TRAVELS IN THE C A L I F 0 R NI A S . 61 
which lay under the fort, either intended or dared attempt, 
to evade the payment of duties I! 
The General, however, was too well acquainted with his 
inalienable rights, to be wheedled out of them in this man¬ 
ner ; and manifested his indignation toward the clerk, for 
attempting to abtrude his plebeian presence on his golden 
dream, by ordering him to be put in irons. Alvarado, how¬ 
ever, escaped. He fled into the country, rallied the farmers, 
who still loved the descendants of Philip the Second more 
than El Presidente 3 and formed a camp at the Mission of 
San Juan, thirty miles eastward from Monterey. 
Near this mission lived an old Tennessean by the name of 
Graham ; a stout, sturdy backwoodsman, of a stamp which 
exists only on the frontiers of the American States—men with 
the blood of the ancientNormans and Saxons in their veins—- 
with hearts as large as their bodies can hold, beating nothing 
but kindness till injustice shows its fangs, and then, lion-like, 
striking for vengeance. This trait of natural character had 
been fostered in Graham by the life he had led. Early trained 
to the use of the rifle, he had learned to regard it as his friend 
and protector ; and when the season of manhood arrived, he 
threw it upon his shoulder and sought the wilderness, where 
he could enjoy its protection and be fed by its faithful aim. 
He became a beaver hunter—a cavalier of the wilderness— 
that noble specimen of brave men who have muscles for rid¬ 
ing wild horses and warring with wild beasts, a steady brain 
and foot for climbing the icy precipice, a strong breast for 
the mountain torrent, an unrelenting trap for the beaver, a 
keen eye and a deadly shot for a foe. A man was this Gra¬ 
ham, who stood up boldly before his kind, conscious of pos¬ 
sessing physical and mental powers adequate to any emer¬ 
gency. He had a strong aversion to the elegant edifices, the 
furniture, wardrobe, and food of polished life, coupled with 
a vivid love of mountain sublimity, the beautiful herbage on 
uncultivated districts, the wild animals and the streams of 
water roaring down the frozen heights. Even the grey 
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