said. "Help me to wash these dishes--quick. It will +take him some time to get down." + +Adan stumbled across the room, plunged the dishes into a pail of +drinking water, then handed them to Roldan, who dried them hastily and +piled them on the shelf. Then he flung the water across the clay floor +of the hut. + +"Get up the ladder," he commanded. Adan scrambled up. Roldan followed, +and pulled the ladder after him. The garret was very low, and half full +of skins. They could not stand upright. It was also bitterly cold. Each +hastily wrapped a skin about his body, and lay full length, Roldan on +his face, his eyes applied to a chink in the rough floor. + +A few moments later the door was flung aside and the priest strode in. + +Roldan shuddered, but not with personal fear. The priest looked like a +man who had just left the rack of his native Spain. His hair--the hood +had fallen back--stood on end, his face and tightened lips were livid, +his eyes rolled wildly. + +"Jim!" he said hoarsely. "Jim!" + +He left the hut as abruptly as he had entered it. + +"He has gone to look at the mouth of the tunnel," whispered Roldan. +"What fools we were not to cover it up again. Then he would have walked +its length to find us, and the horses might have come before he +returned. Well, he cannot get us until he pulls the roof down." + +"He could do it," whispered Adan, grimly. "Those hands! Dios de mi +alma!" + +"He will think we have gone somewhere with Don Jim." + +The priest returned in less than half an hour. His face, if anything, +was still more terrible to look upon. There was a touch of foam on his +lips. His great hands were clinched. He strode over to the bunk and +lifted the heaped-up bearskin. Suddenly he pressed his face into the +fur. + +"Perfume--Dona Martina's," he exclaimed. "They have been here." + +He raised his face to the ceiling, and the boys held their mouths open +that their teeth might not clack together. They closed their eyes: +instinct bade them give heed to visual magnetism. Roldan immediately +wanted to cough, Adan to scratch his nose. The next few moments were +the most agonised of their lives. They felt the priest lift his hands +and pass them slowly along the ceiling, they felt those eyes searching +every crevice. Then they felt him grip the edge of the aperture and +lift himself until his eyes were above the garret floor. But it was +pitch dark. He could not even see the ladder, much less the boys under +the bear skins. + +The priest dropped to the floor and seated himself upon a box, dropping +his face into his hands. There he sat, motionless, for hours. The boys +buried their heads in the skins and went to sleep. + +They were awakened by the sound of voices. A candle flared below. Hill +had entered. He and the priest were alone. + +"They were here, sir, that's true enough. I've just taken them to the +Sennor Carriller's and pointed them fur home. They seemed in a hurry to +vamos these parts." + +The priest groaned and struck his fist on the table. "Then they are +leagues away by this." + +"They be, for a fact. Their horses was fresh and they was powerful +keen. They was just sweaten' to git home." + +"And Rafael Carillo? Did he go with them?" + +"He didn't. He allowed to, but his father warnt agreeable. In fact he +was--savin' your grace--cussed disagreeable. He corralled us as we was +corrallen the horses; and although he was mighty mad at such French +leave, he said, speakin' of the other two kids, that they could take +the two horses and git, and the sooner the better, and if they never +come lookin' for adventures in these parts agin the better he'd be +pleased." + +The priest did not appear to doubt him. He was looking through the +doorway. Roldan could not see his face, but he saw the stare of wonder +on Hill's. + +"Very well," said the priest, after a moment, and his voice was hardly +audible. "I shall return now. Can you come down to the Mission +to-morrow--no, the day after. I have a secret to confide to you, and it +will not be to your disadvantage to know it. I had no intention of +telling any one, but I need help, and now more than ever. There is no +time to be lost. Can you come early?" + +"I'll be there between dawn and ten o'clock." + +"That will do. Good night." And the priest went out. + +No one spoke until the sound came up to them of a horse fording the +creek. Then Hill said cautiously,-- + +"Hi, there, young uns." + +"In the name of Mary let us come down, Don Jim," hissed Roldan, through +the crack. + +"Well, I guess you kin. He's climbin' the hill, and I don't see as +there's anything to bring him back. I hope the fleas ain't et ye alive." + +The boys lowered the ladder as rapidly as their stiff fingers would +permit, and a moment later stood on the floor of the room, shaking +themselves vigorously. + +"Where's Rafael?" demanded Roldan. + +"Tucked in his little warm bed with a warmer hide, I guess. The old man +caught us in the very act of horse stealin'. Holy smoke, but he did +cuss. I ain't got no pride in Yankee cussin' left." + +"What did Rafael tell him?" interrupted Roldan, eagerly. + +"He told him as how he had made up his mind to go home with you for a +little paseo--" + +"Did he say nothing about the priest?" + +"Nothin'. Never opened his head about the priest--" + +"When I'm governor I'll reward him," said Roldan, warmly. + +"When you're President of the United States you might make him +Secretary of State--" + +"But the horses? the horses?" + +"They're tethered just over the mountain. I suspicioned the priest +might be here, seein' as you were expectin' him, more or less." + +"Did Don Tiburcio say about me--us--what you told the priest?" + +"He did, and more of it. He was as mad as a bear with a sore head. You +see, he hadn't had no peace of mind for some hours, and as for the old +lady I believe she's been havin' high strikes regular since breakfast. +Now, I'm hospitable, but my advice to you is to git. Like as not the +priest'll see old Carriller to-morrow, and then the cat'll come out. I +kin git outen it all right enough--I'll say as how the old man didn't +see you, that you were restin' on the other side of the wall. Like as +not he'll believe me, but he thinks you're pointed fur home, and if he +wants you badly, he'll follow. You'd better go South fur a month or so +and go home by barque. I'll fetch the horses down now and put them in +my shed. That'll rest 'em a bit and keep 'em warm, and then you kin +start the minute it's daylight." + +"You have been a friend to us in trouble, Don Jim, and I shall never +forget it." + +"Don't mention it, Rolly, don't mention it. I kinder like excitement, +when I ain't the hero, so ter speak. There's only one thing I've got to +ask in return: Have you got a grudge agin the priest?" + +"I have." + +"Be you meditatin' revenge?" + +"A Spaniard never forgives an insult." + +"Oh, . . . have you got it in yer power to injure Padre Osuna in the +sight o' men?" + +"I have, and worse--for him." + +"Don't do it, young man," said Hill, solemnly. "Don't do it. It ain't +worth shucks to ruin a man fur personal spite. You'll find that out the +minute you've done it. You'll feel small and mean; and if you want to +be a great man--and I kin see you're ambitious--that ain't the way to +go to work. Padre Osuna has his faults, but he's a big man; there ain't +none bigger in the Californies; and he ain't the man to ruin, without +thinkin' a lot about it aforehand." + +"He insulted me horribly," said Roldan, shutting his teeth. "I will +never respect myself until I wipe out the memory of that moment." + +"He lost his temper, I suspicion, and whacked ye, like as not. Well, +I'll admit that is hard on a don of your size. But, take my word for +it, you'll feel a sight better if you mount the high horse and forgive +him, treat him with silent contempt. Nothin' makes you feel as good as +that. Tried it myself." + +"I must think about it, Don Jim." + +"Well, do. And maybe you'll remember that I asked ye as a favour to let +the priest off this time. He's been the best friend I ever had, and +he's been the friend of many, young 'un." + +Roldan stepped forward impulsively and grasped Hill's hand. "I will +never speak," he said. "And you can say to Rafael that I wish him never +to speak, either. Only, in return, Don Jim, I insist that you do not +tell him that I promised you this. He shall not think that I fear him." + +"Oh, I ain't goin' to have no conversation with him on the subject. +Don't you worry about that. Now, I'll go after the mustangs. You lie +down, and when I come back I'll cook that there rabbit for yer. You kin +git dinner at the Ortegas', but don't stay there too long, for the +priest's mighty sharp." + + + +XXI + +The boys were once more adrift in the wilderness. It was with mixed +emotions that they said good-bye to the hospitable American and rode +forth to new experiences and dangers. They were now tried adventurers; +they knew their mettle; they also had a far more definite idea of what +danger and experience meant than when they had fled from home with the +light heart of ignorance. Roldan felt several years older, and Adan had +moments of reflection. Moreover, the fine point of novelty had worn +toward bluntness. Nevertheless, they felt no immediate desire to return +to leading strings, and were glad of an excuse to pursue their way +south. Los Angeles was a famous city, the rival of Monterey,--which +neither had seen,--and a fitting climax to an exciting volume. The +exact arrangement of that climax was compassed by the imagination of +neither. + +For two miles they kept in line with the foot-hills, then rode rapidly +toward the valley, impatient for its warmth. So far, barring their +sojourn in the Sierras, they had been favoured with fine weather; but +winter was growing older every day, and the sky was thick and grey this +morning. + +The Casa Ortega stood on the shores of a large lake. The banks were +thickly wooded. On its southern curve was a high mountain. As the boys +approached, a vaquero sprang upon a mustang and rode toward them +rapidly. Roldan recognised one of the men that had been at the rodeo. + +"At your feet, senores," said the vaquero. "The Senor Don is away, and +all the family; but I am mayor domo, and in his absence I place the +house at your disposal." + +"My father will reward you," said Roldan, graciously. "We would ask +that you give us dinner, a thick poncho each, for I fear that it will +rain before we reach Los Angeles, and that you will direct us which way +to go. The ponchos shall be replaced with fine new ones as soon as we +have returned home." + +"Don Carlos would not hear of the return of the ponchos, senor. But +surely the senores will remain a few days, until the storm is over?" + +"We dare not. But we will rest; and we have good appetites." + +The mayor domo, still protesting, held the horses while the boys +dismounted, then showed them to two bedrooms and bade them rest while +dinner was preparing. "It will be an hour," he said. "I beg that the +senores will sleep." + +The boys did sleep, and it was two hours before they were called. Then +they ate a steaming dinner, and forgot their fear of the priest: the +meagre diet of squirrel and rabbit of the past thirty-six hours had +lowered their spirits' temperature. + +When they left the room the mayor domo awaited them with two thick +woollen ponchos--large squares of cloth with a slit in the middle for +the head. + +"These will keep the rain out," he said, as he slipped them over the +boys' heads. "And there is food for two days in the saddle-bags, and +pistols in the holsters. Keep to the right of the lake, and enter the +mountains by the horse trail. It winds over the lower ridges. The +senores cannot lose themselves, for they should be on the other side +before dark--that mountain is the meeting of the two ranges and beyond +there are no more for many leagues. Then the senores must keep straight +on, straight on--never turning to the left, for that way lies the +terrible Mojave desert. By-and-by they will cross a river, and after +that Los Angeles is not far. Between the mountain and the river is an +hacienda, where they will find welcome for the night." + +Roldan thanked him profusely, then said: "I have reasons for not +wishing ANY ONE to know that I have not returned to my father's house. +I beg that you will tell no one, not even a priest, that we have been +here, for three days at least." + +"The senor's wishes shall be obeyed. The Senor Don returns not for a +week. No one shall know until then of the honour that has been done to +his house." + +The boys rode rapidly through the wood over a broad road that had +evidently been traversed many times. The sky was leaden, but no rain +fell. Nor was there any wind. The lake could not have been smoother +were it frozen, although it reflected the grey above. Wild ducks and +snipe broke its monotony at times, now and again a jungle of tules. In +less than an hour the travellers were ascending the mountain by easy +grades, a black forest of pines about them. It was darker here, but the +road was clearly defined, and they talked gaily of adventures past and +to come. In Los Angeles they had many relatives, and they knew that a +royal welcome would be given them. They would see the gay life of which +they had heard so much from their brothers; and they magnanimously +resolved that after a week of it they would return to their anxious +parents. + +"Ay!" exclaimed Adan, interrupting these pleasant anticipations, "it +rains at last." + +A few drops fell; then the rain came with a rush. For some time the +wind had been rising; suddenly it seemed to leap upward to meet the +emptying clouds, then filled the pine-tops with a great roar, rattling +the hard branches, bending the slender trunks. The boys were on the +down grade, and there was no danger of losing the path, although the +rain had put out the sallow flame of the sun. They pricked their horses +and made the descent as rapidly as possible. But it was another hour +before they were on level ground once more. The rain was still falling +in torrents; the wind flung it in their eyes as fast as they dashed it +from their lashes. They could not see a yard ahead. The light of the +hacienda was nowhere visible. If its owner was away from home and his +house in darkness, then was their plight a sorry one indeed. + +"There is only one thing to do," said Roldan, putting his hand +funnel-wise to Adan's ear. "We must keep due south until we come to the +river. Then, at least, we cannot go wrong." + +"And that river we must cross!" said Adan, with a groan. "Dios de mi +alma!" + +Roldan had great faith in his sense of locality, but in a blinding rain +on a black night with a mighty wind roaring inside one's very skull, +and whirling the heavy poncho about one's ears every few moments, it +was difficult to preserve any sense at all. They galloped on, however, +occasionally pausing to shout, straining their eyes into the darkness +on every side. But nothing came back to eye or ear. Apparently they had +the wilderness to themselves. There was no sign of even an Indian +pueblo. + +It was during one of these halts that the boys ejaculated +simultaneously: "The river!" + +"No," shouted Roldan, a moment later "it is only a creek." + +"Are we lost?" demanded Adan; and even the loud tone had a note of +pained resignation in it. + +"No; I think this must be what he meant. Some of the low people say +river for everything but the ocean. It is shallow, and we cannot turn +back. Come." + +They rode along the bank until they came to an easy slope, then +crossed, and cantered on. In a very short time the storm was behind +them and the stars burst out, but there was no sign of habitation. They +kept on for an hour longer, hoping for a welcome twinkle below; but not +even a coyote crossed their path. As far as they could see in the +starlight they were on a plain of illimitable reach, bare but for low +shrubs whose kind they could not determine, although once Adan's coat +caught on a prickly surface. The atmosphere was warm and very dry. + +Finally Roldan reined in. + +"We must rest," he said, "and build a fire, or we shall be stiff +to-morrow. And it is long past the hour for supper." + +"The sooner we eat and sleep and dry, the better for me," said Adan. + +The boys dismounted and tied their horses to a palm, then looked about +for firewood. There was not a tree to be seen; they had not passed one +since they left the creek. Nor could they see any sign of flint with +which they might set fire to a clump of palms. + +Adan, who had been on his knees, suddenly remarked: "There is not a +blade of grass, Roldan. What will the mustangs do?" + +"They are eating the palm, perhaps that will do them until to-morrow. +But the poor things must be as hungry as twenty. Come, let us strip, +hang our things up, and run. The water is in my bones." + +The boys peeled off the clinging steaming garments and ran up and down +until hunger sent them to the saddle bags. The mayor domo had provided +them abundantly, and once more they looked upon the world with hopeful +eyes. + +"But we must sleep," said Roldan, "and it is not going to be easy for +mind or body--if there are rattlers about--with no fire. We must take +it in turns. It is warm; we do not need our clothes--ah!"--for Adan was +snoring. + +Roldan was very tired but not sleepy. His brain, indeed, seemed +unusually alert, and he got up after a time and prowled about, pistol +in hand. He had been in solitudes before, solitude of plain and valley +and mountain; but there was something in his present surroundings that +reminded him of nothing he had heard of or seen. It was not only the +intense stillness, unbroken by so much as the flutter of a leaf, nor +even the vast expanse. The place seemed to possess a character of its +own, and its character was sinister and forbidding. Once or twice he +had been in the cemetery of the Mission near his father's rancho, and +the ugly feeling that he stood too close to death came back to him; +why, he could not define. There was no sign of a cross anywhere; but he +felt that he stood in a dead world, nevertheless. Once the ground +quivered beneath his feet, and the horrible idea occurred to him that +Southern California had been swallowed by an earthquake, and that only +this desolation was left. + +He went back to his comrade, who slept soundly beside the horses, also +extended and breathing deeply. It was nearly morning when he woke Adan, +so little aptitude had his brain for sleep. But when Adan sat up he +fell asleep almost immediately, and when he awoke the sun was high. + + + +XXII + +Roldan raised himself on his elbow and looked about him. Adan was some +quarter of a mile away, approaching him, leading the mustangs. Cleaving +the horizon on four sides was a vast plain. On it was not a tree, nor +even a hut. Here and there were clumps of palms and cacti, as stark as +if cut from pale green stone. At vast intervals were short, isolated +mountains, known in the vernacular as "buttes." On the ground was not +the withered remnant of a blade of grass; but there were many fissures, +and some of them were deep and wide. Of the things that crawl and +scamper and fly there was no sign, not even a hole in the ground; for +even reptiles must have food to eat, and there was nothing here to +sustain man nor beast. The fleckless sky was a deep, hot blue; a +blood-red sun toiled heavily toward the zenith. + +"Adan!" shouted Roldan; he was suddenly mad for sound of any sort. A +discouraged "Halloa!" came promptly back. + +Roldan dressed himself rapidly. His clothes were quite dry; indeed the +very atmosphere of this strange beautiful place was so dry that it +seemed to crumble in the nostrils. As he finished dressing Adan reached +him. The horses' heads were hanging listlessly. Adan's face had lost +its ruddy colour. + +"Roldan," he said, "where are we?" + +"I know not," said Roldan, setting his lips. + +"I left you to look for water, and there are not even tarantulas in +this accursed place. There is no water, not a drop. Nor a handful of +stubble for the horses." + +"We must go back the way we came, and start once more from the foot of +the mountain." + +"Can you remember from which point we entered this place? This soil +might be rock; there is not a hoof-print anywhere." + +"We should have gone south and we came east. On the northwestern +horizon is something which looks like mountains--a long range--almost +buried in mist. There is no sign of a range anywhere else; so the only +thing to do is to go back to them; they are our mountains; I feel sure +of that." + +"If the horses do not give out. They are empty and choking, poor +things. Well, there is no reason we should not eat, and, thanks be to +that good mayor domo, we still have a bottle of wine. But I would give +something for a gourd of water. However, we have not been girls yet, +and we will not begin now, my friend." + +The boys ate their breakfast, but their spirits felt little lighter, +even after a long draught of wine. The awful quiet of the place, broken +only by an occasional whinny from the mustangs, seemed to press hard +about them, thickening the blood in their veins. Roldan was filled with +forebodings he could not analyse, and strove to coax forth from its +remote brain-cell something that had wandered in, he could not recall +when nor where. + +They saddled the mustangs, mounted, and were about to make for the +northwest when Adan gave a hoarse gurgle, caught Roldan's arm, pulled +him about, and pointed with shaking hand to the south. + +"Dios de mi alma!" exclaimed Roldan. "It is Los Angeles. We were right, +after all. But why were we never told that it was so beautiful?" + +On the southern horizon, half veiled in pale blue mist, showed a +stately city, with domes and turrets and spires and many lofty +cathedrals. It was a white city; there were no red tiles to break those +pure and lovely lines, to blotch that radiant whiteness; even the red +sun withheld its angry shafts. + +Roldan gazed, his lips parting, his breath coming quickly. If his +imagination had ever attempted to picture heaven, its wildest flight +would have resembled but fallen short of that living beauty before him. +It was mystifying, exalting. It was worth the dangers and discomforts +of the past month multiplied by twelve, just to have one moment's +glimpse of such perfection. And it was Los Angeles! A city of the +Californias, built by Indian hands! No wonder his family had been +careful to leave its wonders out of the table talk; had he known, he +would have been at its feet long since. + +"It isn't the wine?" asked Adan, feebly. + +"No. There must have been a fog before; Los Angeles is near the sea." + +"Shall we start?" + +"Yes, but slowly. The poor mustangs! But it will not be long now. We +cannot be more than two leagues from there. See, it grows plainer every +moment; the fog must have been very heavy." + +They cantered on slowly, the mustangs responding automatically to the +light prick of the spur. The beautiful alluring city looked to be +floating in cloud; it smiled and beckoned, inciting even the weary +famished brutes to effort. But at the end of an hour Roldan reined in +with a puzzled expression. "I do not understand," he said. "It seemed +not two leagues away when we started, and we have come that far and +more, and still it seems exactly the same distance beyond." + +"The atmosphere is so clear," suggested Adan. "But I wish we were +there. My mouth is parched, my tongue is dry--and the horses, Roldan. +Soon they will be as limp as sails in a calm." + +"True, but we could easily walk the distance now. We could return for +them at once with water and food." But he was beginning to feel vaguely +uneasy once more. The odd sensation of death, of a buried world, had +returned. Could it be that that fair city beyond was heaven? Surely, he +thought with unconscious humour, it was very un-Californian. + +They passed the lonely buttes, the parched beds of lakes, salt-coated. +Still they saw not a living thing; still the city seemed to recede with +the horizon, its sharp beautiful outlines unchanged. For some time the +horses had been trotting unevenly. Gradually they relaxed into a dogged +amble, their heads down, their tongues out. Every now and again they +half paused, with quivering knees. + +Adan's was the first to collapse; it fell to its knees, then rolled +over, Adan scrambling from under, unhurt. + +Roldan also dismounted, and both boys, without a word, unsaddled the +poor brutes, thrust the pistols into their belts and what was left of +the provisions into their pockets. They cast off their ponchos, then +once more turned their faces to the south. But they did not advance. +They stood with distended eyes and suspended breath. The city had +disappeared. + +Adan was the first to find speech. "A fog?" he asked. "A rain storm?" + +"There is neither. The horizon is as blue and clear as it is on the +north and east and west. It is a miracle. Let me think a moment." + +He sat down and took his head between his hands. After a while he +looked up. "For hours I have been trying to remember something," he +said. "Do you remember what that mayor domo said to us?--Keep straight +on, straight on, never turning to the left, for that way lies the +terrible Mojave desert, I barely heard his last words at the time; that +is the reason I have had such a time remembering. We are in the Mojave +desert, my friend." + +Adan, whose mouth was still wide open, sat down and rolled his eyes +from east to west. "Caramba!" he ejaculated finally. + +"I could say a good deal more than Caramba. All that I have heard of +this Mojave comes back to me. There is no water on it, no living thing +but half choked cacti and stunted palms. Men who are lost on it go mad +and die of thirst--" + +"Ay, yi, yi!" + +"Si, senor. However, it might be much worse. It is winter, not +summer,--when the heat kills in a day; we have food and a little wine; +we are young and very strong; we have not come so many leagues that we +cannot walk back. And we have each other. Think, were we alone!" + +"Yes, it might be worse," said Adan, "but all the same it might be six +or eight leagues to the northwest better. And that city? What was it? +Where has it gone?" + +"I do not know." Privately he believed that it had been a glimpse of +heaven, and was disturbed lest it might have been a portent of death. +But his mind was too active, his nature too independent to sit down +under superstition. If he died on the desert, it would not be through +lack of effort to get out of it. + +He stood up, setting his lips. "Come," he said. "We gain nothing by +sitting here, and we are both fresh; we can walk many leagues before +night." + +"Do you know which way to go?" asked Adan. + +Roldan swept the horizon with his eyes. The buttes they had passed had +displaced the solitary landmark of the morning. There was not a +hoof-beat on the hard split ground. Roldan shrugged his shoulders. + +"We can at least follow the sun. Los Angeles must be due west. Come." + +The sun was past the zenith and sloping to the west. The boys turned +their backs upon it and trudged on, only pausing once for a half-hour +to divide the meagre remains of their store. Evening came; the sun +leaned his elbows on the horizon in front of them, leered at the +contracted visages and blinking eyes resolutely facing him, then slid +leisurely down; and night came suddenly. The boys flung themselves on +the ground and slept. + +They awoke consumed with hunger and thirst. Their mouths and nostrils +were coated with the fine irritating dust of the desert, scarcely +visible but always felt. But their smarting eyes were greeted by a +refreshing sight: not a half-league before them, directly in their +course, was a lake, a lake as blue as the metallic sky above, and +lightly fringed with palms and orange-trees. Beyond was a forest of +silver leaves--an olive orchard. + +"A Mission!" exclaimed Roldan, and even Adan sprang to his feet and +marched westward with some enthusiasm. But alas! although they trudged +with dogged persistence for fully a league, striving to forget the +gnawing at their vitals in the exquisite prospect filling the eye, the +lake seemed to march ahead of them, in perfect time with their weary +feet. Suddenly the two boys paused and faced each other. + +"This accursed desert is bewitched," said Roldan. His face was white, +but more with anger than fear; for the first time in his life he +realised the helplessness of man when at the mercy of nature, and he +did not like the sensation. He had a strong, and by this time, well +developed instinct to govern, to bend others to his will, and he swore +now that he would walk out of this desert unharmed if only for the +pleasure of cheating a force mightier than himself. He turned and +looked at the sun. + +"We have been going in a wrong direction," he said. "That lake has been +shifting gradually toward the southwest, and taken us nearly a league +out of our course. The first thing we know we will be in Baja +California, where there is nothing but deserts, and they are all on +mountain tops. We must strike north again. I am sure that last night we +were due west of Los Angeles." + +"But the lake? the Mission?" + +"I do not believe there is any lake. There are things you and I do not +understand in this world--although we are learning--and I believe that +this strange desert has the power to make scenes like the theatres they +who have travelled tell us of. Be sure that lake will disappear like +the city." + +They turned north in order to get in line with the sun; and out of the +tail of their eyes they saw the lake march with them. When they finally +turned to the west again it faced them once more. They linked arms +suddenly and trudged on, hungry, parched, beset by superstitious fears, +but not forgetting to turn every half hour and glance at the sun until +he passed the meridian and pointed for the west. And suddenly the lake +seemed to slip behind a wall. + +"There is really something there this time," said Roldan, closing one +eye and curving his hand about the other. "It is ugly enough to be +real. It is no use to say how far anything is in this place, but I +should think we would reach it before long." + +And long before they did reach it they knew what it was--a thicket of +cacti some two miles long and of unknown depth. The plants were eight +or ten feet high, and the broad thick leaves, spiked, as only the +leaves of the cactus are, looked to be welded together. But that was +from a distance. When the boys reached the thicket they saw that the +plants in reality were some feet apart, although there appeared to be +no end to them. The boys sat down suddenly, their strength deserting +them. They threw their arms forward on their knees and dropped their +heads. For a half hour or more they sat motionless, then Roldan looked +up and fixed his glassy eyes on the forbidding wall, which at close +proximity seemed to girt the horizon. + +"If we tried to go round it," he said, "there is no knowing where we +should find ourselves. We had better go straight ahead, if possible. If +it is too thick we can turn back." + +"At least we could not see this horrible desert for a while," said +Adan. "I am willing." + +"And, who knows? Los Angeles may be just on the other side." + +Their utterance was thick. Their veins felt as if packed with lead, not +so much from need of food as need of drink. But they stumbled to their +feet and entered the cactus forest. They were obliged to pursue their +way in single file; the spikes were long, and many of the larger leaves +abutted so obstructively that they were obliged to go down on their +hands and knees and crawl. Nor could they maintain a straight course, +but zig-zagged among the great plants as nature permitted. More than +once they heard the rip of silk, more than once blood sprang through +their skin. Their progress was slow and fraught with peril, their only +consolation that the end must come sooner or later. + +Night came suddenly. They were near an open a few feet in +circumference. They lay down side by side, knowing that a step at night +might mean instant blindness. + +The cactus never moves, not even in a storm. There was not a breath of +wind to-night. The thick dull green plant-trees looked as solid as +stone, a petrified forest. The sky had never seemed so high above, the +stars so hard and bright. + +Adan moistened his lips with his tongue. "Do you feel that you can last +another day?" he asked. + +"I expect to die of old age." + +"Well, if you do, it won't be the fault of the Mojave desert. You have +courage, and so have I; but this is worse than all--Do you feel that?" + +"I have felt it many times before, to-day. It is said that parts of the +Mojave shake all the time." + +"We can swear to that. Supposing a great shake came, how could we get +out of this?" + +"We are as well here as anywhere. Let us sleep, and rise with the sun." + +But although he spoke confidently, almost contemptuously, he was +possessed with a wild desire to spring to his feet and fight his way +out of this terrible prison. He had seen a huge fish flounder in a net, +and looked on callously. He should never witness such another sight +without a responsive thrill of horror. Were he paralysed from crown to +heel he could not be more helpless in this thicket of needles. The vast +unpeopled desert had been bad enough, but it had been intoxicating +liberty to this. Tired as he was, he moved his hands and feet +constantly; supineness was impossible. He wondered how men felt when in +prison, and vowed that when he held the law in his hands he would +invent some other way of punishment. For his part he would rather be +shot at once. + +Being young and healthy, he fell asleep after a time. When he awoke the +sky was grey, the stars had gone. He shook Adan. + +"There is no sunrise to be seen from this place," he said, "but I am +sure of the direction now. I took note of that big cactus ahead, last +night--Hist!" + +"Dios de mi alma!" whispered Adan, his tongue rolling out. "In this +place! It is worse than earthquake." + +Nothing was to be seen from where they stood, but from no great +distance came the faint hollow rattle which strikes terror to man in +the wilderness. The volume of sound was suddenly augmented: there +appeared to be a duet. Immediately it was supplemented by a loud +furious hissing; a moment later by a whirr and impact. + +"There are two, and they are fighting," whispered Adan, his eyes +bulging. + +Roldan advanced softly to an aperture between two leaves of a cactus, +then lifted his finger to his shoulder and beckoned. Adan turned +mechanically in the opposite direction; but curiosity overcame him, and +he joined Roldan. + +Between two plants not three feet apart two rattlesnakes were engaged +in mortal combat. They coiled with incredible rapidity, flew at each +other with burning eyes and darting tongues, burying a fang somewhere +in the tense bristling armours. The lashing tails struck the spiked +surface of the cactus and augmented their fury; occasionally they +whipped about, hissing deliriously, then returning as swiftly to the +only enemy in sight. They had coiled and struck some four or five +times, whipping all over their narrow arena, when as if by common +consent, they retreated to extreme opposite points, coiled as lightning +strikes, and leapt at each other. Even Roldan gave a hoarse cry of +surprise, and as for Adan, he fell into vocabulary: one serpent had +darted straight down the throat of the other. For a moment there was a +fearful lashing. The choking serpent, with protruding eyes, like small +green coals, and jaws distended in agony, strove to dislodge his +suffocating enemy, and the other humped his back and leapt backward in +frantic efforts to reach the air again. But suddenly their struggles +ceased; they flattened to the ground, only the tails moving +automatically. What was left looked like a monster of some unknown +species; a creature with no head, a huge belly, and two tails. + +"Caramba!" exclaimed Adan, "I could not eat that even if we had +anything to cook it with. It looks like a mass of poison." + +"I should like to know where that poison was last night. It may be a +good sign, however: as they are the first living things we have seen, +we may be near to the edge of the desert." + +Adan crossed himself. + +"Come," continued Roldan, "let us move on, before hunger tempts us too +far." + +Once more they started on their tortuous way. They walked very slowly, +both from necessity and inclination: the excitement of the fight over, +their physical necessities pressed heavily; they kept as close together +as they could, but rarely spoke: they were too hungry. Both were +oppressed by the fear that at any minute they would come upon a solid +wall of cacti and be obliged to retrace their steps, and both knew that +might mean a stunning blow to courage. At times the constant +zig-zagging, the unalterable, smooth, grey-green surface of the cacti, +made them halt dizzily, for both brain and body were sick for want of +food. But by degrees the wood grew thinner and thinner; and when the +sun was half way between the zenith and the western horizon, they left +behind the last straggling outpost and found themselves on the edge of +a creek, the same doubtless that they had crossed three nights before. +They gave each other a feeble simultaneous slap on the back, gathered +their energies, ran down the bank, and took a long draught of the +running water. + +"I feel better," said Roldan, finally, "but hungrier than ever. There +are quail in that chaparral over there. I'll go after them, and do you +hunt for flint and build a fire." + +He crossed the creek and entered the brush beyond. Almost +simultaneously there was a loud whirr of wings, and a large flock of +quail rose from the chaparral a few feet ahead of him. He had only his +pistols, but he was a good shot, and he decapitated two of the birds in +rapid succession. Then he reloaded and killed a squirrel. When he +returned, Adan was on his knees, with his large cheeks distended, +coaxing a handful of dried leaves and twigs into flame. It was a half +hour before the pyre was large enough for the sacrifice, but after that +the birds and squirrel, which meanwhile had been skinned and washed in +the creek, were but a short time singeing. It was an ill-cooked meal, +but when it was over Roldan said solemnly,-- + +"I have eaten of all the delicious dishes of the Californias, including +many dulces, but nothing ever tasted as good as this; no, not even the +first breakfast at Casa Encarnacion." + +"Nor to me," said Adan, emphatically, and he crossed himself. + + + +XXIII + +"Hallo!" shouted a peremptory voice. "Hallo! Hallo!" + +"It's the Senor Jim," gasped Adan. + +Roldan sprang to his feet. "Hallo!" he cried. + +There was a heavy trampling in the chaparral, and a moment later Hill +rode into view. He took off his sombrero and waved it at the boys, but +did not speak until he had crossed the creek and dismounted. Then he +turned and regarded them with his keen hard eyes. + +"Well!" he exclaimed, "I never calkilated to see you alive agin, and +that's a fact. Hed some more adventures, I presume. Look as if ye'd hed +more adventures than grub." + +"Indeed we have, Don Jim," said Roldan, solemnly. "Should you like to +hear them?" + +"Should I? Well, I guess. You and your adventures have kinder made me +feel young once more." + +Roldan told the painful story. + +"Holy smoke!" exclaimed Hill, in conclusion, "you are tough! And two +mirages in the bargain. I was lost on Mojave once, and to my mind the +mirages was the wust part of the hull game." + +"What do you mean?" asked Roldan. "What are mirages?" + +"Mirages, Rolly, are what ought to be and ain't, what you want and +can't git, and they bear a hell-fired resemblance to life. I see you +don't quite understand. Well, that there beautiful city and that there +beautiful lake was what we call mirage for want of better name!" And he +explained to them the meaning of the phenomenon, as far as he +understood it. + +"We have certainly learned a good deal since we left home," said +Roldan, thoughtfully. + +"There's room for more. There's room for more. Now, I suppose you'd +like to know how I come here. Wall, I've got a confession to make fust, +and seein' as you've been so nigh to death in the last few days, +p'r'aps you'll furgive me. The day after you left I went down to see +the priest, as agreed. I found him--well, I don't know as I'll tell +everything, not even to excuse myself. It's enough to say that he was +half luny between fear and remorse. He told me--I suppose he'd got to +that state where he had to tell somebody or bust--about leavin' you in +the tunnel to die, and bein' willin' after to kill you with his own +hands--he was that mad. But he felt terrible sorry, and said that if +you told on him it would serve him right; only that would mean +ruin--ruin--ruin--a terrible word, young man. And he's not a day over +forty and calkilates to git out of Californy with that there gold and +be a big-bug in his native land. I hesitated some time, fur I ain't no +slouch at keepin' a promise; but in the end I had to tell him. Why, a +man's a criminal if he don't put another man out of misery when he +kin--" + +"You did quite right," interrupted Roldan. "I am glad that he was +punished, but I would not have any one punished for ever." + +"Well, I'm glad you feel that way. He felt good, I kin tell you that. +He looked ten years younger in five minutes, for he said as how he knew +you'd keep your word. I went straight off and managed to have a word +with young Carrillo. It warnt no trouble to make him promise to keep +his mouth shet; he's more afraid of the priest than he is of his +father's green-hide lariat, and that's sayin' a heap. When I went back +to the Mission I told the priest that I thought as how I'd go on to +Ortega's, and see if you got there all right. When I got there and +heard as how you hed crossed the mountains in a terrible storm I just +hed to go on. I made straight for old Sanchez', who has a hacienda and +raises grapes just this side of the river. He was drunk as usual, but +his servants hedn't seen nothin' of you, and then I was seriously +alarmed. That was at night, and I couldn't do nothin' until daylight, +so I got a good sleep and the next mornin' I started for Mojave. I know +it pretty well, and there was no danger of gittin' lost. At nightfall I +found your horses and ponchos--the horses was dead, poor things. I +slept on the desert that night, and the next mornin' rode back as hard +as I could put, suspicionin' that you would have sense enough to strike +west. I went round the corner of that there cactus wood, never thinkin' +ye were in it, and I expect I got well to this side before you was out. +When I got to this creek I rode up and down it, then crossed over, +thinkin' ye might hev gone on. It was only when I saw smoke that I said +to myself for the fust time: 'There they be.' And you bet it did me +good, for I was powerful worried." + +"Don Jim," said Roldan, "you are a kind and good man. I love you, and I +will always be your friend." + +"So. Well, I'm powerful glad to hear that. You ain't much like 'Merican +kids, but you're pretty clever all the same, and I like ye better 'n +any boy I ever know'd, hanged if I don't. Don't be jealous, sonny"--to +Adan--"I like ye too--but Rolly--well!" + +"You would not like Roldan half so well if it were not for me," said +Adan, whose face expressed nothing. + +"So. Well. Now, be ye rested? We want to git to old Sanchez' fur a good +supper and a soft bed to-night." + +The boys rose with alacrity. Hill bade them mount his powerful horse, +and walked beside them. + +Sanchez' house was only three miles away, but the road lay through +chaparral which sprang across in many places. It was heavy dusk when +they emerged. For some time past they had heard wild eccentric cries, +and their three pistols were cocked. As they rode through a grove of +trees beyond the chaparral, they saw a dark something rolling toward +them. In an instant Hill had snatched the boys from the horse and swung +them to the limb of a tree. + +"Hide yourselves among the leaves," he said, "and don't even breathe +mor' 'n you kin help." + +He gave the horse a sharp cut with his switch and it galloped on; then +he climbed a neighbouring tree with the agility of a wildcat, and +crouched. + +The boys gazed into the dusk with distended eyes. The cloud came on +with inconceivable rapidity. In a moment it outlined itself. Those were +living creatures, fleeing. A stampede? No, men. . . . What? Indians? + +They were within a hundred yards now, and their lithe naked forms, the +tomahawks and bows and arrows gripped in their clenched hands, could +plainly be seen; a moment later, their evil faces, distorted with fear. +In the middle distance behind them was a huge column of fire. A strange +figure seemed leaping among the flames. It was from this scarlet column +that the strange noises came. The Indians made no sound beyond their +impact with the atmosphere. + +They deflected suddenly and passed to the right of the grove; a moment +later the three in ambush heard them crashing through the brush. Hill +waited until the sound had grown faint in the distance before he swung +himself down and helped the boys to the ground. + +"That was a close shave," he said. "Them was murderin' savages, no +weak-kneed Mission variety. I'd give two cents to know what scared 'em +and what's goin' on over yonder. They were on the rampage, which same +means thievin' and killin', or my name ain't Jim Hill." + +"We're used to Indians," said Adan, with gentle pride. + +"Oh, be ye? Well, if them Indians had caught you fryin' your supper, +you'd have got as well acquainted with the next world in just about +three quarters of an hour. Well, we've all got to foot it now; but it +ain't far. I'm powerful anxious to know what's goin' on over to +Sanchez'! Mebbe two tribes met and them's the victors offerin' up the +tail end of that there valiant army. Golly Moroo, but they did look +scared." + +They walked on rapidly, but without further conversation; they were all +hungry, and the boys were still very fagged. As they approached the +blazing mass, the figure seemed to leap more wildly still among the +flames, the cries to grow hoarser and more grotesque. All about was +heavy blackness. The slender branches of the burning pine writhed and +hissed; they might have been a pyramid of rattlesnakes caught in +spouting flame. Overhead the stars had disappeared beyond a heavy cloud +of smoke. It was a sight to strike terror to the heart of civilised +man; small wonder that the superstitious children of the mountain and +desert had fled in panic. + +They had advanced a few yards farther when suddenly Hill flung himself +on the ground and gave vent to a series of hysterical yells, at the +same time rolling over and over, clutching at the grass. Roldan, +seriously alarmed, and wondering if any other boys in the history of +the Californias had ever had so much to try their nerves, ran to his +assistance; he caught him by his lean shoulders, and shook him soundly. + +"Don Jim! Don Jim!" he exclaimed. "Are you ill, my friend? You have +some whisky in your flask, no?" + +At this Hill burst into a loud guffaw. Roldan and Adan looked at each +other helplessly. The Spanish do not laugh often, and although the boys +dimly realised that Hill's explosion resembled--remotely--the dignified +concession of their race to the ridiculous, yet they feared that this +was a diseased and possibly fatal variety. + +But in a moment Hill sat up. He wiped his eyes, and with some +difficulty controlled his voice. + +"No, I ain't ill, young 'uns," he said. "But them Indians 'ud be pretty +sick if they knowed what they run from. That there object cavortin' +round that there bonfire is old Sanchez, and he's drunk. Oh, Lord!" And +once more Hill gave way to mirth. + +"He did more good than harm to get drunk this time," said Roldan, +smiling sympathetically. + +"You're right, Rolly. You've got a long head. If old Sanchez had set +down to supper sober to-night, there'd be a war-dance round another +bonfire this minute, and his scalp 'ud be bobbin' bravely. I don't +approve of liquor," he added cautiously, remembering the young ideas +shooting before him. "I only said that there be exceptions to all +rules, and this is one of them." + +"I understand," said Roldan, drily. "I am not thinking of following the +Senor Sanchez' example. But do you suppose that was really what +frightened the Indians?" + +"Just. Well, I guess! They've probably got some idee of the devil, and +they thought that was him, sure 's fate." + +He sprang to his feet, ran forward, caught the bacchanalian about the +shoulders, and rushed him in the direction of the dimly-looming house, +throwing one of his own long legs into the air every now and again. The +boys ran after. When they reached the house its master was extended on +a settee in the living-room, and Hill was telling the tale of their +narrow escape to the frightened household. + +"I don't think they'll come back," he said in conclusion. "But it's +jest as well to have your guns ready, and for one or two of ye to set +up all night. We three'd like grub and beds as quick as you kin git 'em +ready." + +Never had beds felt so sweet as they did that night. The boys awoke +refreshed, themselves again; and no Indians had returned to disturb +their slumbers. + + + +XXIV + +Hill met them as they entered the living-room. His eyes were full of +news. + +"Well, boys," he said, "I don't know that you're in fur another +adventure, but ye kin call it by that name when you git home if you +like; leastways there ain't no doubt about it's bein' an experience." + +The boys forgot the waiting breakfast. "What is it?" they demanded +simultaneously. "Quick! quick!" + +"It's this. I don't suppose you know more about the history of your +country 'n most kids do. Well, Alvarado and General Castro are your two +big men--" + +"We know that," interrupted Roldan, scornfully. + +"Oh, you do? Then mebbe you know who'se govenor at the present moment." + +"Micheltorena. He was sent from Mexico. People don't like him, and they +despise the men he brought with him, still more." + +"So. Well, I allus did say you was a remarkable kid, Rolly. However, +this is the way the case stands now. Alvarado's mad as hops to be +ousted for a furriner, so to speak, and Castro's been bilin' fur some +time, because General Vallejo's been promoted ahead of him. So the two +on 'em determined on a revolution. They had a skirmish on Salinas +plains that didn't decide much, and then Alvarado and Castro marched +south, from ranch to ranch,--you just levanted in time,--persuadin' the +rancheros to uphold their cause and give 'em their sons. As they have a +way with 'em, of course they got all the recruits they wanted, to say +nothin' of the finest horses in stock--caponara after caponara. They +say the sight when they marched into Los Angeles was somethin' to go +hungry for. Of course all Los Angeles went over to such triumphant +lookin' rebels, and to-day or to-morrow there's goin' to be a big +battle. I only heard this mornin'. Old Sanchez' brother come post haste +about two hours ago fur his gun and as many men and horses as he could +drum up. Of course Alvarado marched down the coast valleys, so old +Carillo and his neighbours are eatin' their breakfast in blissful +ignorance." + +"And shall we really see a great battle?" demanded Roldan, faintly. He +was pale, his nostrils were twitching, "Alvarado! Castro! Micheltorena!" + +"Well, you kin, if you bolt that there breakfast. The horses'll be here +in about twenty minutes, and a battle's somethin' I'm pinin' to see, +too." + +The boys ate their breakfast rapidly and in silence. A half hour later +they were galloping furiously for Los Angeles, escorted by the equally +enthusiastic Hill. The river was low and quiet. The horses swam it +without let from tide or snag. Even Adan forgot to cross himself. +Beyond was the high hill that lies directly to the north of Los +Angeles. Its surface seemed in motion; it looked like a huge ant-hill. + +"Them's women," said Hill, a few moments after they had left the river +behind them. "Women and children. The fight must be on. Hist! Do you +hear that?" + +All three reined in. The sound of cannonading, distant but distinct, +came to their ears. Without a word they lashed their mustangs and made +for the city. They entered it in a few moments. It looked like a +necropolis. Not a human being was to be seen. They spurred back to the +hill and began the ascent, then paused for a few moments. It was a wild +and tragic scene. Hundreds of women and children, their hair streaming +in the high wind, were kneeling with uplifted crosses, praying aloud, +when they were not weeping. A few men, Americans, were passing to and +fro among them, administering encouragement; but their gaze also was +directed anxiously to the north. + +Hill dismounted and approached one of the Americans, conferred with him +a moment, then returned to the impatient boys. + +"They are fightin' in the San Fernando valley, three leagues to the +north," he said. "We've got no time to lose." + +They were less than an hour reaching the battlefield. During that hour +Roldan scarcely knew how he felt. When he left the hacienda he was +possessed by an intense curiosity only; but with that first dull boom +something new and fierce had leapt to life within him. Every few +moments his fingers moved round to the hip-pocket that held his +pistols. The weeping women and children had made him quiver from head +to foot. As they approached the battlefield, and powder-smoke mingled +with the green fragrance of winter, he thought that his nostrils would +burst. His ear-drums were splitting with the thunder of cannon. +Suddenly Hill caught him by the arm. + +"Look!" he cried. "There be Alvarado and Castro over there, and +Micheltorena on t' other side. Ain't they magnificent specimens? Why, +what's the matter?" + +"Let me go!" said Roldan. His face was deeply flushed, his eyes blazed. +"Come, Adan! come, Adan!" he shouted. "An Alvarado! an Alvarado!" + +"Holy smoke!" cried Hill. "You don't say you're meanin' to fight after +sweatin' fur a month to git clear of the hull business?" + +But Roldan, grasping the bridle of the less enthusiastic Adan, was +already far ahead. The boys rode straight into the melee, firing +through the smoke until their ammunition was exhausted. Even Adan after +the first few moments lost all sense of fear, and following Roldan's +example, snatched the gun from a fallen soldier and fired and reloaded +until his hands were blistered, and his eyes half sightless with smoke. + +Roldan, obeying his dominant instinct, pushed his way rapidly to the +front, attracting much attention. Some one recognised him, and during +one of the many pauses of this not very systematic and furious battle +some one cheered the little don. The cheer was taken up vociferously. +It boomed across the battlefield. A moment later a man came dashing +across with a flag of truce: the cheering was supposed by the enemy to +herald the advance of reinforcements. The truce was accepted without +explanations, and Roldan was hurried into the presence of Alvarado. +That famous governor was sitting on a magnificent charger, caparisoned +with carved leather, red velvet, silver, and gold. His black eyes were +smiling, although the rest of his pale stern face was composed. + +"So this is the runaway," he said. "I demanded you from your father, +and he was much embarrassed to confess that you had fled to escape the +conscription. Well, I am glad you did, for you have saved the day for +me. But it is time you were in Monterey, for you've got the face of the +leader of men, and the sooner your education begins the better. Will +you come with me? Your father will not refuse." + +The blood was pounding in Roldan's ears, but he managed to reply calmly +that he would go. + +He was then presented to General Castro, a man of fine military +bearing, with classic features, but dark and stern. His eyes were as +sombre as Alvarado's: doubtless both knew that their day would be +short, their great gifts wasted in this far-away land, as remote from +the great civilisations where lasting reputations are made as had it +been on another planet. + +He shook Roldan warmly by the hand, but he did not smile. + +"Yes," he said, "it will be a pleasure to train you; and as you are +young and malleable you will adapt yourself to the new order of things +when it comes. Both Alvarado and I will write to your father; I am sure +he will send you to us in Monterey." + +And then they graciously dismissed him. + +As the boys left the battlefield they came upon Hill, who was sitting +on a hillock eating a sandwich. When Roldan had told his story the +American replied: + +"Shake! Rolly, you've got a heap o' genius, but you've got a durned +sight more luck. You'll git there--one way or nother--if the skies +fall. And I wish ye luck, I do for a fact." + +"Don Jim," said Roldan, gravely, "have you another sandwich? We are +very hungry." + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Valiant Runaways, by Gertrude Atherton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VALIANT RUNAWAYS *** + +***** This file should be named 3706.txt or 3706.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/0/3706/ + +Produced by Judy Boss. HTML version by Al Haines. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.07/27/01*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by Judy Boss. + + + + + +The Valiant +Runaways + +By + +GERTRUDE +ATHERTON + + + +TO + +GEORGE AND GILBERT JONES + +Of New York + + +WITHOUT WHOSE ENCOURAGEMENT THIS YARN WOULD +NEVER HAVE BEEN FINISHED + + + +The Valiant Runaways + + + +I + +Roldan Castanada walked excitedly up and down the verandah of his +father's house, his thumbs thrust into the red silk sash that was +knotted about his waist, his cambric shirt open at the throat as if +pulled impatiently apart; the soft grey sombrero on the back of his +curly head making a wide frame for his dark, flushed, scowling face. + +There was nothing in the surroundings to indicate the cause of his +disturbance. The great adobe house, its white sides and red tiles +glaring in the bright December sun, would have been as silent as a tomb +but for the rapid tramping of Roldan and the clank of his silver spurs +on the pavement. On all sides the vast Rancho Los Palos Verdes cleft the +horizon: Don Mateo Castanada was one of the wealthiest grandees in the +Californias, and his sons could gallop all day without crossing the +boundary line of their future possessions. The rancho was as level as +mid-ocean in a calm; here and there a wood or river broke the sweep; +thousands of cattle grazed. Now and again a mounted vaquero, clad in +small-clothes vivified with silver trimmings, dashed amongst tossing +horns, shouting and warning. + +But Roldan saw none of these things. There was reason for his disquiet. +News had arrived an hour before which had thrown his young mind into +confusion: the soldiers were out for conscripts, and would in all +probability arrive at the Rancho Los Palos Verdes that evening or the +following morning. Roldan, like all the Californian youth, looked +forward to the conscription with apprehension and disgust. Not that he +was a coward. He could throw a bull as fearlessly as his elder brothers; +he had ridden alone at night the length of the rancho in search of a pet +colt that had strayed; and he had once defended the women of the family +single handed against a half dozen savages until reinforcements had +arrived. Moreover, the stories of American warfare which he had managed +to read, despite the prohibition of the priests, had stirred his soul +and fired his blood. But army life in California! It meant languishing +in barracks, hoping for a flash in the pan between two rival houses, or +a possible revolt against a governor. If the Americans should come with +intent to conquer! Roldan ground his teeth and stamped his foot. Then, +indeed, he could not get to the battlefield fast enough. But the United +States would never defy Mexico. They were clever enough for that. His +anger left him, and he gave a little regretful sigh. Not only would he +like that kind of a battle, but it would be great fun to know some +American boys. Then he shook his head impatiently and dismissed these +tourist thoughts. The present alone was to be considered. + +There were two ways to avoid conscription. One was to marry--Roldan +sniffed audibly; the other lay in flight and eluding the men until their +round was over for the year. + +Roldan did not like the idea of running away from anything; he and +several of his father's vaqueros had once made an assault upon a band of +cattle thieves and hunted them into the mountains: that was much more to +his taste. Nevertheless there was one thing he liked less than showing +his heels, and that was giving up his liberty. Not to gallop at will +over the rancho, or sleep in a hammock, to coliar the bulls and shout +with the vaqueros at rodeo, to be the first at the games and the races, +to wear his silken clothes and lace ruffles, and eat the delightful +dishes his mother's cooks prepared! And then he was a very high-spirited +young gentleman. Although the same obedience, almost reverence, was +exacted of him by his parents that was a part of the household religion +in California, yet as the youngest child, who had been delicate during +his first five years, he had managed to get very badly spoiled. He did +not relish the idea of leading a life of monotony and discipline, of +performing hourly duties which did not suit his taste, above all of +being ordered to leave his father's house as if he were a mere Indian. +No, he decided, he would not go into the army--not this year nor any +other year. He would defy the governor and all his men. + +When Roldan made up his mind he acted promptly. No time was to be lost +in this case. Now was the hour of siesta; he could have no better time +to get away. A note would relieve his parents of a certain amount of +anxiety; and if they did not know where he was they could not be held +accountable. His blood tingled at the presentiment of the adventures he +should have in that perilous journey through a country of which he knew +nothing beyond his father's and the adjoining rancho. And as adventures +would be but half spiced if experienced alone, he determined--and not +from selfish motives only--to save his best beloved friend, Adan Pardo, +from the grasp of the law likewise. + +He went within and slung about himself two pistols and a dagger. After +he had made a small bundle of linen and raided the pantry, he went out +to the corral, saddled his horse and packed the saddle bags, wound his +lariat securely about the pommel, then galloped away on a series of +adventures memorable in the annals of California. + +II + +Roldan's way lay over his father's leagues until two hours after +nightfall. As he passed, every now and again, a herd of cattle, lounging +vaqueros called to him: "Ay, Don Roldan, where do you go?" or, "The +little senor chooses a hot day for his ride." But he excited no +curiosity. Like all Californians he half lived in the saddle; and he was +often seen riding in the direction of Don Esteban Pardo's rancho, to +spend a few days with his chosen friend. + +As he approached the house he saw the family sitting on the long +verandah: the pretty black-eyed girls in full white gowns, their dark +hair flowing to the floor, or braided loosely; Don Esteban, a silk +handkerchief knotted about his head, reclining in a long chair beside +his wife, a stout woman, coffee-coloured with age, attired in a dark +silk gown flowered with roses. Indian servants came and went with +cooling drinks. Although it was December, Winter had loitered and fallen +into deeper sleep than usual on her journey South this year. + +Adan was leaning against a pillar, moody and bored. He was the youngest +of the boys. His brothers, elegant caballeros, who spent most of their +time in the capital or on other ranches, were kind to their younger +brother, but not companionable. Therefore, when Roldan galloped into +sight, he gave a shout of joy and ran down the road. Roldan drew rein +some distance from the house, that the conference, which must take place +immediately, might be unheard by older ears. + +"Listen, my friend," he said rapidly, interrupting Adan's voluble +hospitality. "The soldiers are out for conscripts--" + +"Ay, yi!--" + +"Now listen, and don't talk until I am done. I WILL NOT be drafted as if +I had no will of my own, and rot in a barrack while others enjoy life. +Neither will you if you have the spirit of a Pardo and are worthy to be +the friend of Roldan Castanada. So--I fly. Do you understand?--and you +go with me. We will dodge these servants of a tyrant government the +length and breadth of the Californias. When the danger is over for this +year we will return--not before. Now, you will ask me to go to my room +as soon as possible after you have given me some supper, for I am tired +and want sleep. You also will take a nap. When all is quiet I shall call +you and we will start." + +Adan had listened to this harangue with bulging eyes and tongue rolling +over his teeth. But Roldan never failed to carry the day. He was a born +leader. Adan's was the will that bent; but his talent for good +comradeship and his quiet self-respect saved him from servility. + +In appearance he was in sharp contrast to the slender Roldan, of the +classic features and fiery eyes. Short, roly-poly, with a broad, good- +natured face, his attire was also unmarked by the extreme elegance which +always characterised Roldan. In summer he wore calico small-clothes, in +winter unmatched articles of velvet or cloth, and an old sombrero +without silver. + +"Ay! yi!" he gasped. "Ay, Roldan! Holy Mary! But you are right. You +always are. And so clever! I will go. Sure, sure. Come now, or they will +think we conspire." + +Roldan dismounted, and was warmly greeted by the family. The girls rose +and courtesied, blushing with the coquetry of their race. Roldan cared +little for girls at any time, and to-night was doubly abstracted, his +ear straining at every distant hoof-beat. He retired as early as he +politely could, but not to sleep. Indeed, he became so nervous that he +could not wait until the family slept. + +"Better to brave them, Adan," he said to his more phlegmatic friend, +"than that sergeant, should he get here before we leave. Come, come, let +us go." + +They dropped out of the window and stole to the corral where the riding +horses were kept. It was surrounded by a high wall, and the gate was +barred with iron; but they managed to remove the bars without noise, +saddled fresh horses and led them forth and onward for a half mile, then +mounted and were off like the wind. + +They knew the country down the coast on the beaten road, but they dared +not follow this, and struck inland. The air was now of an agreeable +warmth; the full moon was so low and brilliant that Roldan called out he +could count the bristling hairs on a coyote's back. + +In less than two hours they were climbing a mountain trail leading +through a dense redwood forest. In these depths the moon's rays were +scattered into mere flecks dropping here and there through the thick +interlacing boughs of the giant trees. Those boughs were a hundred feet +and more above their heads. About them was a dense underforest of young +redwoods, pines, and great ferns; and swarming over all luxuriant and +poisonous creepers. + +They were silent for a time. The redwood forests are very quiet and +awesome. At night one hears but the rush of the mountain torrent, the +cry of a panther or a coyote, the low sigh of wind in the treetops. + +"Ay, Roldan," exclaimed Adan, suddenly. "Think did we meet a bear?" + +"We probably shall," said Roldan, coolly. "These forests have many +'grizzlies,' as the Americans call them." + +"But what should we do, Roldan?" + +"Why, kill him, surely." + +"Have you ever seen one?" + +"Never." + +"But it is said that they are very large, my friend, larger than you or +I." + +"Perhaps. Keep quiet. I like to hear the forest talk." + +"What strange fancies you have, Roldan. A forest cannot talk." + +"Oh--hush." + +"Ay, yi, Roldan! Roldan!" + +The horses were standing upright, neighing pitifully. Adan gave a hoarse +gurgle and crossed himself. + +"The adventures have begun," said Roldan. + +In a great swath of moonlight on a ledge some yards above them, standing +on his hind legs and swinging his forepaws goodnaturedly, was an immense +grey bear. Suddenly he extended his arms sociably, almost +affectionately. + +"We cannot retreat down that steep trail," said Roldan, rapidly. "He +could follow faster and the horses would fall. To the left! in the +brush, quick!--a bear cannot run sideways on a mountain." + +The boys dug their spurs into the trembling mustangs, who responded with +a snort of pain and plunged into the thicket. Only the bold skill of the +riders saved them from pitching sidewise down the steep slope, despite +the brush, for they were unshod and their knees had weakened. + +But the grizzly, alas! was still master of the situation. In less than a +moment the boys saw him lumbering along above them. He evidently had +possession of a trail, more or less level. + +"Dios de mi alma!" cried Adan. "If he gets ahead of us he will come down +and meet us somewhere. We shall be lost--eaten even as a cat eats a +mouse, a coyote a chicken." + +"You will look well lining the dark corridors of the bear, my friend. +Your yellow jacket with those large red roses, which would make a bull +sweat, would hang like tapestry in the houses of Spain. Those hide +boots, spotted with mud, and the blood of the calf, would keep him from +wanting another meal for many a long day--" + +"Ay, thou fearless one! Why, it is said that if the grizzly even raises +his paw and slaps the face every feature is crushed out of shape." + +"I should not be surprised." + +They plunged on, tearing their clothes on the spiked brush and the +thorns of the sweetbrier, fragrant lilac petals falling in a shower +about them, great ferns trodden and rebounding. The air was heavy with +perfume and the pungent odour of redwood and pine. + +Roldan had passed Adan. Suddenly his horse stumbled and would have gone +headlong had not his expert rider pulled him back on his haunches. + +"What is it? What is it?" cried Adan, who also had been obliged to pull +in abruptly, and who liked horses less when they stood on their hind +legs. "Is it the bear upon us? But, no, I hear him--above and beyond. +What are you doing, my friend?" + +Roldan had dismounted and was on his hands and knees. In a half moment +he stood erect. + +"We are saved," he said. + +"Ay? What?" + +"It is a hole, my friend--large and deep and round. Did you put any meat +in your saddle-bags?" + +"Ay, a good piece." + +"Raw?" + +"Yes." + +"Give it to me--quick. Do not unwrap it." + +Adan handed over the meat, then dismounted also. + +"A bear-trap?" he asked. + +"Yes, a natural one. Come this way, before I unwrap the meat." + +The boys forced their way to the south of the large hole, dragging the +still terrified horses, who were not disposed to respond to anything +less persuasive than the spur. Roldan approached the edge of the +excavation and shook the meat loose, flinging the paper after it. As the +smell of fresh beef pervaded the air it was greeted by a growl like +rising thunder, and almost simultaneously the huge unwieldy form of the +bear hurled itself down through the brush. The boys held their breath. +Even Roldan felt a singing in his ears. But the grizzly, without pausing +to ascertain his bearings, went down into the hole at a leap. He made +one mouthful of the meat, then appeared to realise that he was in a +trap. With a roar that made the horses rear and neigh like stricken +things, he flung himself against the sides of his prison, drew back and +leaped clumsily, tore up the earth, and galloped frantically to and fro. +But he was caught like a rat in a trap. + +The boys laughed gleefully and remounted their horses, which also seemed +to appreciate the situation, for they had quieted suddenly. + +"Adios! Adios!" cried Roldan, as they forced their way up to the trail +the bear had discovered. "You will make a fine skeleton; we will come +back and look at you some day." + +But it was not the last they were to see of Bruin in the flesh. + +III + +An hour later they began to descend the mountain on the other side, and +by dawn espied a ranch house in a valley. The white walls were pink +under the first streamers of the morning. The redwoods rose like a solid +black wall on the towering mountains on every side. + +"Ay!" exclaimed Roldan, drawing a deep sigh. "Sleep and a hot breakfast. +They will be good once more." + +"They will," answered Adan, who had been collapsing and digging his +knuckles into his eyes for an hour and more. + +They feared that no one might be stirring, but, as they approached the +verandah, the door opened and a stout smiling Californian, dressed in +brown small-clothes, appeared. + +"Who have we here?" he cried. "But you are early visitors, my young +friends." + +"We are dodging the conscript," said Roldan. "You will not betray us?" + +"I should think not. I'd hide my own boys, if the mountains did not do +that for me. Come in, come in. The house is yours, my sons. Burn it if +you will. Tired? Here. Go in and get into bed. The servants are not up, +but I myself will make you chocolate and a tortilla." + +The boys did not awaken for eight hours. When they emerged, somewhat +shamefacedly, they found the family assembled on the verandah, drinking +their afternoon chocolate, and impatient with curiosity. There were no +girls to criticise the dilapidated garments--which the kind hostess had +mended while the boys slept; but there were two youths of fourteen and +fifteen and two young men who were lying in hammocks and smoking +cigarritos. + +Roldan and Adan were made welcome at once. + +"My name is Jose Maria Perez," said the host, coming forward. "This is +my wife, Dona Theresa, and these are my sons, Emilio, Jorge, Benito, and +Carlos. What shall we call you, my sons?" + +"My name is Roldan Castanada of the Rancho Los Palos Verdes, and this is +my friend Adan Pardo of the Rancho Buena Vista." + +"Ay! we have distinguished visitors. But you were just as welcome +before. Sit down while I go and see if the big stew I ordered is done. +Caramba! but you must be hungry." + +The four lads quickly fraternised, and Roldan began at once to relate +their adventures, continuing them over the steaming dish of stew. When +he reached the point which dealt with the outwitting of the bear, Don +Emilio sprang from his hammock. + +"A bear trapped?" he cried. "A grizzly? We will have a fight with a +bull. You are rested, no? As soon as you have eaten, come and show us +the way." + +The boys, always ready for sport, and believing that they were beyond +the grasp of the law for the present, eagerly consented. An hour later +Don Emilio, Don Jorge, the four lads, and three vaqueros all sallied +forth to capture one poor bear. The vaqueros dragged a sled, and much +stout rope. + +When they reached the trap darkness had come, but the four boys held +lighted torches over the hole--this was their part. The bear, +disheartened with his long and futile effort to escape, lay on the +uneven surface below, alternately growling and roaring. As the torches +flared above him he sprang to his feet with a vast roar, his eyes as +green and glittering as marsh lights. In a moment a lasso had flown over +his head and he was on his back. But his formidable legs were not to be +encountered rashly. Each was lassoed in turn, also his back; then his +huge lunging body was dragged up the side of the excavation and onto the +sled. There he was bound securely; then the rope about his neck was +loosened and he was fed on a hind quarter of sheep. But it placated him +little. His anger was terrific. He roared until the echoes awoke, and +strained at the rope until it seemed as if his great muscles must +conquer. + +But he was powerless, and the procession started: first Roldan and +Benito with their torches; then two vaqueros dragging the sled, the +third holding the rope which encircled the bear's neck, ready to tighten +it on a second's notice. Following were Don Jorge and Don Emilio, then +the two other young torch bearers. Thus was poor Bruin carried +ignominiously out of the forest where he had been lord, to perform for +the benefit of the kind he despised. That night he rested alone in a +high walled corral, liberated by the quick knife of one of the vaqueros, +who sprang through the door just in time to save himself. + +There was an angry guest on the ranch that night. The bear's lungs, +which were of the best, had little repose, and he flung himself against +the earth walls of the corral until they quivered with the impact. The +horses in the neighbouring corrals whinnied; the cows in the fields +bellowed. It was a vocal night, and few slept. + +Nevertheless everybody was excited and good-natured next morning. +Immediately after breakfast they went out to the corral, and by means of +a ladder mounted the wall and stood on the broad summit. At a signal +from Don Emilio a vaquero opened the gate cautiously and drove in a +large bull, who had been carefully irritated since sunrise. + +The two unamiable beasts, glad of an object to vent their spleen upon, +flew at each other. The bear, giant as he was, was ignominiously rolled +in the dust by the furious onslaught of bulk and horns. He recovered +himself with surprising alacrity, however, and rushed at the bull. The +latter, off guard for the moment, and struggling for his lost breath, +was hurled on his back. He rolled over quickly, but before he could +gather his legs under him, the bear sat himself squarely upon the heavy +flanks. The bull jerked up his head, his eyes injected, his tongue +rolling out. The bear raised one of his mighty paws and dealt him a box +on the ear. The head fell with an ugly thud on the hard floor of the +corral. The bear adjusted himself comfortably and licked his paws. + +On the wall the onlookers were far more excited than the gladiators in +the arena. The Perezes sympathised with their personal property, but +Roldan and Adan felt that the bear was their menagerie, and that their +honour was at stake. Party feeling ran very high. Roldan and Benito were +twice separated by their anxious elders. + +"Ay! yi!" cried Carlos. "The bull wakes." + +The poor bull, in truth, despite the crushing weight on his vitals, +raised his head again, shook himself feebly, and was once more boxed +into unconsciousness. The side of his face was crushed; his body was +slowly flattening. The family encouraged him with tears and spirit. + +"Ay, Ignacio, Ignacio, my poor one!" cried Don Jose. "Arouse thyself and +kill the brute. Ay! thou wert so beautiful, so elegant, thy sleek sides +like the satin of Dona Theresa--and he like a wild man that has never +washed. Where is thy pride, Ignacio? Arouse thyself!" + +Thus encouraged, the bull raised his head once more. The bear gave him a +whack that snapped his spinal cord, then rose and swung himself round +the enclosure with the arrogant mien of a bloated sultan who has swept +off a troublesome head. This attitude aroused Benito to fury. + +"Ay, the cheat! the assassin!" he cried. "It was not a fair fight. Our +Ignacio had no chance--" + +"That is not true!" exclaimed Roldan. "He had the same chance at the +first. If you are not satisfied, Senorito Benito, then fight me." + +No sooner said than done. The boys, who stood some distance from the +others, doubled their fists and rushed at each other like two fighting +cocks. They pommelled for several minutes, then locked their arms about +each other and went reeling about the wall, to the horror of the others, +who dared not approach lest they should inflame them further. + +"Jump down! Jump down, you imbeciles!" cried Don Jose." Do you wish to +be food for the bear? A misstep--" The words ended in a hoarse gurgle. +Dona Theresa shrieked. Adan and Carlos sobbed. The young men turned cold +and weak. The two boys had fallen headlong into the corral. + +They were sobered and fraternal in a moment. The bear stood upon his +hind legs and opened his arms invitingly. He stood in front of the gate. + +"Ay! ay!" gasped Benito. "He will eat us!" + +"No; he will eat the bull first; but he will hug us to death--that is, +if he gets us--which he won't. Adan!" he cried, "lower the ladder." + +Benito began to cry, his terror enhanced by the babel of voices on the +wall, each of which was suggesting a different measure. On the opposite +wall and in the branches of a neighbouring tree were the Indian servants +and the vaqueros. They stared stupidly, with shaking lips. + +Adan had recovered his presence of mind. With a firm hand, he lowered +the ladder. But his wit was not quick. He should have carried it along +the wall and placed it behind the boys. Instead, it descended several +yards away. The bear, who appeared to be no fool, lowered his forepaws +and trotted slowly toward the boys. + +"Juan!" shouted Roldan to a vaquero. "Lasso the bull and drag him to the +west side--far from the gate." + +The vaquero, alert enough under orders, swung the lasso with supple +wrist--and missed. The boys dodged the bear, who seemed in no haste, but +stalked them methodically, nevertheless. The vaquero swung again. This +time the rope caught the horns, was tightened by a quick turn, and the +carcass went thudding across the yard. The bear gave a furious howl and +plunged after. The boys scampered up the ladder. Don Jose took each by +the collar and shook them soundly. When they were released they embraced +each other. + +"Ay! but I was inhospitable to fight my guest," sobbed Benito. + +"Ay, my friend," said Roldan, with dignity, winking back the tears +started by various emotions. "It is I who should have had my ears boxed +by the bear for insulting my host, and bringing anguish to the house of +Perez." Then he embraced Adan, but this time mutely. + +Dona Theresa had been carried to her room, where she lay prostrated with +a nervous headache; but her family and guests did ample justice to the +chickens stewed in tomatoes, the red peppers and onions, the fried rice, +tamales, and dulces which her cook had prepared in honour of the event. +Excitement and good will reigned; even Don Jose had forgiven the young +offenders, and they all talked at once, at the top of their voices, as +fast as they could rattle and with no falling inflection. Roldan and +Adan were pressed to remain at the Hacienda Perez until the search was +over, and although the former had a secret yearning for adventure he was +more than half inclined to consent. + +After a brief siesta the entire male population of the hacienda retired +to the wall of the corral to pot the bear. It was agreed that each +should fire at once, and that he who missed should have no dulces for a +week. + +The bear was sitting near the middle of the corral, surly but replete, +for he had eaten of the bull. Don Jose gave the signal. Twenty-two shots +were fired. The bear gave a roar which awoke the echoes of the forest, +lunged frantically on shattered legs, then fell, an ugly heap of dusty +grey hair. + +As the smoke cleared and Don Jose was announcing that only two Indian +servants had missed, Benito clutched Roldan's arm suddenly. + +"Look up," he said. "Do you see anything? Are not those men; soldiers?" + +Roldan looked up to a ledge of the high mountain before the house. A +bend of the trail traversed a clearing. In this open were three men on +horseback, motionless for the moment. + +"Adan!" shouted Roldan. He ran down the ladder. + +"I cannot be sure that those are the soldiers," he called up to Don +Jose. "But I take no risks. We must go." + +The others descended hastily. "My sons will have to hide too," said Don +Jose. "There is plenty of time. In a moment those men will be in the +forest again and can see nothing more for half an hour. We must do +nothing while they watch--there! they have gone." + +He shouted to the vaqueros to saddle six fresh horses, and ordered the +house servants to pack the bags with food. + +"There is a cave in the mountain on the other side which I defy anyone +to find," said Don Jose. "If there were a war my sons should fight, but +I need them now." + +While the horses were saddling, Roldan and Adan consulted together. At +the end of a few moments the former went up to Don Jose. + +"I think it would be wiser to separate," he said. "Adan and I will go +one way, your sons another. That will put them off the track; and the +cave, Carlos says, is not very large." + +"As you like," said Don Jose, who was perturbed and busy. "A vaquero +will go with you for a distance and advise you." + +The truth was, Roldan fancied lying inert in a cave for several days as +little as he fancied the somnolent life of a barrack, and Adan, who had +a secret preference for the cave, was too loyal to oppose him. + +In ten minutes the horses were ready, affectionate good-byes said, and +Roldan and Adan, followed by many good wishes, and prayers to return, +started southeastward through a dense canon. + +IV + +The vaquero guided the boys rapidly through the canon. The almost +perpendicular walls, black with a dense growth of brush and scrub trees, +towered so high above them that the atmosphere was damp and the long +strip of sky was like a pale-blue banner. The trail was well worn, and +there was nothing to impede their progress. The mustangs responded to +the lifted bridle and ran at breakneck speed. They emerged at the end of +half an hour. It was an abrupt sally, and the great level plain before +them seemed a blaze of sunlight. + +"Bueno," said the vaquero, halting. "Ride straight ahead. Keep to the +trail. At night you will come to a river. Before you reach it all trace +of you will be lost, because between now and there are many side trails, +and as the ground is so hard they cannot tell which you take. Cross the +river and take the trail to the left. That will bring you to the +Mission--about twenty miles farther--where the good padres will let you +rest and give you fresh horses. The senor, meanwhile, will throw the +officers off the scent. But if you are wise, you will make for the +Sierras and hide there. Adios, senor, adios, senor;" and he wheeled +about and disappeared into the darkness of the canon. + +"We are like the babes in the wood," said Adan. "I feel as if we never +should find our way home again." + +"We shall," said Roldan, stoutly; although he, too, felt the chill of +the immense solitude. "And we have begun well! What an adventure to +start with! I am sure we shall have more." + +Adan crossed himself. + +The boys rode at a long even gallop, the high chaparral closing behind +them. Every half hour they paused, and Roldan, dismounting, held his ear +to the ground. But as yet they were unpursued. + +A soft wind blew over the plain, fragrant with the honeydew of the +chaparral. The sun set in a great bank of yellow cloud. Then the night +came suddenly. + +A few moments later Roldan called: "Halt!" and held up his hand. "I hear +the rush of the water," he said. "We must be near the river." + +"It sounds as if it was high," said Adan. "It has rained hard this +month. Suppose these horses don't swim?" + +"We'll make them. Come on." + +"Ay! yi!" exclaimed Adan, not many moments after. + +They pulled up suddenly on the banks of the river, a body of water about +three hundred yards wide. It was swollen almost level with the high +banks. The tumultuous waters were racing as if Neptune astride them was +fleeing from angry gods. There is something unhuman in the roar of an +angry river: it has a knell in it. + +Roldan and Adan looked at each other. The latter's face had paled. +Roldan contracted his lids suddenly, and when his friend met the glance +that grew between them he compressed his lips and involuntarily +straightened himself: he knew its significance. + +"We must cross," said Roldan. "It would never do to spend the night on +this side. If they followed, they would never suspect us of crossing. If +we remained here, we could not hear them until they were upon us." + +"Very well," said Adan. + +Roldan raised his bridle. The mustang did not move forward, but cowered. +"I don't like to hurt horses," said the young don, "but he's got to go." +He clapped his spurs savagely against the animal's sides, and the next +moment the waves were lashing about him. + +Adan was beside him at once, and together they breasted the rushing +waters. The mustangs were strong and made fair headway, incited by +terror and the spur. The water was very cold, but the boys scarcely felt +it. Their eyes were strained toward the opposite shore, measuring the +distance, which seemed to grow less very slowly. The stars were thick +and the moon was floating just above the chaparral, but the darkness +about them was grim, and only a narrow line of white indicated the +shore. + +The horses were not able to keep a straight course. The current lashed +them about more than once, but they righted, shook the water from their +quivering nostrils, and plunged on. + +The boys' glance so persistently sought their haven that they saw +nothing of what was passing about them. They were within twenty yards of +the shore. Adan, having the stronger beast, was some little distance +ahead. He did not observe it. He was registering a vow that if he +reached land in safety he would be drafted every year of his life before +he would ford another river after heavy rain. + +Suddenly Roldan became conscious that the wiry little body between his +gripping knees had relaxed somewhat the tension of its muscles. Was the +poor brute collapsing? Roldan leaned over and patted his neck. It +responded for a moment, then fell back again. Roldan set his lips. As he +did so he cast about him the instinctive glance of those in peril. A +huge log was bearing down upon him like a projectile. + +In a second his feet were out of his stirrups and he was crouching on +the mustang's back. The log struck the beast full in the side, tossing +Roldan as if he had been a feather. The mustang gave a hoarse neigh, +unheard above the roar of the water. + +Roldan, keeping his face from the pounding waves as best he could, +struck out for the bank. But the current was too much for his slender +body, plucky as it was. He made a mighty effort and shouted,-- + +"Adan!" + +The high clear note pierced to his companion's ear. Adan turned his +head, uttered a cry, and pulled his unwilling mustang about. But the +current was carrying the white face on the waves rapidly past. + +"Lariat!" Roldan managed to scream. + +Adan's faculties had been paralysed for the moment, but they responded +almost automatically to that imperious will. He unwound the lariat +rapidly from the pommel, hastily gathered the loops, then flung it with +sure hand straight at his friend. It fell about Roldan's neck. The boy +jerked it over his shoulders, then signed to Adan to proceed. + +Adan once more urged his horse forward, not daring to look behind. +Roldan made no attempt to swim; he merely used his arms to keep his head +above water. There were but a few yards farther. The mustang, despite +his double load, made them, and scrambled up the bank. Adan, realising +for the first time that he was stiff with cold, scrambled off and pulled +in the rope with hands that were aching and almost numb. He heard Roldan +strike the bank, a moment later the snapping of brush. Roldan's head +rose into view, Adan gave a last despairing tug, and a moment later the +two boys lay on their backs, panting for breath. + +V + +"Do you want any more adventures?" asked Adan feebly, after a time. + +"Not at present," said Roldan. + +He raised himself stiffly. "Come," he said, "this will never do. We +shall both have rheumatism. We must have a fire at once." + +Adan groaned pathetically, but got on his feet. They had found refuge in +the open; but a grove of trees was near, and in a quarter of an hour +they had piled a heap of branches and chaparral as high as an Indian +pyre, hunted up two pieces of flint, and sent sparks flying through the +dry mass. + +The boys divested themselves of their dripping clothes and hung them +close to the fire, then raced up and down with what energy was left in +them to scotch the chill night air. Finally they paused breathless +before the pile, which was now roaring merrily. + +"I should like to know what we are to have for supper," said Roldan. +"That Mission is twenty miles away, and I for one can't walk to it. +Climb up a tree and see if there is a light anywhere." + +"Thanks, senor," said Adan, "when my clothes are dry." + +"True, we must keep our skin. I have it!" He sprang on the back of the +mustang, who also had fallen upon reaching the shore but had risen to +nibble for supper, and stood on the tips of his feet. "I can see well," +he announced. "But all the same I can see nothing. We must stay here." + +He dismounted, and relieving the mustang of the heavy saddle, emptied +the bags. "The bread and sweets are soaked," he said, "not fit for a pig +to eat; but we can do something with the meat. Fetch some coals." + +Adan with infinite difficulty managed to scrape a few coals apart from +the bonfire, and over this they scorched the meat. As they crouched on +the ground they looked like two little white savages, and they were +neither comfortable nor happy. + +"We must keep this fire going all night," said Roldan, "or we shall be +eaten by bears, to say nothing of rattlesnakes--" + +"Hist!" whispered Adan. "I hear one." Both boys sprang to their feet. + +"Where?" + +"Near the horse." + +Roldan seized his pistol and ran in the direction indicated, keeping his +eyes on the ground. Suddenly he paused. Something just beyond the light +was growing into a series of graceful loops. A long neck slowly lifted +itself and two baleful eyes fixed upon Roldan. He raised his pistol, and +the rattler was beheaded as neatly as if it were stuffed and dismembered +with a pen knife. It shot out to full length, and the clever marksman +took it by its horny tail and dragged it to the fire. + +"He didn't know that we'd have him for supper," said Adan, gleefully. +"Here, let us eat our steak and then I'll skin him." + +The steak proved tough, and when it had been disposed of with many +grumblings, the rattlesnake was skinned and roasted, and proved very +delicate and edible. + +"Now," said Roldan, "we must sleep." Their clothes being dry they +dressed; and after inspecting with a torch a circle of about two hundred +yards to see that there were no snake holes, they built a hasty ring of +chaparral, set fire to it that beasts and reptiles should keep their +distance, then lay down and slept. Roldan was always a light sleeper, +and with the fire on his mind awoke every few hours and gathered fresh +chaparral or roused the heavier Adan. Coyotes wailed in the distance, +and once as Roldan gathered brush he heard again the deadly rattle. But +they were not disturbed, and even the skies were kind, for although +clouds gathered, they passed. + +They awoke in the morning, fresh and vigorous--but also hungry; and +there was little to eat. + +"I don't think I should fancy rattlesnake for breakfast," said Roldan, +and Adan shuddered at the mere thought. They cooked a small piece of +meat, all that was left of their store, and it but whetted their +appetite. + +"There's only one thing to do," said Roldan, "and that is to get to the +Mission as quickly as possible. Chocolate! Beans! possibly chicken! +Think of it. Come! Come!" + +Adan scrambled to his feet and saddled the mustang. It was agreed that +they should ride him by turns, the other running at a brisk trot. + +The sun was barely up when they started. A light mist lay on the +turbulent waters and puffed among the sweet-scented chaparral. Roldan +rode during the first hour, Adan running ahead, his glance darting from +right to left, but encountering eyes neither malignant nor savage. +Shortly after he mounted the horse the mist lifted and rolled back to +the ocean. They had left the chaparral some time before and now +discovered that they were in an open plain. In the distance were high +hills over which wound a white trail. Between these hills and the +travellers was a moving mass of something. Adan reined in suddenly. + +"Roldan," he said, "are those horses? You have the longer sight." + +Roldan made a funnel of his hand. "Surely, surely!" he cried. "What +luck! I hate walking. They are probably wild, but I never saw the +mustang I could not lasso." + +"Yes, you can do the lassoing," said Adan, grimly. "My thumb nearly went +off last night, and is twice its size." + +"Adan," said his friend, laying his hand on his comrade's knee. "I +haven't thanked you. I haven't mentioned it; but it is because--well--I +lay awake an hour last night trying to think of something to say--and-- +and--thinking that I loved you better than my own brothers--" + +"That will do, then," said Adan, gruffly. "We'll be kissing each other +in a minute as we did at the Hacienda Perez; and I think that we are +getting too big for that. I hear that American boys never kiss each +other." + +"Don't they?" asked Roldan, pricking up his ears. "How I should like to +know some American boys. They must know so many things that we do not. +Who told you?" + +"Antonio Scarpia has been in America, you know--in Boston. He came back +last month and rode over a few days ago for the night. I asked him many +questions. He says they never show any feeling except when they get mad, +and that they walk and row and play ball--with the feet, caramba!--and +run about in the snow. He says they would think we were like girls with +our fine clothes and our hammocks--" + +"Girls!" cried Roldan, indignantly. "I'd like to see American or any +other boys do better with that bear than we did, or lasso a friend in +the midst of a boiling river as you did. And if they come here to laugh +at us they'll find one pair of fists that are not soft if they do have +lace ruffles over them. And I'd like to see them live all day on a horse +as we do." + +"True, true, you are always right," said Adan, soothingly. "Ay, I think +those horses are coming this way. Better get up." + +He moved back onto the anquera and Roldan sprang to his place and +unwound the lariat. Like all of its kind, it was a slender woven cord +about eighteen feet in length and made of tough strips of untanned hide. +It was an admirable weapon in skilled hands, but not to be trifled with +by the amateur. Many a careless Californian had lost a finger or thumb, +and more than one had owed it lockjaw. + +The wild horses advanced rapidly for a time, but when they saw that the +brother to which curiosity had attracted them was apparently of an +eccentric build they suddenly paused and scattered. Roldan raised the +bridle and dashed in pursuit; but the others were unincumbered, fleet of +foot and terrified. They fled like the wind. + +"Drop off!" commanded Roldan, reining in. "Quick! I WILL have one." + +Adan slid to the ground and the mustang sprang lightly forward. Roldan +had singled out a well-built black, a little heavier than his mates and +consequently somewhat in their rear. The mustang, who had slept off his +fatigue, had no need of spur; he seemed to enter into the spirit of the +chase--possibly realised that if the chase failed he might have a double +load to carry. He dashed over the rough adobe plain, Roldan holding the +bridle high in his left hand, the coiled lasso in his right. Adan +waddled after, far in the rear. The other horses had fled to the four +winds, but the pursued, occasionally ducking his head and kicking up his +hind legs as if in contempt of the pretensions of mere man, made +straight for the hills. Being undisciplined, however, he got over the +ground clumsily, stumbled once or twice in the wide cracks of the adobe +soil, and finally stopped short for want of wind. He swung about and +glared defiantly at his pursuers out of injected eyes. He had never seen +a lasso before, possibly not a man; but his instinct told him that the +horse and rider behind him were not roving the plain in his own aimless +fashion. He stood pawing the ground and shaking his great red nostrils. +Suddenly to his surprise the part of the horse new to him lifted itself, +and a black coiling something, graceful and swift as a rattlesnake, +sprang through the air with a sharp audible rush. A quarter of a moment +later he neighed with rage and terror: his neck was in a vice. + +He gave a leap that nearly dragged Roldan from his saddle; but that +expert young gentleman had secured the lariat to the high pommel of his +saddle in a trice, and Don Jose Perez's mustang had thereafter to bear +the brunt of the strain. + +The wild animal pulled and tugged and tore up the ground; but finding +that he but increased his own discomfort, he gradually subsided, and +when Roldan finally turned about and rode slowly toward Adan he followed +meekly enough. + +When Adan saw the procession start in his direction he sat down on a +stone to rest, and when it reached him he obeyed orders and sprang on +the mustang's back as Roldan slipped off. + +"That was well done, my friend," he said approvingly. "I could see it +all; but I thought my eyes would fly out of my head." + +Roldan walked cautiously up to his prize and attempted to pat it gently +on the head. But it was some moments before he was able to touch the +beast, who was sulky, cross, and frightened. When he did he swiftly +loosened the lariat, and this procured him a meed of favour. The horse +then allowed himself to be patted all down the side and back, nor once +raised his hoof. + +Suddenly Roldan sprang to his back, gripping the mane with his hands, +the flanks with his knees. But this was one liberty too much. The horse +stood on his hind legs, made as if to go over backward, then suddenly +stiffened all four legs and sprang up and down as automatically as if +worked by a spring. Roldan was now in his element. He had broken in more +than one bucking horse. He remained as immovable as a fly on the top of +a coach, only giving an occasional prick with his spur to madden the +animal and wear him out the sooner. + +Roldan had cast the lariat from the animal's neck as soon as he mounted, +and it was well that he had, for his quarry made a sudden dash and did +not stop for half a mile,--when he paused on his forefeet, waving his +hind in the air. + +But still Roldan kept his seat, Adan shouting: "Bravo! Bravo!" by way of +encouragement. + +The battle lasted nearly an hour; then the mustang confessed himself +conquered, and the boys sought out the trail, from which they had +wandered far, and continued their journey. + +"Caramba!" exclaimed Roldan, "but I am famished, not to say tired. If it +had been ten miles instead of twenty, it would not have been worth +while." + +VI + +They rode on rapidly, too hungry to talk. The ground began to rise, and +they advanced through hills sprouting with the early green of winter. +Once they paused, and tethering the horses where they could feed, shot +several quail and roasted them. But the pangs of hunger were by no means +allayed, and when, in the early afternoon, they saw the white walls of +the Mission below them, they gave a shout of joy. + +The Mission stood in the middle of a valley, well away from woods and +hills, and surrounded by a large vineyard and orchard. On the long +corridor traversing the building adjoining the church, several figures +in habit and cowl walked slowly behind the arches. Indians were in the +vineyards and orchards and moving about the rancheria adjacent to the +main buildings. Cattle were browsing on the hills. A stream tangled in +willows cut a zig-zag course across the valley. + +The boys rode quickly down the hillside. As the padres heard the +approaching hoof-beats they paused in their walk, and shading their eyes +with their hands gazed earnestly at the travellers. + +"Friends! Friends!" cried Roldan gaily, as the tired steeds trotted up +to the corridor. The boys dismounted and made a deep reverence. One of +the priests, a man with a grave stern face came forward. + +"Who are you, my children?" he asked. "You are the sons of aristocrats, +and yet you are torn and unkempt, and one of you has ridden many leagues +without a saddle. Are you runaways? The shelter of the Mission is for +all, but we do not countenance insubordination." + +Roldan introduced himself and his friend. "We are runaways, my father," +he added, "but from the government; and we have arranged that our +parents shall not be anxious. We do not wish to be drafted." + +The priest's brow relaxed. The padres had little respect for a system +that owed its existence mainly to the vanity of governors and generals, +and the present governor, Micheltorena, had by no means won the approval +of the Church. + +"You are welcome, my sons," he said. "If the officers come we cannot +deny your presence; but I do not think they will find their way here, +and we certainly shall not send for them. You are hungry and tired, no?" + +"Father, we could eat our horses." + +The padre laughed, and calling a young brother who was piously telling +his beads bade him go and see that a hasty luncheon was prepared. An +Indian came and took the mustangs, and the boys were led by the +hospitable priest into a large room, comfortably furnished, the walls +hung with some very good religious pictures. + +The padres, in truth, were glad of visitors at any time. They were +clever educated men who had given their lives to christianising +brainless savages in a sparsely settled country; and any news of the +outer world was very welcome. They pushed back their hoods and sat about +the boys, their faces beaming with interest and amusement as they +listened to the adventures of those wayward youths. And as all men, even +priests, love courage and audacity, they clapped their hands together +more than once or embraced the lads heartily. + +When luncheon was announced and the doors of the long refectory thrown +open, the boys were shown in as if they had been princes and told to +satisfy themselves. This they did, nor ever uttered a word. The priests +had tactfully withdrawn. Roldan and Adan ate enough beans, rice, cold +chicken, tongue, and dulces to make up for their prolonged fast, and +finished with a cup of chocolate and a bunch of grapes. After that they +went to sleep in two clean little cells, to which they were conducted, +nor awakened until all the air was ringing with the sweet-voiced clangor +of mission bells. + +Roldan turned on his elbow and looked out of the window. The square was +rapidly filling with Indians, some running in willingly enough, others +driven in at the end of the leash by the lay brethren. All knelt on the +ground for a few moments. Roldan, whose eyes were very keen, and, during +these days, preternaturally sharpened, noted that several of the Indians +were whispering under cover of the loud mutterings about them. The face +of the Californian Indian is not pleasant to contemplate at any time: it +is either stupid or sinister. Roldan fancied he detected something +particularly evil in the glance of the whispering savages, and resolved +to warn the priests. + +The scene was peaceful enough. The cattle browsing on the hills gave the +landscape an air of great repose, and the mountains beyond were lost +under a purple mist. The large stone fountain in the court splashed +lazily. As the worshippers rose and withdrew, the silver bells rang out +a merry peal, announcing that the morrow would be Sunday. + +Roldan fell asleep again. When he awoke it was dark outside, but on the +table by his cot was a lighted taper and a dish of fruit. He ate of the +fine grapes and pears, then rose and opened his door. In the small room +beyond a young priest was seated at a table, bending over a large leaf +of parchment, to which he was applying a pen with quick delicate +strokes. He looked up with a smile. + +"What are you doing?" asked Roldan, curiously, approaching the table. + +"Illuminating the manuscripts of a mass. Look." And he displayed the +exquisite border to the music, the latter written with equal precision +and neatness. "This will be alive when I am not even dust. No one will +know that I did it; but I like the thought that it may live for +centuries." + +"If I did it, I should sign my name to it," said Roldan, with his first +prompting of ambition. "But I never could do that; I have not the +patience. I mean to be governor of the Californias." + +"I hope you may be," said the young priest, gravely. + +"Are all your Indians docile?" asked Roldan, abruptly. + +The priest raised his head. "Why do you ask?" + +Roldan related his suspicions. + +The priest shot a furtive glance through the open window at the dark +square. + +"I don't know," he said slowly. "Sometimes I have thought--you see, many +are stubborn and intractable, and have to be flogged and chained. +Privately I think we are wasting our energies. We will leave California +several beautiful monuments for posterity to wonder at, but as for the +Indians we will end where we began. They are always escaping and running +back to the mountains. Their every instinct is for barbarism; they have +not one for civilization, nor can any be planted whose roots will not +trail over the surface. The good Lord intended them to be savages, +nothing more; and it is mistaken sentimentalism--However, it is not for +me to criticise, and I beg, Don Roldan, that you will not repeat what I +have said." + +"Of course I shall not; but tell me, do you think there is danger?" + +"We have one rather bright young Indian--there are about a dozen +exceptions in all California, and they are treacherous. His name is +Anastacio, and he has great influence with the other Indians. A good +many of them are angry at present because they have been punished for +stealing grapes and stores, and just now they are rather excited because +it has been proposed to banish Anastacio to a Mission where there are +more soldiers,--he is regarded as the inciter of the outrages." + +"Have you soldiers here?" + +"Eleven. The guard house is in the left hand corner of the square. But +what could they do in an uprising? We must get rid of Anastacio. I will +go now and speak to Padre Flores." + +Roldan went out into the square and strolled over to the soldiers' +quarters. The door was closed, but light streamed from an uncovered +window, and he had a good view of the guard room. A half dozen soldiers +were lying about on benches, half-dressed, smoking the eternal +cigarrito. Two were at a table writing. None looked alert, but as Roldan +passed out of the plaza to the open beyond, he encountered a sentinel +who was ready to gossip with the young don and told him that three more +were on duty on the several sides of the square. + +Roldan strolled on to the rancheria, a collection of six or eight +hundred huts of mud and straw among a thicket of willows by the creek. +Here all was dark and quiet. He glanced through several of the +uncurtained windows and saw whole families peacefully asleep. Suddenly +he paused and held his breath, at the same time retreating into the +heavy shade of a willow. A number of doors had opened almost +simultaneously; there was the sharp crunch of dry brush, and dark +figures glided, with the snake-like motion peculiar to the Indian, +toward the upper end of the rancheria. + +Roldan waited a moment, then followed softly. He had set himself the +duty of saving the Mission which had shown him hospitality, and was not +to be deterred. Moreover, the spirit of adventure was by no means +quenched. + +In a few moments he paused opposite a large hut, from which issued a +subdued murmur. The window had been covered, but a thin ray of light +pierced through a crack in the door, and to this Roldan applied his eye. + +The room was crowded with Indians standing respectfully about a man in +the middle of the room, whom Roldan knew instinctively to be Anastacio. +He was big and clean-limbed and sinewy, with small cunning eyes, a +resolute mouth and chin, and an air of perfect fearlessness. Roldan +warmed to him, and looked with admiration and envy at the muscles on his +splendid limbs. + +He was speaking rapidly in the native patois, and Roldan could gather +little of his meaning beyond what his gestures conveyed. He shook his +fist in the direction of the Mission, snapped his fingers in scorn, +pointed toward the mountains, then made the motion of speeding an arrow +from the bow, at the same time contracting his face hideously. + +Roldan stayed as long as he dared, then returned hastily to the Mission. +A friar was locking up for the night, and began to chide the young guest +for being out so late, but Roldan interrupted him impatiently. + +"Can I see Padre Flores to-night?" he asked. "I must see him. It is +important." + +"He has retired to his cell, but I will take your message; and he never +denies himself to those that need him." + +He went to the end of the corridor and tapped at a door. In a few +moments he returned. + +"Padre Flores will see you," he said. + +The priest was standing by the little altar in the corner of his cell +when Roldan entered. + +"What is it, my son?" he asked. "Have you learned anything new? Padre +Estenega has told me of your suspicions." + +Roldan rapidly related what he had seen. The priest's face became grave +and anxious. + +"There is trouble brewing, I fear," he said. Then he smiled suddenly. +"You ran away to avoid fighting. It would be odd if you found yourself +in the midst of it." + +"I did not run away to avoid fighting," said Roldan, flushing hotly. +"Pardon, father; I meant that you have misunderstood. I do not choose to +be shut up in a barrack against my will, but I am ready to fight; and, +although I am not yet sixteen, you shall see that I can help you protect +your Mission. And Adan too." + +"I am sure of it. I did but tease you. And your part shall begin to- +night. You are rested, no?" + +"I feel as if I wanted no more sleep for a week." + +"Very well. Tell brother Antonio--whom you met on the corridor just now +--to let you in the church by the side door and give you the key, with +which you will lock yourself in. Then go up into the belfry and watch. +It is the full of the moon and clear. If you merely see a dozen or more +figures gliding about the rancheria, that will mean that they are +plotting, and intend no action to-night. If you see several hundred, run +down and bring me word. But if you see a mass of men rise at once and +descend upon the west gate, ring the bells. I shall go and warn the +soldiers, and every priest and brother will sleep on his pistol to- +night. But I don't think they are organised as yet. Before dawn I shall +send a messenger to the nearest town for reinforcements. Go, my son. You +are a brave and clever lad." + +Roldan ran down the corridor and secured admission to the church. When +he had locked the door behind him, the vast dark building, beneath whose +tiles priests lay buried, shook his spirit as night and the plains had +not done, and he wished that he had brought Adan. Then he jerked his +shoulders, reflected that cowards did not carry off the prizes of the +world, and determined that his first should be the admiration and +approval of the priests and soldiers of this great Mission. He walked +rapidly down the nave, trying not to hear the hollow echo of his +footsteps, then opened several doors before he found the one behind +which was the spiral stair leading to the belfry. His supple legs +carried him swiftly up the steep ascent, and in a moment he was +straining his eyes in the direction of the rancheria. + +The belfry was about ten feet square. The massive walls contained three +large apertures, through which the clear sonorous notes of the great +bells carried far. Just beneath the arch Roldan had selected as +observatory, and on the side opposite the plaza was the private garden +of the padres, surrounded by cloisters. An aged figure, cowled, his arms +folded, was pacing slowly. + +Roldan, glancing over his shoulder, saw Padre Flores return from the +soldiers' quarters; but in the rancheria there was no motion but the +swaying tops of the willows, and no sound anywhere but the hoot of the +owl and the yap of the coyote. + +It was a long and lonely watch. Roldan felt as if he were suspended in +air, cut off from Earth and all its details. Although his military +instinct had been aroused and he burned for fight, his spirit grew +graver in that isolation, and he resolved to do all he could to save the +Mission from attack. It was there for peace and good deeds, and its +preservation was of far more importance than a small pair of spurs for +Master Roldan. + +Nevertheless, Roldan was to win his spurs. + +Toward morning he saw an Indian, attended by a priest, let himself out +of a gate and steal toward the corral. A few moments later he +reappeared, leading a mustang up the valley in the shadow of the trees. +The priest re-entered the gate, and Roldan knew that the messenger had +gone forth for help. + +At sunrise a brother came running up the stair. "Better go down," he +said, smiling. "I am going to ring for mass, and it will deafen you. You +saw nothing, of course?" + +"Nothing." + +"We did not expect it, and slept. It takes time to organise." + +"Have they any weapons?" + +"Their bows and arrows. We have always thought it best to leave them +those in case of assault by savage tribes." + +Roldan descended the stair as the bells rang out their peremptory +summons. Although he was tired and sleepy, he determined to remain in +the church during mass, and knelt near the altar by a pillar where he +could command a view of the nave. Almost the first to enter was +Anastacio. He carried himself proudly--like a warrior, thought Roldan-- +and advancing to the altar bowed low, then knelt stiffly, his eyes +closed. + +The others drifted in slowly: the women kneeling on the right, the men +on the left. Finally all the priests and brothers, except Padre Flores, +who conducted the service, entered and knelt in the aisle. Padre Flores' +garments were as rich as any worn in old Spain, and the candelabra about +him were as massive. The images of the saints were clad in white satin +embroidered with gold and silver thread. On the walls were many high- +coloured paintings of saints, softened by the flood of light from the +wax candles. + +Roldan watched keenly all the faces within the line of his vision. They +were mostly sleepy. Suddenly, as his glance shifted, it encountered the +eyes of Anastacio. Those powerful crafty orbs were fixed upon him under +drawn brows. + +"He suspects me," thought Roldan, and then once more demonstrated that +several of his talents were diplomatic. He glanced past the Indian +indifferently to the women, then to the priests, and from there to the +paintings and altar, his regard but that of the curious traveller. + +When Roldan left the church he encountered Adan, who evidently had +entered last and knelt near the door. + +"Where did you go last night?" Adan demanded loudly. + +"I sat up talking to the priests and roaming about the square," replied +Roldan. Anastacio was almost at his elbow. + +"Well, I had had sleep enough by twelve o'clock and I went into your +cell, and then spent the rest of the night waiting for you to come +back." + +"I hope breakfast is ready. Come." + +They went to the refectory, where Padre Flores embraced Roldan heartily, +but made no allusion to his watch; there were Indian servants present. +After breakfast the two boys walked up and down the middle of the +square, and Roldan related his experience of the night. Adan listened +with open mouth and shortened breath. + +"Caramba!" he ejaculated. "Is there to be a fight?" + +"I am sure of it. Are you frightened?" + +"Not I. I'd rather fight Indians than ford a river. But do you think we +can hold out?" + +"We can try. And if they don't make the attack to-night, we shall have +the better chance, because the reinforcement will arrive to-morrow. But +that Anastacio suspects me, and doubtless he has discovered in some way +that the messenger has gone. I am sure there will be trouble to-night, +and I am going now to get a good sleep. Do you sleep, too; and see that +you eat no dulces for supper, lest they make you heavy." + +He awoke about four in the afternoon. There was a babel of voices in the +plaza, and he sprang out of bed, excited with the thought that war had +begun. But he saw only a typical Mission Sabbath afternoon. Several +hundred Indians were seated on the ground in groups of two or three, +gambling furiously. Through the open gates opposite, Roldan could see a +spirited horse-race, a crowd of Indians betting at the top of their +voices. + +Roldan went to the kitchen and asked for a cold luncheon, then sought +Padre Flores. The priest was in his cell, and as he saw Roldan he +motioned to him to close the door. + +"I can learn nothing, my son," he said; but something in the air tells +me that there will be trouble to-night. Will you watch again?" + +"I will, my father." + +"We will all sleep on our pistols. Now listen. All we can do is to +protect the gates. If you ring once that means that the Indians are +advancing on the south gate, the one nearest the rancheria. But they are +crafty, and will doubtless seek to enter by one less guarded. Two peals +will mean the west gate, three the east, and a wild irregular clamour +the north. Can you remember?" + +"I can, my father," said Roldan, proudly. + +"I believe you. Go up into the tower at sundown, which is the hour when +the gates are closed. As soon as you have finished ringing you can come +down and join in the fight. The arms will be kept in the room where we +sat yesterday until your meal was made ready. Now go, my son, and God +bless you. Ah!" he called after him. "Wait a moment. Get a cassock and +put it on. It will make you shapeless among the bells. Otherwise you +might be seen." + +Roldan was at his post as soon as the Indians had been driven through +the gates for the night. They straggled about the valley, still talking +excitedly; but there was nothing unusual in this, the watcher had been +told. Gradually they moved toward the rancheria, disappeared into it, +and the valley was as quiet as it had been the night before. + +In the great court there were rifts of light at irregular intervals; the +heavy wooden shutters of every window were ajar. Roldan felt the nervous +tension of those minds below, and with it a sense of companionship, very +different from the oppressive loneliness of his previous watch. + +The clock of the Mission had just struck eleven when Roldan stood +suddenly erect and hooped his hands about his eyes. Something was moving +in the willows beside the river. The moon shone full on the rancheria, +and when the outer edge of the latter appeared to broaden and project +itself the effect was noticeable at once. + +Roldan watched breathlessly. In a moment there could no longer be any +doubt: a broad compact something was moving down the valley toward the +Mission. And an army of cats could not have made less sound. + +He laid his hand on the bell rope. The Indians came swiftly, but their +course was not yet defined. When within a hundred yards of the Mission +they deflected suddenly to the right. Their destination was not the +south gate. + +Roldan closed his eyes for a half moment to relieve them of the strain, +then opened them and held his breath. Only the outer fringe of the +little army could now be seen; it was crawling close to the western +wall. In a few moments they were beneath Roldan; he could hear the +slight impact with the air. Then once more he strained his eyes until he +thought they would fly from his head, and his lungs seemed bursting. +They were approaching the west gate. + +They passed it. There could be no doubt now that they purposed to attack +the north gate; but Roldan dared not ring until they were well away from +the west side, lest they change their plans and his signal mislead. + +As they reached the corner of the wall they suddenly accelerated their +pace as if impatience mastered them. When the tail of the procession had +whisked about and Roldan saw a compact mass move like a black cloud +before the wind toward the north gate, he caught the rope in both hands +and jangled with all his might. + +The great clapper hurled itself against the mighty sides of the bell +with a violence which split the nerves and made the ear-drums creak. The +blood surged to Roldan's head, carrying chaos with it. He had a confused +sense of a flood of light in the plaza below, but could hear no other +sound except the deafening uproar in his ears. Suddenly something gave +way beneath his feet. He had an awful feeling of disintegration, of +solid parting from solid in empty space. He kicked out wildly. His feet +touched nothing. Then his head suddenly cleared, although the deep tones +of the bell still seemed echoing there, and he became aware that his +descent had stopped, and that his hands, torn and aching, were still +clutching the rope. He knew what had happened. He had stepped too far +and gone through one of the arches. + +There was no time for fright. He began to pull himself up by the rope, +hand over hand. At the same time he was acutely conscious of many +things. The Indians were yelling like demoniacs and battering at the +gate. In the garden on the other side, the old priest was shouting Ave +Marias in a high quavering voice. A breeze had sprung up and Roldan felt +the chill in it. And he felt the weight of the cassock. The heavy +woollen garment fatigued his arms and impeded his progress. Were it not +for that he could scramble up like a monkey. + +He was within two feet of the top. Suddenly he felt a slackening of the +rope, accompanied by a faint sickening sound. The rope was old, it was +giving way. + +Roldan made a wild lurch for the projecting floor of the belfry. The +rope broke. He went down. + +He had heard that a drop, however swift, might seem to occupy hours to +the doomed. To his whirling horror-struck brain this descent certainly +seemed very long. It was almost as if he were sauntering. Nor was he +tumbling over and over. He had shut his eyes tight when the rope +snapped. He opened them, gave a shuddering glance downward, then laughed +almost hysterically: his cassock, ample even for a man, had caught the +breeze and spread out on all sides like a parachute. + +And although the descent occupied but a moment longer, he comprehended +the situation, with his abnormally sharpened senses, as clearly as +though he stood on high with a spy glass. + +All the inhabitants of the Mission proper--the priests, brothers, +soldiers, and house servants--were standing before the north gate, +firearms in hand. Beyond were some twenty-five Indians battering and +yelling, making noise enough to induce the belief that they numbered ten +times as many more. The rest were not to be seen, but it was not +difficult for Roldan to suspect their purpose. + +He lighted on the stone steps of the church, tore off his heavy garment, +and ran toward the north gate. As he did so the east gate fell with a +crash, and five hundred Indians rushed into the plaza. + +They uttered no sound. The guard at the upper end of the square was not +aware of their advent until Roldan reached them. He was out of breath, +but he caught the arm of the man nearest him and pointed. In a second +the word had passed, and the handful of defendants stared helplessly at +the advancing hordes. But only for a moment. Padre Flores shouted to +fall into line, then ordered them not to fire in the same breath. +Anastacio, somewhat ahead of his followers, was approaching with a white +rag in his hand. + +When within a yard of the missionaries he paused and saluted +respectfully. + +"A word, my fathers," he commanded, and in excellent Spanish. + +"Go on," said Padre Flores, sternly. + +"We have not come to kill," said Anastacio, slowly and with great +distinctness: the noise beyond the north gate had ceased. "You know that +we never kill the priests, nor do we care for blood. We have come for +the stores of the Mission--all your great winter supply, except a small +quantity which we will leave you that you may not suffer until you can +get more. We are tired of this life. We belong to the mountains. We +cannot see that we are any better for your teachings, and we certainly +are not as strong. Now let us do our work in peace, and all will be +well. But if you fire, we let our arrows go, and we are twenty to one." + +All turned anxiously to Padre Flores. They were not warlike, and if no +bodily harm was intended they could see no reason for resistance. + +"You have us at disadvantage," said Padre Flores, coldly. "I cannot +sacrifice those in my charge, if you do not mean to kill. I agree to +your terms on one condition: that we retain our firearms. I pass my word +that no one shall shoot. I cannot take your word--nor that of any +Indian. As you say, our teachings are thrown away." + +"I take yours," said Anastacio, undisturbed. "All I ask is that you +remain here under charge of twenty of my followers until I call them +away." + +He marched off, after planting his guard; and for the next two hours he +and his men looted the Mission and packed the trove on horses which had +been brought up, or on the backs of the bigger Indians. At the end of +that time he shouted to his prisoners to come down and enter the +Mission. + +Roldan and Adan had been exchanging bitter condolences over the +humiliating change in the warlike programme, but the raw air of the +morning had chilled their enthusiasm, and Roldan, moreover, began to +feel reaction from the shock to his nerves. It was not every day that a +boy sailed down through forty feet of space and lit on his feet, and his +nerves were out of tune. + +When Anastacio called, he went with the rest, but lagged behind. The +door of the Mission sala was open. The priests entered first, their +heads scornfully erect; then the brethren, the soldiers, and servants. +As Roldan and Adan were about to enter, the door was suddenly pulled to, +coarse hands were clapped over their mouths, and, kicking, struggling, +biting, scratching, they were borne swiftly across the courtyard and out +of the gates. There they were set on their feet, and found themselves +face to face with Anastacio. + +"Don't yell," he said. "There is no one to come to the rescue. We shall +not hurt you unless you try to run away. Then I myself will beat you. +Get on that horse, both of you." + +"I am tired," said Roldan, indifferently. "I want to sleep." + +"Sleep? Very well. Come here." + +He lifted him upon a large horse, then mounted behind and encircled him +with one arm. + +"Go to sleep," he said; and cantered rapidly down the valley, followed +by his thieving horde. + +VII + +When Roldan awoke he shivered slightly: the breath of winter was about +him. He peered into the dusk, but could only gather that he was in a +forest of huge trees on the side of a mountain. High above the wind was +surging. He had a curious sense of travelling through the depths of the +sea in a vacuum, the roar of suspended waters just over his head. +Behind, between the giant trees, was a moving column of horses and men. + +"Where are we?" he asked Anastacio. + +"In the mountains, in a redwood forest. My pueblo is not far." + +"What mountains? What forest?" + +"That you will not know." + +"Where is Adan?" + +"On a stout mustang between two faithful followers of mine." + +"They are unnecessary. He would not leave me." + +"Perhaps not. Sometimes the white man lies and sometimes he is true." + +Roldan sat up; his tired head had rested against the shoulder of his +captor. + +"Suppose I get behind you," he said. "It will be more comfortable for us +both. That is, if you can trust me," with an attempt at sarcasm. + +"I trust you. Get behind." + +Roldan slipped down, sprang up, then strained his eyes once more into +the depths of the forest. Nothing moved but that winding procession. +Occasionally a coyote yapped or a wildcat yelled. Suddenly something +fell against his face, pricking it gently. He looked over Anastacio's +shoulder. They were passing into an open. The air was full of white, +whirling particles. + +"It snows," said Anastacio; "but we are soon there." + +"We are in the Sierras," thought Roldan. He looked about with intense +interest; he had never seen snow before; and to penetrate the mystery of +the mighty Sierras had been one of the hopes of his life. The ground was +white, and crunched under the horses' hoofs. The air was thick with +snow-stars glittering under the full radiance of the moon. Roldan forgot +that he was a captive. His mind had made its first impulse to the +mysteries of night and solitude during the few moments between his entry +into another forest and the encounter with the bear; it now made its +first real opening. He was vaguely troubled by the embryonic thoughts +that in their maturity come to men who have lived and suffered, when +they are alone in a forest at night, far from other men. + +Again they plunged into the forest. No snow penetrated the treetops, +knit together by centuries and storms. All was black again, and the deep +ocean of leaf and branch roared faintly overhead. + +Roldan felt oppressed and thoughtful. He looked into the future and saw +himself a man. He would be governor of the Californias, and make himself +a good and great man, wiser than the idle caballeros who patronised him; +he would teach them the folly of their useless lives. + +"Look," said Anastacio, abruptly. "We are here. It is a pueblo of my +fathers, and will serve us now." + +He pointed with his riding switch through the trees to a vague +whiteness, and in a moment they emerged into another open. It was a +clearing some three hundred feet square, crowded with dilapidated +hovels, white under a light fall of snow. It was in the heart of the +Sierras, on the flat of a peak; and high on every side reared other +peaks, glittering with snow, black with redwoods. The snow clouds had +passed. The moon rode in a dark blue sky set thick with stars. The +silence, the repose, were appalling. + +Roldan jumped to the ground, and accompanied by Anastacio, ran up and +down to get the cold and fatigue of night travel out of his body. In a +few moments they were joined by Adan, who came waddling up, his broad +face knit with perplexity and delight. + +"I leave you now," said Anastacio, "but remember--if you attempt to +escape you carry poisoned arrows in your backs." + +"Ay, Roldan!" exclaimed Adan, when their formidable host was out of +hearing. "But this was more than we bargained for. I don't know whether +I like it or not." + +"I must say I don't like the idea of being in the power of savages-- +Indians," said Roldan, contemptuously. "But as we started out for +adventure we must take black bread with white. I think I do rather like +this, but I shall not if we have to stay here too long and nothing +happens." + +"Isn't anything likely to happen?" asked Adan, anxiously. + +"How can one tell? And who could find this place? But if worst comes to +worst we'll run away--and not with poisoned arrows in our backs, +either." + +"That we will," said Adan, emphatically. "We've done that before." + +The boys were given a good supper of meat roasted over coals, and a +slice of Mission cake, then were escorted by Anastacio to the largest of +the huts. + +"Enter and sleep," he said. "It is my hut. I shall sleep beside you." + +VIII + +The boys slept soundly between two excellent Mission blankets in a +corner of the hut, whose walls and floors had been well swept with +Mission brooms. Anastacio, despite his contempt for the trammels of +civilisation, had developed an aristocratic taste or two. He slept by +the door, but when the boys awoke he was not there. The pueblo, but for +two sentinels standing before the door, was apparently deserted. The sun +was looking over the highest peak, suffusing the black aisles of the +forest with a rosy glow, reddening the snow on hut and level and rocky +heights. There was not a sound except the faint murmur of the treetops. + +"Where is the world?" asked Roldan. "Are there ranches, with cavalcades +and bull-fights, lazy caballeros lying in hammocks smoking cigarritos, +or dancing the night through with silly girls? Dios de mi alma! I feel +as if I did not care." + +"Caramba!" exclaimed Adan, "I am famished. Do you suppose they have left +us anything to eat?" + +"I suppose there is nothing to do but ask one of these dogs to be good +enough to give us breakfast--no, not ask. I could starve, but not beg of +an Indian." + +He beckoned haughtily to one of the sentinels, who approached and +saluted respectfully. + +"Breakfast," said the young don, curtly. "We wish to eat at once." + +The Indian went over to a large stone oven and took out four meal cakes, +which he carried to the boys, then fetched them fruit and wine. + +"Where is Anastacio and the others?" asked Roldan, breakfast over. + +"In the temascal." + +Roldan sprang to his feet. "Do you hear that, Adan?" he cried. "We have +always wanted to see Indians in temascal." To the sentinel, "Take us +there at once." + +The Indian scowled. "But for you, senor, we, too, are in the temascal." + +"Take us to the temascal," said Roldan, peremptorily, and the savage, in +whom servility had been planted by civilisation, yielded to the will of +the aristocrat. He bent his shoulders and said: "Bueno; come!" + +The boys followed him through the brush, the sweet-scented chaparral on +which the honey-dew still lingered, to another and smaller clearing. +Here were several long rows of earthen huts, three or four feet high, +out of which smoke poured through an aperture in the roof of each. Near +by was a broad creek to which the bank sloped gently from the clearing. +The creek, some three feet deep, murmured over coloured stones and +sprouting trees. The long fine strands of the ice grass trailed far over +the water, motionless. Huge bunches of maidenhair, delicate as green +lace, clung to the steep bluffs on the opposite side. Forests of ferns +grew close to the water's edge. Down through a rift in the cliffs +tumbled a mountain stream over its rocky bed. + +"Are they stewing in those things?" asked Roldan. + +The Indian nodded. Roldan, followed closely by Adan, approached one of +the temascals and opened the door cautiously. At first they could see +nothing, so dense was the smoke; but when much had rushed out through +the new opening, they saw two prostrate figures, sweating from every +pore. Their eyes were closed, they breathed stertorously. The expression +on their heavy faces was beatific. + +"Caramba!" exclaimed Adan, as Roldan closed the door, "I am glad they +like it. What a lot of trouble to get clean." + +"As they never take a bath, they couldn't get clean any other way; and +besides it rests them after any great exertion--Mission raiding, for +instance--and they also fancy it drags every humour out through the +pores of the skin. They'll be coming out soon. Let us go down to the +creek and wait." + +The smoke was ascending upward in straight columns through the still +air, scarcely clouding the brilliant morning, not a wreath wandering +into the aisles of the forest. The sun climbed higher, melting the light +fall of snow, its rays dancing among the silver ripples of the water, +vivifying the many greens about the creek. + +The boys amused themselves flinging pebbles at the darting trout and +discussing chances of escape. + +"We must not fly too soon," said Roldan, "or we shall run into the +soldiers. Of course they are scouring the country after these robbers." + +"This is a good place to hide in until the Mission food gives out; but +I'd prefer even the barracks to living on acorns--Ay, look!" + +The door of one of the temascals had opened. A limp figure tottered +forth and down to the bank. He almost fell into the creek, but had +sufficient wit uncooked to rest his head on a projecting stone. +Presently came another, then another, and another, until the bright +rocks were covered with dusky forms, the heads bobbing just above the +surface, supported on stump or stone. The boys barely recognised +Anastacio. Where was that commanding presence, that haughty mien? Bowed +like an old man, blind from smoke, with simmering brain, he reeled into +the water with as little dignity as his creatures. + +But in less than an hour all had sprung forth briskly, danced about in +the sun to dry, and started on a run for the pueblo. Roldan and Adan +followed close, knowing that a feast alone would satisfy appetite after +the temascal. And in a little time the smell of roast meat pervaded the +morning, great cakes were roasting. The boys were invited to eat apart +with Anastacio. At the conclusion of the meal the host, who had not +spoken, solemnly poured out three glasses of fire-water. He swallowed +his at a gulp. The boys sipped a few drops, winking rapidly. Then Roldan +thought it time to speak: his chief was visibly thawed. + +"What are you keeping us for?" he asked. + +"Ransom." Anastacio lit a cigarrito--one of the padre's--and lay back +on a bearskin. + +"Do you know why we ran away? To escape the conscription. If you give us +up, all our adventures, our dangers, our escapes, will be as nothing, +and we shall be punished besides." + +Anastacio moved his eyes to Roldan's with a flash of interest. + +"Good! I hate the government. You shall stay here until the time of +conscription is over. Then I will get a big sack of Mexican dollars, a +herd of cattle, a caponara of horses, and much tobacco and whiskey. Who +are your fathers?" + +Roldan explained. + +Anastacio flushed under his thick skin. "Good. I will double the +ransom--and the guard." + +"The conscription will be over in a few weeks--" + +"You could not go before. We too must hide. Of course the soldiers are +behind. I have many scouts watching. Now go to sleep." + +The following week was clear and bright, but very cold. The boys, bred +in the warm basin of California, must have suffered had not Anastacio +ordered one of his minions to make them coat and boots from the skin of +the coyote. Every morning the chief drilled his men with the tactics of +a born commander who had let no opportunity for observation escape him. +The military discipline of the pueblo was only relaxed for three hours +in the afternoon, during which time the Indians were given full taste of +the freedom they coveted that they might battle for it the more +passionately when the time came. They gambled, slept, shot game in the +forest, exercised the horses, which were in corral about a mile from the +camp. The boys shot deer with Anastacio, and wrestled in the plaza. +Occasionally the taciturn Indian unbent when sitting by the great +bonfire in the open at night, and told wild tales of savage life before +the padres came. Roldan admired his splendid supple body and fearless +manhood, but the Indian was too sinister to inspire affection. Adan was +loudly bored. Roldan's ardent imagination sustained him. + +At the end of the week the scouts having failed to discover any sign of +the enemy, Anastacio determined to go down to the river in the valley +for a fortnight's salmon fishing. He, too, was bored. The fangs of +civilisation are long and tenacious. + +It was on a brilliant winter's morning that Anastacio, his captives, and +his five hundred men wound their way down through the cold forest on the +mountain into the soft warm air of the valley. There had been no rain +for three weeks, and the river was not more than half full; and it was +very quiet. They camped on the bank, well away from the scattered groups +of trees, that they might not lose a ray of sunshine; and Roldan and +Adan forgot that they were under constant surveillance. There were no +tents; they slept in the open air, the boys in the centre of a square of +Indians. During the day they caught many fine salmon, and salted what +they did not eat, to sell to the rancheros. + +It was on the sixth night that Roldan, who was wakeful, suddenly raised +himself on his elbow and listened intently. Far away, above the murmur +of the river, the audible slumbers of the camp, he heard a low, precise, +monotonous sound. He knew what it meant. For a moment he hesitated. The +chances of escape seemed to grow less daily. It was true that he was in +no danger, that he would eventually be restored to his parents--but with +his adventures cut short. He was fond of his home, but it was always +there, and he was keen for variety: his life had been very uneventful. +On the other hand, if that advancing army conquered the Indians, might +not his and Adan's captivity be far more distasteful than it was at +present? He sprang up and called Anastacio. In a second that warrior was +on his feet and had leaped over his alert sentinels into the square. + +"What is it?" he demanded. + +"Listen." + +Anastacio threw himself full length and laid his ear to the ground. A +moment later he was erect again. He caught Roldan by one shoulder and +Adan by the other. By this time every Indian in the camp was pressing +about his chief. + +"They are not two miles away," said Anastacio. "And the dawn will be +here in an hour. There are ten miles between us and the mountains. I +don't wish to fight in the open without knowing their numbers." + +Roldan danced up and down with sudden excitement. "I have a plan," he +cried. "You can trust me. I don't want to go back." + +Anastacio bent his keen malevolent eyes close above the young +Spaniard's, then loosened his hold. + +"Bueno," he said. "I trust you." + +"The straw," said Roldan. "Bring it all here." + +Anastacio gave the order, and an immense carreta of straw was trundled +up. + +"Now," said Roldan, "gather it into bunches the size of a man's head and +tie each firmly. The tide is running toward the enemy, and it is too +dark to see clearly. Do you understand, senor?" + +Anastacio made a loud exclamation, caught Roldan in his arms and kissed. +him, much to that haughty young gentleman's disgust, then tied the first +bunch himself. Roldan, Adan, and some forty of the quicker Indians +rapidly manipulated the straw, and in little more than ten minutes had +cast a hundred round compact bundles into the hurrying tide. As they +sailed away they certainly looked, under the heavy shadow of the banks +and the black-blue of the sky, like an army of men swimming with the +desperate haste of terror, their heads alone above water. + +"Now!" cried Anastacio, "to the mountains." + +They had brought only pack-horses. There was nothing to do but run, and +Anastacio, driving his entire following ahead of him, sped to cover. It +was not twenty minutes before they heard a sharp volley of musketry, and +if their breath had not been short they would have laughed aloud at the +success of Roldan's strategy. The sky was turning grey as they reached +the straggling outposts of the forest on the mountain. The firing had +ceased. Their ruse had doubtless been discovered. + +"We will hide for twenty-four hours and rest," Anastacio said to Roldan, +who was the only person he condescended to hold converse with, although +he allowed Adan to sun himself in his presence. "By that time, too, I +shall know their numbers. If they are many I'll draw them into the +mountains and fire from ambush. If few, they shall have open fight." + +"You will let us see it?" asked Roldan, eagerly. "Of course I cannot +fight my own people; but I don't want to be sent to the pueblo, and I do +want to see a fight." + +Anastacio hesitated. "Bueno," he said, "I owe you much. You give me the +word of the California don that unless I am killed you will not run +away?" + +"I promise. There is nothing else to do. That is to say, I promise not +to run away before this battle is over." + +"That is what I mean," said Anastacio, curtly. "Now we will sleep." + +He disposed his men in the forest above a narrow, rocky canon into which +the enemy would hardly venture. Roldan volunteered to keep watch with +the two sentinels, and returned with them to the outskirts of the +forest. The enemy was marching steadily across the valley. After a time +they halted, and lay down for a time. Early in the afternoon they +resumed march, then halted again within a mile of the mountain, sending +two scouts ahead. By this time Anastacio had joined his sentinels, and +all four hid in the underforest between the great trees. + +The scouts, keeping as much under cover as was possible, crept up the +lower spur of the mountain, their glance describing a constant half- +circle. When they were within a few feet of the fugitives, Anastacio +raised his bow and discharged two arrows in rapid succession. One buried +itself in the jugular of the foremost scout, and he huddled down among +the soft leaves without a cry. The other, equally well aimed, entered +the shoulder of the second scout, where it quivered violently for a few +seconds, then was torn forth and flung to the ground with a cry of +defiance. The Californian, disregarding his wound, raised himself to his +full height and pointed his pistol. But vaguely: the quiet, feathery +young redwoods told no tales. Then his eye fell upon his dead brother. +He turned and fled. + +"They will not enter the forest," said Anastacio; "and when I am ready +they will fight, not before. Have you pencil and paper, senor?" + +Roldan produced a treasured note-book that a relative had brought him +from Boston. + +"Write," said the chief; and he dictated:-- + +SENOR DON CAPITAN,--At noon to-morrow we fight in the valley near the +eight oak trees and the two madronos. Do you wish to fight sooner you +can come into the mountains. It will be better for us. +ANASTACIO. + +He tore out the leaf, crawled down the mountain as non-apparently as a +python, and pinned it high on an outstanding redwood, then returned and +told his sentinels to sleep, replacing them with others. + +IX + +That evening Anastacio called Roldan to him. + +"I fear treachery," he said. "Who can trust five hundred men that have +learned too much? And the white men, they have better brains than mine. +I watch to-night. Will you watch with me, senor?--that I can sleep +before morning and rest for the fight." + +"I will," said Roldan, enthusiastically. "And Adan also?" + +"It matters not." + +When the dusk was so thick in the aisles that every moving frond looked +like a man looming suddenly, one of the sentinels returned with the news +that the paper had been taken from the tree, and that the Californians +had pitched tents, and to all appearance were at rest for the night. + +It was not likely that the enemy would venture into the forest at night. +They were not a large body, they were not pressed for time, nor were +they the heroes of many wars. The Indians were comparatively safe until +morning; nevertheless, Anastacio was too good a general to relax +vigilance. When night came he and the two boys went down the mountain +and sent the outpost back to sleep. They ventured out where the trees +grew far apart, and the brilliant stars of California illumined the +great valley like so many thousand watch-fires. + +The three sat down side by side, their gaze directed steadily downward +and outward. + +"Why do you fight at all?" asked Roldan. "You could stay in these +mountains until the Californians were dust, and not be caught." + +"And live like hunted beasts. I like the valley; the sun in winter, the +cool mountains in summer. If I am victor to-morrow, all the Indians in +California will call me chief. They will run here from every Mission and +hacienda, and from every hill and mountain, like little ones to their +good father; and we will drive the priests out of the country, and make +the hidalgos, the caballeros, the soft silk-dressed donas our friends or +our slaves--as they wish. California belongs to us. The Great Spirit +put us here, not the white man. If it was for them why did they not grow +out of the earth as we did? Why were we put here at all if our land was +not for us? We were happy until these priests came to drive us mad +making boots and mud bricks and wine all day, driven like dogs to the +kennel, flogged when we wanted to lie in the sun--" + +"But, Anastacio," interrupted Roldan, who had listened to this strange +outburst with the vague consciousness that the soul of an expiring race +had opened its lips for a brief moment, "you are far more clever than +most Indians. If it were not for the priests you would be no better than +the most ignorant of them." + +"If I am clever now, senor, was I not clever in the beginning? You do +not make cake out of bran. The Great Spirit sent his light into me and +said: 'Thou shalt be a great chief.' I could have done as well and +better without the priests. What good did it do me to read and tell my +beads and make chocolate? Was I happy at the Mission? Not for one moon, +senor. I felt as if I had a wild beast chained in me that choked and +panted for the free life of my youth, of my fathers. I ran away from the +Mission twenty-three times--and was brought back and flogged. Many times +I would have crushed my head with a stone had it not been that all the +other Indians of the Mission ran to me like dogs, and that I could make +them tremble with a word and obey with a look. I knew that the Great +Spirit had given me what these poor creatures had not, and that one day +I would give California to them again. It has begun." + +"But we have better things to eat and drink and more comfortable houses +and clothes than you have in your pueblos. I like what the priests call +'civilisation.'" + +"It is for the white man, not for the Indian with a skin like the earth +and a heart like the wild-cat. If we did not know of fine bread and thin +wine and heavy shoes and cursed bags about our legs we should not want +them. Padre Flores says that he and the other priests came here to make +us happy. Why not let us be happy in our own way? We needed no +teaching." + +Years after, Roldan, who grew to know the world well and many men, +recalled the conversation of that night, and meditated upon the strange +workings of the human mind: the fundamental philosophy of life differs +little in the brain of the savage and the brain of the student-thinker. + +"We are told that we must progress, grow better," he said. + +"Hundreds and hundreds of years Indians lived and died here before the +priests came. All legends say they were happy. Now they 'progress,' and +suffer--in the body and in the spirit. One life is for us, another for +you. Should the white man have many children and children's children +until all the mountains and valleys of California are his, then will all +the Indians die, even though they are treated well for they are slaves-- +no more. Are they happy? For what were they made? To be slaves and die +from the earth before they are threescore and ten, to be no more +remembered than the beasts of the field?" + +"I hope you'll win to-morrow," cried Roldan, his young mind moved to +pity, and profoundly disturbed. "You can never get California away from +the Spaniard, and I can't wish you to; but you might, if you rallied all +the Indians to you, become powerful enough to live in the way you like +best, and I hope you will. Why should men say: 'I am better than you; I +will make you like myself?' How do we know? I have ridden like the wind, +and coliared a bull with the best vaquero in the Californias, but I am +afraid my mind has had fifteen years of siesta. Now--well, I shall be +governor of the Californias one day, and then I shall send all the +Indians back to the mountains." + +Anastacio put out his hand, and the two civilisations decreed by Nature +to stand apart from the beginning to the end of time clasped in brief +friendship. + +"I will be your friend," said the Indian, "and the white man need not +despise the friendship of a great chief. California is a fair land. +Others will come to it besides the Spaniard. If Anastacio has thousands +of Indians to run to his call they will fight when he bids them." + +"Caramba! you are right," exclaimed Roldan. "Those Americans--" + +"American boys?" asked Adan, eagerly. + +"Now," said Anastacio, "I sleep. Awake me when the sky turns grey." + +He stretched himself out and slept at once. The boys drew close together +and speculated upon the fateful morrow. They agreed to remain close +together, out of sight of the enemy, but where they could watch the +Indian forces. If Anastacio fell they would flee at once. + +X + +The small Californian force--it numbered little over two hundred men-- +was under the command of Juan Pardo Mesa, a captain notable for his +victorious encounters with Indians and for his knowledge of their +cunning. He was on the alert at dawn next morning, and long before the +sun had spurned the tops of the Coast range, his assumption of meditated +treachery was confirmed. A rising wind had set the young redwoods in +motion. Before long the practised eye of Captain Mesa saw an increased +agitation among the feathery branches, his ear caught a slight +crackling. His men were flat on the ground. He stood in the shadow of a +large oak. A moment later a dusky form crept out to where the brush grew +more sparsely, hesitated a moment, and apparently passed back word that +all was well; he was immediately followed by many of his kind; and the +lower slope of the mountain, burnt bare by fire, seemed suddenly +swarming with huge black rats. + +Mesa waited until they were well away from cover, then gave the expected +order: two hundred muskets, carbines, and flintlock pistols were +discharged, and one piece of artillery. + +But Anastacio, no mean general himself, was also on the alert for the +unexpected. In a few moments he had marshalled his forces in the form of +a hollow square, and ordered them to discharge their arrows from a +recumbent position. Owing to the heavy shadows, the aim of the +Californians had been uncertain, and only a few of the Indians had +fallen. Roldan and Adan were safe behind two large redwoods just above +the Indian army. + +The firing continued steadily all the morning, but resulted in few +mortal wounds. There was not a poisoned arrow in the pueblo. The balls +did more serious damage, and several Indians rolled groaning down the +slope. The rest were undaunted. They were more than two to one, and had +implicit faith in their chief's assurance that they were bound to rout +the Spaniard. + +Under cover of the cloud of smoke his weapons had raised despite a +strong wind, Mesa executed two flank movements, justifying the tactics +of Anastacio: he detached forty men from the main body and directed them +to attack the Indians on both sides and to cut off their retreat to the +forest. They were almost upon the north and south ends of Anastacio's +square--after making a detour and advancing from a distance--when the +boys shouted a warning. In a moment arrows were flying to right and +left; and the answering volley was far more deadly than the effects of +firing up hill. The Indians stood their ground, fitting their arrows +with swift dexterity, encouraged by Anastacio, who glided from point to +point like a hungry cobra, discharging two arrows to every man's one. +His only hope was to keep the Californians at long range until losses +compelled the latter to retreat: at close quarters arrows would be no +match for firearms. + +The battle began at five in the morning. It was at four in the afternoon +that Roldan passed his hand across his burning eyeballs, then gripped +Adan's arm and said through his teeth,-- + +"Anastacio is hit. I saw him shake from head to foot." + +"Madre de dios! Shall we run?" + +"Not yet. My brain is on fire. War is awful, and yet I burn to have a +pistol in my hands. I am sorry for Anastacio--but Dios de mi alma!--to +see a brave Spanish officer bite the dust with the arrow of a dog in his +brain! Ay, he moves! He is not dead." + +"His hand is as steady--but--do you notice?--all are not firing." + +"The arrows are giving out. There is only one end. But I must see it +through. Mary! Mary! They are breaking." + +The Indians, finding themselves almost without arrows, had sprung to +their feet, intending to make a rush for cover; but Mesa had anticipated +this move, and almost immediately his men had closed with the savages, +knocking them on the head with the butt-end of their muskets, +discharging their pistols at short range. The Indians. used both tooth +and nail, yelling like wildcats. The cool imperturbability of the +earlier part of the day had fled with their arrows. Anastacio fought +like a tiger. Despite his wounded thigh he stood firmly on his feet, +snatched the musket from a man his hands had throttled, and whirled it +about his head, threatening death to all that approached. His face was +swollen with passion, his eyes were starting from their sockets, his +long hair tossed wildly. The boys watched him with cold extremities and +hot cheeks and eyes. They were oblivious to the rest of the battlefield. +The fate of the indomitable chief, upon whose life the freedom of a race +perhaps depended, would have riveted the attention of older and wiser +brains. His movements were easy to follow; he was head above all and +shoulders above many. + +Suddenly the boys gave a gasp. The head of Anastacio was no longer to be +seen above that surging throng. Had he been wounded in a vital part? A +moment later they gave a hoarse gurgling cry and clung together, shaking +like children in icy water. The head of Anastacio rose again--above the +crowd, then higher,--higher,--until it looked down upon the squirming +mass from six feet above. It was on the end of a pole. + +XI + +The boys turned and fled, scrambling blindly upwards. Instinctively they +ran in the direction of the pueblo, and when they were finally obliged +to sit down and fight for their lost breath they realised the course +they had taken. + +The horror was still in their eyes, but neither spoke of what for a long +while to come must be uppermost in his mind. + +"I think we may as well go to the pueblo," said Roldan, as soon as he +could speak. "We must have food, and we are very tired. We can rest +there a few days, then take two of the horses--we can do nothing without +horses--and start out again. If any of the Indians escape and come back, +they will not have spirit enough left to touch us." + +"Bueno," said Adan. "The Mission blankets are there and they are soft, +and that oven makes good cakes. I hope the Indians go all with the +soldiers. I never want to see another." + +The boys resumed their flight, but more leisurely. They had no +difficulty in keeping to the trail, but it wound over many a weary mile. +Night comes early in the mountain forest, and before two hours had +passed they were groping their way along the narrow road cut through the +dense brush, and clinging to each other. They were brave lads; but long +fasting, and excitement, and a terrible climax to the most trying day of +their lives, had flung gunpowder among their nerves. + +It was midnight when they reached the pueblo. The stars illumined +fitfully the deserted huts, black in the heavy shadows. A coyote was +yapping dismally, owls hooted in the forest. Both boys had a vision of +deep beds and hot suppers on the ranchos of their respective parents, +but they shut their teeth and raided the larder. There they found well- +cured meats and dried fruits, which appeased their mighty appetites; +then they went into Anastacio's hut, and wrapping themselves in the +Mission blankets were soon asleep. + +It was Adan who awoke Roldan violently in the morning. + +"The soldiers!" he whispered hoarsely. + +Roldan, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, peered through a rift between +the wall of the hut and the shrunken hide which formed the door. A half +dozen soldiers stood in the plaza, glancing speculatively about. + +"I see no trace of them," said one. "I cannot believe they would come +back to this place. Surely it was, as I said, more natural for them to +hide at the edge of the forest until we had gone." + +"That dog said there was food here, and that they were more afraid of us +than of a long walk at night. Wherever they are, we find them. They are +a prize second only to the head of Anastacio. Search the huts." + +Roldan sprang to his feet, pulling Adan with him. "Come," he said; +"follow me, and run as if you were as lean as a coyote. Remember they +won't shoot." + +He flung aside the hide door. The two boys flashed out and round the +corner of the hut before the tired eyes and brains of the soldiers had +time to grasp the happening. A moment later they were in hot pursuit, +firing in the air, shouting terrific threats. But the rested and agile +legs of the boys had a good start, and plunged into narrow ways where +horses could not follow; and doubling, twisting, following paths but +recently beaten by Anastacio in pursuit of deer, Roldan and Adan were +soon far beyond the reach or ken of the men of war. It was an hour, +however, before they thought it wise to arrest their flight and pause to +recuperate in a redwood tree hollowed by fire. Two weeks of exposure and +unwonted exertions had hardened Adan's superfluous flesh, and he was +scarcely more spent than his clean-limbed friend, although every step +had been taken with protest. + +"Caramba!" he said, in a hoarse whisper at length. "When I am back on +the rancho I won't walk for a year." + +"You will have the habit by that time, my friend, and will walk in your +sleep. When I am governor you will be generalissimo of all the forces +and will keep your army as lively as an ant-hill." + +"That is too long ahead, and we have not enough wind to argue about it. +What are we going to do now? How shall we get horses to leave this +forest? Where shall we sleep to-night? What shall we have for dinner? I +could eat a whole side of venison." + +"Well, you won't, my friend. Let me think." + +After a time he said: "We must stay here until night. Then we will go +back to the pueblo if we can find the way. As for food, we can have none +to-day. There are no berries at this time of year, and we have nothing +to shoot game with. Other people have gone the day without food, and we +can. When we get back to the pueblo, even if we cannot reach the larder, +we can find the corral without being seen. I don't believe that the +soldiers have found it, and the Indians in charge of the mustangs will +let us have two when they know what has happened. Now, do not let us +talk. It will make us more hungry." + +Adan groaned, but accepted the decree of silence. The day wore on to +noon, and in the unbroken stillness the boys ventured out of the grimy +tree and lay at full length on the turf. The great redwoods towered in +endless corridors, their straight columns unbroken by branch or twig for +a hundred and fifty feet. Through the green close arbours above came an +occasional rift of sunshine, but the aisles were full of cold green +light. The boys shivered in their coyote skin coats and drew close +together; they dared not run about to keep warm; they must husband their +strength, and hunger was biting. There was no wind in the tree-tops, no +murmur of creek, only the low hum of the forest, that in their strained +ear-sense grew to a roar. Finally they fell asleep, and it was dark when +Roldan awoke. He shook Adan. + +"Come," he said; and his partner, grumbling but acquiescent, got to his +feet and tramped heavily over the soft ground. + +They had fled beyond paths, and Roldan could only trust to his locality +sense, which he knew to be good. But more than once they were brought to +halt before a wall of brush, which no man could have penetrated without +an axe. Then they would feel their way along its irregular bristling +side for a mile or more before it thinned sufficiently for egress. +Frequently they heard the deadly rattle, and more than once the near cry +of a panther, but there was nothing to do but push on. Precautions would +have availed them nothing, and there was no refuge nearer than the +pueblo. Sometimes they walked down aisles unchoked by brush but full of +moving shadows, above which sounded the lonely continuous hooting of the +owl. Now and again bats whirred past, and once a startled wildcat +scurried across the path and darted up a tree, crying with terror. + +"If we only don't meet a bear," thought Roldan, who dared not speak lest +his voice should shake courage and terrors apart. + +It was midnight when Adan announced with what emphasis was left in +him,-- + +"We are lost." + +Roldan answered through his teeth: "Yes, but I think I hear the creek. +When we find that, all we have to do is to follow it south." + +"My heart is in the South," muttered Adan. "We might follow that." + +"I am ashamed of you," said Roldan, with a lofty scorn which was good +for five words and no more. + +It was a half hour later that they stood upon the high bank of the creek +and looked gratefully up at the broad strip of night light. After the +dense shadows of the forest the cold light of stars seemed more radiant +than noon-day. + +"We cannot follow along the bank for more than a little way at a time, +on account of the ferns and brush," said Roldan. "We should walk three +times the distance, and perhaps get lost again. I am going to wade. Will +you?" + +"Madre de dios! And get rheumatism? My teeth clack together at the +thought." + +"You will not be able to keep still long enough to get rheumatism, my +friend. By the grace of Mary we shall be on horseback all day to-morrow. +The water is not a foot deep, and the chill only lasts a moment. Take +off your boots." + +"What is left of them," muttered Adan. But they were better than no +boots, and he took them off, and slung them round his neck. Roldan +scrambled down the bank and plunged into the creek. Adan, after a +moment's hesitation, followed with audible reluctance. He thrust the tip +of one foot into the icy water, withdrew it with a shout, tried the +other; then seeing that Roldan was splashing far ahead, jumped in with +both feet and ran along the slippery rocks, wondering when the change of +temperature would occur. His teeth clattered loudly. He pulled in and +executed a war-dance on the stones, then sat down on a fallen boulder +and rubbed his feet violently. Roldan kept steadily on, mindful of his +dignity as leader; but only as Adan joined him had his teeth ceased from +clattering and the warmth crawled back to his feet. + +Cold, hungry, inexpressibly weary, the boys plodded on, sometimes in the +clear light of stars, sometimes under the chill blackness of meeting +trees. Fish and other slimy things darted across their feet; they +stepped to their waists into more than one treacherous pool. The dark +blue of the sky had turned to grey when Roldan raised his arm and +pointed to a squat dark object on the summit of the cliff. + +"A hut," he said. "We are at the pueblo." + +The boys crawled softly up the almost perpendicular bank and peered over +the edge. To all appearances the pueblo was deserted. If the soldiers +were there--and their horses were not--they slept within the huts. The +animal instinct, so bravely repressed, overcame the adventurers. They +ran across the open to the hut where the food was kept, and ate for +fifteen minutes without speaking or taking the trouble to hide +themselves. + +XII + +When they had satisfied their appetites they made two large packages of +dried meat and fruit, tying them securely with straw to their right +arms: saddle-bags there were none. + +"Not a horse," whispered Adan. "Do you think the soldiers have gone?" + +"I think they are lost, and as they did not stop to tie their horses +when they started after us, they won't see them again until they get +back to camp. Come." + +Roldan peered cautiously into each of the huts in turn; all were empty. +Then the boys started for the corral, which the soldiers would not have +passed either on their way to the pueblo or in pursuit of the runaways. +They found the Indians in charge sound asleep in their hut, and did not +think it worth while to awaken them. The two mustangs they led forth, +vicious brutes at best, were very restless from prolonged inactivity. +Roldan's submitted to the saddle, but bolted as soon as he felt a +determined pair of legs about his sides; and as our adventurer had +neither whip nor spurs, all he could do was to hang on and shout to Adan +to follow close. This was the only thing that Adan's mustang was willing +to do, and the boys were borne blindly on, down one path, up another, +plunging deeper into the black recesses of the forest until they knew no +more of their whereabouts than if they had dropped from another sphere. + +After many weary miles the mustangs slackened, and the boys dismounted +and cut two slender but stinging whips. After that they rose once more +to the proud supremacy of man over brute. But the situation was full of +peril. They were hopelessly lost, the redwoods were the home of the +grizzly and the panther, and they might come upon the soldiers at any +moment. But there was nothing to do but to ride on, and at least they +had horses and food. + +They descended whenever descent was possible, for at the foot of the +mountain lay the open valley; but there were no trails; in all +likelihood they were where no man, red or white, had ever been before; +they had to force their way where the brush was thinnest, and as often +their flight was toward loftier heights. + +As the day wore on the temperature fell, even in those forest depths +where the sun had not penetrated for a thousand years. The beauty of the +forest palled upon Roldan: those everlasting aisles with their grey +motionless columns, their green sinister light, the delicate fern wood +below, the dense mat of branch and leaf so high above. The redwoods +oppress and terrify when they have man completely at their mercy. They +look as if they could speak if they would, roar louder than the storms +that have never shaken them. But they know the value of silence, and the +silence of their inmost depths is awful. + +After many hours the boys rode out upon a bare peak. But its outlook +told them nothing. Behind rose other peaks, below was the dense primeval +forest, rising and falling on other slopes. There was no glimpse of +valley anywhere. The sky was heavy with the grey lurid clouds of +concentrated storm. + +"We will eat," said Roldan, briefly; "but not too much." + +They tethered the mustangs that the beasts might eat of the abundant +grass, and consumed a small quantity of their store. Then they stretched +at full length on the ground to rest their weary bodies. + +"Let us stay here the night," said Adan, with a cavernous yawn. + +"It is hardly darker by night than by day in the forest, but perhaps it +is well to rest." + +"I am one ache, no more," murmured Adan, and went to sleep. + +Roldan pillowed his head on his arm and for once followed lead. He awoke +suddenly, his face wet and stinging. White stars were whirling, the +ground was white, the forest was half obliterated. + +He shook Adan and dragged him to his feet. + +"We must get into the redwoods at once," he said. "We shall be buried +here." + +Adan gasped but cinched his saddle; the boys sprang upon the now +tractable mustangs and plunged into the forest below. The brush was +thin, and they pushed their way downward as rapidly as the steep descent +would permit. Sometimes the forest protected them from the storm, at +others the trees grew wide apart and the riders were exposed to its +pitiless rush. In these open spaces they could see nothing, could only +push blindly on, brushing the stinging particles from their faces, their +hands and feet almost numb. The snow in the open was already as high as +the horses' knees. There was no wind, only that silent sweeping of the +heavens. In the depths the high branches of the redwoods groaned +ominously under the stiffening weight, like giants in pain. + +The forest thinned. The snow had its will of the earth. There was no +refuge under the larger trees that still stood, like outposts, here and +there; the branches were too high above. Once Adan suggested through his +stiff lips and unruly teeth that they turn back and take refuge in some +dense grove above; but Roldan shook his head peremptorily. He had heard +of the fearful storms of the Sierras; they lasted for days, and the snow +stood its ground for weeks. Their only hope was the valley. + +But they descended only to rise again: in the white darkness of the +storm they dared not attempt to skirt the base of the peaks; they must +keep straight on, to the west, for there lay the valley. + +Occasionally, where a grove of trees stood close and the snow lay +shallow, the boys got off and wrestled, rousing the blood in their legs +and arms; then urged their mustangs to greater speed. But the poor +brutes were very weary, and the blood in their veins was almost torpid. +Once they stood still and shook, whinnying pitifully. A huge grizzly, so +powdered as to be hardly distinguishable from the drifts about him, +floundered along to the right. The boys crossed themselves and awaited +their fate, with the apathy of numb and despairing brains; but the +monster was evidently aiming for the warmth of his home, and took no +notice of the meal in four courses standing in the middle of the path. + +The night deepened. The snow thickened and sped down with an audible +rush, a sting in each beautiful white bee. The boys nodded, roused +themselves, fell forward, their arms mechanically stiffening about the +horses' necks. Once they flung out their hands and feet with a smothered +shriek. A tongue of flame seemed to leap down their throats and hiss +through their veins, while the world roared and heaved about them. Then +all sensation was over. + +XIII + +Roldan opened his eyes. His brain was heavy; he was conscious only of an +intense warmth. His arms appeared to be bound to his sides, his whole +body in a vise. He kicked out with a vigorous return of the instinct of +independence. The action shook his brain free and he understood: he was +tightly wrapped in a blanket, and there were other blankets upon him. He +raised his head. The room was one of familiar lineaments,--whitewashed +walls, a mat by the iron bed, an altar in the corner, linen with +elaborate drawn-work on bureau and washstand. The blood poured upward to +the young adventurer's face. Was this his room? Had he been ill and +dreamed strange happenings? He freed his arms and sat up. No; there was +no room in his father's house exactly like this, monotonous as were the +furnishing and architecture of the time. + +He took his head between his hands and thought; the events of the past +weeks marched through his brain in rapid and precise succession--up to a +certain point: his senses had been frozen in the Sierras. From a raging +snowstorm to this blistering bed all was blank. + +He disencumbered himself, slipped to the floor, and opened the door, +then scrambled back to bed as best he could; his legs felt as if they +had been boned. He was also one vast desire for food and drink. But that +glimpse through the door had raised his spirits. He was in a great adobe +house surrounding a court in which a fountain splashed among ferns and +little orange-trees. It was the house of a grandee, but there was none +like it in the neighbourhood of the Rancho de los Palos Verdes. + +He waited with what patience he could muster until his open door should +attract attention, listening to the murmur of the fountain, inhaling the +fragrance of orange and magnolia, wondering if Adan, too, were safe, +angrily resenting his weakness. + +The door cautiously opened wide, and a woman, stout, brown, but of +exceeding grace and elegance, entered and bent over him. + +"Good-day, senora," said Roldan, politely. "I am very hungry. Where am +I? And is Adan here?" + +The lady smiled and patted his cheek with a shapely and flashing hand. + +"He is well and sleeping, my son, and you are both in the Casa of Don +Tiburcio Carillo, of the Rancho Encarnarcion, in a great valley many, +many leagues from the Sierras and the snow--Madre de dios! Pobrecitos! +So cold you must have been, so frightened--and you the sons of great +rancheros, no?" + +Roldan modestly named his fortunate status, then sat up and kissed her +hand, as he had seen his gallant brothers kiss the hands of lovely young +donas. The lady looked much pleased and drew a chair beside the bed. +Roldan wondered if he should ever satisfy his raging appetite, but was +too polite to mention the subject again, and determined to satisfy his +curiosity instead. + +"Senora, tell me how we came here," he asked. "My head will burst until +I know." + +"Our bell mare, the most valuable on our rancho, strayed far the day +before yesterday. All that day and the next six vaqueros looked for her. +One traced her to the Sierras and went on in spite of the storm. He +found her, and, just afterward--you. He thought you were dead, but +poured aguardiente down your throats. You swallowed but did not awaken, +although he shook you and pounded you. Then he strapped your friend-- +Adan, no? upon the back of Lolita, took you in his arms, and galloped +for home--you were almost at the foot of the mountain. Ay! but I was +frightened when you came. Gracias a dios that you are well and not +frozen. Bueno, I go to send you a good breakfast. Hasta luego." + +She went out, and Roldan lay wondering if the breakfast were already +cooked. The door opened again. Roldan sat up. But it was Adan. He wore a +long nightgown and dug his knuckles into his eyes. His knees, too, were +shaky. + +"Hist, Roldan," he whispered loudly. "Are you there, or do I dream?" + +"Come into my bed and have breakfast--breakfast, Adan!" + +Adan gathered his remaining energies, bolted across the room, and +climbed into bed. + +"Dios de mi alma, Roldan," he gasped. "Where are we, and why are we +sweltered like sick babies? This is a fine place. Ay! may I never see +snow nor a redwood again!" + +Roldan told what he knew of the beginning of their new chapter, and soon +after he finished two Indian servants entered with trays, set them on +the bed, and retired. + +"Ay! this looks like home," cried Adan, almost in tears. "Chocolate! +Tortillas! Chicken with yellow rice!" He crossed himself fervently and +attacked the fragrant meal. + +It was not a large breakfast, for it was many hours since they had eaten +before; they left not a grain of rice nor a shred on a bone. But half- +satisfied, although very comfortable, they made up their minds to dress. +On the chair was a complete outfit, suitable for a young don. Roldan +concluded it had been thoughtfully placed at his disposal that he might +not appear in the sala of Casa Carillo garbed like a coyote. How he +hated the memory of that ugly and infested garment. + +"I, too, have a silk jacket and breeches by my bed," said Adan, "and a +lace shirt and silk stockings, and shoes with buckles. There must be +those of our age in the Casa Carillo, my friend. Bueno! I go to make a +caballero of myself. Hasta luego." + +He opened the door and peered out, then ran hastily down the corridor to +his room. Who knew but there might be girls at the Casa Carillo? +Horrible thought! + +The boys met a half hour later on the corridor, still weak, but +magnificent to look upon. Roldan's head was very high, despite his +protesting knees: he felt himself again. + +"It is the hour of siesta," he said. "Let us lie in these hammocks and +wait. Ay! but it is warm, and the sky is blue, and the sun looks like +the copper lamp of my mother--the one that came from Boston. Who--even +an Indian--would live in the mountains when the valleys are so big and +warm?" + +They extended themselves in two hammocks swung across the corridor and +watched the many doors on the several sides of the court. All were +closed, and the forest had hardly been more quiet than the Casa Carillo +in its hour of siesta. Through the arch of the gateway they could see +the green of fields, a corner of a vineyard, and rolling hills. On +either side of the entrance was a large magnolia-tree with broad shining +leaves and bunches of cream-white fragrance. The oranges were very +yellow, the palms very stately, the red tiles on the sloping roofs above +the white walls looked very fresh and red. There was colour and beauty +everywhere; and the boys were quite at peace, and content to be so. +Their appetite for adventure was dulled for the moment. + +XIV + +A door on the opposite corridor opened and a youth came forth. He jerked +his head diffidently at the guests and took the longest way round +instead of crossing the court; but when he reached the boys, who were +risen and awaiting him, he wore a dignified air of welcome, as befitted +a young gentleman of his race. + +"Welcome to Casa Carillo, senores," he said gravely. "The house is +yours. Burn it if you will. I, myself, Rafael Carillo, am your slave." + +To which Roldan replied: "We are at your feet, for you and yours have +rescued us from death and given us food and clothing when we most needed +it. Our lives are yours to do with as you wish." + +"Then would we keep you here always, Don Roldan and Don Adan. All guests +are welcome at Casa Carillo, but doubly those that need it." + +Then, formalities over, as boys are pretty much alike the world round, +Rafael was soon pouring forth eager questions, and our heroes were +reliving the events of the past weeks. Arm in arm they strolled out into +the wide beautiful valley, green with sprouting winter, the distant +mountains of terrible memory quivering under a dark blue mist. + +"Hist!" said Rafael, suddenly. "Do you know what day this is?" + +"Day?" The adventurers had lost all count of time. + +"It is the day before Christmas, my friends." + +"No! Madre de dios!" Roldan and Adan stood still. For a moment they felt +homesick. They saw the reproachful faces of their parents and brothers +and sisters, to say nothing of visions of unclaimed presents. But Rafael +gave them no time for regrets. He was the only child at home, and +delighted with his new companions. + +"To-morrow many people will come," he said. "I have ten married sisters +and brothers. They all come from their ranchos, and many more. It will +be very gay, my friends." + +"Good," said Roldan, dismissing regret. "We will enjoy." + +"And after Christmas is gone I know of something else," said Rafael, +mysteriously. He glanced about. They stood in the midst of a great +vineyard, each engaged upon a large purple bunch. "Come," said Rafael, +with an air of mystery. "Not here. Some one may hide beneath the vines." + +It was extremely unlikely, but the adventurers liked the suggestion and +followed their host breathlessly into the open field. "One day in the +summer," whispered Rafael, his eyes rolling about, "I went with four +vaqueros with a present of venison to Father Osuna. He was not at the +Mission, and a brother told us that he walked among the hills. I thought +I would go to meet him and receive his blessing. For a time I saw no +one, and I thought, 'Caramba! but the padre has long legs this hot +weather!' Just then he stood before me. He had walked out of the side of +the hill through a hole no wider than himself. He sweated like a bull +after coliar, and his cassock was gathered in his two hands, leaving his +bare shanks no more sacred than an Indian's. He did not look like a +priest at all, and I forgot to kneel to him, but stared with my mouth +open. And what do you think he did, my friends? He turned white like the +hand of a dona in her teens and--and--dropped his cassock. And--" + +"Well? well?" + +"What do you think rolled to the ground, my friends? Chunks of yellow +stuff that glittered, and a shower of sparkling yellow sand--beautiful +as sunshine on the floor. I gave a cry and ran to pick it up. I had +never seen anything so beautiful, I never had wanted anything so much. I +felt that I would die for it in that moment, my friends. But that +priest, what do you think he did? He gave a yell of rage, as if he could +tear me in pieces, and flung himself all over that sunshine of earth. +'My gold!' he cried. 'Mine! mine! You shall not take it from me.' 'If it +is yours it is not mine, my father,' I said, feeling ashamed,--though I +still wanted it; 'I will help you to pick it up.' He got up then, his +face very red again, and I could see that he was trying to put on his +dignity as fast as he had put down his cassock--he looked better with +both in place. 'My son,' he said,'the day is warm and I am very tired, +and, I fear, a little ill. These rocks are nothing. They please my eye, +and I pick them up sometimes as I walk among the hills. Leave them +there. I do not want them. We will return to the Mission.' 'If you do +not want them, then may I have them?' I asked--the blood flew all over +my body, my friends. He scowled as if I had asked him for the candles on +the altar. 'No,' he said, 'you cannot.' Then he put his big hand on my +shoulder--he could twist your neck in a minute with those hands-- +'Listen to me, my son,' he said, very soft, and looking so kind now, you +can't think. 'There is poison in those stones, pretty as they are, +deadly poison. It has murdered millions of souls and hundreds of bodies. +Therefore I will not let you touch it--only a priest can touch it +without ruining his soul. Therefore I forbid you---forbid you--' he +shouted this over me, 'to tell any one of what you have seen to-day. +Neither your father nor your mother--no one. Do you understand?' I said +'Yes,' but I did not promise, and he was excited and did not notice. +Then he dragged me away, and I looked about for other rocks that +glittered. But there were none--not anywhere. And then I knew that they +had come out of the hill; but I said nothing, and when we got back to +the Mission and had had dinner and he was himself again and would have +spoken alone with me, I ran and got on my horse, and all the brothers +stood on the corridor to see me go. He came up to me and blessed me, and +whispered: 'Tell no one, my son. If you do'--and he gave me a look that +made my hair crackle at the roots. And to this day I have told no one. +Did I tell my parents the priest would know in six hours. No boy has +stayed here that I like. But now--" + +"We will go to the hill and see for ourselves," said Roldan, promptly, +and Adan gasped with horror and delight. + +"Ay, I knew you would. I am brave, but I dared not go myself--that padre +is too big. I wake up in the night and see his hands pawing in the air. +But three of us--we need fear no one." + +"We will go as soon as the guests are gone. I have heard of this 'gold.' +ln Europe--I have an uncle who has travelled and has told me many +things--bueno, in Europe, they make it into money and give it for +things in big houses they call shops. Even here, in Monterey, and +perhaps the other towns, they have a little--it comes from Mexico. My +uncle said that one reason we were so happy was because we had so little +money--none at all, we might say. That we got what we wanted out of the +earth, or by trading with one another or with the skippers from Boston, +who are glad to give us what we need from other lands in return for our +hides and tallow. So, if we find this 'gold' perhaps we had better say +nothing about it; but to find it--that will be a great, a grand +adventure." + +"We'll tell if we find it," said Adan, philosophically. + +The boys concocted a plan of campaign to their satisfaction, then went +home to supper. Don Tiburcio and his wife, Dona Martina, were already +seated at the table in the big bare room. The grandee was a huge man +with a soft profile, and cheeks as large and cream-hued as one of the +magnolias hanging in the patio. He had an expression of indolent good- +nature above his straight mouth, and long hands that looked lean and +hard when they closed suddenly. He was a man of much influence in the +politics of his country. His small-clothes were of dark green cloth with +large silver buttons, the lace on his linen was fine and abundant. Dona +Martina wore a gown of stiff flowered silk and a profusion of topaz +ornaments. As the boys entered and bowed respectfully, Don Tiburcio eyed +them keenly, but shook them cordially by the hand. + +"So you are the son of Mateo Castanada," he said to Roldan. "It is +evident enough, although you have something in the face that he has not. +Otherwise I should not have done him to death in more than one political +battle. Well, my sons, you are very welcome, and the longer you stay +with us the better. The officers passed here some days ago--Rafael hid +in the garret for the two days I feasted them, and they do not know that +I have a son so young. Well, you are in good time to help my son enjoy +his Christmas." + +There was an abundant supper of meat with hot pepper-sauce, tomatoes and +eggs baked together, and many dulces. The boys wondered if dried meat +and coarse cakes were part of an adventurous dream. + +The next morning chocolate was brought to the boys at half-past five, +after which they dressed, and mounting the mustangs. awaiting their +pleasure in the courtyard, went off for a morning canter. At Roldan's +suggestion they reconnoitred the hills behind the Mission and got the +bearings definitely shaped in their minds; the great raid was to be at +night. They returned to a big breakfast at nine o'clock, then rode out +again to meet the expected guests. It was but a few moments before they +saw several cavalcades approaching from as many different directions. +The young men and women, in silken clothes of every hue, were on horses +caparisoned with velvet, carved leather, and silver; in many instances a +girl had proud possession of the saddle, while her swain bestrode the +anquera behind, his arm supporting her waist. Roldan wondered if +anything would ever induce him to sacrifice his dignity like that. (It +may be remarked here, as this history has only to do with the famous +Californian's boyhood, that the day came when he could bow the knee to +the fair sex with as graceful an ardour as did he not employ his sterner +moments making laws and enforcing them.) The older folk travelled in +carretas, the conveyance of the country, a springless wagon set on +wheels cut from the solid thickness of the tree. It was driven by +gananes, sitting astride the mustangs and singing lustily. The interior +was lined with satin and padded, but was probably uncomfortable enough. +Everybody looked smiling and happy, and a number of lads left their +respective parties and cantered over to Rafael and his guests. A few +moments later they all galloped at the top speed of their much-enduring +mustangs to a great clump of oaks, where they dismounted and listened +with breathless interest to the adventures of Roldan and Adan. All had +been drafted, and must leave for barracks with the new year. They +complimented the adventurers in a curious mixture of stately Spanish and +eager youthfulness, and their admiration was so apparent that our heroes +would have doubled the dangers of the past on the spot. + +When they returned home to dinner the great space before the house was +filled with shining horses pawing the ground under their heavy saddles. +The court and corridors were an animated scene, overflowing with dons +and donas in brilliant array. When dinner was over and the grown-up +guests and young girls were lingering over the Christmas dulces, all the +boys slipped away and went out to the huge kitchen, where countless +Indian servants were busy or resting. They demanded four dozen eggs and +help to blow them at once. The maids hastened to do the bidding of the +little dons, and in less than a quarter of an hour the eggs were free of +their natural contents, and all were busy refilling them with flour, or +cologne, or scraps of gold and silver paper. Then the boys stuffed the +fronts of their shirts, their sleeves, and their pockets with the eggs, +and hid themselves among the palms of the court. Presently the guests +came forth and scattered about the corridor, smiling and chatting in the +soft subdued Spanish way. Suddenly twelve eggs, thrown with supple wrist +and aimed with unfailing dexterity, flew through the air and crashed +softly on the backs of caballeros' curls and donas' braids, flour +powdering, gold and silver paper glittering on the dense blackness of +those Californian tresses, cologne shooting down dignified spines. There +was a chorus of shrieks, and then, as every head whisked about, and as a +blow did not count unless it struck at the back, the boys ran up to the +corridors, dodged under vengeful arms and continued the battle. Finally +they were chased out into the open, and the guests having been provided +with the remaining eggs by Dona Martina, the battle waged fierce and hot +until, exhausted, the guests retired for siesta. + +But siesta was brief that day. In less than an hour's time all had +reappeared and were mounting for the race. + +XV + +The race took place in a field a mile from the house, on a straight +track. Four vaqueros in black velvet small-clothes trimmed with silver, +spotless linen, and stiff glazed black sombreros, walked up and down, +leading the impatient mustangs. Two of these horses were a beautiful +bronze-gold in colour, with silver manes and tails, a breed peculiar to +the Californias; one was black, the other as white as crystal. The +family and guests of Casa Carillo sat on their horses, in their +carretas, or stood just outside the fence surrounding the field. At one +end were the several hundred Indians employed by Don Tiburcio, and +several hundred more from the Mission. Father Osuna had also joined the +party from the Casa, and Roldan, who had seen hundreds of horse-races +and was built on a more complex plan than his contemporaries, got as +close to the priest as he dared and gave him his undivided attention. +Padre Osuna was a man of unusual height and heaviness of build. His +black eyes were set close to his fine Roman nose. The mouth was so +tightly compressed that its original curves were quite destroyed, and +the intellectual development of the brow was very marked. His hands +exerted a peculiar fascination over Roldan. They were of huge size, even +for so big a man, lean and knotted, with square-tipped fingers. The skin +on them was fine and brown; it looked as soft as a woman's. He used them +a good deal when talking, and not ungracefully; but they seemed to claw +and grasp the air, to be independent of the arms hidden in the +voluminous sleeves of the smart brown cassock. Other people watched +those hands too--they seemed to possess a magnetism of their own; and +every one showed this priest great deference: he was one of the most +successful disciplinarians in the Department of California, a brilliant +speaker, an able adviser in matters of state, and a man of many social +graces. + +"More agreeable to meet in the sala of the Mission than in a cave at +midnight," thought Roldan. "Still--" His scent for danger, particularly +if it involved a matching of wits, was very keen. + +The word was given. The race began. The dons shouted, the lovely faces +between the bright folds of the rebosos flushed expectantly. From the +black mass of Indians opposite came a mighty gurgle, which gradually +broke into a roar,-- + +"The black! Fifty hides on the black!" + +"The little bronze! She is a length ahead! Madre de dios! Six doubloons +of Mexico on the little bronze!" + +The priest pushed his way to the speaker, a wealthy ranchero who had +been more than once to Mexico. + +"The white against the bronze, senor," he said. "Twenty otter skins to +the six doubloons of Mexico." + +"Done, your reverence. I am honoured that you bet with me. But the +white--have you thought well, my father?" + +"She breathes well, and her legs are very clean." + +"True, my father, but look at the muscles of the little bronze. How they +swell! And the fire in the nostrils!" + +"True, Don Jaime; and if she wins, the skins are yours." + +As the horses darted down the track almost neck to neck, the excitement +routed Spanish dignity. The dons stood up in their saddles, shouting and +betting furiously. The women clapped their white idle hands, and +cheered, and bet--but with less recklessness: a small jewel or a second- +best mantilla. As they could not remember what they had bet when the +excitement was over, these debts were never paid; but it pleased them +mightily to make their little wagers. The men were betting ranchitas, +horses, cattle, and, finally, their jewels and saddles and serapes. For +each horse represented a different district of the Department, and there +was much rivalry. + +The priest did not shout, and he made no more bets, but his eyes never +left those figures speeding like arrows from the bow, the riders +motionless as if but the effigies of men strapped to the creatures of +fire beneath. Sometimes the black gained then the little bronze; once +the white dashed a full three yards beyond his fellows, and Roldan saw +the great hands of the priest, which had been clinched against his +shoulders, open spasmodically, then close harder than ever as the white +quickly dropped back again. + +It was a very close race. The excitement grew tense and painful. Even +Roldan felt it finally, and forgot the priest. The big bronze had quite +dropped out of it and was lagging homeward, hardly greeted by a hiss. +The others were almost neck and neck, the little bronze slightly in the +lead. "She wins," thought Roldan, "No! No! The black! the black! Ay, no, +the bronze! but no! no! Ay! Ay! Ay!" A roar went up that ended in a +shriek. The black had won. + +Roldan looked at the priest. His skin was livid, his nostrils twitching. +But his mouth and eyes told nothing. + +The crowd rode home, still excited, gay, cheerful. Their losses mattered +not. Were not their acres numbered by the hundred thousand? Did they not +have more horses and cattle than they would ever count? In those days of +pleasure and plenty, of luxury and unconsidered generosity, a rancho, a +caponara the less, meant a loss neither to be felt nor remembered. + +After the bountiful supper the guests loitered for a time in the +courtyard, then the sala was cleared and the dance began. Several of the +girls danced alone, while the caballeros clapped and shouted. Then all +waltzed or took part in their only square dance, the contradanza. They +kept it up until morning. Needless to say, our heroes went to bed at an +early hour. + +They were up the next morning with the dawn, and in company with Rafael +and the other guests of their own age, went for their canter. This time +they avoided the hills behind the Mission, as they had no wish to share +their secret, and a chance word might divulge all. They rode toward the +hills at the head of the valley. Roldan was still the hero of the hour, +and Rafael, although the most generous of boys, resented it a little. He +was not without ambitions of his own, and determined to seize the first +opportunity to remind his companions that the son of Don Tiburcio +Carillo, the greatest ranchero of that section of the Californias, had +not the habit to occupy the humble position of tag-behind even to so +brilliant and adventurous a guest as Roldan Castanada. + +He soon found his opportunity. + +As they reached the first hill they saw a bull feeding on its summit. +"Aha!" cried the young don of the Rancho Encarnacion. "Now I will make +for you a little morning entertainment, my friends. Coliar! coliar!" + +"No! no!" cried the boys. "The hill is too steep. It is like the side of +a house. You will break your neck, my friend." + +Roldan said: "It is dangerous, but it could be done." + +"I can do it," said Rafael, proudly, "and I shall." + +The other boys, good sportsmen as they all were, shouted, "No! no!" +again; but Rafael laughed gaily, and forced his horse up the almost +perpendicular declivity, leisurely unwinding his lariat from the high +pommel of his saddle, and tossing it into big snake-like loops, which he +gathered one by one into his hand, the last about his thumb. The bull +fed on unsuspecting. for the early green of winter was very delicious +after eight months of unrelenting sunshine. When Rafael reached the +summit he rode back for some distance, then came at the bull full +charge, yelling like a demon. The bull, terrified and indignant, gave a +mighty snort and leaped over the brow of the hill. It was much like +descending the slightly inclined side of a cliff, but he kept his +footing. The boys held their breath as Rafael rode straight over the +brow in the wake of the bull. With one hand he held the bridle in a +tight grip, in the other he held aloft the coils of the lariat. It +looked like a huge snake, and quivered as if aware that it was about to +spring. There was no cheering; the boys were too much alarmed. A mis- +step and there would be a hideous heap at the foot of the hill. + +The little mustang appeared scarcely to touch the uneven surface of the +descent. He looked as if galloping in air, and tossed his head fiercely +as though to shake the rising sun out of his eyes. The bull seemed +continually gathering himself for a great leap, his clumsy bulk heaving +from side to side. But a quarter of the distance had been traversed when +the great curves of the lasso sprang forward, and, amidst a hoarse +murmur from the boys, caught the bull below the horns. But that was all. +The bull would not down! There would be no coliar! He merely ran on--the +brute! the beast!--jerking his horns defiantly, putting down his head, +nearly dragging Rafael from the saddle. But no! but no! Rafael has risen +in his saddle, he has forced his mustang the harder, he is almost level +with the bull--he has passed! He gives a great jerk, dragging the bull +to his knees, then another, and the bull is on his side and rolling over +and over down the hill, Rafael following fast, slackening his lariat. +The boys now cheer wildly, although danger is not over--yes, in another +moment it is, and Rafael, smiling complacently, is at the foot of the +hill, disengaging the humbled bull. + +"Bravo!" said a voice from behind the horses. All turned with a start. +It was the priest. "Coliar was never better done," he added graciously; +and Rafael felt that the day was his. + +The priest had ridden up unnoted in the tense excitement of the last few +moments. He sat a big powerful horse, and his bearing was as military as +that of the two great generals of the Californias, Castro and Vallejo. + +As the boys, congratulations and modest acknowledgement over, were +making for home and breakfast, the priest pressed his horse close to +Roldan's. "I interested you much at the race yesterday, Don Roldan," he +said, with a good-humoured smile. "Why was that?" + +Roldan was not often embarrassed, but he was so taken aback at the +abrupt sally he forgot to be flattered that the priest had evidently +thought it worth while to inquire his name; and stammered: "I--well, you +see, my father, you are not like other priests." Which was not +undiplomatic. + +The priest smiled, this time with a faint flush of unmistakable +pleasure. "You are right, my son, I am not as other priests in this +wilderness. Would to Heaven I were, or--" + +"Or that you were in Spain?" Roldan could not resist saying, then caught +his breath at his temerity. + +The priest turned about and faced him squarely. "Yes," he said +deliberately, "and that I were a cardinal of Rome. Such words I have +never uttered to mortal before; but if I am not as other men, neither +are you as other lads. Some day you will be a Castro or an Alvarado; it +is written in your face. Perhaps something more, for changes may come +and your opportunities be greater. But I--I am no longer young; there is +no hope in California for me." + +"Why do you not return to Spain?" + +"I have written. They will not answer. In my youth I was wild. They +forced me to come here. I had no money. I was obliged to obey. I have +christianized a few hundred worthless savages who were better off in +their barbarism, and I have made myself a power among a few thousand men +of whom the outer world, the great world, knows nothing. My Mission is +the most prosperous in the Californias--and I--" he set and ground his +teeth. + +Roldan thought of the gold. "When I am governor of the Californias, my +father," he said, "I shall send you back to Spain, for then I shall have +great influence--and much gold." + +At the last word the priest's eyes flamed with so fierce a light that +Roldan shrank back repelled, feeling himself in the presence of a +passion of which he had no knowledge. But the priest controlled himself +at once. "Thank you, my son," he said with a brilliant smile. "And I do +not ask you to guard as your own what I have said. It is a part of the +power of such natures as yours that you know what to repeat and what to +leave unsaid." Then as they approached the house he suddenly took +Roldan's slender elegant hand in one of his mighty paws, shook it +heartily, and flinging his bridle to a vaquero, sprang lightly to the +ground and entered the courtyard, leaving our hero in a condition of +flattered bewilderment. + +XVI + +That day there was to be a grand rodeo, or "round-up:" the branding of +cattle; not only of the stock belonging to Don Tiburcio, but of many of +his neighbours, which would be driven over to his rancho for the +operation. This was one of the great occasions of the year. Immediately +after breakfast the neighbours began to arrive, magnificently mounted, +sparkling with gold and silver lace, their wives and daughters each +surrounded by her cavalcade. About ten the gorgeous company, led by the +host, started for an immense corral about three miles from the house. +The boys were well to the front, and established themselves on the wall +of the corral. The rest of the party remained on their horses, but +mounted the little slopes. The green winter landscape had suddenly +become a blaze of colour, and never was there a more animated scene. +Over all hung a light haze. The distant mountains, which could be seen +from the outer valley, were almost invisible. The priest, a huge brown +figure, on his big brown horse, stood on the very apex of the highest +knoll. + +Presently, from various directions rose a low deep murmur, then a rumble +of growing volume as of an approaching earthquake. Men and women grasped +their bridles with firmer fingers, and pressed still nearer to the +crests of the many mounds. Then over the hills on every side came a mass +of tossing horns and sleek shining bodies, separated here and there by a +shouting vaquero, whose black and silver seemed pierced at every point +by those white curving horns. The cattle, several thousand in number, +trotted over the hills and toward the corral swiftly, but in good order, +held well in check by the careful vaqueros. There was no cheering, for +excitement was to be avoided. The cattle would stand any amount of the +shouting they were used to, but little from unaccustomed throats. + +In the corral, at its farther end, stood, by an oven, a tall muscular +Indian, the most famous brander in that part of the country. He was +stripped to the waist, and as the first steer was driven through the +narrow gate, he plucked a red-hot iron from the coals. The beast, +kicking and bellowing, was flung to the ground by a dexterous twist of +his tail, two more Indians held him in position, and the branding was +accomplished. + +Almost before he was up another was prostrate; and they followed each +other in such rapid succession that the wonder was some were not branded +twice. As fast as each brute received his mark he was driven out of +another gate and over the hills, lest his ill-nature should be the cause +of wild disorder. + +The vaqueros handled their dangerous charges with admirable skill, +keeping those to be branded in groups of a hundred or more at some +distance from the corral, riding round them constantly with peremptory +shouts. Other vaqueros, belonging to the same herd, segregated the +animals immediately required and drove them in a straight line for the +corral. There was not a moment of pause. The vaqueros, the brander, and +his assistants seemed impervious to fatigue; the cattle, shifting +uneasily in their bands, leaped eagerly from the lines at the first +signal from the vaquero bearing down on them like a fury from the +corral. On the far side, otherwise deserted, the sore indignant beasts +scampered as fast as their legs could carry them whithersoever their +vaquero chose to drive. + +After two hours or more, the atmosphere was charged with a certain +breathless excitement, as was natural enough. The constant cyclonic rush +of vaqueros and cattle, the angry bellowings, the increasing masses of +animals, the furious shouts of the men, had changed a peaceable +landscape into a vast theatre full of tragic possibilities. The waiting +cattle were growing more and more restless, and there was a low rumble +among them. Don Tiburcio motioned to his guests that it was time to +leave; moreover, it was nearing the dinner hour. + +"Rafael!" he called. His son turned his head impatiently, but prepared +to obey; the Californian youth was brought up on rigid lines. + +"Ay, must we go?" cried Adan. "I could stand here till night, even +without dinner, my friends." + +"I, too, am sorry," began Roldan. "But what is the matter?" + +The great masses of cattle had begun to heave suddenly. They were +uttering hoarse growls of terror. The mustangs of the vaqueros stood +suddenly still, quivering. Then, abruptly, a horrible stillness fell. +All things breathing seemed to petrify. But only for numbered seconds. +From beneath came a low roar, gathering in volume like the progression +of a tidal wave; then the world heaved and rocked. + +"Temblor! temblor!" went up as from one mighty horrified throat. The +priest shouted to the boys: "Stay where you are;" to Don Tiburcio and +his guests: "With all your speed after me." + +They understood his meaning. The cattle were leaping over one another, +bellowing madly, giving no heed to the hoarse cries of the terrified +vaqueros. In a moment a blaze of colour was flying down the valley, a +long brown arm lifted high above it. In twenty seconds five thousand +tossing horns and blazing eyes and heaving flanks were in pursuit. + +The vaqueros did their best, although their faces were white and their +lips shaking. Three that were between the uniting herds, had their legs +crushed into their mustangs' sides, and were borne along and aloft, +shrieking horribly, adding to the fury of the stampede. Another, trying +to head the cattle off, rode into a sudden split in the hard adobe soil +and went down beneath those iron feet. + +The boys clung together. The wall was broad, but it rocked continuously, +whether from other shocks or from the hoof-assaulted earth it would have +been impossible to say. A curving outer flank of the flying mass bulged +against it, and it quivered horribly with the impact. The boys strained +their eyes after the retreating points of colour. Would they escape? +Were the frightened mustangs fleeter of foot than those maddened brutes? +And if they were--the Casa! + +"I think," said Roldan, "that we had better get down on the other side. +This wall may go down any minute; and the cattle are all looking in one +direction." + +"You are right," said Rafael. "This way--Ay de mi!" + +There was another heave of the earth, distinct from the steady vibration +of stampeding cattle. The adobe wall rocked violently, sprang, twisted, +crumbled to the ground, a heap of dust. + +For a moment the boys were invisible. Then they emerged, one by one, +choking and spitting, rubbing their eyes with their knuckles. When they +had recovered some measure of vision they huddled together, staring with +affrighted eyes at the moving wall of cattle not twenty yards to their +left, hardly able to keep their balance. + +Suddenly Roldan pulled his wits together. "Sit down," he said. "We are +the colour now of the earth. If we keep quiet and look no taller than +weeds they will not see us and we shall not be hurt." + +The boys dropped to the ground and sat in silence, staring ahead of +them. Would that rushing, heaving, bellowing mass have no end? It was +indeed a long time before the last line, curiously compact, swept by. +Occasionally the earth jumped with brief abruptness, causing hair to +crackle at the roots, and dust-laden as it was, make as if to rise on +end. The squirrels were screeching in the trees. The birds pitifully +twittered. Even the leaves rustled in response to those terrible +quivers. + +The cattle were a red streak at the end of the perspective. The boys +rose, shook themselves, and walked heavily to their tethered mustangs. +The poor beasts were trembling and whinnying; they greeted their young +masters with a quavering neigh of relief. The boys mounted; but although +they rode rapidly, with ever increasing impatience, they paused every +few moments to listen; there was likely to be a return stampede at any +moment. More than once they were obliged to swerve suddenly aside from +yawning rifts, and they passed a spring of boiling water, spouting and +hissing upward, which had not been there in the morning. They were too +frightened to talk; not only the paralysing awe of the earthquake was +upon them, but the least imaginative saw his home levelled to the +ground, his relatives and friends trodden down into the cracking earth. +Hills lay between them and the Casa Encarnacion. + +There were two exits from the valley where the branding had taken place: +one, very narrow, to the right, which led directly to the house, the +other straight ahead, almost as broad as the valley itself. The boys saw +at a glance that pursued and pursuers had taken the more spacious way, +and they followed without consultation. + +The crushed grass looked like green blood, but there was no other +evidence of slaughter; the mustangs had been fleeter than the cattle. +The latter had evidently kept well together, for on either side of a +swath some three hundred yards in width, the grass stood high. + +They were in a wide valley now; they could see the great mountains, +still faint under their vapourous mist, the redwoods as rigid of outline +as if the heart of the world beneath had never changed its measure. Just +beyond this valley was a wood, then the Mission. Were twenty thousand +hoofs trampling among its ruins? + +They left the valley, entered the wood, galloped down its narrow path, +and emerged. The Mission stood on its plateau above the river, as serene +and proud as the redwoods on the mountain. She had held her own against +many earthquakes and would against many more. But there was not a horn, +a horse, a man, nor a woman to be seen. + +The boys dismounted, not daring to think. They walked toward the +buildings, then paused to listen. Through the open doors of the church +rolled the sonorous tones of Padre Osuna's voice, intoning mass. The +boys ran forward to enter the building. They paused on the threshold, +held by a sight, the like of which had never been seen in California +before, and never shall be again. + +Near the entrance of the vast building were a multitude of half-clothed +dusky forms, prone. Between them and the altar were more than an hundred +horses, caparisoned with silver and carved leather, and gay anquera. +They stood as if petrified. On them, huddled to the arching necks, in an +attitude of prostrate devotion, were magnificent bunches of colour; +scarce an outline could be seen of the proudly attired men and women who +had fled before a tidal wave of tossing horns. Father Osuna, in his +coarse brown woollen robes, stood before the altar, chanting the mass of +thanksgiving. The church blazed with the light of many candles. The air +was thick and sweet with incense. + +XVII + +After the mass was over the boys learned the sequel of the morning's +terrible adventure. Between the second valley and the wood the cattle, +diverted by one of those mysterious impulses which govern masses of all +grades of intelligence, had deflected suddenly and raced for the hills. +The gay company was much shaken, but somewhat restored by the calm of +the church and the solemn monotonous roll of Father Osuna's voice. They +cantered slowly homeward, and crossed themselves fervently when they saw +the Casa Encarnacion none the worse for her shaking, beyond a few fallen +tiles. After dinner and siesta they recovered their natural spirits, and +the men and boys went forth with the vaqueros to hunt the cattle. These +were found at the foot of the mountain, weary and humble. Not a horn was +tossed in defiance at the volley of abuse hurled upon them, and they +allowed themselves to be driven to the ranches of their respective +owners without a protest. + +That evening the household and guests of Casa Encarnacion spent in music +and dancing; so light of heart and careless of mind were the people of +that time and country. + +A number of cattle had been trampled to death in the stampede, and the +bodies lay within a few miles of the mountains. It was inevitable that +bears would come out to eat the carcasses. On the night of the day of +terrifying memory no one felt equal to the exertion of another ten mile +ride and the subsequent battle with a possible herd of bears. But at +eight o'clock on the following night Don Tiburcio, Padre Osuna, the +boys, some ten of the caballeros, and as many vaqueros mounted and rode +forth for a good night's sport. The moon was thin and low. As they +approached the spot where the first of the wild band had succumbed to +fatigue they saw a dark object moving beside the carcass. The approach +was stealthy, but the bear suddenly raised his head. In a second five or +six lassos had sprung through the air. One caught the bear--a brown bear +of moderate size--about the neck, another about a hind leg. The brute +drew his legs together like a bucking horse and leaped into the air, +then plunged toward his tormentors; but those that had him in lasso +galloped in different directions, and poor bruin was quickly strained +and strangled to death. Two vaqueros were left to skin him, and the +party rode on. In a very few moments they saw a moving group some +distance ahead. Spurring their mustangs they dashed forward, letting the +lassos fly. Now the sport became truly exciting and dangerous. Some six +or eight brown bears, of varying sizes, growled furiously and bounded +toward the intruders. Three were caught in the meshes of the rope, the +others were making straight for the horses. There was only one thing to +do. The men put spurs and galloped rapidly away, the bears plunging +heavily in pursuit. When the men had outdistanced the bears by a hundred +yards or more, they wheeled suddenly and trotted back, once more letting +fly the lasso. This time all but one were roped; as they kicked in fury, +their hind legs were caught by the lariats held in reserve; and there +followed a scene of plunging and springing, galloping, shouting, +growling; and neighing, for the mustangs were fully alive to their part. + +The one bear at liberty rode straight for Roldan. + +He had hurled his lasso with the rest, and it was trailing. He jerked +about and fled for a mile or more, holding on with his legs while both +hands were occupied gathering in the rope and coiling it about the high +pommel of his saddle. Then he turned and charged full at the bear, who +was hot in pursuit and no mean runner. He hurled the lariat. It fell +short, and lay quivering on the ground like a huge wounded snake. Roldan +gave an exclamation, of surprise as much as of dismay: he was an expert +with the rope. He turned, however, dragging it in. It caught about the +mustang's hind legs. The beast went down, neighing with horror. Roldan +tried to jerk him to his feet. He seemed hopelessly entangled. Roldan +extricated himself, knowing that he was comparatively safe, as bears +prefer horse-meat to man's. He had no sooner got his feet free of the +boots than the mustang leaped to his feet and fled like a hare, dragging +the lariat in a straight line after him. + +Roldan was alone, the bear not ten yards away. The rest of his party +were a mile and more behind. No one apparently had noticed his flight +with the solitary bear. The light was uncertain and the excitement over +there intense. + +Roldan took to his agile young heels. But the bear gathered himself and +leaped, not once but several times. There was no doubt that his blood +was up, and that he meant a duel to the death. Roldan turned with a +catching of what breath was left in him. He mechanically drew his knife +from its pocket and flourished it at the advancing bear. Bruin cared as +little for steel as for rope. He came on with a mighty growl. + +Roldan gave one rapid glance about. There was not even a tree in sight. +From his point of departure an object seemed approaching, but it was too +dark to tell as yet whether it was a horseman or another bear. The brute +was almost on him, panting mightily. All the senses between Roldan's +skeleton and his skin concentrated in the determination to live. He +sprang forward and plunged his long knife into the protruding injected +eye of the bear, then leaped aside, his dripping knife in his hand, and +danced about the maddened beast with the agility of a modern prize- +fighter. The bear, too, danced, as if obsessed by some infernal music; +and the skipping, and leaping, and dodging, and waltzing of these two +would have been ludicrous had it not been a matter of life and horrid +death. Through it all Roldan was vaguely conscious of approaching +hoofbeats, but there was no room in his consciousness for hope or +despair. He was not even aware that he was panting as if his lungs and +throat were bursting, nor even that his vision was a trifle blurred from +constant and rapid change of focus and surcharged veins. But he executed +his dance of life as unerringly as if fresh from his bed and bath. The +bear, a clumsy creature at best, and streaming and blinded with his +blood, was slackening a little, but there was life in him yet, and twice +its measure of vengeance. Suddenly he lay down, but became so abruptly +inert that Roldan was not deceived. Instead of putting himself within +reach of those waiting arms he fled with all his strength. It was then +that he knew how fully that strength was spent: his lungs and legs +refused to work with his will and impulse after the first hundred yards, +and he fell to the ground with a sensation of utter indifference, +longing only for physical rest. He heard the bear plunging after, the +loud sound of a horse's hoofs, mingled with a single shout, then gave up +his consciousness. + +He awoke in a few moments. Adan was bending over him, propping his head. +"The bear?" he demanded, ashamed of the pitiful quality of his voice. + +"I came just in time to rope him," replied Adan. "You were a fool, my +friend, to go off alone like that--but very brave," he added hastily, +knowing that Roldan did not like criticism. + +"You are quite right. And this is the second time you and your lariat +have saved me. Perhaps it may be the other way some time." + +"Likely it will if you go on hunting for adventures as the old women +hunt for fleas of a night. Do you feel able to get on my horse? It will +carry the two of us." + +"If I were not equal to that much I should find another bear and go to +sleep in his arms." + +XVIII + +At last the night arrived for the gold quest. The guests had gone. +Roldan, Adan, and Rafael were alone on their side of the great house. +They waited, kicking their heels together with leashed impatience, until +eleven o'clock. The family and servants of Casa Encarnacion went to bed +at ten o'clock, but it was the custom of Don Tiburcio to go the rounds a +half or three quarters of an hour later and see that his strict laws +were as strictly obeyed. To-night, when he opened the doors of the three +young dons in succession, heels were still, and breathing was as +monotonous as his own would be an hour later. At eleven the boys dressed +and swung from their windows, not daring to leave by the courtyard. Nor +did they dare go to the corral and abstract three horses. Much to their +distaste, for there was nothing the Californian hated so much as to +travel on two legs, they were obliged to walk the miles between the Casa +and the hills. But their legs were young and their brains eager; in +little over an hour they were in sight of the Mission. + +It looked very white and ghostly in the pale blaze of the moon, a huge +mass, full of prayer and discontent. Close beside it, but without the +walls, the Indians slept in the rancheria, quiescent enough, for they +had no Anastacio. At midnight the great bells in the tower had rung out, +filling the valley with their sweet silver clamour; but as the boys +approached and skirted the wall, some distance to the right, the Mission +might have been as lifeless as it is this year, in its desertion and +decay. + +The hills were a mile behind. The Mission, like all of its kind, stood +on a broad open, that no hostile tribe might approach unseen. Cows and +horses lay in their first heavy sleep, their breathing hardly ruffling +the profound stillness. So great an air of repose did the silent walls +and sleeping beasts give to the landscape that the boys felt the quiet +of the night as they had not done in the other valley, and drew closer +together, almost holding their breath lest the priests might hear it. A +quarter of an hour later they were among the hills and standing before +the aperture whose secrets were known only to Padre Osuna. They glanced +at each other out of the corners of their eyes. Brave as they were, they +did not altogether like the idea of a possible encounter with a +rattlesnake or a bear in the dark and narrow confines of a cave. And if +there should be another earthquake! However, they had not come to turn +back, and Roldan pushed boldly in, the others following close. + +For a time their way lay along a narrow passage. They had made two +abrupt turns before they dared to light the lantern they had brought. +When Rafael did, it revealed nothing but earthy walls and the imprint of +feet on the ground. After a little, however, the passage suddenly +widened, and it was Adan who uttered the first exclamation of surprise. +It was, indeed, a hoarse gurgle. The walls were veined with what +appeared to be irregular bands of dirty crystal, pricked with glittering +yellow. There were, perhaps, a thousand of these little points bared +from the jealous earth, and they shone with a steady baleful glare, +magnetising six youthful eyes, stirring in three careless brains the +ghosts of ancient gold-lust, whose concrete substance lay in the marble +vaults of Spain. Immediately Roldan's sympathy went out to the priest; +and he knew that that commanding intelligence could teach him one thing +the less. + +There was a rough pick on the ground, and many junks of quartz. Roldan +struck and rubbed two pieces together. In a moment his palm was filled +with jagged pieces of yellow metal. He blew on them lovingly, then put +them in his pocket. + +"Dios de mi alma!" gasped Rafael, whose eyes were bulging from his head. +"It is as beautiful as the stars of the sky,--the stars in the milky +way with the film over them." + +"But we need no more stars," said Adan. "We shall take away our pockets +full, but what shall we do with it? Surely this was not made to rot with +the earth. But it is too small for what you call money, if that is so +big as you say, Roldan. It would make fine nails for a church door." + +"Now is not the time to think what you will do with it," said Roldan. +"It is enough that we have it to get. Much is very loose in the crystal. +Rub free all that you can, and fill every pocket. We will take all we +can carry away, and come again and again. Some day, when we are men, +perhaps, we will find a use for it. I for one do not believe that +anything that makes you love it can do harm. Does not the Church teach +us to love all things? Now let us work and not talk." + +The boys in turn hacked out great pieces of quartz and rubbed the free +gold loose. Much of it could only be crushed out in machinery made for +the purpose, but a sufficient quantity of the quartz was poor and soft. +As the boys worked, they grew more and more silent, more and more +absorbed. They forgot their delight in rodeo, coliar, bear-hunts, bull- +fights, riding about the ranches from morning till noon, the race, the +religious processions, the dulces of their mothers' cooks. A new and +mighty passion possessed them, the strongest they had ever known. Their +lips were pressed hard together--those soft Spanish lips that were +usually half apart--their eyes glowed with a steady fire. Their chests +rose and fell in short regular spasms. + +Suddenly a thrill ran through Roldan. He had felt it before when a +rattlesnake, ready to strike, had fixed its green malignant eyes upon +him. He flashed the lantern about swiftly, twisting his neck with deep +anxiety. It would be no minor adventure to encounter a coiled rattler in +this narrow place. Then he saw something white shining out of the +darkness high above the rays, a large white disk, in which glittered two +points of light inexpressibly infuriate. + +Roldan sprang to his feet with a warning cry. The other boys, greed +routed by the danger sense, were on their feet as quickly. As the three +lads, none very tall for his age, faced the gigantic bulk of the priest, +they looked cornered and helpless. + +The priest, unconsciously beyond doubt, lifted his huge hands, opening +and shutting them slowly. The movement had an ugly significance, and the +hands, in the miserable glimmer of light, looked like great bats, and +seemed to pervade the cavern. Involuntarily the boys squirmed. Then +Roldan, mindful always of his proud position as captain of his small +band, stepped in front of that band and spoke with a vocal control that +did him much credit, considering that his heart seemed to be kicking in +the middle of his stomach. + +"These hills are just beyond the Mission grant, Padre Osuna," he said. +"Nor are they on any rancho. Therefore what is in them is as much ours +as any man's. This is the first time that we have been here, but it will +not be the last; and when I am the governor of all the Californias, I +shall send many Indians to dig the very heart out of these hills. So +pick out all that you can now, Padre Osuna, for ten years hence--" + +As he spoke fear gave place to exultation in finding himself pitted +against a man whom he intuitively respected more than any he had ever +met, and whom he knew most men feared and none understood. Moreover, he +heard two sets of teeth clattering behind him, and that alone would have +sent the blood of a born leader of men back to its skin. + +But his speech did not proceed to the finish. The priest swooped down +and caught the three necks between his hands, easily spanning them, +pressing the heads hard together. Then he lifted the boys high in the +air and held them there, a kicking, humiliated trio. The blanched olive +of his face was reflected in the pallid brows at the extremity of his +rigid arms. His voice, which had been lost in passion, found itself. + +"And when your Indians come, Senor Don Roldan," he said, "they will find +three skeletons six feet beneath the floor of this cave. You will never +leave this cave, not one of you. When you are dead for want of food and +drink, I shall return and bury you. And no one will seek you here." +Suddenly he dashed them to the ground. "A thousand curses go with you," +he shrieked, "to make a murderer of me. I was near enough to hell +before--" + +"And our fingers will scratch the ground beneath your feet," interrupted +Roldan, who between mortification and rage felt equal himself to murder, +but determined as ever to hold his own. "Our skulls will grin at you +from every corner as you work--" + +"I don't care!" shouted the priest. "I don't care! Here you rot. This +gold is mine. No man shall touch it but myself." + +"But if we promise never to return, and to tell no man of what we know," +interposed Rafael, feebly. + +The priest laughed. "With the glitter of gold in your brains? You could +not keep an oath on the cross." He turned swiftly and strode down the +passage. + +"What will he do?" gasped Adan. + +"Roll a stone over the entrance and secure it with others," said Roldan. +"There are plenty nigh. If we follow, he will beat us back with those +fists, and one blow would crack our skulls in two." + +"Then what shall we do? Rot here? Starve to death? Madre de dios!" + +"We have been between the teeth of death before, have we not? We shall +have many more adventures, my friends." + +But although he spoke confidently he was profoundly disturbed. This was +no ordinary predicament. He knew that unless the priest relented they +stood small chance of seeing sun and stars again. Would he relent? +Roldan's own indomitable will and growing ambitions responded to the +awful forces in the man, overgrown and abnormal as they had become. That +the priest had some great end in view to which this gold was the means, +and that the gold itself had roused in him a controlling passion, he +could not doubt. The priest himself had told him something, the gold the +rest. With a sudden impulse of hatred Roldan emptied his pockets of the +metal and stamped upon it. He quieted suddenly, then stamped again, with +added vigour. Then he dropped and laid his ear to the ground. + +"Stamp, Adan," he said, "and hard." + +Adan shook his blood through his veins, and obeyed. Roldan sprang to his +feet. "We are above the tunnel of the Mission," he said. "And we have a +pickaxe. All we have to do is to dig." + +XIX + +It was three hours later that a mass of loosened earth caved suddenly, +carrying Adan with it. A wild yell came back. It stopped abruptly, the +tag end of it shot forth like the quick last blast from a trumpet. + +"Hi, Adan!" called Roldan, excitedly, peering down into the dark. "Are +you hurt?" + +"I know not! I know not! It is darker than a dungeon of a Mission." The +voice was quite distinct. It came from no great depth. + +"Get out of the way," called Roldan. "I am coming." He waited a moment, +then dropped, falling on a mass of soft earth. Adan had prudently +retreated a few steps. He ran forward and helped Roldan to his feet, +just as Rafael came flying down. + +"Now for the other end," said Roldan. "This air is not too good. And +that devil may return any moment." + +They ran down the tunnel. It was wide and high, built for flying +priests, should the Mission be besieged and captured by savage tribes. +The air was close and heavy, but free from noxious gases. Bats whirred +past and rats scampered before them. Roldan paused after a moment and +lit his lantern. Its thin ray leaped but a few feet ahead, but would +frighten away any wild beast of the forest that might have wandered in. + +The tunnel was straight. It also appeared to be endless. + +"We have walked twenty leagues," groaned Adan, at the end of an hour. + +"Two," said Roldan. "Without doubt this tunnel ends at the mountains, +and they are four leagues from the Mission. But you have taken longer +walks than this, my friend. Do you remember that night in the +mountains?" + +"I had forgotten it for one blessed week. Rafael, to what have we +brought you? Your poor muscles are soft, where ours are now as hard as a +deserter's from an American barque--ay, yi!" + +"If they have but the chance to become soft once more after they too are +hard!" muttered Rafael, who was panting and lagging. "That priest! that +priest!" + +"It is true," said Roldan, pausing abruptly. "You will not dare to +return home at present--nor we. It is flight once more--to Los Angeles. +We will stay there--where he would not dare touch us if he came--until +he repents or makes sure that we will have told if we intend to tell. +Will you come?" + +"Will I? I would go to Mexico if I could. I feel that there is not room +in the Californias for those hands and myself." + +"I will take care of you," said Roldan, proudly, anxious to rout the +memory of his recent humiliation. "But come." And Rafael, too weary and +bewildered to resent the authority of his erst-while rival, trudged +obediently in the rear. + +"It grows colder," said Adan, significantly. + +"Yes," said Roldan. "We near the mountains." + +Adan stopped. "Is it the mountains again?" he asked. "If it is, then I, +for one, prefer the priest." + +"The mountains never scared you half as badly as the priest did," said +Roldan, cruelly. "And to say nothing of the fact that we need never get +lost in the mountains again, the embrace of a grizzly would be no harder +and more death-sure than one in the great arms of that fiend that wears +a cassock." + +"True. You are always right. But promise that whatever happens you will +not lead us into the Sierras." + +"I promise," said Roldan, much flattered by this unconscious tribute to +his leadership. + +"Do you think that priest is really a devil?" asked Rafael, in an +awestruck voice. + +"When a man has insulted you, you do not know what you think of him," +said Roldan, flushing hotly. "If he only were not a priest I'd fight +him, big as he is. But at least I can outwit him. It consoles me to +think of his fury when he goes to the cave and finds us gone." + +"We'd better get out of this tunnel before we talk about having the best +of the priest," said Adan. "Suppose he returns to kill us himself--" + +"He will not return until to-morrow. Then he will have repented. He will +promise to let us go free if we keep his secret. But he will not have +that satisfaction, my friends. Yesterday he had a friend in Roldan +Castanada; I would have done anything for him, gladly kept his secret. +But to-day he has an enemy that he will do well to fear. A Spaniard +never forgets an insult." + +"What shall you do?" asked Rafael, eagerly. "Expose him?" + +"No, I do nothing mean. But I proclaim at Los Angeles that gold has been +discovered in the Californias, and in six days the hills will swarm, and +the priest in his cell will gnash his teeth." + +"Ay!" exclaimed Adan. "Do you feel that?" + +An icy blast swept down the tunnel, roughening skin and shortening +breath. A few moments later the low rhythm as of distant water came to +their ears. Roldan and Adan recognised that familiar music, and set +their teeth. + +"And I prayed that I might never see another redwood," muttered Adan, +crossing himself. + +The tunnel stopped abruptly. They stood before a mass of brushwood, +piled thickly to keep out wild beasts and delude the searching eye of +hostile Indians. Beyond, seen in patches, was a dazzle of white. + +"Snow, of course," said Adan, with a groan. + +The boys pulled the branches apart without much difficulty: the priests +had studied facility of egress and had raised the barrier from within. +In a few moments the boys stood in the sunlight; and the mountains +hemmed them in. + +Adan stamped his foot savagely on the hard snow. "We are where we +started a week ago," he said. "No more, no less." + +"No," said Roldan, who also had felt demoralised for a moment. "The +priests were too clever for that. They would want to get into the +shelter of the mountains, no more. I believe that from the top of that +point above the tunnel we can see the valley." + +"Well, we can at least look," said Rafael, who was bitterly weary and +hungry, but determined not to be outdone by these hardened adventurers. + +The boys made their way up the declivity as best they could through the +heavy snowdrifts, pulling themselves up by clutching at young trees and +scrub. They were thinly clad and very cold, and hunger was loud of +speech. When after a half-hour's weary climb, they reached the summit, +they drew a long sigh of relief, but their enthusiasm was too moderate +for words in present physical conditions. The valley lay below. Far +away, beyond leagues of low hills and wide valleys something white +reflected the sun. It was the Mission. + +"We have not a moment to rest, unless we can find a safe hiding-place," +said Roldan. "If he should return and find us gone, he would follow at +once." + +"Where shall we go?" asked the others, who, however, felt a quickening +of blood and muscle at the thought that the priest might be under their +feet even then. + +"How near is the next rancho, and whose is it?" + +"A league beyond the Mission grant. It is Don Juan Ortega's." + +"Very well, we go there and ask for horses." + +The boys made their way rapidly down the slope, which after all was only +that of a foot-hill. Beyond were other foot-hills, and they skirted +among them, finally entering a canon. It was as dark and cold and damp +as the last hour of the tunnel had been, but the narrow river, roaring +through its middle, had caught all the snow, and there was scarce a +fleck on the narrow tilted banks. The hill opposite was the last of the +foot-hills; but how to reach it? The current was very swift, and boys +knew naught of the art of swimming in that land of little water. + +Suddenly Roldan raised his hand with an exclamation of surprise and +pointed to a ledge overhanging the stream. A hut stood there, made of +sections of the redwood and pine. From its chimney, smoke was curling +upward. + +The boys were too hungry to pause and reflect upon the possibility of a +savage inmate; they scrambled up the bank and ran along the ledge to the +hut. The door was of hide. They knocked. There was no response. They +flung the door aside and entered. No one was in the solitary room of the +hut, but over a fire in the deep chimney place hung a large pot, in +which something of agreeable savour bubbled. + +Roldan glanced about. "I'd rather be invited," he said doubtfully. + +But Adan had gone straight for the pot. He lifted it off the fire, +fetched three broken plates and battered knives and forks from a shelf, +and helped his friends and himself. Then he piously crossed himself and +fell to. It was not in human necessities to withstand the fragrance of +that steaming mess of squirrel, and the boys had disposed of the entire +potful before they raised their eyes again. When they did, Rafael, who +sat opposite the door, made a slight exclamation, and the others turned +about quickly. A man stood there. + +He was quite unlike any one they had ever seen. A tall lank man with +rounded shoulders, lean leather-like cheeks, a preternatural length of +jaw, drab hair and chin whiskers, and deeply-set china-blue eyes, made +up a type uncommon in the Californias, that land of priest, soldier, +caballero, and Indian. He was clad in coyote skins, and carried a gun in +his hand, a brace of rabbits slung over one shoulder. He did not speak +for some seconds, and when he did, it was to make a remark that was not +understood. He said: "Well, I'll be durned!" + +His expression was not forbidding, and Roldan recovered himself at once. +He stood up and bowed profoundly. + +"Senor," he said, "I beg that you will pardon us. We would have craved +your hospitality had you been here, but as it was, our hunger overcame +us: we have not eaten for many hours. But I am Roldan Castanada of the +Rancho de los Palos Verdes, senor, and I beg that you will one day let +me repay your hospitality in the house of my fathers." + +"Holy smoke!" exclaimed the man, "all that high-falutin' lingo for a +potful of squirril. But you're welcome enough. I don't begrudge anybody +sup." Then he broke into a laugh at the puzzled faces of his guests, and +translated his reply into very lame Spanish. The boys, however, were +delighted to be so hospitably received, and grinned at him, warm, +replete, and sheltered. + +The man began at once to skin a rabbit. "Seein' as how you haint left me +nothin', I may as well turn to," he said. "And it ain't every day I'm +entertainin' lords." + +The boys did not understand the words, but they understood the act, and +reddened. + +"I myself will cook the rabbit for you, senor," said Adan. + +"Well, you kin," and the man nodded acquiescence. + +"You are American, no?" asked Roldan. + +"I am, you bet." + +"From Boston, I suppose?" + +The man guffawed. "Boston ought to hear that. She'd faint. No, young +'un, I'm not from no such high-toned place as Boston. I'm a Yank though, +and no mistake. Vermont." + +"Is that in America?" + +"In Meriky? Something's wrong with your geography, young man. It's one +of the U. S. and no slouch, neither." + +He spoke in a curious mixture of English and of Spanish that he adapted +as freely as he did his native tongue. The boys stared at him, +fascinated. They thought him the most picturesque person they had ever +met. + +"When did you come?" asked Roldan. + +"I'll answer any more questions you've got when I've got this yere +rabbit inside of me. P'r'aps as you've been hungry you know that it +doesn't make the tongue ambitious that way. I'll have a pipe while it's +cookin'." + +He was shortly invisible under a rolling grey cloud. The tobacco was the +rank stuff used by the Indians. The boys wanted to cough, but would have +choked rather than be impolite, and finally stole out with a muttered +remark about the scenery. + +When they returned their host had eaten his breakfast and smoked his +second pipe. + +"Come in," he said heartily. "Come right in and make yourselves ter +home. My name's Jim Hill. I won't ask yourn as I wouldn't remember them +if I did. These long-winded Spanish names are beyond me. Set. Set. Boxes +ain't none too comfortable, but it's the best I've got." + +"Oh, this box is most comfortable," Roldan hastened to assure him. "And +we are very thankful to have anything to sit on at all, senor. You could +not guess the many terrible adventures we have had in the last few +weeks." + +"Indeed! Adventures? I want ter know! You look as if hammocks was more +to your taste. Oh, no offence," as Roldan's eyes flashed. "But you are +fine looking birds, and no mistake. Howsomever, we'll hear all about +them presently. It's polite to answer questions first. You was asking me +a while back how I come here. I come over those mountains, young man, +and I don't put in the adjectives I applied to them in the process outer +respect to your youth. But they'd make a man swear if he'd spent his +life psalm singin' before." + +"We know," said Roldan, grimly. "We've been in them. What did you eat? +And did you get lost?" + +"I ate red ants mor' 'n once, and I usually was lost. When I arrived at +that Mission down yonder the amount of flesh I had between my bones and +my skin wouldn't have filled a thimble. But that priest--he's a great +man if ever there was one--soon fixed me up. I lived like a prince for +a month, and I could be there yet if I liked, but I'd kinder got used to +livin' alone and I liked it, so I come here. Besides, I found so much +prayin' and bell ringin' wearin' on the nerves, to say nothin' of too +many Indians. I ain't got no earthly use for Indians. Why priests or +anybody else run after Indians beats me. Where I was brought up 't was +the other way. They're after us with a scalpin' knife, and if we're +after them at all it's with all the lead we kin git. If the murderin' +dirty beasts is willin' to stay where they belong, well, I for one +believe in lettin' 'em." + +"Do you--ah--like the priest, Don Jim?" + +"What? Well, that's better than 'Don Himy,' as they call me down there. +You bet I like the priest. He's a gentleman, and as square as they make +'em, that is, with a poor devil like me; I guess he's one too much for +your dons when he feels that way. But he's a man every inch of him, +afraid of nothin' under God's heaven, and as kind and generous as a--as +some women. What he rots in this God-forsaken place for I can't make +out." + +"What did you come to California for?" + +"Well, that ain't bad. I come here, my son, because I was lookin' for a +cold climate. My own was warm, accordin' to my taste, and somehow +Californy seemed as if it ought to be fur enough away to be cool and +nice." + +"It's very hot in the valleys." + +"So it is. So it is. But as you see, I prefer the mountains." + +"Do you often go to the Mission?" + +"Every month or so I go down and have a chin with Padre Osuna. It keeps +my Spanish in, and I shouldn't like to lose sight of him. I got word +from him the other day that he wanted to see me mighty particular, and +I'm wonderin' what's in the wind. Maybe you heard him say." + +"No," said Roldan; but he guessed. + +"Now," said Hill, "spin your yarn. I'm just pinin' to hear those +adventures." + +Roldan appreciated the sarcasm, but was too secure in the wealth of the +past month to resent it. He began at the beginning and told the story +with his curious combination of reserve and dramatic fire. As he had +already told it several times it ran glibly off his tongue and had +several inevitable embellishments. The man, whose cold blue eyes had +wandered at first, finally fixed themselves on Roldan; and his whole +face gradually softened. When Roldan finished with his and Adan's rescue +by Don Tiburcio's vaquero, he held out his hand and said solemnly,-- + +"Shake." + +Roldan allowed his hand to be gripped by that hairy paw; he was too +elated to resent it as a familiarity. + +"You've got pluck," continued Hill, "and I respect pluck mor' 'n +anything else on earth. You're a man and a gentleman, and Californy'll +be proud of you yet. Got any more?" + +Roldan related the tale of Rafael's prowess with the bull, his own +encounter with the bear, and Adan's timely interference. Hill then shook +the hands of the two other boys, and told them that as long as he had a +roof above his head they could share it, and that he'd do anything to +help them but steal horses, so help him Bob. Roldan then told the tale +of the earthquake and stampede. + +"Ugh!" exclaimed Hill, with a shudder. "That's one thing I can't abide-- +your earthquakes. I tell you it's enough to take the grit outen a +grizzly to hear the land sliden on the mountain and the big redwoods +that has got their roots about the bed-rock come roarin' down. When an +earthquake comes I go and stand in the middle of the creek so as I can +see what's comin' all round. Once I was on the side of the mountain when +one of those shakes come and I slid down twenty feet before I could stop +myself. It's just the one thing that has happened to me that I can't +help thinkin' about. Well, what kin I do for you? You're welcome to stay +here, but this hut ain't no great shakes for such as you. Be you goin' +home, now that the conscription's over?" + +"No!" said Roldan, emphatically, "we are not. There are other reasons +why we must go to Los Angeles as quickly as we can. Could you get us +three horses?" + +"I could get them from the priest--" + +"No! no!" + +"Why, what's the row with the priest? Got in his black books? I +shouldn't like to do that myself." + +"You said just now that you would do anything for us. Would you even +hide us from the priest if he came here?" + +"I would. And I ain't the one to ask questions. If you don't want to see +the priest, it's not Jim Hill that will assist him to find you. Been +there myself." + +"Couldn't you get us three horses from my father's corral--the Rancho +Encarnacion?" asked Rafael. + +"I could, if you'd go with me; but horse-stealing is just the one thing +I agreed not to do." + +"You might go with him, Rafael," said Roldan. "You would get there after +dark if you started now; and even if the vaqueros were not asleep they +would not call your father." + +"And I could send a message to my parents," said Rafael, eagerly. "Then +they would not worry. Yes, I will go. The priest would not dare to harm +me while I was with the Senor Hill." + +"Oh, the two of us would be a match for even him, if it came to that," +said Hill. "Well, we'll start right now, there bein' no call for delay. +We'll have to foot it, as my mustang's laid up. If the priest should +turn up here--which ain't likely--jest run up that ladder inter the +garret and pull it after yer. Well, hasta luego, as they say in these +parts. Make yourselves ter home." + +XX + +"Now," said Roldan, as Rafael and Hill trudged into the perspective of +the canon, "we must sleep, but by turns. That priest will surely go to +the cave to-day, and when he finds us gone he'll come straight for the +mountains; and not through the tunnel either; he'll come on that big +brown horse of his. You sleep first, for two hours, and I'll watch--" + +"You first, my friend--" Suppressing a mighty yawn. + +"It is easier for me to keep awake. Lie down on that horrible bed. I do +not so much mind waiting a little longer." + +Adan lifted his nose at the bunk covered with a bearskin, then flung +himself upon it, and was asleep in three minutes. Roldan sat with his +eyes applied to a rift between the hide-door and the wall. It commanded +a view of the opposite wall of the canon, over which wound a zig-zag +horse trail. + +The sun, which had hung directly above the canon when Hill and Rafael +departed, had slid toward the west, leaving the canon cold and dark +again, and Roldan was about to call Adan, when he sprang to his feet, +and stood rigid, cold with fear. + +On the brow of the wall opposite, three hundred feet above his head, +stood a powerful brown horse. On him was a huge figure clad in a brown +cassock, the hood drawn well over the face. It was impossible to +distinguish features at that distance, but Roldan fancied that those +terrible eyes were holding his own. He recovered himself and dragged +Adan out of bed. + +"The priest!" he said. "Help me to wash these dishes--quick. It will +take him some time to get down." + +Adan stumbled across the room, plunged the dishes into a pail of +drinking water, then handed them to Roldan, who dried them hastily and +piled them on the shelf. Then he flung the water across the clay floor +of the hut. + +"Get up the ladder," he commanded. Adan scrambled up. Roldan followed, +and pulled the ladder after him. The garret was very low, and half full +of skins. They could not stand upright. It was also bitterly cold. Each +hastily wrapped a skin about his body, and lay full length, Roldan on +his face, his eyes applied to a chink in the rough floor. + +A few moments later the door was flung aside and the priest strode in. + +Roldan shuddered, but not with personal fear. The priest looked like a +man who had just left the rack of his native Spain. His hair--the hood +had fallen back--stood on end, his face and tightened lips were livid, +his eyes rolled wildly. + +"Jim!" he said hoarsely. "Jim!" + +He left the hut as abruptly as he had entered it. + +"He has gone to look at the mouth of the tunnel," whispered Roldan. +"What fools we were not to cover it up again. Then he would have walked +its length to find us, and the horses might have come before he +returned. Well, he cannot get us until he pulls the roof down." + +"He could do it," whispered Adan, grimly. "Those hands! Dios de mi +alma!" + +"He will think we have gone somewhere with Don Jim." + +The priest returned in less than half an hour. His face, if anything, +was still more terrible to look upon. There was a touch of foam on his +lips. His great hands were clinched. He strode over to the bunk and +lifted the heaped-up bearskin. Suddenly he pressed his face into the +fur. + +"Perfume--Dona Martina's," he exclaimed. "They have been here." + +He raised his face to the ceiling, and the boys held their mouths open +that their teeth might not clack together. They closed their eyes: +instinct bade them give heed to visual magnetism. Roldan immediately +wanted to cough, Adan to scratch his nose. The next few moments were the +most agonised of their lives. They felt the priest lift his hands and +pass them slowly along the ceiling, they felt those eyes searching every +crevice. Then they felt him grip the edge of the aperture and lift +himself until his eyes were above the garret floor. But it was pitch +dark. He could not even see the ladder, much less the boys under the +bear skins. + +The priest dropped to the floor and seated himself upon a box, dropping +his face into his hands. There he sat, motionless, for hours. The boys +buried their heads in the skins and went to sleep. + +They were awakened by the sound of voices. A candle flared below. Hill +had entered. He and the priest were alone. + +"They were here, sir, that's true enough. I've just taken them to the +Sennor Carriller's and pointed them fur home. They seemed in a hurry to +vamos these parts." + +The priest groaned and struck his fist on the table. "Then they are +leagues away by this." + +"They be, for a fact. Their horses was fresh and they was powerful keen. +They was just sweaten' to git home." + +"And Rafael Carillo? Did he go with them?" + +"He didn't. He allowed to, but his father warnt agreeable. In fact he +was--savin' your grace--cussed disagreeable. He corralled us as we was +corrallen the horses; and although he was mighty mad at such French +leave, he said, speakin' of the other two kids, that they could take the +two horses and git, and the sooner the better, and if they never come +lookin' for adventures in these parts agin the better he'd be pleased." + +The priest did not appear to doubt him. He was looking through the +doorway. Roldan could not see his face, but he saw the stare of wonder +on Hill's. + +"Very well," said the priest, after a moment, and his voice was hardly +audible. "I shall return now. Can you come down to the Mission to- +morrow--no, the day after. I have a secret to confide to you, and it +will not be to your disadvantage to know it. I had no intention of +telling any one, but I need help, and now more than ever. There is no +time to be lost. Can you come early?" + +"I'll be there between dawn and ten o'clock." + +"That will do. Good night." And the priest went out. + +No one spoke until the sound came up to them of a horse fording the +creek. Then Hill said cautiously,-- + +"Hi, there, young uns." + +"In the name of Mary let us come down, Don Jim," hissed Roldan, through +the crack. + +"Well, I guess you kin. He's climbin' the hill, and I don't see as +there's anything to bring him back. I hope the fleas ain't et ye alive." + +The boys lowered the ladder as rapidly as their stiff fingers would +permit, and a moment later stood on the floor of the room, shaking +themselves vigorously. + +"Where's Rafael?" demanded Roldan. + +"Tucked in his little warm bed with a warmer hide, I guess. The old man +caught us in the very act of horse stealin'. Holy smoke, but he did +cuss. I ain't got no pride in Yankee cussin' left." + +"What did Rafael tell him?" interrupted Roldan, eagerly. + +"He told him as how he had made up his mind to go home with you for a +little paseo--" + +"Did he say nothing about the priest?" + +"Nothin'. Never opened his head about the priest--" + +"When I'm governor I'll reward him," said Roldan, warmly. + +"When you're President of the United States you might make him Secretary +of State--" + +"But the horses? the horses?" + +"They're tethered just over the mountain. I suspicioned the priest might +be here, seein' as you were expectin' him, more or less." + +"Did Don Tiburcio say about me--us--what you told the priest?" + +"He did, and more of it. He was as mad as a bear with a sore head. You +see, he hadn't had no peace of mind for some hours, and as for the old +lady I believe she's been havin' high strikes regular since breakfast. +Now, I'm hospitable, but my advice to you is to git. Like as not the +priest'll see old Carriller to-morrow, and then the cat'll come out. I +kin git outen it all right enough--I'll say as how the old man didn't +see you, that you were restin' on the other side of the wall. Like as +not he'll believe me, but he thinks you're pointed fur home, and if he +wants you badly, he'll follow. You'd better go South fur a month or so +and go home by barque. I'll fetch the horses down now and put them in my +shed. That'll rest 'em a bit and keep 'em warm, and then you kin start +the minute it's daylight." + +"You have been a friend to us in trouble, Don Jim, and I shall never +forget it." + +"Don't mention it, Rolly, don't mention it. I kinder like excitement, +when I ain't the hero, so ter speak. There's only one thing I've got to +ask in return: Have you got a grudge agin the priest?" + +"I have." + +"Be you meditatin' revenge?" + +"A Spaniard never forgives an insult." + +"Oh, . . . have you got it in yer power to injure Padre Osuna in the +sight o' men?" + +"I have, and worse--for him." + +"Don't do it, young man," said Hill, solemnly. "Don't do it. It ain't +worth shucks to ruin a man fur personal spite. You'll find that out the +minute you've done it. You'll feel small and mean; and if you want to be +a great man--and I kin see you're ambitious--that ain't the way to go to +work. Padre Osuna has his faults, but he's a big man; there ain't none +bigger in the Californies; and he ain't the man to ruin, without +thinkin' a lot about it aforehand." + +"He insulted me horribly," said Roldan, shutting his teeth. "I will +never respect myself until I wipe out the memory of that moment." + +"He lost his temper, I suspicion, and whacked ye, like as not. Well, +I'll admit that is hard on a don of your size. But, take my word for it, +you'll feel a sight better if you mount the high horse and forgive him, +treat him with silent contempt. Nothin' makes you feel as good as that. +Tried it myself." + +"I must think about it, Don Jim." + +"Well, do. And maybe you'll remember that I asked ye as a favour to let +the priest off this time. He's been the best friend I ever had, and he's +been the friend of many, young 'un." + +Roldan stepped forward impulsively and grasped Hill's hand. "I will +never speak," he said. "And you can say to Rafael that I wish him never +to speak, either. Only, in return, Don Jim, I insist that you do not +tell him that I promised you this. He shall not think that I fear him." + +"Oh, I ain't goin' to have no conversation with him on the subject. +Don't you worry about that. Now, I'll go after the mustangs. You lie +down, and when I come back I'll cook that there rabbit for yer. You kin +git dinner at the Ortegas', but don't stay there too long, for the +priest's mighty sharp." + +XXI + +The boys were once more adrift in the wilderness. It was with mixed +emotions that they said good-bye to the hospitable American and rode +forth to new experiences and dangers. They were now tried adventurers; +they knew their mettle; they also had a far more definite idea of what +danger and experience meant than when they had fled from home with the +light heart of ignorance. Roldan felt several years older, and Adan had +moments of reflection. Moreover, the fine point of novelty had worn +toward bluntness. Nevertheless, they felt no immediate desire to return +to leading strings, and were glad of an excuse to pursue their way +south. Los Angeles was a famous city, the rival of Monterey,--which +neither had seen,--and a fitting climax to an exciting volume. The exact +arrangement of that climax was compassed by the imagination of neither. + +For two miles they kept in line with the foot-hills, then rode rapidly +toward the valley, impatient for its warmth. So far, barring their +sojourn in the Sierras, they had been favoured with fine weather; but +winter was growing older every day, and the sky was thick and grey this +morning. + +The Casa Ortega stood on the shores of a large lake. The banks were +thickly wooded. On its southern curve was a high mountain. As the boys +approached, a vaquero sprang upon a mustang and rode toward them +rapidly. Roldan recognised one of the men that had been at the rodeo. + +"At your feet, senores," said the vaquero. "The Senor Don is away, and +all the family; but I am mayor domo, and in his absence I place the +house at your disposal." + +"My father will reward you," said Roldan, graciously. "We would ask that +you give us dinner, a thick poncho each, for I fear that it will rain +before we reach Los Angeles, and that you will direct us which way to +go. The ponchos shall be replaced with fine new ones as soon as we have +returned home." + +"Don Carlos would not hear of the return of the ponchos, senor. But +surely the senores will remain a few days, until the storm is over?" + +"We dare not. But we will rest; and we have good appetites." + +The mayor domo, still protesting, held the horses while the boys +dismounted, then showed them to two bedrooms and bade them rest while +dinner was preparing. "It will be an hour," he said. "I beg that the +senores will sleep." + +The boys did sleep, and it was two hours before they were called. Then +they ate a steaming dinner, and forgot their fear of the priest: the +meagre diet of squirrel and rabbit of the past thirty-six hours had +lowered their spirits' temperature. + +When they left the room the mayor domo awaited them with two thick +woollen ponchos--large squares of cloth with a slit in the middle for +the head. + +"These will keep the rain out," he said, as he slipped them over the +boys' heads. "And there is food for two days in the saddle-bags, and +pistols in the holsters. Keep to the right of the lake, and enter the +mountains by the horse trail. It winds over the lower ridges. The +senores cannot lose themselves, for they should be on the other side +before dark--that mountain is the meeting of the two ranges and beyond +there are no more for many leagues. Then the senores must keep straight +on, straight on--never turning to the left, for that way lies the +terrible Mojave desert. By-and-by they will cross a river, and after +that Los Angeles is not far. Between the mountain and the river is an +hacienda, where they will find welcome for the night." + +Roldan thanked him profusely, then said: "I have reasons for not wishing +ANY ONE to know that I have not returned to my father's house. I beg +that you will tell no one, not even a priest, that we have been here, +for three days at least." + +"The senor's wishes shall be obeyed. The Senor Don returns not for a +week. No one shall know until then of the honour that has been done to +his house." + +The boys rode rapidly through the wood over a broad road that had +evidently been traversed many times. The sky was leaden, but no rain +fell. Nor was there any wind. The lake could not have been smoother were +it frozen, although it reflected the grey above. Wild ducks and snipe +broke its monotony at times, now and again a jungle of tules. In less +than an hour the travellers were ascending the mountain by easy grades, +a black forest of pines about them. It was darker here, but the road was +clearly defined, and they talked gaily of adventures past and to come. +In Los Angeles they had many relatives, and they knew that a royal +welcome would be given them. They would see the gay life of which they +had heard so much from their brothers; and they magnanimously resolved +that after a week of it they would return to their anxious parents. + +"Ay!" exclaimed Adan, interrupting these pleasant anticipations, "it +rains at last." + +A few drops fell; then the rain came with a rush. For some time the wind +had been rising; suddenly it seemed to leap upward to meet the emptying +clouds, then filled the pine-tops with a great roar, rattling the hard +branches, bending the slender trunks. The boys were on the down grade, +and there was no danger of losing the path, although the rain had put +out the sallow flame of the sun. They pricked their horses and made the +descent as rapidly as possible. But it was another hour before they were +on level ground once more. The rain was still falling in torrents; the +wind flung it in their eyes as fast as they dashed it from their lashes. +They could not see a yard ahead. The light of the hacienda was nowhere +visible. If its owner was away from home and his house in darkness, then +was their plight a sorry one indeed. + +"There is only one thing to do," said Roldan, putting his hand funnel- +wise to Adan's ear. "We must keep due south until we come to the river. +Then, at least, we cannot go wrong." + +"And that river we must cross!" said Adan, with a groan. "Dios de mi +alma!" + +Roldan had great faith in his sense of locality, but in a blinding rain +on a black night with a mighty wind roaring inside one's very skull, and +whirling the heavy poncho about one's ears every few moments, it was +difficult to preserve any sense at all. They galloped on, however, +occasionally pausing to shout, straining their eyes into the darkness on +every side. But nothing came back to eye or ear. Apparently they had the +wilderness to themselves. There was no sign of even an Indian pueblo. + +It was during one of these halts that the boys ejaculated +simultaneously: "The river!" + +"No," shouted Roldan, a moment later "it is only a creek." + +"Are we lost?" demanded Adan; and even the loud tone had a note of +pained resignation in it. + +"No; I think this must be what he meant. Some of the low people say +river for everything but the ocean. It is shallow, and we cannot turn +back. Come." + +They rode along the bank until they came to an easy slope, then crossed, +and cantered on. In a very short time the storm was behind them and the +stars burst out, but there was no sign of habitation. They kept on for +an hour longer, hoping for a welcome twinkle below; but not even a +coyote crossed their path. As far as they could see in the starlight +they were on a plain of illimitable reach, bare but for low shrubs whose +kind they could not determine, although once Adan's coat caught on a +prickly surface. The atmosphere was warm and very dry. + +Finally Roldan reined in. + +"We must rest," he said, "and build a fire, or we shall be stiff to- +morrow. And it is long past the hour for supper." + +"The sooner we eat and sleep and dry, the better for me," said Adan. + +The boys dismounted and tied their horses to a palm, then looked about +for firewood. There was not a tree to be seen; they had not passed one +since they left the creek. Nor could they see any sign of flint with +which they might set fire to a clump of palms. + +Adan, who had been on his knees, suddenly remarked: "There is not a +blade of grass, Roldan. What will the mustangs do?" + +"They are eating the palm, perhaps that will do them until to-morrow. +But the poor things must be as hungry as twenty. Come, let us strip, +hang our things up, and run. The water is in my bones." + +The boys peeled off the clinging steaming garments and ran up and down +until hunger sent them to the saddle bags. The mayor domo had provided +them abundantly, and once more they looked upon the world with hopeful +eyes. + +"But we must sleep," said Roldan, "and it is not going to be easy for +mind or body--if there are rattlers about--with no fire. We must take +it in turns. It is warm; we do not need our clothes--ah!"--for Adan was +snoring. + +Roldan was very tired but not sleepy. His brain, indeed, seemed +unusually alert, and he got up after a time and prowled about, pistol in +hand. He had been in solitudes before, solitude of plain and valley and +mountain; but there was something in his present surroundings that +reminded him of nothing he had heard of or seen. It was not only the +intense stillness, unbroken by so much as the flutter of a leaf, nor +even the vast expanse. The place seemed to possess a character of its +own, and its character was sinister and forbidding. Once or twice he had +been in the cemetery of the Mission near his father's rancho, and the +ugly feeling that he stood too close to death came back to him; why, he +could not define. There was no sign of a cross anywhere; but he felt +that he stood in a dead world, nevertheless. Once the ground quivered +beneath his feet, and the horrible idea occurred to him that Southern +California had been swallowed by an earthquake, and that only this +desolation was left. + +He went back to his comrade, who slept soundly beside the horses, also +extended and breathing deeply. It was nearly morning when he woke Adan, +so little aptitude had his brain for sleep. But when Adan sat up he fell +asleep almost immediately, and when he awoke the sun was high. + +XXII + +Roldan raised himself on his elbow and looked about him. Adan was some +quarter of a mile away, approaching him, leading the mustangs. Cleaving +the horizon on four sides was a vast plain. On it was not a tree, nor +even a hut. Here and there were clumps of palms and cacti, as stark as +if cut from pale green stone. At vast intervals were short, isolated +mountains, known in the vernacular as "buttes." On the ground was not +the withered remnant of a blade of grass; but there were many fissures, +and some of them were deep and wide. Of the things that crawl and +scamper and fly there was no sign, not even a hole in the ground; for +even reptiles must have food to eat, and there was nothing here to +sustain man nor beast. The fleckless sky was a deep, hot blue; a blood- +red sun toiled heavily toward the zenith. + +"Adan!" shouted Roldan; he was suddenly mad for sound of any sort. A +discouraged "Halloa!" came promptly back. + +Roldan dressed himself rapidly. His clothes were quite dry; indeed the +very atmosphere of this strange beautiful place was so dry that it +seemed to crumble in the nostrils. As he finished dressing Adan reached +him. The horses' heads were hanging listlessly. Adan's face had lost its +ruddy colour. + +"Roldan," he said, "where are we?" + +"I know not," said Roldan, setting his lips. + +"I left you to look for water, and there are not even tarantulas in this +accursed place. There is no water, not a drop. Nor a handful of stubble +for the horses." + +"We must go back the way we came, and start once more from the foot of +the mountain." + +"Can you remember from which point we entered this place? This soil +might be rock; there is not a hoof-print anywhere." + +"We should have gone south and we came east. On the northwestern horizon +is something which looks like mountains--a long range--almost buried in +mist. There is no sign of a range anywhere else; so the only thing to do +is to go back to them; they are our mountains; I feel sure of that." + +"If the horses do not give out. They are empty and choking, poor things. +Well, there is no reason we should not eat, and, thanks be to that good +mayor domo, we still have a bottle of wine. But I would give something +for a gourd of water. However, we have not been girls yet, and we will +not begin now, my friend." + +The boys ate their breakfast, but their spirits felt little lighter, +even after a long draught of wine. The awful quiet of the place, broken +only by an occasional whinny from the mustangs, seemed to press hard +about them, thickening the blood in their veins. Roldan was filled with +forebodings he could not analyse, and strove to coax forth from its +remote brain-cell something that had wandered in, he could not recall +when nor where. + +They saddled the mustangs, mounted, and were about to make for the +northwest when Adan gave a hoarse gurgle, caught Roldan's arm, pulled +him about, and pointed with shaking hand to the south. + +"Dios de mi alma!" exclaimed Roldan. "It is Los Angeles. We were right, +after all. But why were we never told that it was so beautiful?" + +On the southern horizon, half veiled in pale blue mist, showed a stately +city, with domes and turrets and spires and many lofty cathedrals. It +was a white city; there were no red tiles to break those pure and lovely +lines, to blotch that radiant whiteness; even the red sun withheld its +angry shafts. + +Roldan gazed, his lips parting, his breath coming quickly. If his +imagination had ever attempted to picture heaven, its wildest flight +would have resembled but fallen short of that living beauty before him. +It was mystifying, exalting. It was worth the dangers and discomforts of +the past month multiplied by twelve, just to have one moment's glimpse +of such perfection. And it was Los Angeles! A city of the Californias, +built by Indian hands! No wonder his family had been careful to leave +its wonders out of the table talk; had he known, he would have been at +its feet long since. + +"It isn't the wine?" asked Adan, feebly. + +"No. There must have been a fog before; Los Angeles is near the sea." + +"Shall we start?" + +"Yes, but slowly. The poor mustangs! But it will not be long now. We +cannot be more than two leagues from there. See, it grows plainer every +moment; the fog must have been very heavy." + +They cantered on slowly, the mustangs responding automatically to the +light prick of the spur. The beautiful alluring city looked to be +floating in cloud; it smiled and beckoned, inciting even the weary +famished brutes to effort. But at the end of an hour Roldan reined in +with a puzzled expression. "I do not understand," he said. "It seemed +not two leagues away when we started, and we have come that far and +more, and still it seems exactly the same distance beyond." + +"The atmosphere is so clear," suggested Adan. "But I wish we were there. +My mouth is parched, my tongue is dry--and the horses, Roldan. Soon they +will be as limp as sails in a calm." + +"True, but we could easily walk the distance now. We could return for +them at once with water and food." But he was beginning to feel vaguely +uneasy once more. The odd sensation of death, of a buried world, had +returned. Could it be that that fair city beyond was heaven? Surely, he +thought with unconscious humour, it was very un-Californian. + +They passed the lonely buttes, the parched beds of lakes, salt-coated. +Still they saw not a living thing; still the city seemed to recede with +the horizon, its sharp beautiful outlines unchanged. For some time the +horses had been trotting unevenly. Gradually they relaxed into a dogged +amble, their heads down, their tongues out. Every now and again they +half paused, with quivering knees. + +Adan's was the first to collapse; it fell to its knees, then rolled +over, Adan scrambling from under, unhurt. + +Roldan also dismounted, and both boys, without a word, unsaddled the +poor brutes, thrust the pistols into their belts and what was left of +the provisions into their pockets. They cast off their ponchos, then +once more turned their faces to the south. But they did not advance. +They stood with distended eyes and suspended breath. The city had +disappeared. + +Adan was the first to find speech. "A fog?" he asked. "A rain storm?" + +"There is neither. The horizon is as blue and clear as it is on the +north and east and west. It is a miracle. Let me think a moment." + +He sat down and took his head between his hands. After a while he looked +up. "For hours I have been trying to remember something," he said. "Do +you remember what that mayor domo said to us?--Keep straight on, +straight on, never turning to the left, for that way lies the terrible +Mojave desert, I barely heard his last words at the time; that is the +reason I have had such a time remembering. We are in the Mojave desert, +my friend." + +Adan, whose mouth was still wide open, sat down and rolled his eyes from +east to west. "Caramba!" he ejaculated finally. + +"I could say a good deal more than Caramba. All that I have heard of +this Mojave comes back to me. There is no water on it, no living thing +but half choked cacti and stunted palms. Men who are lost on it go mad +and die of thirst--" + +"Ay, yi, yi!" + +"Si, senor. However, it might be much worse. It is winter, not summer,-- +when the heat kills in a day; we have food and a little wine; we are +young and very strong; we have not come so many leagues that we cannot +walk back. And we have each other. Think, were we alone!" + +"Yes, it might be worse," said Adan, "but all the same it might be six +or eight leagues to the northwest better. And that city? What was it? +Where has it gone?" + +"I do not know." Privately he believed that it had been a glimpse of +heaven, and was disturbed lest it might have been a portent of death. +But his mind was too active, his nature too independent to sit down +under superstition. If he died on the desert, it would not be through +lack of effort to get out of it. + +He stood up, setting his lips. "Come," he said. "We gain nothing by +sitting here, and we are both fresh; we can walk many leagues before +night." + +"Do you know which way to go?" asked Adan. + +Roldan swept the horizon with his eyes. The buttes they had passed had +displaced the solitary landmark of the morning. There was not a hoof- +beat on the hard split ground. Roldan shrugged his shoulders. + +"We can at least follow the sun. Los Angeles must be due west. Come." + +The sun was past the zenith and sloping to the west. The boys turned +their backs upon it and trudged on, only pausing once for a half-hour to +divide the meagre remains of their store. Evening came; the sun leaned +his elbows on the horizon in front of them, leered at the contracted +visages and blinking eyes resolutely facing him, then slid leisurely +down; and night came suddenly. The boys flung themselves on the ground +and slept. + +They awoke consumed with hunger and thirst. Their mouths and nostrils +were coated with the fine irritating dust of the desert, scarcely +visible but always felt. But their smarting eyes were greeted by a +refreshing sight: not a half-league before them, directly in their +course, was a lake, a lake as blue as the metallic sky above, and +lightly fringed with palms and orange-trees. Beyond was a forest of +silver leaves--an olive orchard. + +"A Mission!" exclaimed Roldan, and even Adan sprang to his feet and +marched westward with some enthusiasm. But alas! although they trudged +with dogged persistence for fully a league, striving to forget the +gnawing at their vitals in the exquisite prospect filling the eye, the +lake seemed to march ahead of them, in perfect time with their weary +feet. Suddenly the two boys paused and faced each other. + +"This accursed desert is bewitched," said Roldan. His face was white, +but more with anger than fear; for the first time in his life he +realised the helplessness of man when at the mercy of nature, and he did +not like the sensation. He had a strong, and by this time, well +developed instinct to govern, to bend others to his will, and he swore +now that he would walk out of this desert unharmed if only for the +pleasure of cheating a force mightier than himself. He turned and looked +at the sun. + +"We have been going in a wrong direction," he said. "That lake has been +shifting gradually toward the southwest, and taken us nearly a league +out of our course. The first thing we know we will be in Baja +California, where there is nothing but deserts, and they are all on +mountain tops. We must strike north again. I am sure that last night we +were due west of Los Angeles." + +"But the lake? the Mission?" + +"I do not believe there is any lake. There are things you and I do not +understand in this world--although we are learning--and I believe that +this strange desert has the power to make scenes like the theatres they +who have travelled tell us of. Be sure that lake will disappear like the +city." + +They turned north in order to get in line with the sun; and out of the +tail of their eyes they saw the lake march with them. When they finally +turned to the west again it faced them once more. They linked arms +suddenly and trudged on, hungry, parched, beset by superstitious fears, +but not forgetting to turn every half hour and glance at the sun until +he passed the meridian and pointed for the west. And suddenly the lake +seemed to slip behind a wall. + +"There is really something there this time," said Roldan, closing one +eye and curving his hand about the other. "It is ugly enough to be real. +It is no use to say how far anything is in this place, but I should +think we would reach it before long." + +And long before they did reach it they knew what it was--a thicket of +cacti some two miles long and of unknown depth. The plants were eight or +ten feet high, and the broad thick leaves, spiked, as only the leaves of +the cactus are, looked to be welded together. But that was from a +distance. When the boys reached the thicket they saw that the plants in +reality were some feet apart, although there appeared to be no end to +them. The boys sat down suddenly, their strength deserting them. They +threw their arms forward on their knees and dropped their heads. For a +half hour or more they sat motionless, then Roldan looked up and fixed +his glassy eyes on the forbidding wall, which at close proximity seemed +to girt* the horizon. + +"If we tried to go round it," he said, "there is no knowing where we +should find ourselves. We had better go straight ahead, if possible. If +it is too thick we can turn back." + +"At least we could not see this horrible desert for a while," said Adan. +"I am willing." + +"And, who knows? Los Angeles may be just on the other side." + +Their utterance was thick. Their veins felt as if packed with lead, not +so much from need of food as need of drink. But they stumbled to their +feet and entered the cactus forest. They were obliged to pursue their +way in single file; the spikes were long, and many of the larger leaves +abutted so obstructively that they were obliged to go down on their +hands and knees and crawl. Nor could they maintain a straight course, +but zig-zagged among the great plants as nature permitted. More than +once they heard the rip of silk, more than once blood sprang through +their skin. Their progress was slow and fraught with peril, their only +consolation that the end must come sooner or later. + +Night came suddenly. They were near an open a few feet in circumference. +They lay down side by side, knowing that a step at night might mean +instant blindness. + +The cactus never moves, not even in a storm. There was not a breath of +wind to-night. The thick dull green plant-trees looked as solid as +stone, a petrified forest. The sky had never seemed so high above, the +stars so hard and bright. + +Adan moistened his lips with his tongue. "Do you feel that you can last +another day?" he asked. + +"I expect to die of old age." + +"Well, if you do, it won't be the fault of the Mojave desert. You have +courage, and so have I; but this is worse than all--Do you feel that?" + +"I have felt it many times before, to-day. It is said that parts of the +Mojave shake all the time." + +"We can swear to that. Supposing a great shake came, how could we get +out of this?" + +"We are as well here as anywhere. Let us sleep, and rise with the sun." + +But although he spoke confidently, almost contemptuously, he was +possessed with a wild desire to spring to his feet and fight his way out +of this terrible prison. He had seen a huge fish flounder in a net, and +looked on callously. He should never witness such another sight without +a responsive thrill of horror. Were he paralysed from crown to heel he +could not be more helpless in this thicket of needles. The vast +unpeopled desert had been bad enough, but it had been intoxicating +liberty to this. Tired as he was, he moved his hands and feet +constantly; supineness was impossible. He wondered how men felt when in +prison, and vowed that when he held the law in his hands he would invent +some other way of punishment. For his part he would rather be shot at +once. + +Being young and healthy, he fell asleep after a time. When he awoke the +sky was grey, the stars had gone. He shook Adan. + +"There is no sunrise to be seen from this place," he said, "but I am +sure of the direction now. I took note of that big cactus ahead, last +night--Hist!" + +"Dios de mi alma!" whispered Adan, his tongue rolling out. "In this +place! It is worse than earthquake." + +Nothing was to be seen from where they stood, but from no great distance +came the faint hollow rattle which strikes terror to man in the +wilderness. The volume of sound was suddenly augmented: there appeared +to be a duet. Immediately it was supplemented by a loud furious hissing; +a moment later by a whirr and impact. + +"There are two, and they are fighting," whispered Adan, his eyes +bulging. + +Roldan advanced softly to an aperture between two leaves of a cactus, +then lifted his finger to his shoulder and beckoned. Adan turned +mechanically in the opposite direction; but curiosity overcame him, and +he joined Roldan. + +Between two plants not three feet apart two rattlesnakes were engaged in +mortal combat. They coiled with incredible rapidity, flew at each other +with burning eyes and darting tongues, burying a fang somewhere in the +tense bristling armours. The lashing tails struck the spiked surface of +the cactus and augmented their fury; occasionally they whipped about, +hissing deliriously, then returning as swiftly to the only enemy in +sight. They had coiled and struck some four or five times, whipping all +over their narrow arena, when as if by common consent, they retreated to +extreme opposite points, coiled as lightning strikes, and leapt at each +other. Even Roldan gave a hoarse cry of surprise, and as for Adan, he +fell into vocabulary: one serpent had darted straight down the throat of +the other. For a moment there was a fearful lashing. The choking +serpent, with protruding eyes, like small green coals, and jaws +distended in agony, strove to dislodge his suffocating enemy, and the +other humped his back and leapt backward in frantic efforts to reach the +air again. But suddenly their struggles ceased; they flattened to the +ground, only the tails moving automatically. What was left looked like a +monster of some unknown species; a creature with no head, a huge belly, +and two tails. + +"Caramba!" exclaimed Adan, "I could not eat that even if we had anything +to cook it with. It looks like a mass of poison." + +"I should like to know where that poison was last night. It may be a +good sign, however: as they are the first living things we have seen, we +may be near to the edge of the desert." + +Adan crossed himself. + +"Come," continued Roldan, "let us move on, before hunger tempts us too +far." + +Once more they started on their tortuous way. They walked very slowly, +both from necessity and inclination: the excitement of the fight over, +their physical necessities pressed heavily; they kept as close together +as they could, but rarely spoke: they were too hungry. Both were +oppressed by the fear that at any minute they would come upon a solid +wall of cacti and be obliged to retrace their steps, and both knew that +might mean a stunning blow to courage. At times the constant zig- +zagging, the unalterable, smooth, grey-green surface of the cacti, made +them halt dizzily, for both brain and body were sick for want of food. +But by degrees the wood grew thinner and thinner; and when the sun was +half way between the zenith and the western horizon, they left behind +the last straggling outpost and found themselves on the edge of a creek, +the same doubtless that they had crossed three nights before. They gave +each other a feeble simultaneous slap on the back, gathered their +energies, ran down the bank, and took a long draught of the running +water. + +"I feel better," said Roldan, finally, "but hungrier than ever. There +are quail in that chaparral over there. I'll go after them, and do you +hunt for flint and build a fire." + +He crossed the creek and entered the brush beyond. Almost simultaneously +there was a loud whirr of wings, and a large flock of quail rose from +the chaparral a few feet ahead of him. He had only his pistols, but he +was a good shot, and he decapitated two of the birds in rapid +succession. Then he reloaded and killed a squirrel. When he returned, +Adan was on his knees, with his large cheeks distended, coaxing a +handful of dried leaves and twigs into flame. It was a half hour before +the pyre was large enough for the sacrifice, but after that the birds +and squirrel, which meanwhile had been skinned and washed in the creek, +were but a short time singeing. It was an ill-cooked meal, but when it +was over Roldan said solemnly,-- + +"I have eaten of all the delicious dishes of the Californias, including +many dulces, but nothing ever tasted as good as this; no, not even the +first breakfast at Casa Encarnacion." + +"Nor to me," said Adan, emphatically, and he crossed himself. + +XXIII + +"Hallo!" shouted a peremptory voice. "Hallo! Hallo!" + +"It's the Senor Jim," gasped Adan. + +Roldan sprang to his feet. "Hallo!" he cried. + +There was a heavy trampling in the chaparral, and a moment later Hill +rode into view. He took off his sombrero and waved it at the boys, but +did not speak until he had crossed the creek and dismounted. Then he +turned and regarded them with his keen hard eyes. + +"Well!" he exclaimed, "I never calkilated to see you alive agin, and +that's a fact. Hed some more adventures, I presume. Look as if ye'd hed +more adventures than grub." + +"Indeed we have, Don Jim," said Roldan, solemnly. "Should you like to +hear them?" + +"Should I? Well, I guess. You and your adventures have kinder made me +feel young once more." + +Roldan told the painful story. + +"Holy smoke!" exclaimed Hill, in conclusion, "you are tough! And two +mirages in the bargain. I was lost on Mojave once, and to my mind the +mirages was the wust part of the hull game." + +"What do you mean?" asked Roldan. "What are mirages?" + +"Mirages, Rolly, are what ought to be and ain't, what you want and can't +git, and they bear a hell-fired resemblance to life. I see you don't +quite understand. Well, that there beautiful city and that there +beautiful lake was what we call mirage for want of better name!" And he +explained to them the meaning of the phenomenon, as far as he understood +it. + +"We have certainly learned a good deal since we left home," said Roldan, +thoughtfully. + +"There's room for more. There's room for more. Now, I suppose you'd like +to know how I come here. Wall, I've got a confession to make fust, and +seein' as you've been so nigh to death in the last few days, p'r'aps +you'll furgive me. The day after you left I went down to see the priest, +as agreed. I found him--well, I don't know as I'll tell everything, not +even to excuse myself. It's enough to say that he was half luny between +fear and remorse. He told me--I suppose he'd got to that state where he +had to tell somebody or bust--about leavin' you in the tunnel to die, +and bein' willin' after to kill you with his own hands--he was that mad. +But he felt terrible sorry, and said that if you told on him it would +serve him right; only that would mean ruin--ruin--ruin--a terrible +word, young man. And he's not a day over forty and calkilates to git out +of Californy with that there gold and be a big-bug in his native land. I +hesitated some time, fur I ain't no slouch at keepin' a promise; but in +the end I had to tell him. Why, a man's a criminal if he don't put +another man out of misery when he kin--" + +"You did quite right," interrupted Roldan. "I am glad that he was +punished, but I would not have any one punished for ever." + +"Well, I'm glad you feel that way. He felt good, I kin tell you that. He +looked ten years younger in five minutes, for he said as how he knew +you'd keep your word. I went straight off and managed to have a word +with young Carrillo. It warnt no trouble to make him promise to keep his +mouth shet; he's more afraid of the priest than he is of his father's +green-hide lariat, and that's sayin' a heap. When I went back to the +Mission I told the priest that I thought as how I'd go on to Ortega's, +and see if you got there all right. When I got there and heard as how +you hed crossed the mountains in a terrible storm I just hed to go on. I +made straight for old Sanchez', who has a hacienda and raises grapes +just this side of the river. He was drunk as usual, but his servants +hedn't seen nothin' of you, and then I was seriously alarmed. That was +at night, and I couldn't do nothin' until daylight, so I got a good +sleep and the next mornin' I started for Mojave. I know it pretty well, +and there was no danger of gittin' lost. At nightfall I found your +horses and ponchos--the horses was dead, poor things. I slept on the +desert that night, and the next mornin' rode back as hard as I could +put, suspicionin' that you would have sense enough to strike west. I +went round the corner of that there cactus wood, never thinkin' ye were +in it, and I expect I got well to this side before you was out. When I +got to this creek I rode up and down it, then crossed over, thinkin' ye +might hev gone on. It was only when I saw smoke that I said to myself +for the fust time: 'There they be.' And you bet it did me good, for I +was powerful worried." + +"Don Jim," said Roldan, "you are a kind and good man. I love you, and I +will always be your friend." + +"So. Well, I'm powerful glad to hear that. You ain't much like 'Merican +kids, but you're pretty clever all the same, and I like ye better 'n any +boy I ever know'd, hanged if I don't. Don't be jealous, sonny"--to +Adan--"I like ye too--but Rolly--well!" + +"You would not like Roldan half so well if it were not for me," said +Adan, whose face expressed nothing. + +"So. Well. Now, be ye rested? We want to git to old Sanchez' fur a good +supper and a soft bed to-night." + +The boys rose with alacrity. Hill bade them mount his powerful horse, +and walked beside them. + +Sanchez' house was only three miles away, but the road lay through +chaparral which sprang across in many places. It was heavy dusk when +they emerged. For some time past they had heard wild eccentric cries, +and their three pistols were cocked. As they rode through a grove of +trees beyond the chaparral, they saw a dark something rolling toward +them. In an instant Hill had snatched the boys from the horse and swung +them to the limb of a tree. + +"Hide yourselves among the leaves," he said, "and don't even breathe +mor' 'n you kin help." + +He gave the horse a sharp cut with his switch and it galloped on; then +he climbed a neighbouring tree with the agility of a wildcat, and +crouched. + +The boys gazed into the dusk with distended eyes. The cloud came on with +inconceivable rapidity. In a moment it outlined itself. Those were +living creatures, fleeing. A stampede? No, men. . . . What? Indians? + +They were within a hundred yards now, and their lithe naked forms, the +tomahawks and bows and arrows gripped in their clenched hands, could +plainly be seen; a moment later, their evil faces, distorted with fear. +In the middle distance behind them was a huge column of fire. A strange +figure seemed leaping among the flames. It was from this scarlet column +that the strange noises came. The Indians made no sound beyond their +impact with the atmosphere. + +They deflected suddenly and passed to the right of the grove; a moment +later the three in ambush heard them crashing through the brush. Hill +waited until the sound had grown faint in the distance before he swung +himself down and helped the boys to the ground. + +"That was a close shave," he said. "Them was murderin' savages, no weak- +kneed Mission variety. I'd give two cents to know what scared 'em and +what's goin' on over yonder. They were on the rampage, which same means +thievin' and killin', or my name ain't Jim Hill." + +"We're used to Indians," said Adan, with gentle pride. + +"Oh, be ye? Well, if them Indians had caught you fryin' your supper, +you'd have got as well acquainted with the next world in just about +three quarters of an hour. Well, we've all got to foot it now; but it +ain't far. I'm powerful anxious to know what's goin' on over to +Sanchez'! Mebbe two tribes met and them's the victors offerin' up the +tail end of that there valiant army. Golly Moroo, but they did look +scared." + +They walked on rapidly, but without further conversation; they were all +hungry, and the boys were still very fagged. As they approached the +blazing mass, the figure seemed to leap more wildly still among the +flames, the cries to grow hoarser and more grotesque. All about was +heavy blackness. The slender branches of the burning pine writhed and +hissed; they might have been a pyramid of rattlesnakes caught in +spouting flame. Overhead the stars had disappeared beyond a heavy cloud +of smoke. It was a sight to strike terror to the heart of civilised man; +small wonder that the superstitious children of the mountain and desert +had fled in panic. + +They had advanced a few yards farther when suddenly Hill flung himself +on the ground and gave vent to a series of hysterical yells, at the same +time rolling over and over, clutching at the grass. Roldan, seriously +alarmed, and wondering if any other boys in the history of the +Californias had ever had so much to try their nerves, ran to his +assistance; he caught him by his lean shoulders, and shook him soundly. + +"Don Jim! Don Jim!" he exclaimed. "Are you ill, my friend? You have some +whisky in your flask, no?" + +At this Hill burst into a loud guffaw. Roldan and Adan looked at each +other helplessly. The Spanish do not laugh often, and although the boys +dimly realised that Hill's explosion resembled--remotely--the dignified +concession of their race to the ridiculous, yet they feared that this +was a diseased and possibly fatal variety. + +But in a moment Hill sat up. He wiped his eyes, and with some difficulty +controlled his voice. + +"No, I ain't ill, young 'uns," he said. "But them Indians 'ud be pretty +sick if they knowed what they run from. That there object cavortin' +round that there bonfire is old Sanchez, and he's drunk. Oh, Lord!" And +once more Hill gave way to mirth. + +"He did more good than harm to get drunk this time," said Roldan, +smiling sympathetically. + +"You're right, Rolly. You've got a long head. If old Sanchez had set +down to supper sober to-night, there'd be a war-dance round another +bonfire this minute, and his scalp 'ud be bobbin' bravely. I don't +approve of liquor," he added cautiously, remembering the young ideas +shooting before him. "I only said that there be exceptions to all rules, +and this is one of them." + +"I understand," said Roldan, drily. "I am not thinking of following the +Senor Sanchez' example. But do you suppose that was really what +frightened the Indians?" + +"Just. Well, I guess! They've probably got some idee of the devil, and +they thought that was him, sure 's fate." + +He sprang to his feet, ran forward, caught the bacchanalian about the +shoulders, and rushed him in the direction of the dimly-looming house, +throwing one of his own long legs into the air every now and again. The +boys ran after. When they reached the house its master was extended on a +settee in the living-room, and Hill was telling the tale of their narrow +escape to the frightened household. + +"I don't think they'll come back," he said in conclusion. "But it's jest +as well to have your guns ready, and for one or two of ye to set up all +night. We three'd like grub and beds as quick as you kin git 'em ready." + +Never had beds felt so sweet as they did that night. The boys awoke +refreshed, themselves again; and no Indians had returned to disturb +their slumbers. + +XXIV + +Hill met them as they entered the living-room. His eyes were full of +news. + +"Well, boys," he said, "I don't know that you're in fur another +adventure, but ye kin call it by that name when you git home if you +like; leastways there ain't no doubt about it's bein' an experience." + +The boys forgot the waiting breakfast. "What is it?" they demanded +simultaneously. "Quick! quick!" + +"It's this. I don't suppose you know more about the history of your +country 'n most kids do. Well, Alvarado and General Castro are your two +big men--" + +"We know that," interrupted Roldan, scornfully. + +"Oh, you do? Then mebbe you know who'se* govenor* at the present +moment." + +"Micheltorena. He was sent from Mexico. People don't like him, and they +despise the men he brought with him, still more." + +"So. Well, I allus did say you was a remarkable kid, Rolly. However, +this is the way the case stands now. Alvarado's mad as hops to be ousted +for a furriner, so to speak, and Castro's been bilin' fur some time, +because General Vallejo's been promoted ahead of him. So the two on 'em +determined on a revolution. They had a skirmish on Salinas plains that +didn't decide much, and then Alvarado and Castro marched south, from +ranch to ranch,--you just levanted in time,--persuadin' the rancheros to +uphold their cause and give 'em their sons. As they have a way with 'em, +of course they got all the recruits they wanted, to say nothin' of the +finest horses in stock--caponara after caponara. They say the sight when +they marched into Los Angeles was somethin' to go hungry for. Of course +all Los Angeles went over to such triumphant lookin' rebels, and to-day +or to-morrow there's goin' to be a big battle. I only heard this +mornin'. Old Sanchez' brother come post haste about two hours ago fur +his gun and as many men and horses as he could drum up. Of course +Alvarado marched down the coast valleys, so old Carillo and his +neighbours are eatin' their breakfast in blissful ignorance." + +"And shall we really see a great battle?" demanded Roldan, faintly. He +was pale, his nostrils were twitching, "Alvarado! Castro! Micheltorena!" + +"Well, you kin, if you bolt that there breakfast. The horses'll be here +in about twenty minutes, and a battle's somethin' I'm pinin' to see, +too." + +The boys ate their breakfast rapidly and in silence. A half hour later +they were galloping furiously for Los Angeles, escorted by the equally +enthusiastic Hill. The river was low and quiet. The horses swam it +without let from tide or snag. Even Adan forgot to cross himself. Beyond +was the high hill that lies directly to the north of Los Angeles. Its +surface seemed in motion; it looked like a huge ant-hill. + +"Them's women," said Hill, a few moments after they had left the river +behind them. "Women and children. The fight must be on. Hist! Do you +hear that?" + +All three reined in. The sound of cannonading, distant but distinct, +came to their ears. Without a word they lashed their mustangs and made +for the city. They entered it in a few moments. It looked like a +necropolis. Not a human being was to be seen. They spurred back to the +hill and began the ascent, then paused for a few moments. It was a wild +and tragic scene. Hundreds of women and children, their hair streaming +in the high wind, were kneeling with uplifted crosses, praying aloud, +when they were not weeping. A few men, Americans, were passing to and +fro among them, administering encouragement; but their gaze also was +directed anxiously to the north. + +Hill dismounted and approached one of the Americans, conferred with him +a moment, then returned to the impatient boys. + +"They are fightin' in the San Fernando valley, three leagues to the +north," he said. "We've got no time to lose." + +They were less than an hour reaching the battlefield. During that hour +Roldan scarcely knew how he felt. When he left the hacienda he was +possessed by an intense curiosity only; but with that first dull boom +something new and fierce had leapt to life within him. Every few moments +his fingers moved round to the hip-pocket that held his pistols. The +weeping women and children had made him quiver from head to foot. As +they approached the battlefield, and powder-smoke mingled with the green +fragrance of winter, he thought that his nostrils would burst. His ear- +drums were splitting with the thunder of cannon. Suddenly Hill caught +him by the arm. + +"Look!" he cried. "There be Alvarado and Castro over there, and +Micheltorena on t' other side. Ain't they magnificent specimens? Why, +what's the matter?" + +"Let me go!" said Roldan. His face was deeply flushed, his eyes blazed. +"Come, Adan! come, Adan!" he shouted. "An Alvarado! an Alvarado!" + +"Holy smoke!" cried Hill. "You don't say you're meanin' to fight after +sweatin' fur a month to git clear of the hull business?" + +But Roldan, grasping the bridle of the less enthusiastic Adan, was +already far ahead. The boys rode straight into the melee, firing through +the smoke until their ammunition was exhausted. Even Adan after the +first few moments lost all sense of fear, and following Roldan's +example, snatched the gun from a fallen soldier and fired and reloaded +until his hands were blistered, and his eyes half sightless with smoke. + +Roldan, obeying his dominant instinct, pushed his way rapidly to the +front, attracting much attention. Some one recognised him, and during +one of the many pauses of this not very systematic and furious battle +some one cheered the little don. The cheer was taken up vociferously. It +boomed across the battlefield. A moment later a man came dashing across +with a flag of truce: the cheering was supposed by the enemy to herald +the advance of reinforcements. The truce was accepted without +explanations, and Roldan was hurried into the presence of Alvarado. That +famous governor was sitting on a magnificent charger, caparisoned with +carved leather, red velvet, silver, and gold. His black eyes were +smiling, although the rest of his pale stern face was composed. + +"So this is the runaway," he said. "I demanded you from your father, and +he was much embarrassed to confess that you had fled to escape the +conscription. Well, I am glad you did, for you have saved the day for +me. But it is time you were in Monterey, for you've got the face of the +leader of men, and the sooner your education begins the better. Will you +come with me? Your father will not refuse." + +The blood was pounding in Roldan's ears, but he managed to reply calmly +that he would go. + +He was then presented to General Castro, a man of fine military bearing, +with classic features, but dark and stern. His eyes were as sombre as +Alvarado's: doubtless both knew that their day would be short, their +great gifts wasted in this far-away land, as remote from the great +civilisations where lasting reputations are made as had it been on +another planet. + +He shook Roldan warmly by the hand, but he did not smile. + +"Yes," he said, "it will be a pleasure to train you; and as you are +young and malleable you will adapt yourself to the new order of things +when it comes. Both Alvarado and I will write to your father; I am sure +he will send you to us in Monterey." + +And then they graciously dismissed him. + +As the boys left the battlefield they came upon Hill, who was sitting on +a hillock eating a sandwich. When Roldan had told his story the American +replied: + +"Shake! Rolly, you've got a heap o' genius, but you've got a durned +sight more luck. You'll git there--one way or nother--if the skies fall. +And I wish ye luck, I do for a fact." + +"Don Jim," said Roldan, gravely, "have you another sandwich? We are +very hungry." + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext of The Valiant Runaways, by Gertrude Atherton + diff --git a/old/valru10.zip b/old/valru10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4da00a5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/valru10.zip |