born there. I do not know what
would happen to me if I was unable to return home at least once every
week. It takes me away from all the fret and bother of the city."

John wondered what her "fret and bother" in the city could be except,
perhaps, a never-ending round of parties and lawn fetes and social
affairs. Why had she to live in the city at all and why wasn't it her
machine they were riding in and her chauffeur at the wheel?

"You'll love my father," she said. "Everyone does. He is such a dear,
gentle old soul. He was born on the ranch 72 years ago. And mother's
grandfather sailed from New York to Nicaragua, crossing over to the
Pacific Coast by foot and in the canoes of natives. At San Juan del Sur
he was carried out through the surf into boats that took him to the
steamship which brought him to San Francisco. Father's stories of the
old days in Los Angeles are a treat.

"Let me tell you one of them. Do you know how Spring street came to be
named? Lieut. Edward O. C. Ord--for whom Ord street was named--was one
of the first to make a survey of what is now the city of Los Angeles. At
the time Spring street was surveyed he was asked to name it. He was in
love with the beautiful Senorita Trinidad de la Guerra, to whom he
always referred as Mi Primavera, which is 'My Springtime.' So when he
was asked for a name for the new street he replied gallantly,
'Primavera, of course, for Mi Primavera.' That is only one of the
stories he tells of the romance of old Los Angeles."

The automobile, traveling out along the Laguna-Bell road, reached a
cross-roads shaded by tall and spreading trees. Back from the road John
saw an old house that charmed him. It was of whitewashed adobe, two
stories in height. Entirely around the second story was a balcony of
wood, ascended by an open stairway. Wooden shutters were opened at the
windows, the sills of which were two feet in thickness.

"The old Lugo ranch house," Consuello explained, catching his inquiring
look. "Don Mario Lugo was a sturdy caballero in old Los Angeles. He had
a silver mounted saddle, bridle and spurs that cost $1,500 and he wore
an ornamental sword strapped to his saddle in Spanish soldier fashion.

"He owned the San Antonio rancho and when he was 75 years old he owned
29,000 acres of land. His three sons owned another 37,000 acres.
Twenty-two thousand acres--the Rancho del Chino--was granted him by the
government. Father remembers him well.

"How few of us livi