tted, except in most special
cases, and as a mark of honor to noble ladies. Some of us felt quite
elated at the distinction thus given to us as men, but the ladies
pooh-poohed at our airs, for from the neighboring tower they could look
down and see into the whole place, and declared there was nothing
specially in it. Well, there was not, but there would be if they were
there.

We went also into the well-kept cemetery, where a great crucifix kept
solemn watch over the sleeping dust of the departed. It was all
beautiful with flowers, a lovely place of peace and rest. One cannot
help respecting those missions which are so frequently met in
California. They represent an immense amount of patient, humble, and
persistent labor.

We all took a great, four-horse vehicle in the afternoon for an
excursion to Sycamore Canon, to which spot, however, we never got, and
did not regret it a particle. We stopped at an orange ranch half-way,
and there we stayed. We wanted to have an "orange wallow," as I called
it, and that we got under the trees of a superb orange orchard, where
the ground was lush with grass and a general air of luxurious opulence
was on every hand. This verdure results, I understand, from the higher
elevation of the place, which catches the "high fog" from the Pacific.
The moisture of this vapor condenses on the trees and plants, taking
the place of rain, and, to a great extent, of irrigation.

As we were winding our way up the steep ascent, with its
ever-increasing view down the valley and over the Pacific, we could not
but be elated and inspirited with our surroundings. We were, it may be
said, a rather noisy crowd.

In this happy state on we went. As we journeyed, we noticed a woman
dressed in blue jeans busy at work in her garden. She seemed too busy
to notice us. The ordinary rustic curiosity to see the noisy newcomers
was entirely absent. She never once looked our way.

In ten minutes or so we were, in various groups, returning from the
farmhouse where we had gotten permission to have all the orange wallow
we wanted. Then we again met the lady of the blue jeans; but this time
she was looking at us with an amused expression on her face, and when
one of our company, yielding to an impulse of gallantry, lifted his hat
to her, she pleasantly returned the salute, and called out to us, from
the height on which she stood, in a clear, ringing voice, "Won't you
come up and see my roses? Come, and you will find more