154 LIFE IN THE FAR WEST. 



This being conveyed to him in mountain Spanish, which 

 fear alone made him understand, the padre gave orders to 

 the men to leave the Mission, advising them, moreover, 

 not to recommence hostilities, as himself was kept as hos- 

 tage, and if a finger was lifted against the mountaineers, 

 he would be killed at once, and the Mission burned to the 

 ground. Once inside, the hunters had no fear of attack 

 they could have kept the building against all California ; 

 so, leaving a guard of two outside the gate, and first seeing 

 their worn-out animals supplied with piles of corn and 

 shucks, they made themselves at home, and soon were pay- 

 ing attention to the hot tortillas, meat, and chile Colorado 

 which were quickly placed before them, washing down the 

 hot-spiced viands with deep draughts of wine and brandy. 

 It would have been amusing to have seen- the faces of these 

 rough fellows as they gravely pledged each other in the 

 grateful liquor, and looked askance at the piles of fruit 

 served by the attendant Hebes. These came in for no 

 little share of attention, it may be imagined, but the 

 utmost respect was paid to them ; for your mountaineer, 

 rough and bear-like though he be, never by word or deed 

 offends the modesty of a woman, although sometimes 

 obliged to use a compulsory wooing, when time is not 

 allowed for regular courtship, and not unfrequently known 

 to jerk a New Mexican or Calif ornian beauty behind his 

 saddle, should the obdurate parents refuse consent to their 

 immediate union. It tickled the Americans not a little to 

 have all their wants supplied, and to be thus waited upon, 

 by what they considered the houris of paradise ; and after 

 their long journey, and the many hardships and privations 

 they had suffered, their present luxurious situation seemed 

 scarcely real. 



The hidalgo, released from the durance vile of the lasso, 

 assisted at the entertainment ; his sense of what was due 

 to the " sangre regular " which ran in his veins being ap- 

 peased by the fact that he sat above .the wild uncouth 

 mountaineers, these preferring to squat cross-legged on 

 the floor in their own fashion, to the uncomfortable and 

 novel luxury of a chair. Killbuck, indeed, seemed to have 



