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 hisfather's house, his thumbs thrust into the red silk sash that wasknotted about his waist, his cambric shirt open at the throat as ifpulled impatiently apart; the soft grey sombrero on the back of hiscurly head making a wide frame for his dark, flushed, scowling face. 

There was nothing in the surroundings to indicate the cause of hisdisturbance. The great adobe house, its white sides and red tilesglaring in the bright December sun, would have been as silent as a tombbut for the rapid tramping of Roldan and the clank of his silver spurson the pavement. On all sides the vast Rancho Los Palos Verdes cleftthe horizon: Don Mateo Castanada was one of the wealthiest grandees inthe Californias, and his sons could gallop all day without crossing theboundary line of their future possessions. The rancho was as level asmid-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 insmall-clothes vivified with silver trimmings, dashed amongst tossinghorns, 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 intoconfusion: the soldiers were out for conscripts, and would in allprobability arrive at the Rancho Los Palos Verdes that evening or thefollowing morning. Roldan, like all the Californian youth, lookedforward to the conscription with apprehension and disgust. Not that hewas a coward. He could throw a bull as fearlessly as his elderbrothers; he had ridden alone at night the length of the rancho insearch of a pet colt that had strayed; and he had once defended thewomen of the family single handed against a half dozen savages untilreinforcements had arrived. Moreover, the stories of American warfarewhich 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 betweentwo rival houses, or a possible revolt against a governor. If theAmericans should come with intent to conquer! Roldan ground his teethand stamped his foot. Then, indeed, he could not get to the battlefieldfast enough. But the United States would never defy Mexico. They wereclever enough for that. His anger left him, and he gave a littleregretful sigh. Not only would he like that kind of a battle, but itwould be great fun to know some American boys. Then he shook his headimpatiently and dismissed these tourist thoughts. The present alone wasto be considered. 

There were two ways to avoid conscription. One was to marry--Roldansniffed audibly; the other lay in flight and eluding the men untiltheir round was over for the year. 

Roldan did not like the idea of running away from anything; he andseveral of his father's vaqueros had once made an assault upon a bandof cattle thieves and hunted them into the mountains: that was muchmore to his taste. Nevertheless there was one thing he liked less thanshowing his heels, and that was giving up his liberty. Not to gallop atwill over the rancho, or sleep in a hammock, to coliar the bulls andshout with the vaqueros at rodeo, to be the first at the games and theraces, to wear his silken clothes and lace ruffles, and eat thedelightful dishes his mother's cooks prepared! And then he was a veryhigh-spirited young gentleman. Although the same obedience, almostreverence, was exacted of him by his parents that was a part of thehousehold religion in California, yet as the youngest child, who hadbeen delicate during his first five years, he had managed to get verybadly spoiled. He did not relish the idea of leading a life of monotonyand discipline, of performing hourly duties which did not suit histaste, above all of being ordered to leave his father's house as if hewere a mere Indian. No, he decided, he would not go into the army--notthis year nor any other year. He would defy the governor and all hismen. 

When Roldan made up his mind he acted promptly. No time was to be lostin this case. Now was the hour of siesta; he could have no better timeto get away. A note would relieve his parents of a certain amount ofanxiety; and if they did not know where he was they could not be heldaccountable. His blood tingled at the presentiment of the adventures heshould have in that perilous journey through a country of which he knewnothing beyond his father's and the adjoining rancho. And as adventureswould be but half spiced if experienced alone, he determined--and notfrom 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. Afterhe had made a small bundle of linen and raided the pantry, he went outto the corral, saddled his horse and packed the saddle bags, wound hislariat securely about the pommel, then galloped away on a series ofadventures memorable in the annals of California. 

II

Roldan's way lay over his father's leagues until two hours afternightfall. 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 nocuriosity. Like all Californians he half lived in the saddle; and hewas 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 longverandah: the pretty black-eyed girls in full white gowns, their darkhair flowing to the floor, or braided loosely; Don Esteban, a silkhandkerchief knotted about his head, reclining in a long chair besidehis wife, a stout woman, coffee-coloured with age, attired in a darksilk gown flowered with roses. Indian servants came and went withcooling drinks. Although it was December, Winter had loitered andfallen into deeper sleep than usual on her journey South this year. 

Adan was leaning against a pillar, moody and bored. He was the youngestof the boys. His brothers, elegant caballeros, who spent most of theirtime in the capital or on other ranches, were kind to their youngerbrother, but not companionable. Therefore, when Roldan galloped intosight, he gave a shout of joy and ran down the road. Roldan drew reinsome distance from the house, that the conference, which must takeplace immediately, might be unheard by older ears. 

"Listen, my friend, " he said rapidly, interrupting Adan's volublehospitality. "The soldiers are out for conscripts--"

"Ay, yi!--"

"Now listen, and don't talk until I am done. I WILL NOT be drafted asif I had no will of my own, and rot in a barrack while others enjoylife. Neither will you if you have the spirit of a Pardo and are worthyto be the friend of Roldan Castanada. So--I fly. Do youunderstand?--and you go with me. We will dodge these servants of atyrant government the length and breadth of the Californias. When thedanger is over for this year we will return--not before. Now, you willask me to go to my room as soon as possible after you have given mesome 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 rollingover his teeth. But Roldan never failed to carry the day. He was a bornleader. Adan's was the will that bent; but his talent for goodcomradeship and his quiet self-respect saved him from servility. 

In appearance he was in sharp contrast to the slender Roldan, of theclassic features and fiery eyes. Short, roly-poly, with a broad, good-natured face, his attire was also unmarked by the extreme elegancewhich always characterised Roldan. In summer he wore calicosmall-clothes, in winter unmatched articles of velvet or cloth, and anold sombrero without silver. 

"Ay! yi!" he gasped. "Ay, Roldan! Holy Mary! But you are right. Youalways are. And so clever! I will go. Sure, sure. Come now, or theywill think we conspire. "

Roldan dismounted, and was warmly greeted by the family. The girls roseand courtesied, blushing with the coquetry of their race. Roldan caredlittle for girls at any time, and to-night was doubly abstracted, hisear straining at every distant hoof-beat. He retired as early as hepolitely could, but not to sleep. Indeed, he became so nervous that hecould 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 ridinghorses were kept. It was surrounded by a high wall, and the gate wasbarred 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 darednot follow this, and struck inland. The air was now of an agreeablewarmth; the full moon was so low and brilliant that Roldan called outhe could count the bristling hairs on a coyote's back. 

In less than two hours they were climbing a mountain trail leadingthrough a dense redwood forest. In these depths the moon's rays werescattered into mere flecks dropping here and there through the thickinterlacing boughs of the giant trees. Those boughs were a hundred feetand more above their heads. About them was a dense underforest of youngredwoods, pines, and great ferns; and swarming over all luxuriant andpoisonous creepers. 

They were silent for a time. The redwood forests are very quiet andawesome. At night one hears but the rush of the mountain torrent, thecry 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 orI. "

"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 ahoarse 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, wasan immense grey bear. Suddenly he extended his arms sociably, almostaffectionately. 

"We cannot retreat down that steep trail, " said Roldan, rapidly. "Hecould follow faster and the horses would fall. To the left! in thebrush, quick!--a bear cannot run sideways on a mountain. "

The boys dug their spurs into the trembling mustangs, who respondedwith a snort of pain and plunged into the thicket. Only the bold skillof 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 thana moment the boys saw him lumbering along above them. He evidently hadpossession of a trail, more or less level. 

"Dios de mi alma!" cried Adan. "If he gets ahead of us he will comedown and meet us somewhere. We shall be lost--eaten even as a cat eatsa 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 bullsweat, would hang like tapestry in the houses of Spain. Those hideboots, spotted with mud, and the blood of the calf, would keep him fromwanting another meal for many a long day--"

"Ay, thou fearless one! Why, it is said that if the grizzly even raiseshis 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 thethorns of the sweetbrier, fragrant lilac petals falling in a showerabout them, great ferns trodden and rebounding. The air was heavy withperfume and the pungent odour of redwood and pine. 

Roldan had passed Adan. Suddenly his horse stumbled and would have goneheadlong 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 pullin abruptly, and who liked horses less when they stood on their hindlegs. "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 momenthe stood erect. 

"We are saved, " he said. 

"Ay? What?"

"It is a hole, my friend--large and deep and round. Did you put anymeat 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 thestill terrified horses, who were not disposed to respond to anythingless persuasive than the spur. Roldan approached the edge of theexcavation and shook the meat loose, flinging the paper after it. Asthe smell of fresh beef pervaded the air it was greeted by a growl likerising thunder, and almost simultaneously the huge unwieldy form of thebear hurled itself down through the brush. The boys held their breath. Even Roldan felt a singing in his ears. But the grizzly, withoutpausing 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 wasin a trap. With a roar that made the horses rear and neigh likestricken things, he flung himself against the sides of his prison, drewback and leaped clumsily, tore up the earth, and galloped franticallyto and fro. But he was caught like a rat in a trap. 

The boys laughed gleefully and remounted their horses, which alsoseemed to appreciate the situation, for they had quieted suddenly. 

"Adios! Adios!" cried Roldan, as they forced their way up to the trailthe bear had discovered. "You will make a fine skeleton; we will comeback 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, andby dawn espied a ranch house in a valley. The white walls were pinkunder the first streamers of the morning. The redwoods rose like asolid black wall on the towering mountains on every side. 

"Ay!" exclaimed Roldan, drawing a deep sigh. "Sleep and a hotbreakfast. They will be good once more. "

"They will, " answered Adan, who had been collapsing and digging hisknuckles into his eyes for an hour and more. 

They feared that no one might be stirring, but, as they approached theverandah, the door opened and a stout smiling Californian, dressed inbrown small-clothes, appeared. 

"Who have we here?" he cried. "But you are early visitors, my youngfriends. "

"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 dothat for me. Come in, come in. The house is yours, my sons. Burn it ifyou 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, somewhatshamefacedly, they found the family assembled on the verandah, drinkingtheir afternoon chocolate, and impatient with curiosity. There were nogirls to criticise the dilapidated garments--which the kind hostess hadmended while the boys slept; but there were two youths of fourteen andfifteen and two young men who were lying in hammocks and smokingcigarritos. 

Roldan and Adan were made welcome at once. 

"My name is Jose Maria Perez, " said the host, coming forward. "This ismy 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 thisis my friend Adan Pardo of the Rancho Buena Vista. "

"Ay! we have distinguished visitors. But you were just as welcomebefore. 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 relatetheir adventures, continuing them over the steaming dish of stew. Whenhe reached the point which dealt with the outwitting of the bear, DonEmilio sprang from his hammock. 

"A bear trapped?" he cried. "A grizzly? We will have a fight with abull. You are rested, no? As soon as you have eaten, come and show usthe way. "

The boys, always ready for sport, and believing that they were beyondthe grasp of the law for the present, eagerly consented. An hour laterDon Emilio, Don Jorge, the four lads, and three vaqueros all salliedforth to capture one poor bear. The vaqueros dragged a sled, and muchstout rope. 

When they reached the trap darkness had come, but the four boys heldlighted torches over the hole--this was their part. The bear, disheartened with his long and futile effort to escape, lay on theuneven surface below, alternately growling and roaring. As the torchesflared above him he sprang to his feet with a vast roar, his eyes asgreen and glittering as marsh lights. In a moment a lasso had flownover his head and he was on his back. But his formidable legs were notto be encountered rashly. Each was lassoed in turn, also his back; thenhis huge lunging body was dragged up the side of the excavation andonto the sled. There he was bound securely; then the rope about hisneck was loosened and he was fed on a hind quarter of sheep. But itplacated him little. His anger was terrific. He roared until the echoesawoke, and strained at the rope until it seemed as if his great musclesmust conquer. 

But he was powerless, and the procession started: first Roldan andBenito with their torches; then two vaqueros dragging the sled, thethird holding the rope which encircled the bear's neck, ready totighten it on a second's notice. Following were Don Jorge and DonEmilio, then the two other young torch bearers. Thus was poor Bruincarried ignominiously out of the forest where he had been lord, toperform for the benefit of the kind he despised. That night he restedalone in a high walled corral, liberated by the quick knife of one ofthe 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 againstthe earth walls of the corral until they quivered with the impact. Thehorses in the neighbouring corrals whinnied; the cows in the fieldsbellowed. 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 meansof a ladder mounted the wall and stood on the broad summit. At a signalfrom Don Emilio a vaquero opened the gate cautiously and drove in alarge 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 rolledin the dust by the furious onslaught of bulk and horns. He recoveredhimself with surprising alacrity, however, and rushed at the bull. Thelatter, off guard for the moment, and struggling for his lost breath, was hurled on his back. He rolled over quickly, but before he couldgather his legs under him, the bear sat himself squarely upon the heavyflanks. The bull jerked up his head, his eyes injected, his tonguerolling out. The bear raised one of his mighty paws and dealt him a boxon the ear. The head fell with an ugly thud on the hard floor of thecorral. The bear adjusted himself comfortably and licked his paws. 

On the wall the onlookers were far more excited than the gladiators inthe arena. The Perezes sympathised with their personal property, butRoldan and Adan felt that the bear was their menagerie, and that theirhonour was at stake. Party feeling ran very high. Roldan and Benitowere 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 boxedinto unconsciousness. The side of his face was crushed; his body wasslowly flattening. The family encouraged him with tears and spirit. 

"Ay, Ignacio, Ignacio, my poor one!" cried Don Jose. "Arouse thyselfand kill the brute. Ay! thou wert so beautiful, so elegant, thy sleeksides like the satin of Dona Theresa--and he like a wild man that hasnever washed. Where is thy pride, Ignacio? Arouse thyself!"

Thus encouraged, the bull raised his head once more. The bear gave hima whack that snapped his spinal cord, then rose and swung himself roundthe enclosure with the arrogant mien of a bloated sultan who has sweptoff a troublesome head. This attitude aroused Benito to fury. 

"Ay, the cheat! the assassin!" he cried. "It was not a fair fight. OurIgnacio had no chance--"

"That is not true!" exclaimed Roldan. "He had the same chance at thefirst. If you are not satisfied, Senorito Benito, then fight me. "

No sooner said than done. The boys, who stood some distance from theothers, doubled their fists and rushed at each other like two fightingcocks. They pommelled for several minutes, then locked their arms abouteach other and went reeling about the wall, to the horror of theothers, who dared not approach lest they should inflame them further. 

"Jump down! Jump down, you imbeciles!" cried Don Jose. "Do you wish tobe food for the bear? A misstep--" The words ended in a hoarse gurgle. Dona Theresa shrieked. Adan and Carlos sobbed. The young men turnedcold and weak. The two boys had fallen headlong into the corral. 

They were sobered and fraternal in a moment. The bear stood upon hishind 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 thewall, each of which was suggesting a different measure. On the oppositewall and in the branches of a neighbouring tree were the Indianservants and the vaqueros. They stared stupidly, with shaking lips. 

Adan had recovered his presence of mind. With a firm hand, he loweredthe ladder. But his wit was not quick. He should have carried it alongthe wall and placed it behind the boys. Instead, it descended severalyards away. The bear, who appeared to be no fool, lowered his forepawsand trotted slowly toward the boys. 

"Juan!" shouted Roldan to a vaquero. "Lasso the bull and drag him tothe west side--far from the gate. "

The vaquero, alert enough under orders, swung the lasso with supplewrist--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, andthe carcass went thudding across the yard. The bear gave a furious howland plunged after. The boys scampered up the ladder. Don Jose took eachby the collar and shook them soundly. When they were released theyembraced each other. 

"Ay! but I was inhospitable to fight my guest, " sobbed Benito. 

"Ay, my friend, " said Roldan, with dignity, winking back the tearsstarted by various emotions. "It is I who should have had my ears boxedby the bear for insulting my host, and bringing anguish to the house ofPerez. " Then he embraced Adan, but this time mutely. 

Dona Theresa had been carried to her room, where she lay prostratedwith a nervous headache; but her family and guests did ample justice tothe chickens stewed in tomatoes, the red peppers and onions, the friedrice, tamales, and dulces which her cook had prepared in honour of theevent. Excitement and good will reigned; even Don Jose had forgiven theyoung offenders, and they all talked at once, at the top of theirvoices, as fast as they could rattle and with no falling inflection. Roldan and Adan were pressed to remain at the Hacienda Perez until thesearch was over, and although the former had a secret yearning foradventure he was more than half inclined to consent. 

After a brief siesta the entire male population of the hacienda retiredto the wall of the corral to pot the bear. It was agreed that eachshould fire at once, and that he who missed should have no dulces for aweek. 

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-twoshots were fired. The bear gave a roar which awoke the echoes of theforest, lunged frantically on shattered legs, then fell, an ugly heapof dusty grey hair. 

As the smoke cleared and Don Jose was announcing that only two Indianservants 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. Abend of the trail traversed a clearing. In this open were three men onhorseback, 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 DonJose. "But I take no risks. We must go. "

The others descended hastily. "My sons will have to hide too, " said DonJose. "There is plenty of time. In a moment those men will be in theforest again and can see nothing more for half an hour. We must donothing while they watch--there! they have gone. "

He shouted to the vaqueros to saddle six fresh horses, and ordered thehouse servants to pack the bags with food. 

"There is a cave in the mountain on the other side which I defy anyoneto find, " said Don Jose. "If there were a war my sons should fight, butI need them now. "

While the horses were saddling, Roldan and Adan consulted together. Atthe 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 goone way, your sons another. That will put them off the track; and thecave, Carlos says, is not very large. "

"As you like, " said Don Jose, who was perturbed and busy. "A vaquerowill go with you for a distance and advise you. "

The truth was, Roldan fancied lying inert in a cave for several days aslittle as he fancied the somnolent life of a barrack, and Adan, who hada secret preference for the cave, was too loyal to oppose him. 

In ten minutes the horses were ready, affectionate good-byes said, andRoldan 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 almostperpendicular walls, black with a dense growth of brush and scrubtrees, towered so high above them that the atmosphere was damp and thelong strip of sky was like a pale-blue banner. The trail was well worn, and there was nothing to impede their progress. The mustangs respondedto the lifted bridle and ran at breakneck speed. They emerged at theend of half an hour. It was an abrupt sally, and the great level plainbefore them seemed a blaze of sunlight. 

"Bueno, " said the vaquero, halting. "Ride straight ahead. Keep to thetrail. At night you will come to a river. Before you reach it all traceof you will be lost, because between now and there are many sidetrails, 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 tothe Mission--about twenty miles farther--where the good padres will letyou rest and give you fresh horses. The senor, meanwhile, will throwthe officers off the scent. But if you are wise, you will make for theSierras and hide there. Adios, senor, adios, senor;" and he wheeledabout and disappeared into the darkness of the canon. 

"We are like the babes in the wood, " said Adan. "I feel as if we nevershould find our way home again. "

"We shall, " said Roldan, stoutly; although he, too, felt the chill ofthe immense solitude. "And we have begun well! What an adventure tostart with! I am sure we shall have more. "

Adan crossed himself. 

The boys rode at a long even gallop, the high chaparral closing behindthem. Every half hour they paused, and Roldan, dismounting, held hisear to the ground. But as yet they were unpursued. 

A soft wind blew over the plain, fragrant with the honeydew of thechaparral. The sun set in a great bank of yellow cloud. Then the nightcame suddenly. 

A few moments later Roldan called: "Halt!" and held up his hand. "Ihear 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 thismonth. 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 waterabout three hundred yards wide. It was swollen almost level with thehigh banks. The tumultuous waters were racing as if Neptune astridethem was fleeing from angry gods. There is something unhuman in theroar 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 glancethat grew between them he compressed his lips and involuntarilystraightened himself: he knew its significance. 

"We must cross, " said Roldan. "It would never do to spend the night onthis 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, butcowered. "I don't like to hurt horses, " said the young don, "but he'sgot 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 rushingwaters. The mustangs were strong and made fair headway, incited byterror and the spur. The water was very cold, but the boys scarcelyfelt it. Their eyes were strained toward the opposite shore, measuringthe distance, which seemed to grow less very slowly. The stars werethick and the moon was floating just above the chaparral, but thedarkness about them was grim, and only a narrow line of white indicatedthe shore. 

The horses were not able to keep a straight course. The current lashedthem about more than once, but they righted, shook the water from theirquivering nostrils, and plunged on. 

The boys' glance so persistently sought their haven that they sawnothing of what was passing about them. They were within twenty yardsof the shore. Adan, having the stronger beast, was some little distanceahead. He did not observe it. He was registering a vow that if hereached land in safety he would be drafted every year of his lifebefore he would ford another river after heavy rain. 

Suddenly Roldan became conscious that the wiry little body between hisgripping knees had relaxed somewhat the tension of its muscles. Was thepoor brute collapsing? Roldan leaned over and patted his neck. Itresponded for a moment, then fell back again. Roldan set his lips. Ashe did so he cast about him the instinctive glance of those in peril. Ahuge log was bearing down upon him like a projectile. 

In a second his feet were out of his stirrups and he was crouching onthe mustang's back. The log struck the beast full in the side, tossingRoldan 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 slenderbody, plucky as it was. He made a mighty effort and shouted, --

"Adan!"

The high clear note pierced to his companion's ear. Adan turned hishead, uttered a cry, and pulled his unwilling mustang about. But thecurrent 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 respondedalmost automatically to that imperious will. He unwound the lariatrapidly from the pommel, hastily gathered the loops, then flung it withsure hand straight at his friend. It fell about Roldan's neck. The boyjerked 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 hishead 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 offand pulled in the rope with hands that were aching and almost numb. Heheard Roldan strike the bank, a moment later the snapping of brush. Roldan's head rose into view, Adan gave a last despairing tug, and amoment 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. Weshall both have rheumatism. We must have a fire at once. "

Adan groaned pathetically, but got on his feet. They had found refugein the open; but a grove of trees was near, and in a quarter of an hourthey had piled a heap of branches and chaparral as high as an Indianpyre, hunted up two pieces of flint, and sent sparks flying through thedry mass. 

The boys divested themselves of their dripping clothes and hung themclose to the fire, then raced up and down with what energy was left inthem to scotch the chill night air. Finally they paused breathlessbefore 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 themustang, who also had fallen upon reaching the shore but had risen tonibble 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, emptiedthe bags. "The bread and sweets are soaked, " he said, "not fit for apig to eat; but we can do something with the meat. Fetch some coals. "

Adan with infinite difficulty managed to scrape a few coals apart fromthe bonfire, and over this they scorched the meat. As they crouched onthe ground they looked like two little white savages, and they wereneither comfortable nor happy. 

"We must keep this fire going all night, " said Roldan, "or we shall beeaten 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, keepinghis eyes on the ground. Suddenly he paused. Something just beyond thelight was growing into a series of graceful loops. A long neck slowlylifted itself and two baleful eyes fixed upon Roldan. He raised hispistol, and the rattler was beheaded as neatly as if it were stuffedand dismembered with a pen knife. It shot out to full length, and theclever 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 manygrumblings, the rattlesnake was skinned and roasted, and proved verydelicate and edible. 

"Now, " said Roldan, "we must sleep. " Their clothes being dry theydressed; and after inspecting with a torch a circle of about twohundred yards to see that there were no snake holes, they built a hastyring of chaparral, set fire to it that beasts and reptiles should keeptheir distance, then lay down and slept. Roldan was always a lightsleeper, and with the fire on his mind awoke every few hours andgathered fresh chaparral or roused the heavier Adan. Coyotes wailed inthe distance, and once as Roldan gathered brush he heard again thedeadly rattle. But they were not disturbed, and even the skies werekind, for although clouds gathered, they passed. 

They awoke in the morning, fresh and vigorous--but also hungry; andthere 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 ofmeat, all that was left of their store, and it but whetted theirappetite. 

"There's only one thing to do, " said Roldan, "and that is to get to theMission 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 thatthey 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 theturbulent waters and puffed among the sweet-scented chaparral. Roldanrode during the first hour, Adan running ahead, his glance darting fromright to left, but encountering eyes neither malignant nor savage. Shortly after he mounted the horse the mist lifted and rolled back tothe ocean. They had left the chaparral some time before and nowdiscovered that they were in an open plain. In the distance were highhills over which wound a white trail. Between these hills and thetravellers 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. "Whatluck! I hate walking. They are probably wild, but I never saw themustang I could not lasso. "

"Yes, you can do the lassoing, " said Adan, grimly. "My thumb nearlywent off last night, and is twice its size. "

"Adan, " said his friend, laying his hand on his comrade's knee. "Ihaven't thanked you. I haven't mentioned it; but it is because--well--Ilay awake an hour last night trying to think of something tosay--and--and--thinking that I loved you better than my own brothers--"

"That will do, then, " said Adan, gruffly. "We'll be kissing each otherin a minute as we did at the Hacienda Perez; and I think that we aregetting too big for that. I hear that American boys never kiss eachother. "

"Don't they?" asked Roldan, pricking up his ears. "How I should like toknow 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 backlast month and rode over a few days ago for the night. I asked him manyquestions. He says they never show any feeling except when they getmad, 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 werelike girls with our fine clothes and our hammocks--"

"Girls!" cried Roldan, indignantly. "I'd like to see American or anyother boys do better with that bear than we did, or lasso a friend inthe midst of a boiling river as you did. And if they come here to laughat us they'll find one pair of fists that are not soft if they do havelace ruffles over them. And I'd like to see them live all day on ahorse as we do. "

"True, true, you are always right, " said Adan, soothingly. "Ay, I thinkthose horses are coming this way. Better get up. "

He moved back onto the anquera and Roldan sprang to his place andunwound the lariat. Like all of its kind, it was a slender woven cordabout eighteen feet in length and made of tough strips of untannedhide. It was an admirable weapon in skilled hands, but not to betrifled with by the amateur. Many a careless Californian had lost afinger or thumb, and more than one had owed it lockjaw. 

The wild horses advanced rapidly for a time, but when they saw that thebrother to which curiosity had attracted them was apparently of aneccentric build they suddenly paused and scattered. Roldan raised thebridle and dashed in pursuit; but the others were unincumbered, fleetof 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. Roldanhad singled out a well-built black, a little heavier than his mates andconsequently somewhat in their rear. The mustang, who had slept off hisfatigue, had no need of spur; he seemed to enter into the spirit of thechase--possibly realised that if the chase failed he might have adouble load to carry. He dashed over the rough adobe plain, Roldanholding the bridle high in his left hand, the coiled lasso in hisright. Adan waddled after, far in the rear. The other horses had fledto the four winds, but the pursued, occasionally ducking his head andkicking up his hind legs as if in contempt of the pretensions of mereman, made straight for the hills. Being undisciplined, however, he gotover the ground clumsily, stumbled once or twice in the wide cracks ofthe adobe soil, and finally stopped short for want of wind. He swungabout and glared defiantly at his pursuers out of injected eyes. He hadnever seen a lasso before, possibly not a man; but his instinct toldhim that the horse and rider behind him were not roving the plain inhis own aimless fashion. He stood pawing the ground and shaking hisgreat red nostrils. Suddenly to his surprise the part of the horse newto him lifted itself, and a black coiling something, graceful and swiftas a rattlesnake, sprang through the air with a sharp audible rush. Aquarter of a moment later he neighed with rage and terror: his neck wasin a vice. 

He gave a leap that nearly dragged Roldan from his saddle; but thatexpert young gentleman had secured the lariat to the high pommel of hissaddle in a trice, and Don Jose Perez's mustang had thereafter to bearthe brunt of the strain. 

The wild animal pulled and tugged and tore up the ground; but findingthat he but increased his own discomfort, he gradually subsided, andwhen Roldan finally turned about and rode slowly toward Adan hefollowed meekly enough. 

When Adan saw the procession start in his direction he sat down on astone to rest, and when it reached him he obeyed orders and sprang onthe mustang's back as Roldan slipped off. 

"That was well done, my friend, " he said approvingly. "I could see itall; but I thought my eyes would fly out of my head. "

Roldan walked cautiously up to his prize and attempted to pat it gentlyon the head. But it was some moments before he was able to touch thebeast, who was sulky, cross, and frightened. When he did he swiftlyloosened the lariat, and this procured him a meed of favour. The horsethen allowed himself to be patted all down the side and back, nor onceraised 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 horsestood on his hind legs, made as if to go over backward, then suddenlystiffened all four legs and sprang up and down as automatically as ifworked by a spring. Roldan was now in his element. He had broken inmore than one bucking horse. He remained as immovable as a fly on thetop of a coach, only giving an occasional prick with his spur to maddenthe animal and wear him out the sooner. 

Roldan had cast the lariat from the animal's neck as soon as hemounted, and it was well that he had, for his quarry made a sudden dashand 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 wayof encouragement. 

The battle lasted nearly an hour; then the mustang confessed himselfconquered, and the boys sought out the trail, from which they hadwandered far, and continued their journey. 

"Caramba!" exclaimed Roldan, "but I am famished, not to say tired. Ifit had been ten miles instead of twenty, it would not have been worthwhile. "

VI

They rode on rapidly, too hungry to talk. The ground began to rise, andthey advanced through hills sprouting with the early green of winter. Once they paused, and tethering the horses where they could feed, shotseveral quail and roasted them. But the pangs of hunger were by nomeans allayed, and when, in the early afternoon, they saw the whitewalls of the Mission below them, they gave a shout of joy. 

The Mission stood in the middle of a valley, well away from woods andhills, and surrounded by a large vineyard and orchard. On the longcorridor traversing the building adjoining the church, several figuresin habit and cowl walked slowly behind the arches. Indians were in thevineyards and orchards and moving about the rancheria adjacent to themain buildings. Cattle were browsing on the hills. A stream tangled inwillows cut a zig-zag course across the valley. 

The boys rode quickly down the hillside. As the padres heard theapproaching hoof-beats they paused in their walk, and shading theireyes with their hands gazed earnestly at the travellers. 

"Friends! Friends!" cried Roldan gaily, as the tired steeds trotted upto the corridor. The boys dismounted and made a deep reverence. One ofthe 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 manyleagues without a saddle. Are you runaways? The shelter of the Missionis 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 ourparents shall not be anxious. We do not wish to be drafted. "

The priest's brow relaxed. The padres had little respect for a systemthat owed its existence mainly to the vanity of governors and generals, and the present governor, Micheltorena, had by no means won theapproval of the Church. 

"You are welcome, my sons, " he said. "If the officers come we cannotdeny 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 tellinghis beads bade him go and see that a hasty luncheon was prepared. AnIndian came and took the mustangs, and the boys were led by thehospitable priest into a large room, comfortably furnished, the wallshung with some very good religious pictures. 

The padres, in truth, were glad of visitors at any time. They wereclever educated men who had given their lives to christianisingbrainless savages in a sparsely settled country; and any news of theouter world was very welcome. They pushed back their hoods and satabout the boys, their faces beaming with interest and amusement as theylistened to the adventures of those wayward youths. And as all men, even priests, love courage and audacity, they clapped their handstogether more than once or embraced the lads heartily. 

When luncheon was announced and the doors of the long refectory thrownopen, the boys were shown in as if they had been princes and told tosatisfy themselves. This they did, nor ever uttered a word. The priestshad tactfully withdrawn. Roldan and Adan ate enough beans, rice, coldchicken, tongue, and dulces to make up for their prolonged fast, andfinished with a cup of chocolate and a bunch of grapes. After that theywent to sleep in two clean little cells, to which they were conducted, nor awakened until all the air was ringing with the sweet-voicedclangor of mission bells. 

Roldan turned on his elbow and looked out of the window. The square wasrapidly filling with Indians, some running in willingly enough, othersdriven in at the end of the leash by the lay brethren. All knelt on theground for a few moments. Roldan, whose eyes were very keen, and, during these days, preternaturally sharpened, noted that several of theIndians were whispering under cover of the loud mutterings about them. The face of the Californian Indian is not pleasant to contemplate atany time: it is either stupid or sinister. Roldan fancied he detectedsomething 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 gavethe landscape an air of great repose, and the mountains beyond werelost under a purple mist. The large stone fountain in the courtsplashed lazily. As the worshippers rose and withdrew, the silver bellsrang out a merry peal, announcing that the morrow would be Sunday. 

Roldan fell asleep again. When he awoke it was dark outside, but on thetable by his cot was a lighted taper and a dish of fruit. He ate of thefine grapes and pears, then rose and opened his door. In the small roombeyond a young priest was seated at a table, bending over a large leafof parchment, to which he was applying a pen with quick delicatestrokes. 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 theexquisite border to the music, the latter written with equal precisionand neatness. "This will be alive when I am not even dust. No one willknow that I did it; but I like the thought that it may live forcenturies. "

"If I did it, I should sign my name to it, " said Roldan, with his firstprompting of ambition. "But I never could do that; I have not thepatience. 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 darksquare. 

"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 Californiaseveral beautiful monuments for posterity to wonder at, but as for theIndians we will end where we began. They are always escaping andrunning back to the mountains. Their every instinct is for barbarism;they have not one for civilization, nor can any be planted whose rootswill not trail over the surface. The good Lord intended them to besavages, nothing more; and it is mistaken sentimentalism--However, itis not for me to criticise, and I beg, Don Roldan, that you will notrepeat 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 dozenexceptions in all California, and they are treacherous. His name isAnastacio, and he has great influence with the other Indians. A goodmany of them are angry at present because they have been punished forstealing grapes and stores, and just now they are rather excitedbecause it has been proposed to banish Anastacio to a Mission wherethere are more soldiers, --he is regarded as the inciter of theoutrages. "

"Have you soldiers here?"

"Eleven. The guard house is in the left hand corner of the square. Butwhat could they do in an uprising? We must get rid of Anastacio. I willgo 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 uncoveredwindow, and he had a good view of the guard room. A half dozen soldierswere lying about on benches, half-dressed, smoking the eternalcigarrito. Two were at a table writing. None looked alert, but asRoldan passed out of the plaza to the open beyond, he encountered asentinel who was ready to gossip with the young don and told him thatthree more were on duty on the several sides of the square. 

Roldan strolled on to the rancheria, a collection of six or eighthundred huts of mud and straw among a thicket of willows by the creek. Here all was dark and quiet. He glanced through several of theuncurtained windows and saw whole families peacefully asleep. Suddenlyhe paused and held his breath, at the same time retreating into theheavy shade of a willow. A number of doors had opened almostsimultaneously; there was the sharp crunch of dry brush, and darkfigures 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 theduty of saving the Mission which had shown him hospitality, and was notto be deterred. Moreover, the spirit of adventure was by no meansquenched. 

In a few moments he paused opposite a large hut, from which issued asubdued murmur. The window had been covered, but a thin ray of lightpierced through a crack in the door, and to this Roldan applied his eye. 

The room was crowded with Indians standing respectfully about a man inthe middle of the room, whom Roldan knew instinctively to be Anastacio. He was big and clean-limbed and sinewy, with small cunning eyes, aresolute mouth and chin, and an air of perfect fearlessness. Roldanwarmed to him, and looked with admiration and envy at the muscles onhis splendid limbs. 

He was speaking rapidly in the native patois, and Roldan could gatherlittle of his meaning beyond what his gestures conveyed. He shook hisfist in the direction of the Mission, snapped his fingers in scorn, pointed toward the mountains, then made the motion of speeding an arrowfrom the bow, at the same time contracting his face hideously. 

Roldan stayed as long as he dared, then returned hastily to theMission. A friar was locking up for the night, and began to chide theyoung guest for being out so late, but Roldan interrupted himimpatiently. 

"Can I see Padre Flores to-night?" he asked. "I must see him. It isimportant. "

"He has retired to his cell, but I will take your message; and he neverdenies himself to those that need him. "

He went to the end of the corridor and tapped at a door. In a fewmoments he returned. 

"Padre Flores will see you, " he said. 

The priest was standing by the little altar in the corner of his cellwhen Roldan entered. 

"What is it, my son?" he asked. "Have you learned anything new? PadreEstenega has told me of your suspicions. "

Roldan rapidly related what he had seen. The priest's face became graveand 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 yourselfin 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 chooseto 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 youprotect your Mission. And Adan too. "

"I am sure of it. I did but tease you. And your part shall beginto-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 justnow--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 andwatch. It is the full of the moon and clear. If you merely see a dozenor more figures gliding about the rancheria, that will mean that theyare plotting, and intend no action to-night. If you see severalhundred, run down and bring me word. But if you see a mass of men riseat once and descend upon the west gate, ring the bells. I shall go andwarn the soldiers, and every priest and brother will sleep on hispistol to-night. But I don't think they are organised as yet. Beforedawn 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. Whenhe had locked the door behind him, the vast dark building, beneathwhose tiles priests lay buried, shook his spirit as night and theplains had not done, and he wished that he had brought Adan. Then hejerked his shoulders, reflected that cowards did not carry off theprizes of the world, and determined that his first should be theadmiration and approval of the priests and soldiers of this greatMission. He walked rapidly down the nave, trying not to hear the hollowecho of his footsteps, then opened several doors before he found theone behind which was the spiral stair leading to the belfry. His supplelegs carried him swiftly up the steep ascent, and in a moment he wasstraining his eyes in the direction of the rancheria. 

The belfry was about ten feet square. The massive walls contained threelarge apertures, through which the clear sonorous notes of the greatbells carried far. Just beneath the arch Roldan had selected asobservatory, and on the side opposite the plaza was the private gardenof the padres, surrounded by cloisters. An aged figure, cowled, hisarms folded, was pacing slowly. 

Roldan, glancing over his shoulder, saw Padre Flores return from thesoldiers' quarters; but in the rancheria there was no motion but theswaying tops of the willows, and no sound anywhere but the hoot of theowl and the yap of the coyote. 

It was a long and lonely watch. Roldan felt as if he were suspended inair, cut off from Earth and all its details. Although his militaryinstinct had been aroused and he burned for fight, his spirit grewgraver in that isolation, and he resolved to do all he could to savethe Mission from attack. It was there for peace and good deeds, and itspreservation was of far more importance than a small pair of spurs forMaster Roldan. 

Nevertheless, Roldan was to win his spurs. 

Toward morning he saw an Indian, attended by a priest, let himself outof a gate and steal toward the corral. A few moments later hereappeared, leading a mustang up the valley in the shadow of the trees. The priest re-entered the gate, and Roldan knew that the messenger hadgone forth for help. 

At sunrise a brother came running up the stair. "Better go down, " hesaid, 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 themthose in case of assault by savage tribes. "

Roldan descended the stair as the bells rang out their peremptorysummons. Although he was tired and sleepy, he determined to remain inthe church during mass, and knelt near the altar by a pillar where hecould command a view of the nave. Almost the first to enter wasAnastacio. He carried himself proudly--like a warrior, thoughtRoldan--and advancing to the altar bowed low, then knelt stiffly, hiseyes closed. 

The others drifted in slowly: the women kneeling on the right, the menon the left. Finally all the priests and brothers, except Padre Flores, who conducted the service, entered and knelt in the aisle. PadreFlores' garments were as rich as any worn in old Spain, and thecandelabra about him were as massive. The images of the saints wereclad in white satin embroidered with gold and silver thread. On thewalls were many high-coloured paintings of saints, softened by theflood of light from the wax candles. 

Roldan watched keenly all the faces within the line of his vision. Theywere mostly sleepy. Suddenly, as his glance shifted, it encountered theeyes of Anastacio. Those powerful crafty orbs were fixed upon him underdrawn brows. 

"He suspects me, " thought Roldan, and then once more demonstrated thatseveral of his talents were diplomatic. He glanced past the Indianindifferently to the women, then to the priests, and from there to thepaintings and altar, his regard but that of the curious traveller. 

When Roldan left the church he encountered Adan, who evidently hadentered 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, " repliedRoldan. Anastacio was almost at his elbow. 

"Well, I had had sleep enough by twelve o'clock and I went into yourcell, and then spent the rest of the night waiting for you to comeback. "

"I hope breakfast is ready. Come. "

They went to the refectory, where Padre Flores embraced Roldanheartily, but made no allusion to his watch; there were Indian servantspresent. After breakfast the two boys walked up and down the middle ofthe square, and Roldan related his experience of the night. Adanlistened 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 wecan hold out?"

"We can try. And if they don't make the attack to-night, we shall havethe better chance, because the reinforcement will arrive to-morrow. Butthat Anastacio suspects me, and doubtless he has discovered in some waythat 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 thatyou eat no dulces for supper, lest they make you heavy. "

He awoke about four in the afternoon. There was a babel of voices inthe plaza, and he sprang out of bed, excited with the thought that warhad begun. But he saw only a typical Mission Sabbath afternoon. Severalhundred Indians were seated on the ground in groups of two or three, gambling furiously. Through the open gates opposite, Roldan could see aspirited horse-race, a crowd of Indians betting at the top of theirvoices. 

Roldan went to the kitchen and asked for a cold luncheon, then soughtPadre Flores. The priest was in his cell, and as he saw Roldan hemotioned to him to close the door. 

"I can learn nothing, my son, " he said; "but something in the air tellsme 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 toprotect the gates. If you ring once that means that the Indians areadvancing on the south gate, the one nearest the rancheria. But theyare crafty, and will doubtless seek to enter by one less guarded. Twopeals will mean the west gate, three the east, and a wild irregularclamour 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 whenthe gates are closed. As soon as you have finished ringing you can comedown and join in the fight. The arms will be kept in the room where wesat yesterday until your meal was made ready. Now go, my son, and Godbless you. Ah!" he called after him. "Wait a moment. Get a cassock andput it on. It will make you shapeless among the bells. Otherwise youmight be seen. "

Roldan was at his post as soon as the Indians had been driven throughthe gates for the night. They straggled about the valley, still talkingexcitedly; but there was nothing unusual in this, the watcher had beentold. 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 thenervous tension of those minds below, and with it a sense ofcompanionship, very different from the oppressive loneliness of hisprevious watch. 

The clock of the Mission had just struck eleven when Roldan stoodsuddenly erect and hooped his hands about his eyes. Something wasmoving in the willows beside the river. The moon shone full on therancheria, and when the outer edge of the latter appeared to broadenand project itself the effect was noticeable at once. 

Roldan watched breathlessly. In a moment there could no longer be anydoubt: a broad compact something was moving down the valley toward theMission. And an army of cats could not have made less sound. 

He laid his hand on the bell rope. The Indians came swiftly, but theircourse was not yet defined. When within a hundred yards of the Missionthey deflected suddenly to the right. Their destination was not thesouth 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 thelittle army could now be seen; it was crawling close to the westernwall. In a few moments they were beneath Roldan; he could hear theslight impact with the air. Then once more he strained his eyes untilhe 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 toattack the north gate; but Roldan dared not ring until they were wellaway from the west side, lest they change their plans and his signalmislead. 

As they reached the corner of the wall they suddenly accelerated theirpace as if impatience mastered them. When the tail of the processionhad whisked about and Roldan saw a compact mass move like a black cloudbefore the wind toward the north gate, he caught the rope in both handsand jangled with all his might. 

The great clapper hurled itself against the mighty sides of the bellwith 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 aconfused sense of a flood of light in the plaza below, but could hearno other sound except the deafening uproar in his ears. Suddenlysomething gave way beneath his feet. He had an awful feeling ofdisintegration, of solid parting from solid in empty space. He kickedout wildly. His feet touched nothing. Then his head suddenly cleared, although the deep tones of the bell still seemed echoing there, and hebecame aware that his descent had stopped, and that his hands, torn andaching, were still clutching the rope. He knew what had happened. Hehad 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 manythings. The Indians were yelling like demoniacs and battering at thegate. In the garden on the other side, the old priest was shouting AveMarias in a high quavering voice. A breeze had sprung up and Roldanfelt the chill in it. And he felt the weight of the cassock. The heavywoollen garment fatigued his arms and impeded his progress. Were it notfor that he could scramble up like a monkey. 

He was within two feet of the top. Suddenly he felt a slackening of therope, accompanied by a faint sickening sound. The rope was old, it wasgiving way. 

Roldan made a wild lurch for the projecting floor of the belfry. Therope broke. He went down. 

He had heard that a drop, however swift, might seem to occupy hours tothe doomed. To his whirling horror-struck brain this descent certainlyseemed very long. It was almost as if he were sauntering. Nor was hetumbling over and over. He had shut his eyes tight when the ropesnapped. He opened them, gave a shuddering glance downward, thenlaughed almost hysterically: his cassock, ample even for a man, hadcaught the breeze and spread out on all sides like a parachute. 

And although the descent occupied but a moment longer, he comprehendedthe situation, with his abnormally sharpened senses, as clearly asthough 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 andyelling, making noise enough to induce the belief that they numberedten times as many more. The rest were not to be seen, but it was notdifficult for Roldan to suspect their purpose. 

He lighted on the stone steps of the church, tore off his heavygarment, and ran toward the north gate. As he did so the east gate fellwith a crash, and five hundred Indians rushed into the plaza. 

They uttered no sound. The guard at the upper end of the square was notaware 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 secondthe word had passed, and the handful of defendants stared helplessly atthe advancing hordes. But only for a moment. Padre Flores shouted tofall into line, then ordered them not to fire in the same breath. Anastacio, somewhat ahead of his followers, was approaching with awhite rag in his hand. 

When within a yard of the missionaries he paused and salutedrespectfully. 

"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 greatdistinctness: the noise beyond the north gate had ceased. "You knowthat we never kill the priests, nor do we care for blood. We have comefor the stores of the Mission--all your great winter supply, except asmall quantity which we will leave you that you may not suffer untilyou can get more. We are tired of this life. We belong to themountains. We cannot see that we are any better for your teachings, andwe certainly are not as strong. Now let us do our work in peace, andall will be well. But if you fire, we let our arrows go, and we aretwenty to one. "

All turned anxiously to Padre Flores. They were not warlike, and if nobodily harm was intended they could see no reason for resistance. 

"You have us at disadvantage, " said Padre Flores, coldly. "I cannotsacrifice those in my charge, if you do not mean to kill. I agree toyour terms on one condition: that we retain our firearms. I pass myword that no one shall shoot. I cannot take your word--nor that of anyIndian. As you say, our teachings are thrown away. "

"I take yours, " said Anastacio, undisturbed. "All I ask is that youremain here under charge of twenty of my followers until I call themaway. "

He marched off, after planting his guard; and for the next two hours heand his men looted the Mission and packed the trove on horses which hadbeen brought up, or on the backs of the bigger Indians. At the end ofthat time he shouted to his prisoners to come down and enter theMission. 

Roldan and Adan had been exchanging bitter condolences over thehumiliating change in the warlike programme, but the raw air of themorning had chilled their enthusiasm, and Roldan, moreover, began tofeel reaction from the shock to his nerves. It was not every day that aboy sailed down through forty feet of space and lit on his feet, andhis nerves were out of tune. 

When Anastacio called, he went with the rest, but lagged behind. Thedoor of the Mission sala was open. The priests entered first, theirheads scornfully erect; then the brethren, the soldiers, and servants. As Roldan and Adan were about to enter, the door was suddenly pulledto, coarse hands were clapped over their mouths, and, kicking, struggling, biting, scratching, they were borne swiftly across thecourtyard and out of the gates. There they were set on their feet, andfound themselves face to face with Anastacio. 

"Don't yell, " he said. "There is no one to come to the rescue. We shallnot 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 himwith one arm. 

"Go to sleep, " he said; and cantered rapidly down the valley, followedby his thieving horde. 

VII

When Roldan awoke he shivered slightly: the breath of winter was abouthim. He peered into the dusk, but could only gather that he was in aforest of huge trees on the side of a mountain. High above the wind wassurging. He had a curious sense of travelling through the depths of thesea 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 hiscaptor. 

"Suppose I get behind you, " he said. "It will be more comfortable forus 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 intothe depths of the forest. Nothing moved but that winding procession. Occasionally a coyote yapped or a wildcat yelled. Suddenly somethingfell against his face, pricking it gently. He looked over Anastacio'sshoulder. 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 intenseinterest; he had never seen snow before; and to penetrate the mysteryof the mighty Sierras had been one of the hopes of his life. The groundwas white, and crunched under the horses' hoofs. The air was thick withsnow-stars glittering under the full radiance of the moon. Roldanforgot that he was a captive. His mind had made its first impulse tothe mysteries of night and solitude during the few moments between hisentry into another forest and the encounter with the bear; it now madeits first real opening. He was vaguely troubled by the embryonicthoughts that in their maturity come to men who have lived andsuffered, 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 thedeep ocean of leaf and branch roared faintly overhead. 

Roldan felt oppressed and thoughtful. He looked into the future and sawhimself a man. He would be governor of the Californias, and makehimself a good and great man, wiser than the idle caballeros whopatronised him; he would teach them the folly of their useless lives. 

"Look, " said Anastacio, abruptly. "We are here. It is a pueblo of myfathers, and will serve us now. "

He pointed with his riding switch through the trees to a vaguewhiteness, and in a moment they emerged into another open. It was aclearing some three hundred feet square, crowded with dilapidatedhovels, white under a light fall of snow. It was in the heart of theSierras, on the flat of a peak; and high on every side reared otherpeaks, glittering with snow, black with redwoods. The snow clouds hadpassed. The moon rode in a dark blue sky set thick with stars. Thesilence, the repose, were appalling. 

Roldan jumped to the ground, and accompanied by Anastacio, ran up anddown to get the cold and fatigue of night travel out of his body. In afew moments they were joined by Adan, who came waddling up, his broadface knit with perplexity and delight. 

"I leave you now, " said Anastacio, "but remember--if you attempt toescape you carry poisoned arrows in your backs. "

"Ay, Roldan!" exclaimed Adan, when their formidable host was out ofhearing. "But this was more than we bargained for. I don't know whetherI like it or not. "

"I must say I don't like the idea of being in the power ofsavages--Indians, " said Roldan, contemptuously. "But as we started outfor adventure we must take black bread with white. I think I do ratherlike this, but I shall not if we have to stay here too long and nothinghappens. "

"Isn't anything likely to happen?" asked Adan, anxiously. 

"How can one tell? And who could find this place? But if worst comes toworst 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 aslice of Mission cake, then were escorted by Anastacio to the largestof 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 acorner of the hut, whose walls and floors had been well swept withMission brooms. Anastacio, despite his contempt for the trammels ofcivilisation, had developed an aristocratic taste or two. He slept bythe door, but when the boys awoke he was not there. The pueblo, but fortwo sentinels standing before the door, was apparently deserted. Thesun was looking over the highest peak, suffusing the black aisles ofthe forest with a rosy glow, reddening the snow on hut and level androcky heights. There was not a sound except the faint murmur of thetreetops. 

"Where is the world?" asked Roldan. "Are there ranches, with cavalcadesand bull-fights, lazy caballeros lying in hammocks smoking cigarritos, or dancing the night through with silly girls? Dios de mi alma! I feelas if I did not care. "

"Caramba!" exclaimed Adan, "I am famished. Do you suppose they haveleft us anything to eat?"

"I suppose there is nothing to do but ask one of these dogs to be goodenough to give us breakfast--no, not ask. I could starve, but not begof an Indian. "

He beckoned haughtily to one of the sentinels, who approached andsaluted 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 mealcakes, 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 havealways wanted to see Indians in temascal. " To the sentinel, "Take usthere 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 willof the aristocrat. He bent his shoulders and said: "Bueno; come!"

The boys followed him through the brush, the sweet-scented chaparral onwhich 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. Nearby was a broad creek to which the bank sloped gently from the clearing. The creek, some three feet deep, murmured over coloured stones andsprouting trees. The long fine strands of the ice grass trailed farover the water, motionless. Huge bunches of maidenhair, delicate asgreen lace, clung to the steep bluffs on the opposite side. Forests offerns grew close to the water's edge. Down through a rift in the cliffstumbled 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 ofthe temascals and opened the door cautiously. At first they could seenothing, so dense was the smoke; but when much had rushed out throughthe new opening, they saw two prostrate figures, sweating from everypore. Their eyes were closed, they breathed stertorously. Theexpression on their heavy faces was beatific. 

"Caramba!" exclaimed Adan, as Roldan closed the door, "I am glad theylike it. What a lot of trouble to get clean. "

"As they never take a bath, they couldn't get clean any other way; andbesides it rests them after any great exertion--Mission raiding, forinstance--and they also fancy it drags every humour out through thepores of the skin. They'll be coming out soon. Let us go down to thecreek and wait. "

The smoke was ascending upward in straight columns through the stillair, scarcely clouding the brilliant morning, not a wreath wanderinginto the aisles of the forest. The sun climbed higher, melting thelight fall of snow, its rays dancing among the silver ripples of thewater, vivifying the many greens about the creek. 

The boys amused themselves flinging pebbles at the darting trout anddiscussing chances of escape. 

"We must not fly too soon, " said Roldan, "or we shall run into thesoldiers. Of course they are scouring the country after these robbers. "

"This is a good place to hide in until the Mission food gives out; butI'd prefer even the barracks to living on acorns--Ay, look!"

The door of one of the temascals had opened. A limp figure totteredforth and down to the bank. He almost fell into the creek, but hadsufficient wit uncooked to rest his head on a projecting stone. Presently came another, then another, and another, until the brightrocks were covered with dusky forms, the heads bobbing just above thesurface, supported on stump or stone. The boys barely recognisedAnastacio. Where was that commanding presence, that haughty mien? Bowedlike an old man, blind from smoke, with simmering brain, he reeled intothe water with as little dignity as his creatures. 

But in less than an hour all had sprung forth briskly, danced about inthe sun to dry, and started on a run for the pueblo. Roldan and Adanfollowed close, knowing that a feast alone would satisfy appetite afterthe temascal. And in a little time the smell of roast meat pervaded themorning, great cakes were roasting. The boys were invited to eat apartwith Anastacio. At the conclusion of the meal the host, who had notspoken, solemnly poured out three glasses of fire-water. He swallowedhis at a gulp. The boys sipped a few drops, winking rapidly. ThenRoldan 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 backon a bearskin. 

"Do you know why we ran away? To escape the conscription. If you giveus up, all our adventures, our dangers, our escapes, will be asnothing, 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 ofconscription is over. Then I will get a big sack of Mexican dollars, aherd of cattle, a caponara of horses, and much tobacco and whiskey. Whoare your fathers?"

Roldan explained. 

Anastacio flushed under his thick skin. "Good. I will double theransom--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 arebehind. I have many scouts watching. Now go to sleep. "

The following week was clear and bright, but very cold. The boys, bredin the warm basin of California, must have suffered had not Anastacioordered one of his minions to make them coat and boots from the skin ofthe coyote. Every morning the chief drilled his men with the tactics ofa born commander who had let no opportunity for observation escape him. The military discipline of the pueblo was only relaxed for three hoursin the afternoon, during which time the Indians were given full tasteof the freedom they coveted that they might battle for it the morepassionately when the time came. They gambled, slept, shot game in theforest, exercised the horses, which were in corral about a mile fromthe camp. The boys shot deer with Anastacio, and wrestled in the plaza. Occasionally the taciturn Indian unbent when sitting by the greatbonfire in the open at night, and told wild tales of savage life beforethe padres came. Roldan admired his splendid supple body and fearlessmanhood, but the Indian was too sinister to inspire affection. Adan wasloudly bored. Roldan's ardent imagination sustained him. 

At the end of the week the scouts having failed to discover any sign ofthe enemy, Anastacio determined to go down to the river in the valleyfor a fortnight's salmon fishing. He, too, was bored. The fangs ofcivilisation 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 foreston the mountain into the soft warm air of the valley. There had been norain for three weeks, and the river was not more than half full; and itwas very quiet. They camped on the bank, well away from the scatteredgroups of trees, that they might not lose a ray of sunshine; and Roldanand Adan forgot that they were under constant surveillance. There wereno tents; they slept in the open air, the boys in the centre of asquare of Indians. During the day they caught many fine salmon, andsalted what they did not eat, to sell to the rancheros. 

It was on the sixth night that Roldan, who was wakeful, suddenly raisedhimself on his elbow and listened intently. Far away, above the murmurof the river, the audible slumbers of the camp, he heard a low, precise, monotonous sound. He knew what it meant. For a moment hehesitated. The chances of escape seemed to grow less daily. It was truethat he was in no danger, that he would eventually be restored to hisparents--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 beenvery uneventful. On the other hand, if that advancing army conqueredthe Indians, might not his and Adan's captivity be far more distastefulthan it was at present? He sprang up and called Anastacio. In a secondthat warrior was on his feet and had leaped over his alert sentinelsinto the square. 

"What is it?" he demanded. 

"Listen. "

Anastacio threw himself full length and laid his ear to the ground. Amoment later he was erect again. He caught Roldan by one shoulder andAdan by the other. By this time every Indian in the camp was pressingabout his chief. 

"They are not two miles away, " said Anastacio. "And the dawn will behere in an hour. There are ten miles between us and the mountains. Idon't wish to fight in the open without knowing their numbers. "

Roldan danced up and down with sudden excitement. "I have a plan, " hecried. "You can trust me. I don't want to go back. "

Anastacio bent his keen malevolent eyes close above the youngSpaniard'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 trundledup. 

"Now, " said Roldan, "gather it into bunches the size of a man's headand tie each firmly. The tide is running toward the enemy, and it istoo dark to see clearly. Do you understand, senor?"

Anastacio made a loud exclamation, caught Roldan in his arms andkissed him, much to that haughty young gentleman's disgust, then tiedthe first bunch himself. Roldan, Adan, and some forty of the quickerIndians rapidly manipulated the straw, and in little more than tenminutes had cast a hundred round compact bundles into the hurryingtide. As they sailed away they certainly looked, under the heavy shadowof the banks and the black-blue of the sky, like an army of menswimming with the desperate haste of terror, their heads alone abovewater. 

"Now!" cried Anastacio, "to the mountains. "

They had brought only pack-horses. There was nothing to do but run, andAnastacio, driving his entire following ahead of him, sped to cover. Itwas not twenty minutes before they heard a sharp volley of musketry, and if their breath had not been short they would have laughed aloud atthe success of Roldan's strategy. The sky was turning grey as theyreached the straggling outposts of the forest on the mountain. Thefiring had ceased. Their ruse had doubtless been discovered. 

"We will hide for twenty-four hours and rest, " Anastacio said toRoldan, 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 intothe mountains and fire from ambush. If few, they shall have open fight. "

"You will let us see it?" asked Roldan, eagerly. "Of course I cannotfight my own people; but I don't want to be sent to the pueblo, and Ido want to see a fight. "

Anastacio hesitated. "Bueno, " he said, "I owe you much. You give me theword of the California don that unless I am killed you will not runaway?"

"I promise. There is nothing else to do. That is to say, I promise notto 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 intowhich the enemy would hardly venture. Roldan volunteered to keep watchwith the two sentinels, and returned with them to the outskirts of theforest. The enemy was marching steadily across the valley. After a timethey halted, and lay down for a time. Early in the afternoon theyresumed march, then halted again within a mile of the mountain, sendingtwo scouts ahead. By this time Anastacio had joined his sentinels, andall four hid in the underforest between the great trees. 

The scouts, keeping as much under cover as was possible, crept up thelower spur of the mountain, their glance describing a constanthalf-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 huddleddown among the soft leaves without a cry. The other, equally wellaimed, entered the shoulder of the second scout, where it quiveredviolently for a few seconds, then was torn forth and flung to theground 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 fellupon his dead brother. He turned and fled. 

"They will not enter the forest, " said Anastacio; "and when I am readythey will fight, not before. Have you pencil and paper, senor?"

Roldan produced a treasured note-book that a relative had brought himfrom Boston. 

"Write, " said the chief; and he dictated:--

SENOR DON CAPITAN, --At noon to-morrow we fight in the valley near theeight oak trees and the two madronos. Do you wish to fight sooner youcan come into the mountains. It will be better for us. 

ANASTACIO. 

He tore out the leaf, crawled down the mountain as non-apparently as apython, and pinned it high on an outstanding redwood, then returned andtold 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 havelearned 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 sleepbefore 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 lookedlike a man looming suddenly, one of the sentinels returned with thenews that the paper had been taken from the tree, and that theCalifornians had pitched tents, and to all appearance were at rest forthe night. 

It was not likely that the enemy would venture into the forest atnight. They were not a large body, they were not pressed for time, norwere they the heroes of many wars. The Indians were comparatively safeuntil morning; nevertheless, Anastacio was too good a general to relaxvigilance. When night came he and the two boys went down the mountainand sent the outpost back to sleep. They ventured out where the treesgrew far apart, and the brilliant stars of California illumined thegreat valley like so many thousand watch-fires. 

The three sat down side by side, their gaze directed steadily downwardand outward. 

"Why do you fight at all?" asked Roldan. "You could stay in thesemountains until the Californians were dust, and not be caught. "

"And live like hunted beasts. I like the valley; the sun in winter, thecool mountains in summer. If I am victor to-morrow, all the Indians inCalifornia will call me chief. They will run here from every Missionand hacienda, and from every hill and mountain, like little ones totheir good father; and we will drive the priests out of the country, and make the hidalgos, the caballeros, the soft silk-dressed donas ourfriends or our slaves--as they wish. California belongs to us. TheGreat Spirit put us here, not the white man. If it was for them why didthey not grow out of the earth as we did? Why were we put here at allif our land was not for us? We were happy until these priests came todrive us mad making boots and mud bricks and wine all day, driven likedogs to the kennel, flogged when we wanted to lie in the sun--"

"But, Anastacio, " interrupted Roldan, who had listened to this strangeoutburst with the vague consciousness that the soul of an expiring racehad opened its lips for a brief moment, "you are far more clever thanmost Indians. If it were not for the priests you would be no betterthan the most ignorant of them. "

"If I am clever now, senor, was I not clever in the beginning? You donot make cake out of bran. The Great Spirit sent his light into me andsaid: 'Thou shalt be a great chief. ' I could have done as well andbetter without the priests. What good did it do me to read and tell mybeads 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 andpanted for the free life of my youth, of my fathers. I ran away fromthe Mission twenty-three times--and was brought back and flogged. Manytimes I would have crushed my head with a stone had it not been thatall the other Indians of the Mission ran to me like dogs, and that Icould make them tremble with a word and obey with a look. I knew thatthe Great Spirit had given me what these poor creatures had not, andthat one day I would give California to them again. It has begun. "

"But we have better things to eat and drink and more comfortable housesand 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 earthand a heart like the wild-cat. If we did not know of fine bread andthin wine and heavy shoes and cursed bags about our legs we should notwant them. Padre Flores says that he and the other priests came here tomake us happy. Why not let us be happy in our own way? We needed noteaching. "

Years after, Roldan, who grew to know the world well and many men, recalled the conversation of that night, and meditated upon the strangeworkings of the human mind: the fundamental philosophy of life differslittle 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 thepriests came. All legends say they were happy. Now they 'progress, ' andsuffer--in the body and in the spirit. One life is for us, another foryou. Should the white man have many children and children's childrenuntil all the mountains and valleys of California are his, then willall the Indians die, even though they are treated well for they areslaves--no more. Are they happy? For what were they made? To be slavesand die from the earth before they are threescore and ten, to be nomore remembered than the beasts of the field?"

"I hope you'll win to-morrow, " cried Roldan, his young mind moved topity, and profoundly disturbed. "You can never get California away fromthe Spaniard, and I can't wish you to; but you might, if you ralliedall the Indians to you, become powerful enough to live in the way youlike best, and I hope you will. Why should men say: 'I am better thanyou; I will make you like myself?' How do we know? I have ridden likethe 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, Ishall be governor of the Californias one day, and then I shall send allthe Indians back to the mountains. "

Anastacio put out his hand, and the two civilisations decreed by Natureto stand apart from the beginning to the end of time clasped in brieffriendship. 

"I will be your friend, " said the Indian, "and the white man need notdespise the friendship of a great chief. California is a fair land. Others will come to it besides the Spaniard. If Anastacio has thousandsof 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 closetogether and speculated upon the fateful morrow. They agreed to remainclose together, out of sight of the enemy, but where they could watchthe Indian forces. If Anastacio fell they would flee at once. 

X

The small Californian force--it numbered little over two hundredmen--was under the command of Juan Pardo Mesa, a captain notable forhis victorious encounters with Indians and for his knowledge of theircunning. He was on the alert at dawn next morning, and long before thesun had spurned the tops of the Coast range, his assumption ofmeditated treachery was confirmed. A rising wind had set the youngredwoods in motion. Before long the practised eye of Captain Mesa sawan increased agitation among the feathery branches, his ear caught aslight crackling. His men were flat on the ground. He stood in theshadow of a large oak. A moment later a dusky form crept out to wherethe brush grew more sparsely, hesitated a moment, and apparently passedback word that all was well; he was immediately followed by many of hiskind; and the lower slope of the mountain, burnt bare by fire, seemedsuddenly swarming with huge black rats. 

Mesa waited until they were well away from cover, then gave theexpected order: two hundred muskets, carbines, and flintlock pistolswere discharged, and one piece of artillery. 

But Anastacio, no mean general himself, was also on the alert for theunexpected. In a few moments he had marshalled his forces in the formof a hollow square, and ordered them to discharge their arrows from arecumbent position. Owing to the heavy shadows, the aim of theCalifornians had been uncertain, and only a few of the Indians hadfallen. Roldan and Adan were safe behind two large redwoods just abovethe Indian army. 

The firing continued steadily all the morning, but resulted in fewmortal wounds. There was not a poisoned arrow in the pueblo. The ballsdid more serious damage, and several Indians rolled groaning down theslope. The rest were undaunted. They were more than two to one, and hadimplicit faith in their chief's assurance that they were bound to routthe Spaniard. 

Under cover of the cloud of smoke his weapons had raised despite astrong wind, Mesa executed two flank movements, justifying the tacticsof Anastacio: he detached forty men from the main body and directedthem to attack the Indians on both sides and to cut off their retreatto the forest. They were almost upon the north and south ends ofAnastacio's square--after making a detour and advancing from adistance--when the boys shouted a warning. In a moment arrows wereflying to right and left; and the answering volley was far more deadlythan the effects of firing up hill. The Indians stood their ground, fitting their arrows with swift dexterity, encouraged by Anastacio, whoglided from point to point like a hungry cobra, discharging two arrowsto every man's one. His only hope was to keep the Californians at longrange until losses compelled the latter to retreat: at close quartersarrows would be no match for firearms. 

The battle began at five in the morning. It was at four in theafternoon that Roldan passed his hand across his burning eyeballs, thengripped 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 apistol in my hands. I am sorry for Anastacio--but Dios de mi alma!--tosee a brave Spanish officer bite the dust with the arrow of a dog inhis 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 itthrough. Mary! Mary! They are breaking. "

The Indians, finding themselves almost without arrows, had sprung totheir feet, intending to make a rush for cover; but Mesa hadanticipated this move, and almost immediately his men had closed withthe savages, knocking them on the head with the butt-end of theirmuskets, discharging their pistols at short range. The Indians usedboth tooth and nail, yelling like wildcats. The cool imperturbabilityof the earlier part of the day had fled with their arrows. Anastaciofought like a tiger. Despite his wounded thigh he stood firmly on hisfeet, snatched the musket from a man his hands had throttled, andwhirled it about his head, threatening death to all that approached. His face was swollen with passion, his eyes were starting from theirsockets, his long hair tossed wildly. The boys watched him with coldextremities and hot cheeks and eyes. They were oblivious to the rest ofthe battlefield. The fate of the indomitable chief, upon whose life thefreedom of a race perhaps depended, would have riveted the attention ofolder and wiser brains. His movements were easy to follow; he was headabove all and shoulders above many. 

Suddenly the boys gave a gasp. The head of Anastacio was no longer tobe 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 roseagain--above the crowd, then higher, --higher, --until it looked downupon the squirming mass from six feet above. It was on the end of apole. 

XI

The boys turned and fled, scrambling blindly upwards. Instinctivelythey ran in the direction of the pueblo, and when they were finallyobliged to sit down and fight for their lost breath they realised thecourse they had taken. 

The horror was still in their eyes, but neither spoke of what for along while to come must be uppermost in his mind. 

"I think we may as well go to the pueblo, " said Roldan, as soon as hecould speak. "We must have food, and we are very tired. We can restthere a few days, then take two of the horses--we can do nothingwithout horses--and start out again. If any of the Indians escape andcome 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 thesoldiers. I never want to see another. "

The boys resumed their flight, but more leisurely. They had nodifficulty in keeping to the trail, but it wound over many a wearymile. Night comes early in the mountain forest, and before two hourshad passed they were groping their way along the narrow road cutthrough the dense brush, and clinging to each other. They were bravelads; but long fasting, and excitement, and a terrible climax to themost trying day of their lives, had flung gunpowder among their nerves. 

It was midnight when they reached the pueblo. The stars illuminedfitfully the deserted huts, black in the heavy shadows. A coyote wasyapping dismally, owls hooted in the forest. Both boys had a vision ofdeep beds and hot suppers on the ranchos of their respective parents, but they shut their teeth and raided the larder. There they foundwell-cured meats and dried fruits, which appeased their mightyappetites; then they went into Anastacio's hut, and wrapping themselvesin 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 betweenthe wall of the hut and the shrunken hide which formed the door. A halfdozen soldiers stood in the plaza, glancing speculatively about. 

"I see no trace of them, " said one. "I cannot believe they would comeback to this place. Surely it was, as I said, more natural for them tohide at the edge of the forest until we had gone. "

"That dog said there was food here, and that they were more afraid ofus than of a long walk at night. Wherever they are, we find them. Theyare 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 theywon't shoot. "

He flung aside the hide door. The two boys flashed out and round thecorner of the hut before the tired eyes and brains of the soldiers hadtime to grasp the happening. A moment later they were in hot pursuit, firing in the air, shouting terrific threats. But the rested and agilelegs of the boys had a good start, and plunged into narrow ways wherehorses could not follow; and doubling, twisting, following paths butrecently beaten by Anastacio in pursuit of deer, Roldan and Adan weresoon 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 pauseto recuperate in a redwood tree hollowed by fire. Two weeks of exposureand unwonted exertions had hardened Adan's superfluous flesh, and hewas scarcely more spent than his clean-limbed friend, although everystep had been taken with protest. 

"Caramba!" he said, in a hoarse whisper at length. "When I am back onthe rancho I won't walk for a year. "

"You will have the habit by that time, my friend, and will walk in yoursleep. When I am governor you will be generalissimo of all the forcesand 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 thisforest? Where shall we sleep to-night? What shall we have for dinner? Icould 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 goback to the pueblo if we can find the way. As for food, we can havenone to-day. There are no berries at this time of year, and we havenothing to shoot game with. Other people have gone the day withoutfood, and we can. When we get back to the pueblo, even if we cannotreach the larder, we can find the corral without being seen. I don'tbelieve that the soldiers have found it, and the Indians in charge ofthe 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 tonoon, and in the unbroken stillness the boys ventured out of the grimytree and lay at full length on the turf. The great redwoods towered inendless corridors, their straight columns unbroken by branch or twigfor a hundred and fifty feet. Through the green close arbours abovecame an occasional rift of sunshine, but the aisles were full of coldgreen light. The boys shivered in their coyote skin coats and drewclose together; they dared not run about to keep warm; they musthusband their strength, and hunger was biting. There was no wind in thetree-tops, no murmur of creek, only the low hum of the forest, that intheir strained ear-sense grew to a roar. Finally they fell asleep, andit was dark when Roldan awoke. He shook Adan. 

"Come, " he said; and his partner, grumbling but acquiescent, got to hisfeet and tramped heavily over the soft ground. 

They had fled beyond paths, and Roldan could only trust to his localitysense, which he knew to be good. But more than once they were broughtto halt before a wall of brush, which no man could have penetratedwithout an axe. Then they would feel their way along its irregularbristling side for a mile or more before it thinned sufficiently foregress. Frequently they heard the deadly rattle, and more than once thenear cry of a panther, but there was nothing to do but push on. Precautions would have availed them nothing, and there was no refugenearer than the pueblo. Sometimes they walked down aisles unchoked bybrush but full of moving shadows, above which sounded the lonelycontinuous hooting of the owl. Now and again bats whirred past, andonce 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 speaklest his voice should shake courage and terrors apart. 

It was midnight when Adan announced with what emphasis was left inhim, --

"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 goodfor five words and no more. 

It was a half hour later that they stood upon the high bank of thecreek and looked gratefully up at the broad strip of night light. Afterthe dense shadows of the forest the cold light of stars seemed moreradiant 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 threetimes 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 thethought. "

"You will not be able to keep still long enough to get rheumatism, myfriend. By the grace of Mary we shall be on horseback all dayto-morrow. The water is not a foot deep, and the chill only lasts amoment. Take off your boots. "

"What is left of them, " muttered Adan. But they were better than noboots, and he took them off, and slung them round his neck. Roldanscrambled down the bank and plunged into the creek. Adan, after amoment's hesitation, followed with audible reluctance. He thrust thetip of one foot into the icy water, withdrew it with a shout, tried theother; then seeing that Roldan was splashing far ahead, jumped in withboth feet and ran along the slippery rocks, wondering when the changeof temperature would occur. His teeth clattered loudly. He pulled inand executed a war-dance on the stones, then sat down on a fallenboulder and rubbed his feet violently. Roldan kept steadily on, mindfulof his dignity as leader; but only as Adan joined him had his teethceased from clattering and the warmth crawled back to his feet. 

Cold, hungry, inexpressibly weary, the boys plodded on, sometimes inthe clear light of stars, sometimes under the chill blackness ofmeeting trees. Fish and other slimy things darted across their feet;they stepped to their waists into more than one treacherous pool. Thedark blue of the sky had turned to grey when Roldan raised his arm andpointed 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 peeredover the edge. To all appearances the pueblo was deserted. If thesoldiers were there--and their horses were not--they slept within thehuts. The animal instinct, so bravely repressed, overcame theadventurers. They ran across the open to the hut where the food waskept, and ate for fifteen minutes without speaking or taking thetrouble to hide themselves. 

XII

When they had satisfied their appetites they made two large packages ofdried meat and fruit, tying them securely with straw to their rightarms: 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 horseswhen they started after us, they won't see them again until they getback 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 havepassed 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 notthink 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 adetermined pair of legs about his sides; and as our adventurer hadneither whip nor spurs, all he could do was to hang on and shout toAdan to follow close. This was the only thing that Adan's mustang waswilling to do, and the boys were borne blindly on, down one path, upanother, plunging deeper into the black recesses of the forest untilthey knew no more of their whereabouts than if they had dropped fromanother sphere. 

After many weary miles the mustangs slackened, and the boys dismountedand cut two slender but stinging whips. After that they rose once moreto the proud supremacy of man over brute. But the situation was full ofperil. They were hopelessly lost, the redwoods were the home of thegrizzly and the panther, and they might come upon the soldiers at anymoment. But there was nothing to do but to ride on, and at least theyhad horses and food. 

They descended whenever descent was possible, for at the foot of themountain lay the open valley; but there were no trails; in alllikelihood 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 oftentheir flight was toward loftier heights. 

As the day wore on the temperature fell, even in those forest depthswhere the sun had not penetrated for a thousand years. The beauty ofthe forest palled upon Roldan: those everlasting aisles with their greymotionless columns, their green sinister light, the delicate fern woodbelow, the dense mat of branch and leaf so high above. The redwoodsoppress and terrify when they have man completely at their mercy. Theylook as if they could speak if they would, roar louder than the stormsthat have never shaken them. But they know the value of silence, andthe silence of their inmost depths is awful. 

After many hours the boys rode out upon a bare peak. But its outlooktold them nothing. Behind rose other peaks, below was the denseprimeval forest, rising and falling on other slopes. There was noglimpse of valley anywhere. The sky was heavy with the grey luridclouds of concentrated storm. 

"We will eat, " said Roldan, briefly; "but not too much. "

They tethered the mustangs that the beasts might eat of the abundantgrass, and consumed a small quantity of their store. Then theystretched 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 itis 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. Heawoke 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 buriedhere. "

Adan gasped but cinched his saddle; the boys sprang upon the nowtractable mustangs and plunged into the forest below. The brush wasthin, and they pushed their way downward as rapidly as the steepdescent would permit. Sometimes the forest protected them from thestorm, at others the trees grew wide apart and the riders were exposedto its pitiless rush. In these open spaces they could see nothing, could only push blindly on, brushing the stinging particles from theirfaces, their hands and feet almost numb. The snow in the open wasalready as high as the horses' knees. There was no wind, only thatsilent sweeping of the heavens. In the depths the high branches of theredwoods groaned ominously under the stiffening weight, like giants inpain. 

The forest thinned. The snow had its will of the earth. There was norefuge under the larger trees that still stood, like outposts, here andthere; the branches were too high above. Once Adan suggested throughhis stiff lips and unruly teeth that they turn back and take refuge insome dense grove above; but Roldan shook his head peremptorily. He hadheard of the fearful storms of the Sierras; they lasted for days, andthe snow stood its ground for weeks. Their only hope was the valley. 

But they descended only to rise again: in the white darkness of thestorm they dared not attempt to skirt the base of the peaks; they mustkeep straight on, to the west, for there lay the valley. 

Occasionally, where a grove of trees stood close and the snow layshallow, the boys got off and wrestled, rousing the blood in their legsand arms; then urged their mustangs to greater speed. But the poorbrutes 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 awaitedtheir fate, with the apathy of numb and despairing brains; but themonster was evidently aiming for the warmth of his home, and took nonotice of the meal in four courses standing in the middle of the path. 

The night deepened. The snow thickened and sped down with an audiblerush, a sting in each beautiful white bee. The boys nodded, rousedthemselves, fell forward, their arms mechanically stiffening about thehorses' necks. Once they flung out their hands and feet with asmothered shriek. A tongue of flame seemed to leap down their throatsand hiss through their veins, while the world roared and heaved aboutthem. Then all sensation was over. 

XIII

Roldan opened his eyes. His brain was heavy; he was conscious only ofan intense warmth. His arms appeared to be bound to his sides, hiswhole body in a vise. He kicked out with a vigorous return of theinstinct of independence. The action shook his brain free and heunderstood: he was tightly wrapped in a blanket, and there were otherblankets upon him. He raised his head. The room was one of familiarlineaments, --whitewashed walls, a mat by the iron bed, an altar in thecorner, linen with elaborate drawn-work on bureau and washstand. Theblood poured upward to the young adventurer's face. Was this his room?Had he been ill and dreamed strange happenings? He freed his arms andsat 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 pastweeks marched through his brain in rapid and precise succession--up toa certain point: his senses had been frozen in the Sierras. From araging 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 theyhad been boned. He was also one vast desire for food and drink. Butthat glimpse through the door had raised his spirits. He was in a greatadobe house surrounding a court in which a fountain splashed amongferns and little orange-trees. It was the house of a grandee, but therewas 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 shouldattract attention, listening to the murmur of the fountain, inhalingthe fragrance of orange and magnolia, wondering if Adan, too, weresafe, angrily resenting his weakness. 

The door cautiously opened wide, and a woman, stout, brown, but ofexceeding grace and elegance, entered and bent over him. 

"Good-day, senora, " said Roldan, politely. "I am very hungry. Where amI? 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 DonTiburcio 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 greatrancheros, no?"

Roldan modestly named his fortunate status, then sat up and kissed herhand, as he had seen his gallant brothers kiss the hands of lovelyyoung donas. The lady looked much pleased and drew a chair beside thebed. Roldan wondered if he should ever satisfy his raging appetite, butwas too polite to mention the subject again, and determined to satisfyhis curiosity instead. 

"Senora, tell me how we came here, " he asked. "My head will burst untilI know. "

"Our bell mare, the most valuable on our rancho, strayed far the daybefore yesterday. All that day and the next six vaqueros looked forher. 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, butpoured aguardiente down your throats. You swallowed but did not awaken, although he shook you and pounded you. Then he strapped yourfriend--Adan, no? upon the back of Lolita, took you in his arms, andgalloped for home--you were almost at the foot of the mountain. Ay! butI was frightened when you came. Gracias a dios that you are well andnot frozen. Bueno, I go to send you a good breakfast. Hasta luego. "

She went out, and Roldan lay wondering if the breakfast were alreadycooked. The door opened again. Roldan sat up. But it was Adan. He worea 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, andclimbed into bed. 

"Dios de mi alma, Roldan, " he gasped. "Where are we, and why are wesweltered like sick babies? This is a fine place. Ay! may I never seesnow nor a redwood again!"

Roldan told what he knew of the beginning of their new chapter, andsoon after he finished two Indian servants entered with trays, set themon the bed, and retired. 

"Ay! this looks like home, " cried Adan, almost in tears. "Chocolate!Tortillas! Chicken with yellow rice!" He crossed himself fervently andattacked the fragrant meal. 

It was not a large breakfast, for it was many hours since they hadeaten before; they left not a grain of rice nor a shred on a bone. Buthalf-satisfied, although very comfortable, they made up their minds todress. On the chair was a complete outfit, suitable for a young don. Roldan concluded it had been thoughtfully placed at his disposal thathe 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 alace shirt and silk stockings, and shoes with buckles. There must bethose of our age in the Casa Carillo, my friend. Bueno! I go to make acaballero of myself. Hasta luego. "

He opened the door and peered out, then ran hastily down the corridorto 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, butmagnificent to look upon. Roldan's head was very high, despite hisprotesting knees: he felt himself again. 

"It is the hour of siesta, " he said. "Let us lie in these hammocks andwait. Ay! but it is warm, and the sky is blue, and the sun looks likethe copper lamp of my mother--the one that came from Boston. Who--evenan Indian--would live in the mountains when the valleys are so big andwarm?"

They extended themselves in two hammocks swung across the corridor andwatched the many doors on the several sides of the court. All wereclosed, and the forest had hardly been more quiet than the Casa Carilloin its hour of siesta. Through the arch of the gateway they could seethe green of fields, a corner of a vineyard, and rolling hills. Oneither side of the entrance was a large magnolia-tree with broadshining leaves and bunches of cream-white fragrance. The oranges werevery yellow, the palms very stately, the red tiles on the sloping roofsabove the white walls looked very fresh and red. There was colour andbeauty everywhere; and the boys were quite at peace, and content to beso. Their appetite for adventure was dulled for the moment. 

XIV

A door on the opposite corridor opened and a youth came forth. Hejerked his head diffidently at the guests and took the longest wayround instead of crossing the court; but when he reached the boys, whowere risen and awaiting him, he wore a dignified air of welcome, asbefitted a young gentleman of his race. 

"Welcome to Casa Carillo, senores, " he said gravely. "The house isyours. 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 haverescued us from death and given us food and clothing when we mostneeded it. Our lives are yours to do with as you wish. "

"Then would we keep you here always, Don Roldan and Don Adan. Allguests 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 werereliving the events of the past weeks. Arm in arm they strolled outinto the wide beautiful valley, green with sprouting winter, thedistant 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 theyfelt homesick. They saw the reproachful faces of their parents andbrothers and sisters, to say nothing of visions of unclaimed presents. But Rafael gave them no time for regrets. He was the only child athome, and delighted with his new companions. 

"To-morrow many people will come, " he said. "I have ten married sistersand brothers. They all come from their ranchos, and many more. It willbe 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 greatvineyard, 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 andfollowed their host breathlessly into the open field. "One day in thesummer, " whispered Rafael, his eyes rolling about, "I went with fourvaqueros with a present of venison to Father Osuna. He was not at theMission, and a brother told us that he walked among the hills. Ithought I would go to meet him and receive his blessing. For a time Isaw no one, and I thought, 'Caramba! but the padre has long legs thishot weather!' Just then he stood before me. He had walked out of theside of the hill through a hole no wider than himself. He sweated likea 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 notlook like a priest at all, and I forgot to kneel to him, but staredwith my mouth open. And what do you think he did, my friends? He turnedwhite like the hand of a dona in her teens and--and--dropped hiscassock. And--"

"Well? well?"

"What do you think rolled to the ground, my friends? Chunks of yellowstuff that glittered, and a shower of sparkling yellow sand--beautifulas sunshine on the floor. I gave a cry and ran to pick it up. I hadnever 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 thatpriest, what do you think he did? He gave a yell of rage, as if hecould tear me in pieces, and flung himself all over that sunshine ofearth. 'My gold!' he cried. 'Mine! mine! You shall not take it fromme. ' 'If it is yours it is not mine, my father, ' I said, feelingashamed, --though I still wanted it; 'I will help you to pick it up. ' Hegot up then, his face very red again, and I could see that he wastrying to put on his dignity as fast as he had put down his cassock--helooked better with both in place. 'My son, ' he said, 'the day is warmand I am very tired, and, I fear, a little ill. These rocks arenothing. They please my eye, and I pick them up sometimes as I walkamong the hills. Leave them there. I do not want them. We will returnto the Mission. ' 'If you do not want them, then may I have them?' Iasked--the blood flew all over my body, my friends. He scowled as if Ihad asked him for the candles on the altar. 'No, ' he said, 'youcannot. ' Then he put his big hand on my shoulder--he could twist yourneck 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 poisonin those stones, pretty as they are, deadly poison. It has murderedmillions of souls and hundreds of bodies. Therefore I will not let youtouch it--only a priest can touch it without ruining his soul. Therefore I forbid you---forbid you--' he shouted this over me, 'totell any one of what you have seen to-day. Neither your father nor yourmother--no one. Do you understand?' I said 'Yes, ' but I did notpromise, and he was excited and did not notice. Then he dragged meaway, and I looked about for other rocks that glittered. But there werenone--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 haddinner and he was himself again and would have spoken alone with me, Iran and got on my horse, and all the brothers stood on the corridor tosee me go. He came up to me and blessed me, and whispered: 'Tell noone, my son. If you do'--and he gave me a look that made my haircrackle at the roots. And to this day I have told no one. Did I tell myparents the priest would know in six hours. No boy has stayed here thatI 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--thatpadre is too big. I wake up in the night and see his hands pawing inthe 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 memany things--bueno, in Europe, they make it into money and give it forthings in big houses they call shops. Even here, in Monterey, andperhaps the other towns, they have a little--it comes from Mexico. Myuncle said that one reason we were so happy was because we had solittle money--none at all, we might say. That we got what we wanted outof the earth, or by trading with one another or with the skippers fromBoston, who are glad to give us what we need from other lands in returnfor our hides and tallow. So, if we find this 'gold' perhaps we hadbetter say nothing about it; but to find it--that will be a great, agrand adventure. "

"We'll tell if we find it, " said Adan, philosophically. 

The boys concocted a plan of campaign to their satisfaction, then wenthome to supper. Don Tiburcio and his wife, Dona Martina, were alreadyseated at the table in the big bare room. The grandee was a huge manwith a soft profile, and cheeks as large and cream-hued as one of themagnolias hanging in the patio. He had an expression of indolentgood-nature above his straight mouth, and long hands that looked leanand hard when they closed suddenly. He was a man of much influence inthe politics of his country. His small-clothes were of dark green clothwith large silver buttons, the lace on his linen was fine and abundant. Dona Martina wore a gown of stiff flowered silk and a profusion oftopaz ornaments. As the boys entered and bowed respectfully, DonTiburcio eyed them keenly, but shook them cordially by the hand. 

"So you are the son of Mateo Castanada, " he said to Roldan. "It isevident enough, although you have something in the face that he hasnot. Otherwise I should not have done him to death in more than onepolitical battle. Well, my sons, you are very welcome, and the longeryou stay with us the better. The officers passed here some daysago--Rafael hid in the garret for the two days I feasted them, and theydo not know that I have a son so young. Well, you are in good time tohelp my son enjoy his Christmas. "

There was an abundant supper of meat with hot pepper-sauce, tomatoesand eggs baked together, and many dulces. The boys wondered if driedmeat 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 theirpleasure in the courtyard, went off for a morning canter. At Roldan'ssuggestion they reconnoitred the hills behind the Mission and got thebearings definitely shaped in their minds; the great raid was to be atnight. They returned to a big breakfast at nine o'clock, then rode outagain to meet the expected guests. It was but a few moments before theysaw several cavalcades approaching from as many different directions. The young men and women, in silken clothes of every hue, were on horsescaparisoned with velvet, carved leather, and silver; in many instancesa girl had proud possession of the saddle, while her swain bestrode theanquera behind, his arm supporting her waist. Roldan wondered ifanything would ever induce him to sacrifice his dignity like that. (Itmay be remarked here, as this history has only to do with the famousCalifornian's boyhood, that the day came when he could bow the knee tothe fair sex with as graceful an ardour as did he not employ hissterner moments making laws and enforcing them. ) The older folktravelled in carretas, the conveyance of the country, a springlesswagon set on wheels cut from the solid thickness of the tree. It wasdriven by gananes, sitting astride the mustangs and singing lustily. The interior was lined with satin and padded, but was probablyuncomfortable enough. Everybody looked smiling and happy, and a numberof lads left their respective parties and cantered over to Rafael andhis guests. A few moments later they all galloped at the top speed oftheir much-enduring mustangs to a great clump of oaks, where theydismounted and listened with breathless interest to the adventures ofRoldan and Adan. All had been drafted, and must leave for barracks withthe new year. They complimented the adventurers in a curious mixture ofstately Spanish and eager youthfulness, and their admiration was soapparent that our heroes would have doubled the dangers of the past onthe spot. 

When they returned home to dinner the great space before the house wasfilled with shining horses pawing the ground under their heavy saddles. The court and corridors were an animated scene, overflowing with donsand donas in brilliant array. When dinner was over and the grown-upguests and young girls were lingering over the Christmas dulces, allthe boys slipped away and went out to the huge kitchen, where countlessIndian servants were busy or resting. They demanded four dozen eggs andhelp to blow them at once. The maids hastened to do the bidding of thelittle dons, and in less than a quarter of an hour the eggs were freeof their natural contents, and all were busy refilling them with flour, or cologne, or scraps of gold and silver paper. Then the boys stuffedthe fronts of their shirts, their sleeves, and their pockets with theeggs, and hid themselves among the palms of the court. Presently theguests came forth and scattered about the corridor, smiling andchatting in the soft subdued Spanish way. Suddenly twelve eggs, thrownwith supple wrist and aimed with unfailing dexterity, flew through theair and crashed softly on the backs of caballeros' curls and donas'braids, flour powdering, gold and silver paper glittering on the denseblackness of those Californian tresses, cologne shooting down dignifiedspines. There was a chorus of shrieks, and then, as every head whiskedabout, and as a blow did not count unless it struck at the back, theboys ran up to the corridors, dodged under vengeful arms and continuedthe battle. Finally they were chased out into the open, and the guestshaving been provided with the remaining eggs by Dona Martina, thebattle waged fierce and hot until, exhausted, the guests retired forsiesta. 

But siesta was brief that day. In less than an hour's time all hadreappeared and were mounting for the race. 

XV

The race took place in a field a mile from the house, on a straighttrack. 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 beautifulbronze-gold in colour, with silver manes and tails, a breed peculiar tothe Californias; one was black, the other as white as crystal. Thefamily and guests of Casa Carillo sat on their horses, in theircarretas, or stood just outside the fence surrounding the field. At oneend were the several hundred Indians employed by Don Tiburcio, andseveral hundred more from the Mission. Father Osuna had also joined theparty from the Casa, and Roldan, who had seen hundreds of horse-racesand was built on a more complex plan than his contemporaries, got asclose to the priest as he dared and gave him his undivided attention. Padre Osuna was a man of unusual height and heaviness of build. Hisblack eyes were set close to his fine Roman nose. The mouth was sotightly compressed that its original curves were quite destroyed, andthe intellectual development of the brow was very marked. His handsexerted 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. Heused them a good deal when talking, and not ungracefully; but theyseemed to claw and grasp the air, to be independent of the arms hiddenin the voluminous sleeves of the smart brown cassock. Other peoplewatched those hands too--they seemed to possess a magnetism of theirown; and every one showed this priest great deference: he was one ofthe most successful disciplinarians in the Department of California, abrilliant speaker, an able adviser in matters of state, and a man ofmany social graces. 

"More agreeable to meet in the sala of the Mission than in a cave atmidnight, " thought Roldan. "Still--" His scent for danger, particularlyif it involved a matching of wits, was very keen. 

The word was given. The race began. The dons shouted, the lovely facesbetween the bright folds of the rebosos flushed expectantly. From theblack mass of Indians opposite came a mighty gurgle, which graduallybroke into a roar, --

"The black! Fifty hides on the black!"

"The little bronze! She is a length ahead! Madre de dios! Six doubloonsof Mexico on the little bronze!"

The priest pushed his way to the speaker, a wealthy ranchero who hadbeen more than once to Mexico. 

"The white against the bronze, senor, " he said. "Twenty otter skins tothe six doubloons of Mexico. "

"Done, your reverence. I am honoured that you bet with me. But thewhite--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. Howthey 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 excitementrouted Spanish dignity. The dons stood up in their saddles, shoutingand betting furiously. The women clapped their white idle hands, andcheered, and bet--but with less recklessness: a small jewel or asecond-best mantilla. As they could not remember what they had bet whenthe excitement was over, these debts were never paid; but it pleasedthem mightily to make their little wagers. The men were bettingranchitas, horses, cattle, and, finally, their jewels and saddles andserapes. For each horse represented a different district of theDepartment, and there was much rivalry. 

The priest did not shout, and he made no more bets, but his eyes neverleft those figures speeding like arrows from the bow, the ridersmotionless as if but the effigies of men strapped to the creatures offire beneath. Sometimes the black gained then the little bronze; oncethe white dashed a full three yards beyond his fellows, and Roldan sawthe great hands of the priest, which had been clinched against hisshoulders, open spasmodically, then close harder than ever as the whitequickly dropped back again. 

It was a very close race. The excitement grew tense and painful. EvenRoldan felt it finally, and forgot the priest. The big bronze had quitedropped out of it and was lagging homeward, hardly greeted by a hiss. The others were almost neck and neck, the little bronze slightly in thelead. "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 ashriek. The black had won. 

Roldan looked at the priest. His skin was livid, his nostrilstwitching. But his mouth and eyes told nothing. 

The crowd rode home, still excited, gay, cheerful. Their lossesmattered not. Were not their acres numbered by the hundred thousand?Did they not have more horses and cattle than they would ever count? Inthose days of pleasure and plenty, of luxury and unconsideredgenerosity, a rancho, a caponara the less, meant a loss neither to befelt nor remembered. 

After the bountiful supper the guests loitered for a time in thecourtyard, then the sala was cleared and the dance began. Several ofthe girls danced alone, while the caballeros clapped and shouted. Thenall waltzed or took part in their only square dance, the contradanza. They kept it up until morning. Needless to say, our heroes went to bedat an early hour. 

They were up the next morning with the dawn, and in company with Rafaeland the other guests of their own age, went for their canter. This timethey avoided the hills behind the Mission, as they had no wish to sharetheir secret, and a chance word might divulge all. They rode toward thehills 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 thefirst opportunity to remind his companions that the son of Don TiburcioCarillo, the greatest ranchero of that section of the Californias, hadnot the habit to occupy the humble position of tag-behind even to sobrilliant 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 makefor you a little morning entertainment, my friends. Coliar! coliar!"

"No! no!" cried the boys. "The hill is too steep. It is like the sideof 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 almostperpendicular declivity, leisurely unwinding his lariat from the highpommel of his saddle, and tossing it into big snake-like loops, whichhe gathered one by one into his hand, the last about his thumb. Thebull fed on unsuspecting, for the early green of winter was verydelicious after eight months of unrelenting sunshine. When Rafaelreached the summit he rode back for some distance, then came at thebull full charge, yelling like a demon. The bull, terrified andindignant, gave a mighty snort and leaped over the brow of the hill. Itwas much like descending the slightly inclined side of a cliff, but hekept his footing. The boys held their breath as Rafael rode straightover the brow in the wake of the bull. With one hand he held the bridlein a tight grip, in the other he held aloft the coils of the lariat. Itlooked like a huge snake, and quivered as if aware that it was about tospring. There was no cheering; the boys were too much alarmed. Amis-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 thedescent. He looked as if galloping in air, and tossed his head fiercelyas though to shake the rising sun out of his eyes. The bull seemedcontinually gathering himself for a great leap, his clumsy bulk heavingfrom side to side. But a quarter of the distance had been traversedwhen the great curves of the lasso sprang forward, and, amidst a hoarsemurmur from the boys, caught the bull below the horns. But that wasall. The bull would not down! There would be no coliar! He merely ranon--the brute! the beast!--jerking his horns defiantly, putting downhis 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 hisside and rolling over and over down the hill, Rafael following fast, slackening his lariat. The boys now cheer wildly, although danger isnot over--yes, in another moment it is, and Rafael, smilingcomplacently, 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 lastfew moments. He sat a big powerful horse, and his bearing was asmilitary as that of the two great generals of the Californias, Castroand Vallejo. 

As the boys, congratulations and modest acknowledgement over, weremaking for home and breakfast, the priest pressed his horse close toRoldan's. "I interested you much at the race yesterday, Don Roldan, " hesaid, with a good-humoured smile. "Why was that?"

Roldan was not often embarrassed, but he was so taken aback at theabrupt sally he forgot to be flattered that the priest had evidentlythought it worth while to inquire his name; and stammered: "I--well, you see, my father, you are not like other priests. " Which was notundiplomatic. 

The priest smiled, this time with a faint flush of unmistakablepleasure. "You are right, my son, I am not as other priests in thiswilderness. Would to Heaven I were, or--"

"Or that you were in Spain?" Roldan could not resist saying, thencaught his breath at his temerity. 

The priest turned about and faced him squarely. "Yes, " he saiddeliberately, "and that I were a cardinal of Rome. Such words I havenever uttered to mortal before; but if I am not as other men, neitherare you as other lads. Some day you will be a Castro or an Alvarado; itis written in your face. Perhaps something more, for changes may comeand your opportunities be greater. But I--I am no longer young; thereis 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. Theyforced me to come here. I had no money. I was obliged to obey. I havechristianized a few hundred worthless savages who were better off intheir barbarism, and I have made myself a power among a few thousandmen of whom the outer world, the great world, knows nothing. My Missionis the most prosperous in the Californias--and I--" he set and groundhis teeth. 

Roldan thought of the gold. "When I am governor of the Californias, myfather, " he said, "I shall send you back to Spain, for then I shallhave great influence--and much gold. "

At the last word the priest's eyes flamed with so fierce a light thatRoldan shrank back repelled, feeling himself in the presence of apassion of which he had no knowledge. But the priest controlled himselfat once. "Thank you, my son, " he said with a brilliant smile. "And I donot ask you to guard as your own what I have said. It is a part of thepower of such natures as yours that you know what to repeat and what toleave unsaid. " Then as they approached the house he suddenly tookRoldan's slender elegant hand in one of his mighty paws, shook itheartily, and flinging his bridle to a vaquero, sprang lightly to theground and entered the courtyard, leaving our hero in a condition offlattered bewilderment. 

XVI

That day there was to be a grand rodeo, or "round-up:" the branding ofcattle; not only of the stock belonging to Don Tiburcio, but of many ofhis neighbours, which would be driven over to his rancho for theoperation. This was one of the great occasions of the year. Immediatelyafter breakfast the neighbours began to arrive, magnificently mounted, sparkling with gold and silver lace, their wives and daughters eachsurrounded by her cavalcade. About ten the gorgeous company, led by thehost, started for an immense corral about three miles from the house. The boys were well to the front, and established themselves on the wallof the corral. The rest of the party remained on their horses, butmounted the little slopes. The green winter landscape had suddenlybecome a blaze of colour, and never was there a more animated scene. Over all hung a light haze. The distant mountains, which could be seenfrom the outer valley, were almost invisible. The priest, a huge brownfigure, on his big brown horse, stood on the very apex of the highestknoll. 

Presently, from various directions rose a low deep murmur, then arumble of growing volume as of an approaching earthquake. Men and womengrasped their bridles with firmer fingers, and pressed still nearer tothe crests of the many mounds. Then over the hills on every side came amass of tossing horns and sleek shining bodies, separated here andthere by a shouting vaquero, whose black and silver seemed pierced atevery point by those white curving horns. The cattle, several thousandin number, trotted over the hills and toward the corral swiftly, but ingood order, held well in check by the careful vaqueros. There was nocheering, for excitement was to be avoided. The cattle would stand anyamount of the shouting they were used to, but little from unaccustomedthroats. 

In the corral, at its farther end, stood, by an oven, a tall muscularIndian, the most famous brander in that part of the country. He wasstripped to the waist, and as the first steer was driven through thenarrow gate, he plucked a red-hot iron from the coals. The beast, kicking and bellowing, was flung to the ground by a dexterous twist ofhis tail, two more Indians held him in position, and the branding wasaccomplished. 

Almost before he was up another was prostrate; and they followed eachother in such rapid succession that the wonder was some were notbranded twice. As fast as each brute received his mark he was drivenout of another gate and over the hills, lest his ill-nature should bethe 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 somedistance from the corral, riding round them constantly with peremptoryshouts. Other vaqueros, belonging to the same herd, segregated theanimals immediately required and drove them in a straight line for thecorral. There was not a moment of pause. The vaqueros, the brander, andhis assistants seemed impervious to fatigue; the cattle, shiftinguneasily in their bands, leaped eagerly from the lines at the firstsignal from the vaquero bearing down on them like a fury from thecorral. On the far side, otherwise deserted, the sore indignant beastsscampered as fast as their legs could carry them whithersoever theirvaquero chose to drive. 

After two hours or more, the atmosphere was charged with a certainbreathless excitement, as was natural enough. The constant cyclonicrush of vaqueros and cattle, the angry bellowings, the increasingmasses of animals, the furious shouts of the men, had changed apeaceable landscape into a vast theatre full of tragic possibilities. The waiting cattle were growing more and more restless, and there was alow rumble among them. Don Tiburcio motioned to his guests that it wastime to leave; moreover, it was nearing the dinner hour. 

"Rafael!" he called. His son turned his head impatiently, but preparedto obey; the Californian youth was brought up on rigid lines. 

"Ay, must we go?" cried Adan. "I could stand here till night, evenwithout 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 wereuttering hoarse growls of terror. The mustangs of the vaqueros stoodsuddenly 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 progressionof a tidal wave; then the world heaved and rocked. 

"Temblor! temblor!" went up as from one mighty horrified throat. Thepriest shouted to the boys: "Stay where you are;" to Don Tiburcio andhis 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 terrifiedvaqueros. In a moment a blaze of colour was flying down the valley, along brown arm lifted high above it. In twenty seconds five thousandtossing horns and blazing eyes and heaving flanks were in pursuit. 

The vaqueros did their best, although their faces were white and theirlips shaking. Three that were between the uniting herds, had their legscrushed into their mustangs' sides, and were borne along and aloft, shrieking horribly, adding to the fury of the stampede. Another, tryingto head the cattle off, rode into a sudden split in the hard adobe soiland went down beneath those iron feet. 

The boys clung together. The wall was broad, but it rockedcontinuously, whether from other shocks or from the hoof-assaultedearth it would have been impossible to say. A curving outer flank ofthe flying mass bulged against it, and it quivered horribly with theimpact. The boys strained their eyes after the retreating points ofcolour. Would they escape? Were the frightened mustangs fleeter of footthan 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 onedirection. "

"You are right, " said Rafael. "This way--Ay de mi!"

There was another heave of the earth, distinct from the steadyvibration 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 theyhad recovered some measure of vision they huddled together, staringwith affrighted eyes at the moving wall of cattle not twenty yards totheir left, hardly able to keep their balance. 

Suddenly Roldan pulled his wits together. "Sit down, " he said. "We arethe colour now of the earth. If we keep quiet and look no taller thanweeds they will not see us and we shall not be hurt. "

The boys dropped to the ground and sat in silence, staring ahead ofthem. Would that rushing, heaving, bellowing mass have no end? It wasindeed a long time before the last line, curiously compact, swept by. Occasionally the earth jumped with brief abruptness, causing hair tocrackle at the roots, and dust-laden as it was, make as if to rise onend. The squirrels were screeching in the trees. The birds pitifullytwittered. Even the leaves rustled in response to those terriblequivers. 

The cattle were a red streak at the end of the perspective. The boysrose, shook themselves, and walked heavily to their tethered mustangs. The poor beasts were trembling and whinnying; they greeted their youngmasters with a quavering neigh of relief. The boys mounted; butalthough they rode rapidly, with ever increasing impatience, theypaused every few moments to listen; there was likely to be a returnstampede at any moment. More than once they were obliged to swervesuddenly aside from yawning rifts, and they passed a spring of boilingwater, spouting and hissing upward, which had not been there in themorning. They were too frightened to talk; not only the paralysing aweof the earthquake was upon them, but the least imaginative saw his homelevelled to the ground, his relatives and friends trodden down into thecracking earth. Hills lay between them and the Casa Encarnacion. 

There were two exits from the valley where the branding had takenplace: one, very narrow, to the right, which led directly to the house, the other straight ahead, almost as broad as the valley itself. Theboys saw at a glance that pursued and pursuers had taken the morespacious way, and they followed without consultation. 

The crushed grass looked like green blood, but there was no otherevidence of slaughter; the mustangs had been fleeter than the cattle. The latter had evidently kept well together, for on either side of aswath 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 ofoutline as if the heart of the world beneath had never changed itsmeasure. Just beyond this valley was a wood, then the Mission. Weretwenty 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, asserene and proud as the redwoods on the mountain. She had held her ownagainst many earthquakes and would against many more. But there was nota horn, a horse, a man, nor a woman to be seen. 

The boys dismounted, not daring to think. They walked toward thebuildings, then paused to listen. Through the open doors of the churchrolled the sonorous tones of Padre Osuna's voice, intoning mass. Theboys ran forward to enter the building. They paused on the threshold, held by a sight, the like of which had never been seen in Californiabefore, and never shall be again. 

Near the entrance of the vast building were a multitude of half-clotheddusky forms, prone. Between them and the altar were more than anhundred horses, caparisoned with silver and carved leather, and gayanquera. They stood as if petrified. On them, huddled to the archingnecks, in an attitude of prostrate devotion, were magnificent bunchesof colour; scarce an outline could be seen of the proudly attired menand women who had fled before a tidal wave of tossing horns. FatherOsuna, in his coarse brown woollen robes, stood before the altar, chanting the mass of thanksgiving. The church blazed with the light ofmany candles. The air was thick and sweet with incense. 

XVII

After the mass was over the boys learned the sequel of the morning'sterrible adventure. Between the second valley and the wood the cattle, diverted by one of those mysterious impulses which govern masses of allgrades of intelligence, had deflected suddenly and raced for the hills. The gay company was much shaken, but somewhat restored by the calm ofthe church and the solemn monotonous roll of Father Osuna's voice. Theycantered slowly homeward, and crossed themselves fervently when theysaw the Casa Encarnacion none the worse for her shaking, beyond a fewfallen tiles. After dinner and siesta they recovered their naturalspirits, and the men and boys went forth with the vaqueros to hunt thecattle. 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 uponthem, and they allowed themselves to be driven to the ranches of theirrespective owners without a protest. 

That evening the household and guests of Casa Encarnacion spent inmusic and dancing; so light of heart and careless of mind were thepeople of that time and country. 

A number of cattle had been trampled to death in the stampede, and thebodies lay within a few miles of the mountains. It was inevitable thatbears would come out to eat the carcasses. On the night of the day ofterrifying memory no one felt equal to the exertion of another ten mileride and the subsequent battle with a possible herd of bears. But ateight o'clock on the following night Don Tiburcio, Padre Osuna, theboys, some ten of the caballeros, and as many vaqueros mounted and rodeforth for a good night's sport. The moon was thin and low. As theyapproached the spot where the first of the wild band had succumbed tofatigue they saw a dark object moving beside the carcass. The approachwas stealthy, but the bear suddenly raised his head. In a second fiveor six lassos had sprung through the air. One caught the bear--a brownbear of moderate size--about the neck, another about a hind leg. Thebrute drew his legs together like a bucking horse and leaped into theair, then plunged toward his tormentors; but those that had him inlasso galloped in different directions, and poor bruin was quicklystrained 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 groupsome distance ahead. Spurring their mustangs they dashed forward, letting the lassos fly. Now the sport became truly exciting anddangerous. Some six or eight brown bears, of varying sizes, growledfuriously and bounded toward the intruders. Three were caught in themeshes of the rope, the others were making straight for the horses. There was only one thing to do. The men put spurs and galloped rapidlyaway, the bears plunging heavily in pursuit. When the men hadoutdistanced the bears by a hundred yards or more, they wheeledsuddenly and trotted back, once more letting fly the lasso. This timeall but one were roped; as they kicked in fury, their hind legs werecaught by the lariats held in reserve; and there followed a scene ofplunging 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 jerkedabout and fled for a mile or more, holding on with his legs while bothhands were occupied gathering in the rope and coiling it about the highpommel of his saddle. Then he turned and charged full at the bear, whowas hot in pursuit and no mean runner. He hurled the lariat. It fellshort, and lay quivering on the ground like a huge wounded snake. Roldan gave an exclamation, of surprise as much as of dismay: he was anexpert with the rope. He turned, however, dragging it in. It caughtabout the mustang's hind legs. The beast went down, neighing withhorror. Roldan tried to jerk him to his feet. He seemed hopelesslyentangled. Roldan extricated himself, knowing that he was comparativelysafe, as bears prefer horse-meat to man's. He had no sooner got hisfeet free of the boots than the mustang leaped to his feet and fledlike a hare, dragging the lariat in a straight line after him. 

Roldan was alone, the bear not ten yards away. The rest of his partywere a mile and more behind. No one apparently had noticed his flightwith the solitary bear. The light was uncertain and the excitement overthere intense. 

Roldan took to his agile young heels. But the bear gathered himself andleaped, not once but several times. There was no doubt that his bloodwas up, and that he meant a duel to the death. Roldan turned with acatching of what breath was left in him. He mechanically drew his knifefrom its pocket and flourished it at the advancing bear. Bruin cared aslittle 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 wastoo dark to tell as yet whether it was a horseman or another bear. Thebrute was almost on him, panting mightily. All the senses betweenRoldan's skeleton and his skin concentrated in the determination tolive. He sprang forward and plunged his long knife into the protrudinginjected eye of the bear, then leaped aside, his dripping knife in hishand, and danced about the maddened beast with the agility of a modernprize-fighter. The bear, too, danced, as if obsessed by some infernalmusic; and the skipping, and leaping, and dodging, and waltzing ofthese two would have been ludicrous had it not been a matter of lifeand horrid death. Through it all Roldan was vaguely conscious ofapproaching hoofbeats, but there was no room in his consciousness forhope or despair. He was not even aware that he was panting as if hislungs and throat were bursting, nor even that his vision was a trifleblurred from constant and rapid change of focus and surcharged veins. But he executed his dance of life as unerringly as if fresh from hisbed and bath. The bear, a clumsy creature at best, and streaming andblinded with his blood, was slackening a little, but there was life inhim yet, and twice its measure of vengeance. Suddenly he lay down, butbecame so abruptly inert that Roldan was not deceived. Instead ofputting himself within reach of those waiting arms he fled with all hisstrength. 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 thefirst hundred yards, and he fell to the ground with a sensation ofutter indifference, longing only for physical rest. He heard the bearplunging after, the loud sound of a horse's hoofs, mingled with asingle shout, then gave up his consciousness. 

He awoke in a few moments. Adan was bending over him, propping hishead. "The bear?" he demanded, ashamed of the pitiful quality of hisvoice. 

"I came just in time to rope him, " replied Adan. "You were a fool, myfriend, 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 lariathave saved me. Perhaps it may be the other way some time. "

"Likely it will if you go on hunting for adventures as the old womenhunt for fleas of a night. Do you feel able to get on my horse? It willcarry the two of us. "

"If I were not equal to that much I should find another bear and go tosleep 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 wentto bed at ten o'clock, but it was the custom of Don Tiburcio to go therounds a half or three quarters of an hour later and see that hisstrict laws were as strictly obeyed. To-night, when he opened the doorsof the three young dons in succession, heels were still, and breathingwas as monotonous as his own would be an hour later. At eleven the boysdressed and swung from their windows, not daring to leave by thecourtyard. Nor did they dare go to the corral and abstract threehorses. Much to their distaste, for there was nothing the Californianhated so much as to travel on two legs, they were obliged to walk themiles between the Casa and the hills. But their legs were young andtheir brains eager; in little over an hour they were in sight of theMission. 

It looked very white and ghostly in the pale blaze of the moon, a hugemass, full of prayer and discontent. Close beside it, but without thewalls, the Indians slept in the rancheria, quiescent enough, for theyhad no Anastacio. At midnight the great bells in the tower had rungout, filling the valley with their sweet silver clamour; but as theboys approached and skirted the wall, some distance to the right, theMission might have been as lifeless as it is this year, in itsdesertion and decay. 

The hills were a mile behind. The Mission, like all of its kind, stoodon a broad open, that no hostile tribe might approach unseen. Cows andhorses lay in their first heavy sleep, their breathing hardly rufflingthe profound stillness. So great an air of repose did the silent wallsand sleeping beasts give to the landscape that the boys felt the quietof the night as they had not done in the other valley, and drew closertogether, almost holding their breath lest the priests might hear it. Aquarter of an hour later they were among the hills and standing beforethe aperture whose secrets were known only to Padre Osuna. They glancedat 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 arattlesnake or a bear in the dark and narrow confines of a cave. And ifthere should be another earthquake! However, they had not come to turnback, and Roldan pushed boldly in, the others following close. 

For a time their way lay along a narrow passage. They had made twoabrupt turns before they dared to light the lantern they had brought. When Rafael did, it revealed nothing but earthy walls and the imprintof feet on the ground. After a little, however, the passage suddenlywidened, and it was Adan who uttered the first exclamation of surprise. It was, indeed, a hoarse gurgle. The walls were veined with whatappeared to be irregular bands of dirty crystal, pricked withglittering yellow. There were, perhaps, a thousand of these littlepoints bared from the jealous earth, and they shone with a steadybaleful glare, magnetising six youthful eyes, stirring in threecareless brains the ghosts of ancient gold-lust, whose concretesubstance lay in the marble vaults of Spain. Immediately Roldan'ssympathy went out to the priest; and he knew that that commandingintelligence could teach him one thing the less. 

There was a rough pick on the ground, and many junks of quartz. Roldanstruck and rubbed two pieces together. In a moment his palm was filledwith jagged pieces of yellow metal. He blew on them lovingly, then putthem in his pocket. 

"Dios de mi alma!" gasped Rafael, whose eyes were bulging from hishead. "It is as beautiful as the stars of the sky, --the stars in themilky way with the film over them. "

"But we need no more stars, " said Adan. "We shall take away our pocketsfull, but what shall we do with it? Surely this was not made to rotwith the earth. But it is too small for what you call money, if that isso 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 thecrystal. Rub free all that you can, and fill every pocket. We will takeall we can carry away, and come again and again. Some day, when we aremen, perhaps, we will find a use for it. I for one do not believe thatanything that makes you love it can do harm. Does not the Church teachus to love all things? Now let us work and not talk. "

The boys in turn hacked out great pieces of quartz and rubbed the freegold loose. Much of it could only be crushed out in machinery made forthe purpose, but a sufficient quantity of the quartz was poor and soft. As the boys worked, they grew more and more silent, more and moreabsorbed. 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 newand mighty passion possessed them, the strongest they had ever known. Their lips were pressed hard together--those soft Spanish lips thatwere usually half apart--their eyes glowed with a steady fire. Theirchests rose and fell in short regular spasms. 

Suddenly a thrill ran through Roldan. He had felt it before when arattlesnake, ready to strike, had fixed its green malignant eyes uponhim. He flashed the lantern about swiftly, twisting his neck with deepanxiety. It would be no minor adventure to encounter a coiled rattlerin this narrow place. Then he saw something white shining out of thedarkness high above the rays, a large white disk, in which glitteredtwo points of light inexpressibly infuriate. 

Roldan sprang to his feet with a warning cry. The other boys, greedrouted by the danger sense, were on their feet as quickly. As the threelads, none very tall for his age, faced the gigantic bulk of thepriest, they looked cornered and helpless. 

The priest, unconsciously beyond doubt, lifted his huge hands, openingand shutting them slowly. The movement had an ugly significance, andthe hands, in the miserable glimmer of light, looked like great bats, and seemed to pervade the cavern. Involuntarily the boys squirmed. ThenRoldan, mindful always of his proud position as captain of his smallband, stepped in front of that band and spoke with a vocal control thatdid him much credit, considering that his heart seemed to be kicking inthe 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 oursas any man's. This is the first time that we have been here, but itwill not be the last; and when I am the governor of all theCalifornias, I shall send many Indians to dig the very heart out ofthese hills. So pick out all that you can now, Padre Osuna, for tenyears hence--"

As he spoke fear gave place to exultation in finding himself pittedagainst a man whom he intuitively respected more than any he had evermet, and whom he knew most men feared and none understood. Moreover, heheard two sets of teeth clattering behind him, and that alone wouldhave 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 downand caught the three necks between his hands, easily spanning them, pressing the heads hard together. Then he lifted the boys high in theair and held them there, a kicking, humiliated trio. The blanched oliveof his face was reflected in the pallid brows at the extremity of hisrigid arms. His voice, which had been lost in passion, found itself. 

"And when your Indians come, Senor Don Roldan, " he said, "they willfind three skeletons six feet beneath the floor of this cave. You willnever leave this cave, not one of you. When you are dead for want offood and drink, I shall return and bury you. And no one will seek youhere. " Suddenly he dashed them to the ground. "A thousand curses gowith you, " he shrieked, "to make a murderer of me. I was near enough tohell before--"

"And our fingers will scratch the ground beneath your feet, "interrupted Roldan, who between mortification and rage felt equalhimself to murder, but determined as ever to hold his own. "Our skullswill grin at you from every corner as you work--"

"I don't care!" shouted the priest. "I don't care! Here you rot. Thisgold is mine. No man shall touch it but myself. "

"But if we promise never to return, and to tell no man of what weknow, " interposed Rafael, feebly. 

The priest laughed. "With the glitter of gold in your brains? You couldnot keep an oath on the cross. " He turned swiftly and strode down thepassage. 

"What will he do?" gasped Adan. 

"Roll a stone over the entrance and secure it with others, " saidRoldan. "There are plenty nigh. If we follow, he will beat us back withthose 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 shallhave many more adventures, my friends. "

But although he spoke confidently he was profoundly disturbed. This wasno ordinary predicament. He knew that unless the priest relented theystood small chance of seeing sun and stars again. Would he relent?Roldan's own indomitable will and growing ambitions responded to theawful 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 themeans, and that the gold itself had roused in him a controllingpassion, he could not doubt. The priest himself had told him something, the gold the rest. With a sudden impulse of hatred Roldan emptied hispockets of the metal and stamped upon it. He quieted suddenly, thenstamped again, with added vigour. Then he dropped and laid his ear tothe ground. 

"Stamp, Adan, " he said, "and hard. "

Adan shook his blood through his veins, and obeyed. Roldan sprang tohis feet. "We are above the tunnel of the Mission, " he said. "And wehave 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, thetag end of it shot forth like the quick last blast from a trumpet. 

"Hi, Adan!" called Roldan, excitedly, peering down into the dark. "Areyou hurt?"

"I know not! I know not! It is darker than a dungeon of a Mission. " Thevoice 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 prudentlyretreated 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. Andthat devil may return any moment. "

They ran down the tunnel. It was wide and high, built for flyingpriests, should the Mission be besieged and captured by savage tribes. The air was close and heavy, but free from noxious gases. Bats whirredpast and rats scampered before them. Roldan paused after a moment andlit his lantern. Its thin ray leaped but a few feet ahead, but wouldfrighten 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 longerwalks than this, my friend. Do you remember that night in themountains?"

"I had forgotten it for one blessed week. Rafael, to what have webrought you? Your poor muscles are soft, where ours are now as hard asa deserter's from an American barque--ay, yi!"

"If they have but the chance to become soft once more after they tooare hard!" muttered Rafael, who was panting and lagging. "That priest!that priest!"

"It is true, " said Roldan, pausing abruptly. "You will not dare toreturn 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--untilhe 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 roomin the Californias for those hands and myself. "

"I will take care of you, " said Roldan, proudly, anxious to rout thememory of his recent humiliation. "But come. " And Rafael, too weary andbewildered to resent the authority of his erst-while rival, trudgedobediently 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, " saidRoldan, cruelly. "And to say nothing of the fact that we need never getlost in the mountains again, the embrace of a grizzly would be noharder and more death-sure than one in the great arms of that fiendthat wears a cassock. "

"True. You are always right. But promise that whatever happens you willnot lead us into the Sierras. "

"I promise, " said Roldan, much flattered by this unconscious tribute tohis leadership. 

"Do you think that priest is really a devil?" asked Rafael, in anawestruck 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 fighthim, big as he is. But at least I can outwit him. It consoles me tothink 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 thebest of the priest, " said Adan. "Suppose he returns to kill ushimself--"

"He will not return until to-morrow. Then he will have repented. Hewill promise to let us go free if we keep his secret. But he will nothave that satisfaction, my friends. Yesterday he had a friend in RoldanCastanada; 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 Spaniardnever 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 hasbeen discovered in the Californias, and in six days the hills willswarm, 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 shorteningbreath. A few moments later the low rhythm as of distant water came totheir ears. Roldan and Adan recognised that familiar music, and settheir 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 ofhostile 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 priestshad studied facility of egress and had raised the barrier from within. In a few moments the boys stood in the sunlight; and the mountainshemmed them in. 

Adan stamped his foot savagely on the hard snow. "We are where westarted a week ago, " he said. "No more, no less. "

"No, " said Roldan, who also had felt demoralised for a moment. "Thepriests were too clever for that. They would want to get into theshelter of the mountains, no more. I believe that from the top of thatpoint above the tunnel we can see the valley. "

"Well, we can at least look, " said Rafael, who was bitterly weary andhungry, but determined not to be outdone by these hardened adventurers. 

The boys made their way up the declivity as best they could through theheavy snowdrifts, pulling themselves up by clutching at young trees andscrub. They were thinly clad and very cold, and hunger was loud ofspeech. When after a half-hour's weary climb, they reached the summit, they drew a long sigh of relief, but their enthusiasm was too moderatefor words in present physical conditions. The valley lay below. Faraway, beyond leagues of low hills and wide valleys something whitereflected 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 atonce. "

"Where shall we go?" asked the others, who, however, felt a quickeningof blood and muscle at the thought that the priest might be under theirfeet 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 wasonly that of a foot-hill. Beyond were other foot-hills, and theyskirted among them, finally entering a canon. It was as dark and coldand 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 wasscarce a fleck on the narrow tilted banks. The hill opposite was thelast of the foot-hills; but how to reach it? The current was veryswift, and boys knew naught of the art of swimming in that land oflittle water. 

Suddenly Roldan raised his hand with an exclamation of surprise andpointed to a ledge overhanging the stream. A hut stood there, made ofsections of the redwood and pine. From its chimney, smoke was curlingupward. 

The boys were too hungry to pause and reflect upon the possibility of asavage inmate; they scrambled up the bank and ran along the ledge tothe 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 roomof 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 andfell to. It was not in human necessities to withstand the fragrance ofthat steaming mess of squirrel, and the boys had disposed of the entirepotful before they raised their eyes again. When they did, Rafael, whosat opposite the door, made a slight exclamation, and the others turnedabout quickly. A man stood there. 

He was quite unlike any one they had ever seen. A tall lank man withrounded shoulders, lean leather-like cheeks, a preternatural length ofjaw, drab hair and chin whiskers, and deeply-set china-blue eyes, madeup a type uncommon in the Californias, that land of priest, soldier, caballero, and Indian. He was clad in coyote skins, and carried a gunin his hand, a brace of rabbits slung over one shoulder. He did notspeak for some seconds, and when he did, it was to make a remark thatwas not understood. He said: "Well, I'll be durned!"

His expression was not forbidding, and Roldan recovered himself atonce. He stood up and bowed profoundly. 

"Senor, " he said, "I beg that you will pardon us. We would have cravedyour hospitality had you been here, but as it was, our hunger overcameus: we have not eaten for many hours. But I am Roldan Castanada of theRancho de los Palos Verdes, senor, and I beg that you will one day letme repay your hospitality in the house of my fathers. "

"Holy smoke!" exclaimed the man, "all that high-falutin' lingo for apotful of squirril. But you're welcome enough. I don't begrudge anybodysup. " 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 leftme nothin', I may as well turn to, " he said. "And it ain't every dayI'm entertainin' lords. "

The boys did not understand the words, but they understood the act, andreddened. 

"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 Yankthough, and no mistake. Vermont. "

"Is that in America?"

"In Meriky? Something's wrong with your geography, young man. It's oneof the U. S. And no slouch, neither. "

He spoke in a curious mixture of English and of Spanish that he adaptedas freely as he did his native tongue. The boys stared at him, fascinated. They thought him the most picturesque person they had evermet. 

"When did you come?" asked Roldan. 

"I'll answer any more questions you've got when I've got this yererabbit inside of me. P'r'aps as you've been hungry you know that itdoesn't make the tongue ambitious that way. I'll have a pipe while it'scookin'. "

He was shortly invisible under a rolling grey cloud. The tobacco wasthe rank stuff used by the Indians. The boys wanted to cough, but wouldhave choked rather than be impolite, and finally stole out with amuttered remark about the scenery. 

When they returned their host had eaten his breakfast and smoked hissecond pipe. 

"Come in, " he said heartily. "Come right in and make yourselves terhome. My name's Jim Hill. I won't ask yourn as I wouldn't remember themif 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. "Andwe are very thankful to have anything to sit on at all, senor. Youcould not guess the many terrible adventures we have had in the lastfew weeks. "

"Indeed! Adventures? I want ter know! You look as if hammocks was moreto your taste. Oh, no offence, " as Roldan's eyes flashed. "But you arefine looking birds, and no mistake. Howsomever, we'll hear all aboutthem presently. It's polite to answer questions first. You was askingme a while back how I come here. I come over those mountains, youngman, and I don't put in the adjectives I applied to them in the processouter respect to your youth. But they'd make a man swear if he'd spenthis 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 atthat Mission down yonder the amount of flesh I had between my bones andmy skin wouldn't have filled a thimble. But that priest--he's a greatman if ever there was one--soon fixed me up. I lived like a prince fora month, and I could be there yet if I liked, but I'd kinder got usedto livin' alone and I liked it, so I come here. Besides, I found somuch prayin' and bell ringin' wearin' on the nerves, to say nothin' oftoo many Indians. I ain't got no earthly use for Indians. Why priestsor anybody else run after Indians beats me. Where I was brought up 'twas the other way. They're after us with a scalpin' knife, and if we'reafter 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 onebelieve 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 foryour 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--assome women. What he rots in this God-forsaken place for I can't makeout. "

"What did you come to California for?"

"Well, that ain't bad. I come here, my son, because I was lookin' for acold climate. My own was warm, accordin' to my taste, and somehowCaliforny seemed as if it ought to be fur enough away to be cool andnice. "

"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 keepsmy Spanish in, and I shouldn't like to lose sight of him. I got wordfrom him the other day that he wanted to see me mighty particular, andI'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 thoseadventures. "

Roldan appreciated the sarcasm, but was too secure in the wealth of thepast month to resent it. He began at the beginning and told the storywith his curious combination of reserve and dramatic fire. As he hadalready told it several times it ran glibly off his tongue and hadseveral inevitable embellishments. The man, whose cold blue eyes hadwandered at first, finally fixed themselves on Roldan; and his wholeface gradually softened. When Roldan finished with his and Adan'srescue by Don Tiburcio's vaquero, he held out his hand and saidsolemnly, --

"Shake. "

Roldan allowed his hand to be gripped by that hairy paw; he was tooelated to resent it as a familiarity. 

"You've got pluck, " continued Hill, "and I respect pluck mor' 'nanything else on earth. You're a man and a gentleman, and Californy'llbe proud of you yet. Got any more?"

Roldan related the tale of Rafael's prowess with the bull, his ownencounter with the bear, and Adan's timely interference. Hill thenshook the hands of the two other boys, and told them that as long as hehad a roof above his head they could share it, and that he'd doanything to help them but steal horses, so help him Bob. Roldan thentold the tale of the earthquake and stampede. 

"Ugh!" exclaimed Hill, with a shudder. "That's one thing I can'tabide--your earthquakes. I tell you it's enough to take the grit outena grizzly to hear the land sliden on the mountain and the big redwoodsthat has got their roots about the bed-rock come roarin' down. When anearthquake comes I go and stand in the middle of the creek so as I cansee what's comin' all round. Once I was on the side of the mountainwhen one of those shakes come and I slid down twenty feet before Icould stop myself. It's just the one thing that has happened to me thatI can't help thinkin' about. Well, what kin I do for you? You'rewelcome to stay here, but this hut ain't no great shakes for such asyou. Be you goin' home, now that the conscription's over?"

"No!" said Roldan, emphatically, "we are not. There are other reasonswhy we must go to Los Angeles as quickly as we can. Could you get usthree horses?"

"I could get them from the priest--"

"No! no!"

"Why, what's the row with the priest? Got in his black books? Ishouldn't like to do that myself. "

"You said just now that you would do anything for us. Would you evenhide us from the priest if he came here?"

"I would. And I ain't the one to ask questions. If you don't want tosee 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 RanchoEncarnacion?" asked Rafael. 

"I could, if you'd go with me; but horse-stealing is just the one thingI agreed not to do. "

"You might go with him, Rafael, " said Roldan. "You would get thereafter dark if you started now; and even if the vaqueros were not asleepthey would not call your father. "

"And I could send a message to my parents, " said Rafael, eagerly. "Thenthey would not worry. Yes, I will go. The priest would not dare to harmme 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 shouldturn up here--which ain't likely--jest run up that ladder inter thegarret and pull it after yer. Well, hasta luego, as they say in theseparts. Make yourselves ter home. "

XX

"Now, " said Roldan, as Rafael and Hill trudged into the perspective ofthe canon, "we must sleep, but by turns. That priest will surely go tothe cave to-day, and when he finds us gone he'll come straight for themountains; and not through the tunnel either; he'll come on that bigbrown 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 donot so much mind waiting a little longer. "

Adan lifted his nose at the bunk covered with a bearskin, then flunghimself upon it, and was asleep in three minutes. Roldan sat with hiseyes applied to a rift between the hide-door and the wall. It commandeda view of the opposite wall of the canon, over which wound a zig-zaghorse trail. 

The sun, which had hung directly above the canon when Hill and Rafaeldeparted, had slid toward the west, leaving the canon cold and darkagain, 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 browncassock, the hood drawn well over the face. It was impossible todistinguish features at that distance, but Roldan fancied that thoseterrible eyes were holding his own. He recovered himself and draggedAdan out of bed. 

"The priest!" he said. "Help me to wash these dishes--quick. It willtake him some time to get down. "

Adan stumbled across the room, plunged the dishes into a pail ofdrinking water, then handed them to Roldan, who dried them hastily andpiled them on the shelf. Then he flung the water across the clay floorof 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 fullof skins. They could not stand upright. It was also bitterly cold. Eachhastily wrapped a skin about his body, and lay full length, Roldan onhis 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 aman who had just left the rack of his native Spain. His hair--the hoodhad 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 walkedits length to find us, and the horses might have come before hereturned. Well, he cannot get us until he pulls the roof down. "

"He could do it, " whispered Adan, grimly. "Those hands! Dios de mialma!"

"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 hislips. His great hands were clinched. He strode over to the bunk andlifted the heaped-up bearskin. Suddenly he pressed his face into thefur. 

"Perfume--Dona Martina's, " he exclaimed. "They have been here. "

He raised his face to the ceiling, and the boys held their mouths openthat their teeth might not clack together. They closed their eyes:instinct bade them give heed to visual magnetism. Roldan immediatelywanted to cough, Adan to scratch his nose. The next few moments werethe most agonised of their lives. They felt the priest lift his handsand pass them slowly along the ceiling, they felt those eyes searchingevery crevice. Then they felt him grip the edge of the aperture andlift himself until his eyes were above the garret floor. But it waspitch dark. He could not even see the ladder, much less the boys underthe bear skins. 

The priest dropped to the floor and seated himself upon a box, droppinghis face into his hands. There he sat, motionless, for hours. The boysburied their heads in the skins and went to sleep. 

They were awakened by the sound of voices. A candle flared below. Hillhad entered. He and the priest were alone. 

"They were here, sir, that's true enough. I've just taken them to theSennor Carriller's and pointed them fur home. They seemed in a hurry tovamos these parts. "

The priest groaned and struck his fist on the table. "Then they areleagues away by this. "

"They be, for a fact. Their horses was fresh and they was powerfulkeen. 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 hewas--savin' your grace--cussed disagreeable. He corralled us as we wascorrallen the horses; and although he was mighty mad at such Frenchleave, he said, speakin' of the other two kids, that they could takethe two horses and git, and the sooner the better, and if they nevercome lookin' for adventures in these parts agin the better he'd bepleased. "

The priest did not appear to doubt him. He was looking through thedoorway. Roldan could not see his face, but he saw the stare of wonderon Hill's. 

"Very well, " said the priest, after a moment, and his voice was hardlyaudible. "I shall return now. Can you come down to the Missionto-morrow--no, the day after. I have a secret to confide to you, and itwill not be to your disadvantage to know it. I had no intention oftelling any one, but I need help, and now more than ever. There is notime 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 thecreek. Then Hill said cautiously, --

"Hi, there, young uns. "

"In the name of Mary let us come down, Don Jim, " hissed Roldan, throughthe crack. 

"Well, I guess you kin. He's climbin' the hill, and I don't see asthere'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 wouldpermit, and a moment later stood on the floor of the room, shakingthemselves vigorously. 

"Where's Rafael?" demanded Roldan. 

"Tucked in his little warm bed with a warmer hide, I guess. The old mancaught us in the very act of horse stealin'. Holy smoke, but he didcuss. 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 alittle 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 himSecretary of State--"

"But the horses? the horses?"

"They're tethered just over the mountain. I suspicioned the priestmight 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. Yousee, he hadn't had no peace of mind for some hours, and as for the oldlady 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 thepriest'll see old Carriller to-morrow, and then the cat'll come out. Ikin git outen it all right enough--I'll say as how the old man didn'tsee you, that you were restin' on the other side of the wall. Like asnot he'll believe me, but he thinks you're pointed fur home, and if hewants you badly, he'll follow. You'd better go South fur a month or soand go home by barque. I'll fetch the horses down now and put them inmy shed. That'll rest 'em a bit and keep 'em warm, and then you kinstart the minute it's daylight. "

"You have been a friend to us in trouble, Don Jim, and I shall neverforget 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 toask 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 thesight o' men?"

"I have, and worse--for him. "

"Don't do it, young man, " said Hill, solemnly. "Don't do it. It ain'tworth shucks to ruin a man fur personal spite. You'll find that out theminute you've done it. You'll feel small and mean; and if you want tobe a great man--and I kin see you're ambitious--that ain't the way togo to work. Padre Osuna has his faults, but he's a big man; there ain'tnone bigger in the Californies; and he ain't the man to ruin, withoutthinkin' a lot about it aforehand. "

"He insulted me horribly, " said Roldan, shutting his teeth. "I willnever 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 forit, you'll feel a sight better if you mount the high horse and forgivehim, treat him with silent contempt. Nothin' makes you feel as good asthat. 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 letthe priest off this time. He's been the best friend I ever had, andhe's been the friend of many, young 'un. "

Roldan stepped forward impulsively and grasped Hill's hand. "I willnever speak, " he said. "And you can say to Rafael that I wish him neverto speak, either. Only, in return, Don Jim, I insist that you do nottell 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 liedown, and when I come back I'll cook that there rabbit for yer. You kingit dinner at the Ortegas', but don't stay there too long, for thepriest's mighty sharp. "

XXI

The boys were once more adrift in the wilderness. It was with mixedemotions that they said good-bye to the hospitable American and rodeforth to new experiences and dangers. They were now tried adventurers;they knew their mettle; they also had a far more definite idea of whatdanger and experience meant than when they had fled from home with thelight heart of ignorance. Roldan felt several years older, and Adan hadmoments of reflection. Moreover, the fine point of novelty had worntoward bluntness. Nevertheless, they felt no immediate desire to returnto leading strings, and were glad of an excuse to pursue their waysouth. Los Angeles was a famous city, the rival of Monterey, --whichneither had seen, --and a fitting climax to an exciting volume. Theexact arrangement of that climax was compassed by the imagination ofneither. 

For two miles they kept in line with the foot-hills, then rode rapidlytoward the valley, impatient for its warmth. So far, barring theirsojourn in the Sierras, they had been favoured with fine weather; butwinter was growing older every day, and the sky was thick and grey thismorning. 

The Casa Ortega stood on the shores of a large lake. The banks werethickly wooded. On its southern curve was a high mountain. As the boysapproached, a vaquero sprang upon a mustang and rode toward themrapidly. Roldan recognised one of the men that had been at the rodeo. 

"At your feet, senores, " said the vaquero. "The Senor Don is away, andall the family; but I am mayor domo, and in his absence I place thehouse at your disposal. "

"My father will reward you, " said Roldan, graciously. "We would askthat you give us dinner, a thick poncho each, for I fear that it willrain before we reach Los Angeles, and that you will direct us which wayto go. The ponchos shall be replaced with fine new ones as soon as wehave returned home. "

"Don Carlos would not hear of the return of the ponchos, senor. Butsurely 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 boysdismounted, then showed them to two bedrooms and bade them rest whiledinner was preparing. "It will be an hour, " he said. "I beg that thesenores will sleep. "

The boys did sleep, and it was two hours before they were called. Thenthey ate a steaming dinner, and forgot their fear of the priest: themeagre diet of squirrel and rabbit of the past thirty-six hours hadlowered their spirits' temperature. 

When they left the room the mayor domo awaited them with two thickwoollen ponchos--large squares of cloth with a slit in the middle forthe head. 

"These will keep the rain out, " he said, as he slipped them over theboys' heads. "And there is food for two days in the saddle-bags, andpistols in the holsters. Keep to the right of the lake, and enter themountains by the horse trail. It winds over the lower ridges. Thesenores cannot lose themselves, for they should be on the other sidebefore dark--that mountain is the meeting of the two ranges and beyondthere are no more for many leagues. Then the senores must keep straighton, straight on--never turning to the left, for that way lies theterrible Mojave desert. By-and-by they will cross a river, and afterthat Los Angeles is not far. Between the mountain and the river is anhacienda, where they will find welcome for the night. "

Roldan thanked him profusely, then said: "I have reasons for notwishing 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 beenhere, for three days at least. "

"The senor's wishes shall be obeyed. The Senor Don returns not for aweek. No one shall know until then of the honour that has been done tohis house. "

The boys rode rapidly through the wood over a broad road that hadevidently been traversed many times. The sky was leaden, but no rainfell. Nor was there any wind. The lake could not have been smootherwere it frozen, although it reflected the grey above. Wild ducks andsnipe broke its monotony at times, now and again a jungle of tules. Inless than an hour the travellers were ascending the mountain by easygrades, a black forest of pines about them. It was darker here, but theroad was clearly defined, and they talked gaily of adventures past andto come. In Los Angeles they had many relatives, and they knew that aroyal welcome would be given them. They would see the gay life of whichthey had heard so much from their brothers; and they magnanimouslyresolved that after a week of it they would return to their anxiousparents. 

"Ay!" exclaimed Adan, interrupting these pleasant anticipations, "itrains at last. "

A few drops fell; then the rain came with a rush. For some time thewind had been rising; suddenly it seemed to leap upward to meet theemptying clouds, then filled the pine-tops with a great roar, rattlingthe hard branches, bending the slender trunks. The boys were on thedown grade, and there was no danger of losing the path, although therain had put out the sallow flame of the sun. They pricked their horsesand made the descent as rapidly as possible. But it was another hourbefore they were on level ground once more. The rain was still fallingin torrents; the wind flung it in their eyes as fast as they dashed itfrom their lashes. They could not see a yard ahead. The light of thehacienda was nowhere visible. If its owner was away from home and hishouse in darkness, then was their plight a sorry one indeed. 

"There is only one thing to do, " said Roldan, putting his handfunnel-wise to Adan's ear. "We must keep due south until we come to theriver. Then, at least, we cannot go wrong. "

"And that river we must cross!" said Adan, with a groan. "Dios de mialma!"

Roldan had great faith in his sense of locality, but in a blinding rainon 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, itwas difficult to preserve any sense at all. They galloped on, however, occasionally pausing to shout, straining their eyes into the darknesson every side. But nothing came back to eye or ear. Apparently they hadthe wilderness to themselves. There was no sign of even an Indianpueblo. 

It was during one of these halts that the boys ejaculatedsimultaneously: "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 ofpained resignation in it. 

"No; I think this must be what he meant. Some of the low people sayriver for everything but the ocean. It is shallow, and we cannot turnback. Come. "

They rode along the bank until they came to an easy slope, thencrossed, and cantered on. In a very short time the storm was behindthem and the stars burst out, but there was no sign of habitation. Theykept on for an hour longer, hoping for a welcome twinkle below; but noteven a coyote crossed their path. As far as they could see in thestarlight they were on a plain of illimitable reach, bare but for lowshrubs whose kind they could not determine, although once Adan's coatcaught 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 stiffto-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 aboutfor firewood. There was not a tree to be seen; they had not passed onesince they left the creek. Nor could they see any sign of flint withwhich they might set fire to a clump of palms. 

Adan, who had been on his knees, suddenly remarked: "There is not ablade 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 downuntil hunger sent them to the saddle bags. The mayor domo had providedthem abundantly, and once more they looked upon the world with hopefuleyes. 

"But we must sleep, " said Roldan, "and it is not going to be easy formind or body--if there are rattlers about--with no fire. We must takeit in turns. It is warm; we do not need our clothes--ah!"--for Adan wassnoring. 

Roldan was very tired but not sleepy. His brain, indeed, seemedunusually alert, and he got up after a time and prowled about, pistolin hand. He had been in solitudes before, solitude of plain and valleyand mountain; but there was something in his present surroundings thatreminded him of nothing he had heard of or seen. It was not only theintense stillness, unbroken by so much as the flutter of a leaf, noreven the vast expanse. The place seemed to possess a character of itsown, and its character was sinister and forbidding. Once or twice hehad been in the cemetery of the Mission near his father's rancho, andthe 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 hefelt that he stood in a dead world, nevertheless. Once the groundquivered beneath his feet, and the horrible idea occurred to him thatSouthern California had been swallowed by an earthquake, and that onlythis desolation was left. 

He went back to his comrade, who slept soundly beside the horses, alsoextended and breathing deeply. It was nearly morning when he woke Adan, so little aptitude had his brain for sleep. But when Adan sat up hefell asleep almost immediately, and when he awoke the sun was high. 

XXII

Roldan raised himself on his elbow and looked about him. Adan was somequarter of a mile away, approaching him, leading the mustangs. Cleavingthe horizon on four sides was a vast plain. On it was not a tree, noreven a hut. Here and there were clumps of palms and cacti, as stark asif cut from pale green stone. At vast intervals were short, isolatedmountains, known in the vernacular as "buttes. " On the ground was notthe 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 andscamper and fly there was no sign, not even a hole in the ground; foreven reptiles must have food to eat, and there was nothing here tosustain man nor beast. The fleckless sky was a deep, hot blue; ablood-red sun toiled heavily toward the zenith. 

"Adan!" shouted Roldan; he was suddenly mad for sound of any sort. Adiscouraged "Halloa!" came promptly back. 

Roldan dressed himself rapidly. His clothes were quite dry; indeed thevery atmosphere of this strange beautiful place was so dry that itseemed to crumble in the nostrils. As he finished dressing Adan reachedhim. The horses' heads were hanging listlessly. Adan's face had lostits 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 inthis accursed place. There is no water, not a drop. Nor a handful ofstubble for the horses. "

"We must go back the way we came, and start once more from the foot ofthe mountain. "

"Can you remember from which point we entered this place? This soilmight be rock; there is not a hoof-print anywhere. "

"We should have gone south and we came east. On the northwesternhorizon is something which looks like mountains--a long range--almostburied in mist. There is no sign of a range anywhere else; so the onlything to do is to go back to them; they are our mountains; I feel sureof that. "

"If the horses do not give out. They are empty and choking, poorthings. Well, there is no reason we should not eat, and, thanks be tothat good mayor domo, we still have a bottle of wine. But I would givesomething 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, brokenonly by an occasional whinny from the mustangs, seemed to press hardabout them, thickening the blood in their veins. Roldan was filled withforebodings he could not analyse, and strove to coax forth from itsremote brain-cell something that had wandered in, he could not recallwhen nor where. 

They saddled the mustangs, mounted, and were about to make for thenorthwest when Adan gave a hoarse gurgle, caught Roldan's arm, pulledhim 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 astately city, with domes and turrets and spires and many loftycathedrals. It was a white city; there were no red tiles to break thosepure and lovely lines, to blotch that radiant whiteness; even the redsun withheld its angry shafts. 

Roldan gazed, his lips parting, his breath coming quickly. If hisimagination had ever attempted to picture heaven, its wildest flightwould have resembled but fallen short of that living beauty before him. It was mystifying, exalting. It was worth the dangers and discomfortsof the past month multiplied by twelve, just to have one moment'sglimpse of such perfection. And it was Los Angeles! A city of theCalifornias, built by Indian hands! No wonder his family had beencareful to leave its wonders out of the table talk; had he known, hewould 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. Wecannot be more than two leagues from there. See, it grows plainer everymoment; the fog must have been very heavy. "

They cantered on slowly, the mustangs responding automatically to thelight prick of the spur. The beautiful alluring city looked to befloating in cloud; it smiled and beckoned, inciting even the wearyfamished brutes to effort. But at the end of an hour Roldan reined inwith a puzzled expression. "I do not understand, " he said. "It seemednot two leagues away when we started, and we have come that far andmore, and still it seems exactly the same distance beyond. "

"The atmosphere is so clear, " suggested Adan. "But I wish we werethere. 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 forthem at once with water and food. " But he was beginning to feel vaguelyuneasy once more. The odd sensation of death, of a buried world, hadreturned. Could it be that that fair city beyond was heaven? Surely, hethought 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 withthe horizon, its sharp beautiful outlines unchanged. For some time thehorses had been trotting unevenly. Gradually they relaxed into a doggedamble, their heads down, their tongues out. Every now and again theyhalf paused, with quivering knees. 

Adan's was the first to collapse; it fell to its knees, then rolledover, Adan scrambling from under, unhurt. 

Roldan also dismounted, and both boys, without a word, unsaddled thepoor brutes, thrust the pistols into their belts and what was left ofthe provisions into their pockets. They cast off their ponchos, thenonce more turned their faces to the south. But they did not advance. They stood with distended eyes and suspended breath. The city haddisappeared. 

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 thenorth 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 helooked up. "For hours I have been trying to remember something, " hesaid. "Do you remember what that mayor domo said to us?--Keep straighton, straight on, never turning to the left, for that way lies theterrible Mojave desert, I barely heard his last words at the time; thatis the reason I have had such a time remembering. We are in the Mojavedesert, my friend. "

Adan, whose mouth was still wide open, sat down and rolled his eyesfrom east to west. "Caramba!" he ejaculated finally. 

"I could say a good deal more than Caramba. All that I have heard ofthis Mojave comes back to me. There is no water on it, no living thingbut half choked cacti and stunted palms. Men who are lost on it go madand die of thirst--"

"Ay, yi, yi!"

"Si, senor. However, it might be much worse. It is winter, notsummer, --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 wecannot 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 sixor 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 ofheaven, and was disturbed lest it might have been a portent of death. But his mind was too active, his nature too independent to sit downunder superstition. If he died on the desert, it would not be throughlack of effort to get out of it. 

He stood up, setting his lips. "Come, " he said. "We gain nothing bysitting here, and we are both fresh; we can walk many leagues beforenight. "

"Do you know which way to go?" asked Adan. 

Roldan swept the horizon with his eyes. The buttes they had passed haddisplaced the solitary landmark of the morning. There was not ahoof-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 turnedtheir backs upon it and trudged on, only pausing once for a half-hourto divide the meagre remains of their store. Evening came; the sunleaned his elbows on the horizon in front of them, leered at thecontracted visages and blinking eyes resolutely facing him, then slidleisurely down; and night came suddenly. The boys flung themselves onthe ground and slept. 

They awoke consumed with hunger and thirst. Their mouths and nostrilswere coated with the fine irritating dust of the desert, scarcelyvisible but always felt. But their smarting eyes were greeted by arefreshing sight: not a half-league before them, directly in theircourse, was a lake, a lake as blue as the metallic sky above, andlightly fringed with palms and orange-trees. Beyond was a forest ofsilver leaves--an olive orchard. 

"A Mission!" exclaimed Roldan, and even Adan sprang to his feet andmarched westward with some enthusiasm. But alas! although they trudgedwith dogged persistence for fully a league, striving to forget thegnawing at their vitals in the exquisite prospect filling the eye, thelake seemed to march ahead of them, in perfect time with their wearyfeet. 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 herealised the helplessness of man when at the mercy of nature, and hedid not like the sensation. He had a strong, and by this time, welldeveloped instinct to govern, to bend others to his will, and he sworenow that he would walk out of this desert unharmed if only for thepleasure of cheating a force mightier than himself. He turned andlooked at the sun. 

"We have been going in a wrong direction, " he said. "That lake has beenshifting gradually toward the southwest, and taken us nearly a leagueout of our course. The first thing we know we will be in BajaCalifornia, where there is nothing but deserts, and they are all onmountain tops. We must strike north again. I am sure that last night wewere 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 notunderstand in this world--although we are learning--and I believe thatthis strange desert has the power to make scenes like the theatres theywho have travelled tell us of. Be sure that lake will disappear likethe city. "

They turned north in order to get in line with the sun; and out of thetail of their eyes they saw the lake march with them. When they finallyturned to the west again it faced them once more. They linked armssuddenly and trudged on, hungry, parched, beset by superstitious fears, but not forgetting to turn every half hour and glance at the sun untilhe passed the meridian and pointed for the west. And suddenly the lakeseemed to slip behind a wall. 

"There is really something there this time, " said Roldan, closing oneeye and curving his hand about the other. "It is ugly enough to bereal. It is no use to say how far anything is in this place, but Ishould think we would reach it before long. "

And long before they did reach it they knew what it was--a thicket ofcacti some two miles long and of unknown depth. The plants were eightor ten feet high, and the broad thick leaves, spiked, as only theleaves of the cactus are, looked to be welded together. But that wasfrom a distance. When the boys reached the thicket they saw that theplants in reality were some feet apart, although there appeared to beno end to them. The boys sat down suddenly, their strength desertingthem. They threw their arms forward on their knees and dropped theirheads. For a half hour or more they sat motionless, then Roldan lookedup and fixed his glassy eyes on the forbidding wall, which at closeproximity seemed to girt the horizon. 

"If we tried to go round it, " he said, "there is no knowing where weshould find ourselves. We had better go straight ahead, if possible. Ifit is too thick we can turn back. "

"At least we could not see this horrible desert for a while, " saidAdan. "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, notso much from need of food as need of drink. But they stumbled to theirfeet and entered the cactus forest. They were obliged to pursue theirway in single file; the spikes were long, and many of the larger leavesabutted so obstructively that they were obliged to go down on theirhands and knees and crawl. Nor could they maintain a straight course, but zig-zagged among the great plants as nature permitted. More thanonce they heard the rip of silk, more than once blood sprang throughtheir skin. Their progress was slow and fraught with peril, their onlyconsolation that the end must come sooner or later. 

Night came suddenly. They were near an open a few feet incircumference. They lay down side by side, knowing that a step at nightmight mean instant blindness. 

The cactus never moves, not even in a storm. There was not a breath ofwind to-night. The thick dull green plant-trees looked as solid asstone, a petrified forest. The sky had never seemed so high above, thestars so hard and bright. 

Adan moistened his lips with his tongue. "Do you feel that you can lastanother 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 havecourage, 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 theMojave shake all the time. "

"We can swear to that. Supposing a great shake came, how could we getout 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 waspossessed with a wild desire to spring to his feet and fight his wayout of this terrible prison. He had seen a huge fish flounder in a net, and looked on callously. He should never witness such another sightwithout a responsive thrill of horror. Were he paralysed from crown toheel he could not be more helpless in this thicket of needles. The vastunpeopled desert had been bad enough, but it had been intoxicatingliberty to this. Tired as he was, he moved his hands and feetconstantly; supineness was impossible. He wondered how men felt when inprison, and vowed that when he held the law in his hands he wouldinvent some other way of punishment. For his part he would rather beshot at once. 

Being young and healthy, he fell asleep after a time. When he awoke thesky was grey, the stars had gone. He shook Adan. 

"There is no sunrise to be seen from this place, " he said, "but I amsure of the direction now. I took note of that big cactus ahead, lastnight--Hist!"

"Dios de mi alma!" whispered Adan, his tongue rolling out. "In thisplace! It is worse than earthquake. "

Nothing was to be seen from where they stood, but from no greatdistance came the faint hollow rattle which strikes terror to man inthe wilderness. The volume of sound was suddenly augmented: thereappeared to be a duet. Immediately it was supplemented by a loudfurious hissing; a moment later by a whirr and impact. 

"There are two, and they are fighting, " whispered Adan, his eyesbulging. 

Roldan advanced softly to an aperture between two leaves of a cactus, then lifted his finger to his shoulder and beckoned. Adan turnedmechanically in the opposite direction; but curiosity overcame him, andhe joined Roldan. 

Between two plants not three feet apart two rattlesnakes were engagedin mortal combat. They coiled with incredible rapidity, flew at eachother with burning eyes and darting tongues, burying a fang somewherein the tense bristling armours. The lashing tails struck the spikedsurface of the cactus and augmented their fury; occasionally theywhipped about, hissing deliriously, then returning as swiftly to theonly enemy in sight. They had coiled and struck some four or fivetimes, whipping all over their narrow arena, when as if by commonconsent, they retreated to extreme opposite points, coiled as lightningstrikes, and leapt at each other. Even Roldan gave a hoarse cry ofsurprise, and as for Adan, he fell into vocabulary: one serpent haddarted straight down the throat of the other. For a moment there was afearful lashing. The choking serpent, with protruding eyes, like smallgreen coals, and jaws distended in agony, strove to dislodge hissuffocating enemy, and the other humped his back and leapt backward infrantic efforts to reach the air again. But suddenly their strugglesceased; they flattened to the ground, only the tails movingautomatically. What was left looked like a monster of some unknownspecies; a creature with no head, a huge belly, and two tails. 

"Caramba!" exclaimed Adan, "I could not eat that even if we hadanything 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 agood 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 toofar. "

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 togetheras they could, but rarely spoke: they were too hungry. Both wereoppressed by the fear that at any minute they would come upon a solidwall of cacti and be obliged to retrace their steps, and both knew thatmight mean a stunning blow to courage. At times the constantzig-zagging, the unalterable, smooth, grey-green surface of the cacti, made them halt dizzily, for both brain and body were sick for want offood. But by degrees the wood grew thinner and thinner; and when thesun was half way between the zenith and the western horizon, they leftbehind the last straggling outpost and found themselves on the edge ofa creek, the same doubtless that they had crossed three nights before. They gave each other a feeble simultaneous slap on the back, gatheredtheir energies, ran down the bank, and took a long draught of therunning water. 

"I feel better, " said Roldan, finally, "but hungrier than ever. Thereare quail in that chaparral over there. I'll go after them, and do youhunt for flint and build a fire. "

He crossed the creek and entered the brush beyond. Almostsimultaneously there was a loud whirr of wings, and a large flock ofquail rose from the chaparral a few feet ahead of him. He had only hispistols, but he was a good shot, and he decapitated two of the birds inrapid succession. Then he reloaded and killed a squirrel. When hereturned, Adan was on his knees, with his large cheeks distended, coaxing a handful of dried leaves and twigs into flame. It was a halfhour before the pyre was large enough for the sacrifice, but after thatthe birds and squirrel, which meanwhile had been skinned and washed inthe 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, includingmany dulces, but nothing ever tasted as good as this; no, not even thefirst 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 Hillrode into view. He took off his sombrero and waved it at the boys, butdid not speak until he had crossed the creek and dismounted. Then heturned and regarded them with his keen hard eyes. 

"Well!" he exclaimed, "I never calkilated to see you alive agin, andthat's a fact. Hed some more adventures, I presume. Look as if ye'd hedmore adventures than grub. "

"Indeed we have, Don Jim, " said Roldan, solemnly. "Should you like tohear them?"

"Should I? Well, I guess. You and your adventures have kinder made mefeel young once more. "

Roldan told the painful story. 

"Holy smoke!" exclaimed Hill, in conclusion, "you are tough! And twomirages in the bargain. I was lost on Mojave once, and to my mind themirages 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 andcan't git, and they bear a hell-fired resemblance to life. I see youdon't quite understand. Well, that there beautiful city and that therebeautiful lake was what we call mirage for want of better name!" And heexplained to them the meaning of the phenomenon, as far as heunderstood it. 

"We have certainly learned a good deal since we left home, " saidRoldan, thoughtfully. 

"There's room for more. There's room for more. Now, I suppose you'dlike 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 seethe priest, as agreed. I found him--well, I don't know as I'll telleverything, not even to excuse myself. It's enough to say that he washalf luny between fear and remorse. He told me--I suppose he'd got tothat state where he had to tell somebody or bust--about leavin' you inthe tunnel to die, and bein' willin' after to kill you with his ownhands--he was that mad. But he felt terrible sorry, and said that ifyou told on him it would serve him right; only that would meanruin--ruin--ruin--a terrible word, young man. And he's not a day overforty and calkilates to git out of Californy with that there gold andbe a big-bug in his native land. I hesitated some time, fur I ain't noslouch at keepin' a promise; but in the end I had to tell him. Why, aman's a criminal if he don't put another man out of misery when hekin--"

"You did quite right, " interrupted Roldan. "I am glad that he waspunished, 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 knewyou'd keep your word. I went straight off and managed to have a wordwith young Carrillo. It warnt no trouble to make him promise to keephis mouth shet; he's more afraid of the priest than he is of hisfather's green-hide lariat, and that's sayin' a heap. When I went backto the Mission I told the priest that I thought as how I'd go on toOrtega's, and see if you got there all right. When I got there andheard as how you hed crossed the mountains in a terrible storm I justhed to go on. I made straight for old Sanchez', who has a hacienda andraises grapes just this side of the river. He was drunk as usual, buthis servants hedn't seen nothin' of you, and then I was seriouslyalarmed. 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 knowit pretty well, and there was no danger of gittin' lost. At nightfall Ifound your horses and ponchos--the horses was dead, poor things. Islept on the desert that night, and the next mornin' rode back as hardas I could put, suspicionin' that you would have sense enough to strikewest. 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 saidto myself for the fust time: 'There they be. ' And you bet it did megood, for I was powerful worried. "

"Don Jim, " said Roldan, "you are a kind and good man. I love you, and Iwill always be your friend. "

"So. Well, I'm powerful glad to hear that. You ain't much like 'Mericankids, but you're pretty clever all the same, and I like ye better 'nany boy I ever know'd, hanged if I don't. Don't be jealous, sonny"--toAdan--"I like ye too--but Rolly--well!"

"You would not like Roldan half so well if it were not for me, " saidAdan, whose face expressed nothing. 

"So. Well. Now, be ye rested? We want to git to old Sanchez' fur a goodsupper 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 throughchaparral which sprang across in many places. It was heavy dusk whenthey emerged. For some time past they had heard wild eccentric cries, and their three pistols were cocked. As they rode through a grove oftrees beyond the chaparral, they saw a dark something rolling towardthem. In an instant Hill had snatched the boys from the horse and swungthem to the limb of a tree. 

"Hide yourselves among the leaves, " he said, "and don't even breathemor' 'n you kin help. "

He gave the horse a sharp cut with his switch and it galloped on; thenhe climbed a neighbouring tree with the agility of a wildcat, andcrouched. 

The boys gazed into the dusk with distended eyes. The cloud came onwith inconceivable rapidity. In a moment it outlined itself. Those wereliving creatures, fleeing. A stampede? No, men. . . . What? Indians?

They were within a hundred yards now, and their lithe naked forms, thetomahawks and bows and arrows gripped in their clenched hands, couldplainly be seen; a moment later, their evil faces, distorted with fear. In the middle distance behind them was a huge column of fire. A strangefigure seemed leaping among the flames. It was from this scarlet columnthat the strange noises came. The Indians made no sound beyond theirimpact with the atmosphere. 

They deflected suddenly and passed to the right of the grove; a momentlater the three in ambush heard them crashing through the brush. Hillwaited until the sound had grown faint in the distance before he swunghimself down and helped the boys to the ground. 

"That was a close shave, " he said. "Them was murderin' savages, noweak-kneed Mission variety. I'd give two cents to know what scared 'emand what's goin' on over yonder. They were on the rampage, which samemeans 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 aboutthree quarters of an hour. Well, we've all got to foot it now; but itain't far. I'm powerful anxious to know what's goin' on over toSanchez'! Mebbe two tribes met and them's the victors offerin' up thetail end of that there valiant army. Golly Moroo, but they did lookscared. "

They walked on rapidly, but without further conversation; they were allhungry, and the boys were still very fagged. As they approached theblazing mass, the figure seemed to leap more wildly still among theflames, the cries to grow hoarser and more grotesque. All about washeavy blackness. The slender branches of the burning pine writhed andhissed; they might have been a pyramid of rattlesnakes caught inspouting flame. Overhead the stars had disappeared beyond a heavy cloudof smoke. It was a sight to strike terror to the heart of civilisedman; small wonder that the superstitious children of the mountain anddesert had fled in panic. 

They had advanced a few yards farther when suddenly Hill flung himselfon the ground and gave vent to a series of hysterical yells, at thesame time rolling over and over, clutching at the grass. Roldan, seriously alarmed, and wondering if any other boys in the history ofthe Californias had ever had so much to try their nerves, ran to hisassistance; he caught him by his lean shoulders, and shook him soundly. 

"Don Jim! Don Jim!" he exclaimed. "Are you ill, my friend? You havesome whisky in your flask, no?"

At this Hill burst into a loud guffaw. Roldan and Adan looked at eachother helplessly. The Spanish do not laugh often, and although the boysdimly realised that Hill's explosion resembled--remotely--the dignifiedconcession of their race to the ridiculous, yet they feared that thiswas a diseased and possibly fatal variety. 

But in a moment Hill sat up. He wiped his eyes, and with somedifficulty controlled his voice. 

"No, I ain't ill, young 'uns, " he said. "But them Indians 'ud be prettysick if they knowed what they run from. That there object cavortin'round that there bonfire is old Sanchez, and he's drunk. Oh, Lord!" Andonce 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 setdown to supper sober to-night, there'd be a war-dance round anotherbonfire this minute, and his scalp 'ud be bobbin' bravely. I don'tapprove of liquor, " he added cautiously, remembering the young ideasshooting before him. "I only said that there be exceptions to allrules, and this is one of them. "

"I understand, " said Roldan, drily. "I am not thinking of following theSenor Sanchez' example. But do you suppose that was really whatfrightened the Indians?"

"Just. Well, I guess! They've probably got some idee of the devil, andthey thought that was him, sure 's fate. "

He sprang to his feet, ran forward, caught the bacchanalian about theshoulders, 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. Theboys ran after. When they reached the house its master was extended ona settee in the living-room, and Hill was telling the tale of theirnarrow escape to the frightened household. 

"I don't think they'll come back, " he said in conclusion. "But it'sjest as well to have your guns ready, and for one or two of ye to setup all night. We three'd like grub and beds as quick as you kin git 'emready. "

Never had beds felt so sweet as they did that night. The boys awokerefreshed, themselves again; and no Indians had returned to disturbtheir slumbers. 

XXIV

Hill met them as they entered the living-room. His eyes were full ofnews. 

"Well, boys, " he said, "I don't know that you're in fur anotheradventure, but ye kin call it by that name when you git home if youlike; leastways there ain't no doubt about it's bein' an experience. "

The boys forgot the waiting breakfast. "What is it?" they demandedsimultaneously. "Quick! quick!"

"It's this. I don't suppose you know more about the history of yourcountry 'n most kids do. Well, Alvarado and General Castro are your twobig 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 theydespise 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 beousted for a furriner, so to speak, and Castro's been bilin' fur sometime, because General Vallejo's been promoted ahead of him. So the twoon 'em determined on a revolution. They had a skirmish on Salinasplains that didn't decide much, and then Alvarado and Castro marchedsouth, from ranch to ranch, --you just levanted in time, --persuadin' therancheros to uphold their cause and give 'em their sons. As they have away with 'em, of course they got all the recruits they wanted, to saynothin' of the finest horses in stock--caponara after caponara. Theysay the sight when they marched into Los Angeles was somethin' to gohungry for. Of course all Los Angeles went over to such triumphantlookin' rebels, and to-day or to-morrow there's goin' to be a bigbattle. I only heard this mornin'. Old Sanchez' brother come post hasteabout two hours ago fur his gun and as many men and horses as he coulddrum up. Of course Alvarado marched down the coast valleys, so oldCarillo and his neighbours are eatin' their breakfast in blissfulignorance. "

"And shall we really see a great battle?" demanded Roldan, faintly. Hewas pale, his nostrils were twitching, "Alvarado! Castro! Micheltorena!"

"Well, you kin, if you bolt that there breakfast. The horses'll be herein 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 laterthey were galloping furiously for Los Angeles, escorted by the equallyenthusiastic Hill. The river was low and quiet. The horses swam itwithout let from tide or snag. Even Adan forgot to cross himself. Beyond was the high hill that lies directly to the north of LosAngeles. 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 riverbehind them. "Women and children. The fight must be on. Hist! Do youhear that?"

All three reined in. The sound of cannonading, distant but distinct, came to their ears. Without a word they lashed their mustangs and madefor the city. They entered it in a few moments. It looked like anecropolis. Not a human being was to be seen. They spurred back to thehill and began the ascent, then paused for a few moments. It was a wildand tragic scene. Hundreds of women and children, their hair streamingin the high wind, were kneeling with uplifted crosses, praying aloud, when they were not weeping. A few men, Americans, were passing to andfro among them, administering encouragement; but their gaze also wasdirected anxiously to the north. 

Hill dismounted and approached one of the Americans, conferred with hima moment, then returned to the impatient boys. 

"They are fightin' in the San Fernando valley, three leagues to thenorth, " he said. "We've got no time to lose. "

They were less than an hour reaching the battlefield. During that hourRoldan scarcely knew how he felt. When he left the hacienda he waspossessed by an intense curiosity only; but with that first dull boomsomething new and fierce had leapt to life within him. Every fewmoments his fingers moved round to the hip-pocket that held hispistols. The weeping women and children had made him quiver from headto foot. As they approached the battlefield, and powder-smoke mingledwith the green fragrance of winter, he thought that his nostrils wouldburst. 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, andMicheltorena 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 aftersweatin' fur a month to git clear of the hull business?"

But Roldan, grasping the bridle of the less enthusiastic Adan, wasalready far ahead. The boys rode straight into the melee, firingthrough the smoke until their ammunition was exhausted. Even Adan afterthe first few moments lost all sense of fear, and following Roldan'sexample, snatched the gun from a fallen soldier and fired and reloadeduntil his hands were blistered, and his eyes half sightless with smoke. 

Roldan, obeying his dominant instinct, pushed his way rapidly to thefront, attracting much attention. Some one recognised him, and duringone of the many pauses of this not very systematic and furious battlesome one cheered the little don. The cheer was taken up vociferously. It boomed across the battlefield. A moment later a man came dashingacross with a flag of truce: the cheering was supposed by the enemy toherald the advance of reinforcements. The truce was accepted withoutexplanations, and Roldan was hurried into the presence of Alvarado. That famous governor was sitting on a magnificent charger, caparisonedwith carved leather, red velvet, silver, and gold. His black eyes weresmiling, 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 theconscription. Well, I am glad you did, for you have saved the day forme. But it is time you were in Monterey, for you've got the face of theleader of men, and the sooner your education begins the better. Willyou come with me? Your father will not refuse. "

The blood was pounding in Roldan's ears, but he managed to reply calmlythat he would go. 

He was then presented to General Castro, a man of fine militarybearing, with classic features, but dark and stern. His eyes were assombre as Alvarado's: doubtless both knew that their day would beshort, their great gifts wasted in this far-away land, as remote fromthe great civilisations where lasting reputations are made as had itbeen 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 areyoung and malleable you will adapt yourself to the new order of thingswhen it comes. Both Alvarado and I will write to your father; I am surehe 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 sittingon a hillock eating a sandwich. When Roldan had told his story theAmerican replied:

"Shake! Rolly, you've got a heap o' genius, but you've got a durnedsight more luck. You'll git there--one way or nother--if the skiesfall. And I wish ye luck, I do for a fact. "

"Don Jim, " said Roldan, gravely, "have you another sandwich? We arevery hungry. "