The morning call., 1890-12-14

was sorry enough when some men came to
him one day and told him that General SUIT
ter had no saddle, and asked him if he
would sell him his. He thought it was best
saddle. Some time after, General Suffer
with his soldiers rode through the old Mis-
sion, and we all turned out to view the cav
alcade. The General rode at the head of his
troop, but as the little matter of paying for
the saddle had been neglected and he did
not care about having the trappings recog-
nized by my father. he had thrown the en-
bToidered coraza over on to the left side out
of view. My fathers eyes were keen, how
ever, and he also understood the action, so
lie rather mischievously sent the General
word,
WITH HIS COMPLIMENTS,
That his horse was not sadded right as the
coraZa was OH the wrong side.
I'VE younger ones were terribly afraid of
the Americans then. Those terrible Ameri-
cans was the manner in which We thought
of them. will never forget my first expert
ence with them. My uncle, General Vallejo,
was confined in the Jail at Sacramento. He
managed to procure pencil and with it
wrote on bit of cigarette paper a message
OF warning to my father that the Americans
were coming on our way and would capture
him if he did not flee at once. This note he
made into a wad and threw at one of our
countrymen who waited under his window,
end who at once brought it tc my father.
We were then living at what 10 now
the town of Niles, but was then only
known as Vallejo's Mills. We had house
there, as well as at the Mission. NV father
deemed it wise to heed the Generals warn
ing and resolved to take a company of Indi-
ans and 20 to the forest for safety, while the
women of the family should 90 ON to the
present town of Haywards. where lived the
Castros, who were relatives of my mother
Well, tile men would need much food in the
forest and therefore great fires warn hujlt in
the huge oven and all enormous quantity of
the finest bread was baked for them TO take
with them. Other provisions were also
made ready and the party was nearly
equipped to start when the dreaded Ameri-
cans themselves arrived upon the scene OF
course 10 explanation was made as 10 why
such great quantities Of food had been pre-
pared and l suppose
THEY MUST HAVE CONCLUDED
1t was tie regular Spanish style Of doing
things, and fancy they were glad enough
for 1t just then, for they had been making
long, hard, marches, with but scant pro-
visions, and were nearly famished, so they
tell upon and IN very short time COM
pletely made way with the food which we
had expected would last my father and his
Indians for many days in the forest. This
band had no orders to arrest my father, but
they desired TO enter and search the house
for arms and ammunition, as it was their
policy TO disarm all the Spanish residents.
OF course all the really valuable arms had
been safely hidden, but my father was
deeply incensed at the idea of his house be-
ing searched, and sitting down beside his
door he said to the officer in command:
You may go in, if you will, but you will
not come out.
ut was very rash Of my father to take this
tone with the soldiers, but he was deeply
indignant at another little thing that oc-
CURED just then, and he could not forget
that he was a Spanish gentleman and en-
tirely within his own rights. The little in-
cldtnt refer to was in connection with my
self. l was but a wee child then, and as
stood gazing in awe at the dreaded Amer
toward me and would have caressed me, but
was terrified at the idea of being touched
by one OF the awe-inspiring cOnquerOrs and
ian back. The Goals with which the great
oven had been heated had been raked out
and were still glowing red ON the hearth. So
great was my terror of the American who
essayed to touch me that deeming my doom
sealed anyway,
RAN TO THIS PILE OF GOALS
And would have thrown myself on them. in
my fright, had not MY fathers barber put
out his arm and saved me- Seeing my alarm
made my father angry, and as he was natu-
rally brave man he lost sight of the D. ssh
bic danger to himself in his determination TO
defend his home.
nd SO you say the old house at the Mis-
sion is still standing? 1t must be badly
fallen into decay. 1t was an unusually fine
structure for those days. There were other
two-story adobes at Monterey, but none in
our section, all the Mission structures being
one story in height.
Save for the little cluster of houses about
the Mission there were very few buildings
between us and the bay, and / remem-
Der with what interest we children used
to climb the brown sides of Mis- ion
Peak and look off across the level