taken. Castro's cavalry are broken up or captured. Everywhere the
foreigners gather for concerted action. It is a partisan warfare.

Don Miguel's sullen bulletins tell of Castro's futile attempt
to get north of the bay. Since Cabrillo was foiled in landing at
Mendocino in 1543, the first royal flag floating over this "No Man's
Land" was Good Queen Bess's standard, set up in 1579 by dashing Sir
Francis Drake. He landed from the Golden Hind. In 1602 the Spanish
ensign floated on December 10 at Monterey; in 1822 the third national
ensign was unfurled, the beloved Mexican eagle-bearing banner. It
now flutters to its downfall.

Don Miguel warns the padre that the rude "bear flag" of the revolted
foreigners victoriously floats at Sonoma. It was raised on July
4, 1846. Castro and Pio Pico are driven away from the coast. They
only hold the Santa Clara valley and the interior. There is but
one depot of arms in the country now; it is a hidden store at San
Juan. Far away in Illinois, a near relative of the painter and
hoister of the "bear flag" is a struggling lawyer. Todd's obscure
boyhood friend, Abraham Lincoln, is destined to be the martyr
ruler of the United States. A new star will shine in the stars and
stripes for California, in a bloody civil war, far off yet in the
mystic future.

In the narrow theatre where the decaying Latin system is falling,
under Anglo-Saxon self-assertion, the stern logic of events teaches
Don Miguel better lessons. His wild riders may as well sheathe
their useless swords as fight against fate.

The first blood is drawn at Petaluma. A declaration of independence,