there all the time, and never left the mission until he went back to
Mexico."

"And what," I asked, "did you do in those days, before you were large
enough for a man's work?"

"I worked with the children, for the children had their own work to do
just the same as the grown people. We had to go to school at the mission
every day, to learn to speak Spanish, and to say the doctrina cristiana,
to read and write; but not all the children could get so far as to
write, for it was hard for them to learn, and only the brightest ones
were ever able to write more than their names. But it was not so hard
for me, for I wished to learn, and the padres liked to teach me. Then,
after school, we had other work - to fetch wood for the fires; to drive
the cows to the fields; to feed and water the horses at the mission, and
all such things that boys can do. There were a hundred boys or more in
the country around, and many of them seldom came to the mission except
for school and Sunday mass; but there were always enough, and more than
enough, to do all the work, and they had plenty of time for play. But my
work was different from that of the other boys. I was one of the two
boys who waited on the padres at meal times, swept the mission rooms and
walks, and were ready to do any errands the padres wished. Then, for
three years, I was one of the altar boys, until I could play well enough
to go into the choir. And that is what I liked better than anything else
- to play on my violin. I began to learn when I was twelve years old. I
used to listen to the boys of the choir, when they were practicing their
mass music, and again on Sundays in the church, and wish I, too, could
learn to make that beautiful music. Many times I implored the padre to
let me learn, and he would say: 'After a little, my son, when you are
old enough; it is a difficult instrument to learn.' I knew he was right,