I9 6 Life in the Open 



the fence-top as you pass ; and on the hillside, through 

 some carton, a monkey-faced owl stares stolidly and 

 refuses to move, charmed or fascinated, mayhap, by the 

 rattle and clank of the coach. In the fields are ground- 

 squirrels, living underground, and on the edges of the 

 laguna blackbirds make merry some standing on the 

 backs of pigs and riding about. Rolling through the 

 chaparral, the attractive paisano or road-runner, with 

 fiery eye, runs ahead, refusing to take to the brush, 

 until nearly caught, then rising and flying low to 

 plunge down again. Countless small birds fill the 

 air with melody ; a big bluebird cries loudly as it 

 dashes into the wild lilac or sumac ; and at all the 

 ranches the finches or linnets swarm, devouring the 

 fruit, and often silencing the rancher with their mar- 

 vellous song. 



We follow up the sound of clanking bells and enter 

 the narrow streets of San Gabriel, with its adobes, and 

 stop in the shadow of the old Mission that to-day stands 

 like a fortress defying time, an imposing and picturesque 

 monument to the devotion of the early padres to the 

 cause of Christianity. 



San Gabriel Archangel, which was founded in 1771 

 by Padres Cambon and Angel Somero, was originally 

 one of the finest and wealthiest of the Missions. Its 

 long buttressed building is suggestive of strength, and, 

 it is said, repelled many an Indian attack in the early 

 days. It is the second building of the Mission, begun 

 in 1775 and finished about twenty-five years later. Still 



