"_Quizas mo-o-ochos,_" answered the Indian.
"Yes, probably a great multitude," continued the padre; "but, unwarned by such well-merited castigation, it has been reported to me by a Chemeguaba mansito, that a band of these audacious marauders are now on the road to repeat the offense, numbering many thousands, well mounted and armed; and to oppose these white barbarians it behoves us to make every preparation of defense."
* From the report to the Governor of California by the Head of the Mission, in reference to the attacks by the American mountaineers.
"There is no cause for alarm," answered the Andaluz. "I" (tapping his breast) "have served in three wars: in that glorious one _de la Independencia_, when our glorious patriots drove the French like sheep across the Pyrenees; in that equally glorious one of 1821; and, in the late magnanimous struggle for the legitimate rights of his majesty Charles V., King of Spain" (doffing his hat), "whom God preserve. With that right arm," cried the spirited Don, extending his shriveled member, "I have supported the throne of my kings--have fought for my country, mowing down its enemies before me; and with it," vehemently exclaimed the Gachupin, working himself into a perfect frenzy, "I will slay these Norte Americanos, should they dare to show their faces in my front. Adios, Don Augustin Ignacio Sabanal-Morales-y Fuentes," he cried, doffing his hat with an earth-sweeping bow; "I go to grind my sword. Till then, adieu."
"A countryman of mine!" said the frayle, admiringly, to the administrador. "With him by our side we need not to fear: neither Norte Americanos, nor the devil himself, can harm us when he is by."
Whilst the Trueba sharpens his Tizona, and the priest puffs volumes of smoke from his nose and mouth, let us introduce to the reader one of the muchachitas, who knelt grinding corn on the metate, to make tortillas for the evening meal. Juanita was a stout wench from Sonora, of Mexican blood, hardly as dark as the other women who surrounded her, and with a drop or two of the Old Spanish blood struggling with the darker Indian tint to color her plump cheeks. An enagua (a short petticoat) of red serge was confined round her waist by a gay band ornamented with beads, and a chemisette covered the upper part of the body, permitting, however, a prodigal display of her charms. Whilst pounding sturdily at the corn, she laughed and joked with her fellow-laborers upon the anticipated American attack, which appeared to have but few terrors for her. "_Que vengan_," she exclaimed--"let them come; they are only men, and will not molest us women. Besides, I have seen these white men before, in my own country, and they are fine fellows, very tall, and as white as the snow on the sierras. Let them come, say I!"