The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-12-31
Copyright.
AT THE MISSION OF SAN CARMEL.
Copyright.
PROLOGUE.


and San Diego had setit hard outlines against
the steady glare OF the Californian sky and the
metallic glitter OF the Pacific Ocean. The
weary succession OF rounded dome.like hills
obliterated all sense OF distance; the rare
whaling vessel or still rarer trader. drifting
past. saw no change In these rusty undula-
tons. barren OF distinguishing peak or head
land, and bald OF wooded crest or timbered
fovine. The withcred ranks OF wild oats gave
= dull procession OF uniform color 10 the hills
unbroken by any relief Of shadow In their
smooth. round curves. As far as the eye could
reach. sea and shore met In one bleak monoto-
ny. hecked by no passing cloud. stirred by no
sign OF life nor motion. Even sound was alb
sent; the Angelus rung from the invisible
Mission tower. far inland. was driven back
again BY the steady northwest trades that for
half the year had swept the coast line. and left
II abraded Of all umbraze and color.
But even this monotony soon gave way to a
change. and another monotony as uniform and
depressing. Tho western horizon. slowly con-
tracing before wall OF vapor. by o'clock had
become q mere cold. steey strip OF sea. into
which gradually the northern trend OF the
coast faded and was lost As the fog stole with
soft step southwark. all distance. space. char
acter. and locality again vanshed; the hills
upon which the sun still shone bore the same
space. Last OF all. before the red sun sank
like the descending Host. it cleaned upon the
sails OF u trading vessel close In shore. 1t was
the last object visible. A damp breath breathed
upon II, a soft hand passed over the slate. the
sharp pencilling OF the picture faded and be-
came confused gray cloud.
The wind and waves. too. went down In the
fog; the now invisible and hushed breakers oc-
casionally sent the surf over the sand In
quick whisper. with grave intervals OF silence.
but with no continuous murmur as before. In
Q curving blight OF the shore the creaking of
oars in their rowlocks began to be distinctly
heard. but the boat itself. although apparently
only its length from the sands, wasin visible.
Steady. now; way enough" The voice
came from the sea- and was low. as il uucon-
sciously affected by the fog. Silence
The sound Of n keel grating the sand was fol-
lowed by the order. Stern ALL" from the in
visible speaker.
Shall we beach her - asked another vague
voice.
Not yet. Hail again. and all together"
All hoy-oi-oi-oy"
There were four voices. but the hail appeared
weak and Intellectual like a cry In dream. and
seemed to hardly reach beyond the surf before
II was sufocatsd In the creeping cloud. A
siiencs followed. but no response.
We nd the boat" said the first voice. gravey;
and ws'll do that II the current has brought
her here Are You sure you've got the right
bearings?"
'As near as q man could of shore with not
blasted pint to take his bearings by"
There was a long silence again. broken only
By the occasional dip OF oars. Keeping the in
visible boat head TO the sea.
Take my word for it. la Is, It's the last we'll
see oithat boat again. or of Jack Cranch. or the
Captains baby"
1t does look mighty queer that the painter
should slip. Jack Cranch amt the man to tie a
granny knot"
'Silencs!" said the invisible leader. Listen"
A nail. so faint and uncertain that it might
have bcen the lons-deferred far-off echo Of
their own. came from the sea abreast of them.
It's the Captain. He hasn't found ANYTHING
or he couldn't be so far north. Hark!'
The hail was repeated again family. drearni-
w. To the seamen's trained ears 1t seemed to
have an intelligent Significance. for the first
voice grave!y responded. Aye aye!" and then
said. softly. Oars
The word WAS followed by splash. The oars
clicked sharply and simultaneously in the row.
locks. then more family. then still fainter. and
then passed out into the darkness
The silence and shadow both fell together; for
hours sea and shore we're impenetrable. Yet
at times the air was softly moved and troub ed.
The surrounding gloom was family lightened
as with misty dawn. and then was dark again.
Then drowsy. far-off cries and confused noises
seemed to grow out Of the silence. and. when
they had attracted the weary ear, sank away rs
In a hooking dream. and showed Themselves
unreal. Nebulous gatherings in the fog SEEM
Cd TO indicate stationary objects that, even as
one gazed. moved away: the recurring lap and
r,k1o ~, 81 a,l-, 10
self the semblan ce of faint articulate laughter
or spoke words. But toward morning a GER
tain monotonous grating on the sand. that had
for many minutes alternately cheated and
piQued the ear. asserted itself more strongly.
and moving vacillating shadow in the gloom
became An Opaque object on tho shore.
With the first rays OF the morning light the
fog lifted. AS the undraped hills one by one
barred their cold bosoms to the sun. the long
line OF coast struggled back to life again.
Everything was unchanged-except that a
stranded boat lay upon the sands. and in it's
stern sheets a sleeping child
1.
The tsnth OF August. 1852. brought little
change to the dull monotony OF wind, fog, and
treeless coast line. Only the sea was occa-
y sionally fiecked with racing sails that out
Hripped the old slow creeping tr ader, or was
at%mes streaked and blurred with the trailing
smoss OF steamer. There we're u few strange
footprints on those virgin sands and u fresh
trsek tina led from the beach over the rounded
bills dropfNd into the bo,ky recess ses OF a hid
don valley be>pnd the coast range.
1t was here q the refectory windows of the
Mission OF san <armel haG for years looked
upon the reverseN that monotonous picture
presented to the sen 1t was here that the
trade winds. shorn OF n rfury and strength in
the heated, ovenlike arSthat rose from the
valley. lost their weary wa in the tangled re.
cesses OF the wooded slopesN nd breathed their
last at the foot OF the stone%os, before the
Mission. 1t was on the crest\ those slopes
that the fog halted and walled< the sun
iumined plain below; it was in thkiaIn that
limitless fields of grain clothed thor hi ad3Je
soil; here tho Mission garden smiledNer IFS
hedges OF fruitful vines. and through the
leaves Of fig and gnarled pear trees and icva 5
here that Father Pedro had lived for nifty yed<
found the prospect good. and had smiled also
Father Pedro's smile was rare. He was not