The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-11-01
XIX.

It was 10 O'Clock when Rezanov,
tiago in a sandy valley half a mile
horse his young friend himself had
saddled and brought The long ride
was a silent one The youth was not
laxative at any time, and Rezanov
overwhelming desire to see Concha
again. One secret of his success in life
was his gift of yielding to one energy
at a time, oblivious at the moment to
aught that might distract or enfeeble
the will Tonight, as he rode toward
the mission on as romantic quest as
ever came the way Of a lover, the diplo-
i company, the representative Of one of
the mighty potentates of earth, were
submerged, forgotten, in the thrilling
! anticipation Of his hour with the wom-
an for whom every fiber of his being
/ yearned. 81. -E~".. .-..,~ .f'%
Nor ever was there more appropriate :.
a setting for one of those inaugural
chapters in mating, half appreciated at
the time, that ,glimmer as sort of
| morning twilight on mountain tops over
the mild undulations of matrimony. The
! moon rode without a masking cloud
across the ambiguous night blue Of the
California sky, blue that looks like
/
stars glow like silver Goals, and out of
whose depths intense shadows Of blue
| and black fall; shadows in which all
the under world seems to float and re-
| combine, where houses are ghosts of
ancient selves and men but the eidola
of forgotten dust. Tonight the little
ssd s of e eseaa o of the the %1st
surrounded by its high wall, looked as
unreal and formless as the blue oval of
water and black trees behind it, but
Rezanov knew that it EMBODIED warm
and palpitating womanhood and was
stepped in the sweetness of Castilian
| roses.
| The riders, who had taken path far
| to the east Of the mission, dismounted
and tied their horses among the will
| lows, then, in their dark cloaks but a
part Of the shadows, stole toward the
wall designed to impress hostile tribes
rather than to resist an onslaught; at
the first warning the settlement inXa-
| rlably fled to the church, where the
walls were massive and windows high.
In three of Moraga's four walls was
| a grille, or wicket Of slender iron bars,
whence the open could be swept with
glass. or gun at a pinch; and for the
grille looking eastward went Rezanoy
! as swiftly as the uneven ground would
permit: AS Concha watched him gather
/ oAAS
jerk his cloak off impatiently, she flung
her soft body against the wall and
shook the bars with her strong little
hands. But when he faced her she
was erect and smiling; in a sudden up
brush OF spirits, almost Indifferent. She
wore a white gown and a rose in her
hair. A rosebush as dense as: an. ar
Dor spread it's prickly arms between
herself and the windows of the house.
"Good evening" she whispered.
Rezanov gave the grille an angry
shake: (Santiago had Considerably re-
tired3 leone out.n,he said peremp-
''There is but one gate, senior, and
that is directly in front Of the house
door, that stands open-''
''Ihen l shall get over the WALL
"Madre de Dios! You would leave
your. fine clothes and more on the
thorns. My cousin planted those roses
not TOR ornament, but to let the blood
OF defiant, lovers. Not one has come
EDO you think I came here to talk
to you thru grating9 I am no sere-
nading Spaniard.''
His eyes were blazing. Adobe IS
not stone. Rezanov took the light bars
IN both hands and wrenched them out;
then, as Conchas, divided between laugh:
ter and a sudden timidity, would have
reiterated, he dexterously clasped her
neck and drew her head thru the en-.
brasure. AS Santiago, who had watched
Rezanov. from a distance with some
curiosity, saw his sisters beautiful
face emerge from the wall to disappear
at once behind another rampant, he I
turned abruptly on his heel and could
have wept as he Thought of Pillar Or
tego OF Santa Barbara. But there was
hope that he would be cadet Of the
Southern company before the year was
out, and his parents and hers were
!ndulgent. Even as he sighed his own
Impending happiness infused him with
twain with the wall between, and
he concealed himself among the viii
lows that they might feel to the full
the blessed isolation of lovers. His
Pillar presented him with twenty-five
hostages, and he lived to enjoy an hon
orable a and a prosperous career, but he
he had played in one of the poignant
and happy hours of his sisters life.
Day, and night great silence
reigned in the Mission Valley, broken
only by the boot Of the owl, the sing
ing OF birds, the flight of horses across
the plain. Even the low huddle of
Mission buildings and the few homes
beyond looked an anomaly in that vast
quiet valley asleep and unknown for
j
Of the hills. It's jewel oasis alone made 4
It acceptable to the Spaniard, but to 4
Rezanov the sandy desert, with it's
close companionable silences, it's cool.
night air sweet with the light chaste
fragrance Of the roses, the Simple, al
most primitive, conditions environing
the girl, possessed a power to stir the
depths Of his emotions as no artful re-
enforcement to passion had ever done.
He forgot the wall. His ego melted}
IN sense OF complete union and hap
plness. Even when they returned to
earth and discussed the dubious fu.
ture, he was conscious of an odd resig-s
nation, very alien in his nature, not 1
only to the barrier, but to ali the
strange conditions, Of his wooing.
ne had felt something of this before,
altho less definitely, and tonight he
concluded that she had the gift of /
clothing the inevitable with the sem
blance and the sweetness Of choice;