Hijar seized upon the acres of the Church. He came down like the
feudal barons in England. Ghostly memories cling yet around these
old missions.

"When the lord of the hill, Amundeville,
Made Norman church his prey,
And expelled the friars, one friar still
Would not be driven away."

So here the sacred glebe was held by a faithful sentinel. His
gravestone flashed a white protest against violence. In the struggle
between sword and cowl, the first victory is with the sword; not
always the last. Time has its revenges.

Padre Hinojosa, the incumbent, welcomes the Captain. There is cheer
for the travellers. Well-crusted bottles of mission claret await
them. The tired riders seek the early repose of primitive communities.

Beside the fire (for the fog sweeps coldly over the Coast Range)
the priest and his guest exchange confidences. Captain Peralta is
an official bulletin. The other priest is summoned away to a dying
penitent. The halls of the once crowded residence of the clergy
re-echo strangely the footsteps of the few servants.

By the embers the man of the sword and he of the gown lament these
days. They are pregnant with trouble. The directing influence of
the Padres is now absent. Peralta confides to Hinojosa that jealousy
and intrigue will soon breed civil warfare. Micheltorrena is now
conspiring against Alvarado. Peralta seeks a secluded home in the
forests of Mariposa. He desires to gain a stronghold where he can