go by without a single messenger from the outside world, during which
time each mission was a little world by itself. This tended to
strengthen the love for locality, which was still farther increased from
the fathers' having no family ties, leading them, each one, in his
celibate state, to become more deeply attached to his own particular
field of labor, with an intensity not often seen in other classes of
men. Thus our Father Zalvidea had been so long at Mission San Gabriel,
that he had come to look on it almost as his own, in more senses than
the one strictly of being its religious and temporal head. He had
carried on the good work, begun by his predecessor, Father Sanchez, and
had brought the mission to such a state of prosperity, that it was
second to none in wealth, and to but few in number of Indian neophytes.
Now, as he wandered around in his garden, he gazed at the buildings of
his establishment scattered, near and far, in every direction; at the
church, close by, which, although not as fine as those at some of the
missions - San Luis Rey and Santa B‡rbara, for instance - was a good
solid structure, imposing in its appearance of strength; his own abode
adjoining; the low adobe houses of the Indians everywhere; the corrals
of livestock on the foothills in the distance. Finally his eye rested on
the vineyards stretching away toward the north and west, so far that
they seemed without end. These vineyards were the pride of the Father's
heart, for the culture of the grape was one of his hobbies, and here at
San Gabriel he had carried out his theories in viticulture so
successfully that his vineyards, and the wine and brandy made from them,
were famous throughout the length of the land, and much sought after by
the other missions, as well as by Mexico. No wonder the Father was proud
of his success, for this product was a mine of wealth to the mission.
Now, however, there was no pride in his glance, as he looked long and
sorrowfully at his vineyards; he was thinking gloomily that they were no
longer his, and that he must leave this place, which he was come to love