The Commandant at the Presidio retook the place from the heathens,
but on representation to the Governor that it was indefensible for
the peaceful Fathers without a large military guard, the official
ordered the removal of the mission to Santa Cruz, and Don Manuel
settled his twenty leagues grant in the canada. Whether he or Dona
Maria had anything to do with the Indian uprising, no one knows;
but Father Pedro never forgave them. He is said to have declared
at the foot of the altar that the curse of the Church was on the
land, and that it should always pass into the hands of the
stranger."

"And that was long ago, and the property is still in the family,"
said Carroll, hurriedly, answering Maruja's eyes.

"In the last hundred years there have been no male heirs,"
continued Maruja, still regarding Carroll. "When my mother, who
was the eldest daughter, married Don Jose Saltonstall against the
wishes of the family, it was said that the curse would fall. Sure
enough, Caballeros, it was that year that the forged grants of
Micheltorrena were discovered; and in our lawsuit your government,
Captain, handed over ten leagues of the llano land to the Doctor
West, our neighbor."

"Ah, the gray-headed gentleman who lunched here the other day? You
are friends, then? You bear no malice?" said Garnier.

"What would you?" said Maruja, with a slight shrug of her
shoulders. "He paid his money to the forger. Your corregidores
upheld him, and said it was no forgery," she continued, to Carroll.