"The individual enemy to the government is like the fly to the lion;
it cannot harm, but it can annoy. We must brush away the fly as a
vindication of our dignity, and take precaution that he does not
return, even if we have to bend our heads to tie his little legs. I
do not purpose to be annoyed by these blistering midgets we are met
to consider, nor to have my term of administration spotted with their
gall. I leave it to you, my compatriots and friends, to advise me what
is best to do."

Jimeno put his feet on the side rung of Castro's chair, puffed a large
gray cloud, and half closed his eyes. He then, for three-quarters of
an hour, in a low, musical voice, discoursed upon the dignity of the
administration and the depravity of the offenders. When his brethren
were beginning to drop their heads and breathe heavily, Alvarado
politely interrupted him and referred the matter to Castro.

"Imprison them!" exclaimed the impetuous General, suddenly alert.
"With such a Governor and such a people, this should be a land white
as the mountain-tops, unblemished by the tracks of mean ambitions
and sinful revolutions. Let us be summary, although not cruel; let no
man's blood flow while there are prisons in the Californias; but we
must pluck up the roots of conspiracy and disquiet, lest a thousand
suckers grow about them, as about the half-cut trunks of our
redwood-trees, and our Californias be no better than any degenerate
country of the Old World. Let us cast them into prison without further
debate."

"The law, my dear José, gives them a trial," drawled Gonzales. And
then for a half-hour he quoted such law as was known in the country.
When he finished, the impatient and suppressed members of the Junta