annoyance which the knowledge would have caused. She was grieved only at
the relationship existing between Madre Moreno and Ysidria, and felt
that in some way it was part of the curse. She said nothing to me of her
discovery, acting as usual, only speaking often of the old family
trouble between the Morenos and the Sotos, saying that she hoped the
curse might pass over one generation, if not depart forever.




VII.


The green December hills, with flaming spots of toyones, had long been
inviting me to make a stroll among them to renew old acquaintanceship,
and many a day I felt like starting out from the rancho and throwing
myself into their great arms. The care of the flocks needed much of my
attention in winter, and I had been greatly alarmed at the news of the
terrible influx of "Yankees," as well as of the plots of the English,
and the future of my beloved California was dark enough to cast my life
in shadow.

One day, however, I broke away. Gentle breezes from the purple canoñs
floated by me laden with the scent of redwoods, and by the roadside the
clumps of laurel gave out their vigourous perfume as their branches were
stirred; then in the quietness of the air between these breaths, the
steaming earth yielded to my grateful sense its own peculiar and rich
odour. Few wild flowers were out, but on the gay manzanitas hung
millions of little pink and white bells, so delicate that they seemed
more like the bloom of some rare exotic than the winter gift of so hardy