right hand man, and there is no one here I could trust to take your
place?"

"Father," replied Diego, "I should be sorry to feel obliged to give up
doing all in my power for you and the mission; nor would I. I do not
wish to go far. The land I want is less than three miles away, and I
could be here at your command almost as much of the time as now. But if
it be wrong to desire a place of my own, which I can plant and
cultivate, and make of it a home, I will not ask it."

"No, Diego," answered the Father, "it is not wrong to wish for such a
thing, nor can I say you nay. I am no longer young, although, I thank
God, still strong to labor for many years yet, I hope, for our Mother
Church. But I shall let you do as you like. You have been a good servant
to me, Diego, and I will not withhold from you your reward."

Diego had selected a piece of ground of about ten acres, situated north
of the mission, and near the foot-hills leading up to a ca–on of the San
Gabriel Mountains. A line of shrubs and small trees cut diagonally
across the land, marking the course of a rivulet, which, not a half-mile
farther, lost itself in the light, dry sand of the plain. This tiny
stream would suffice for irrigation, and it was the particular feature
that had decided Diego to choose this place. He at once set about
clearing the land and building the house. With the Father's permission
for everything needed, he soon had a number of neophytes busily at work
making adobes, and building the walls under his supervision. Houses were
quickly built in Nueva California in those days. They were but plain,
simple structures at best, and, at the missions, an unlimited number of
workmen took only a few days to finish one.