poison with which to tip the points of their arrows. This last was
ominous, and carried more weight than all the other signs of trouble
brewing, and roused the fathers to some activity; for the neophytes, at
that late day, in mission history, were not allowed to envenom their
arrows without the express sanction of the fathers. But nothing could be
learned from the disobedient Indians when they were questioned. They
maintained that they were preparing for the hunting and killing of some
large and fierce bears which had been seen in the neighborhood, and
which had destroyed some of their cattle. They were permitted to keep
the arrows, with a reprimand, and a strict watch on their movements was
held for many days. Nothing definite could be discovered, however, and
the fathers were forced to wait, with anxiety and added watchfulness,
for whatever was to come.

There had been many false alarms, ever since the first settlement of the
country, and many slight uprisings of the Indians, who saw, with
disfavor, their land taken from them, and themselves obliged to serve
almost as slaves, at the missions. They were nearly always well-treated,
and, in fact, were usually tractable, and even more than satisfied with
their lot; but now and then they would be roused by some of the fiercer
spirits among them to struggle against this slavery. At such times, the
injury they could, and did, inflict on the missions was great, but they
had always been subdued and forced back to their state of servitude. Yet
the fathers had ever with them this condition of anxiety, rendered all
the greater as the military force in the country was very small, and
usually unavailable at the moment when needed, owing to the distance
between their barracks and the larger number of the missions.

Not quite three miles from Mission San Gabriel, toward the mountains in
the north, stood a little adobe house, the home of a young Mexican, one