ced the ever-changing hues of water and island and hill.

As the party approached, heads of all ages appeared between the vines,
and there was a low murmur of irrepressible curiosity and delight.

"We do not see many strangers in this lonely land," said Arguello
apologetically. "And never before have we had so distinguished a guest
as your excellency. It was always a gala day when ever a Boston
skipper came in with a few bales of goods and a complexion like the
hides we sold him. Now, alas! they are no longer permitted to enter
our ports. Governor Arrillaga will have none of contraband trade and
slaying of our otter. And as for Europeans other than Spaniards, save
for an English sea captain now and then, they know naught of our
existence."

But Rezanov had not come to California on the impulse of a moment. He
replied suavely: "There you are mistaken. Your illustrious father, Don
Jose Mario de Arguello, is well known to us as the most respected,
eminent and influential character in the Californias. It was my
intention, after paying a visit of ceremony to his excellency, Governor
Arrillaga, to come to San Francisco for the sole purpose of meeting a
man whose record has inspired me with the deepest interest. And we
have all heard such wonderful tales of your California, of its beauty,
its fertility, of the beneficent lives of your missionaries--so
different from ours--and of the hospitality and elegance of the
Spaniards, that it has been the objective point of my travels, and I
have found it difficult to curb my impatience while attending to
imperative duties elsewhere."

"Ay! senor!" exclaimed the young Californian. "What you say fills me
with a pride I cannot express, and I can only regret that the reports
of our poor habitations should be so sadly exaggerated. Such as our
possessions are, however, they are yours while you deign to remain in
our midst. This is my father's house. I beg that you will regard it
as your own. Burn it if you will!" he cried with more enthusiasm than
commonly enlivened the phrases of hospitality. "He will be proud to
know that a lifetime of severe attention to duty and of devotion to his
King have won him fame abroad as well as at home. He has risen to his
present position from the ranks, but he is of pure Spanish blood, not a
drop of Indian; and my mother was a Moraga, of the best blood of
Spain," he added artlessly. "As to the beauty and variety of our
country, senor, of co