Hudson’s gaze wandered to the canon they were approaching.  “I am alone, senorita; a lonely man in a strange land.”

“Is that the reason why you are such a traveller, senor?  Are you never afraid, in your long lonely rides over the mountains, of that dreadful bandit, John Power, who murders whole families for the sack of gold they have under the floor?  I hope you always carry plenty of pistols, senor.”

“True, dear senorita.  It is kind of you to put me on my guard.  I never had thought of this man.”

“This devil, you mean.  When last night I saw you come limping into the room—­”

“Ay, yi, yi, Dios!” “Maria!” “Dios de mi alma!” “Dios de mi vida!” “Cielo santo!”

A wheel had given way, and the party was scattered about the road.

No one was hurt, but loud were the lamentations.  No Californian had ever walked six miles, and the wheel was past repair.  But Abel Hudson came to the rescue.

“Leave it to me,” he said.  “I pledge myself to get you there,” and he went off in the direction of a ranch-house.

“Ay! the good American!  The good American!” cried the girls.  “Eulogia! how canst thou be so cold to him?  The handsome stranger with the kind heart!”

“His heart is like the Sacramento Valley, veined with gold instead of blood.”  “Holy Mary!” she cried some moments later, “what is he bringing?  The wagon of the country!”

Abel Hudson was standing erect on the low floor of a wagon drawn by two strong black mules.  The wagon was a clumsy affair,—­a large wooden frame covered with rawhide, and set upon a heavy axle.  The wheels were made of solid sections of trees, and the harness was of greenhide.  An Indian boy sat astride one of the mules.  On either side rode a vaquero, with his reata fastened to the axle-tree.

“This is the best I can do,” said Hudson.  “There is probably not another American wagon between San Luis and Miramar.  Do you think you can stand it?”

The girls shrugged their pretty shoulders.  The men swore into their mustachios.  Dona Pomposa groaned at the prospect of a long ride in a springless wagon.  But no one was willing to return, and when Eulogia jumped lightly in, all followed, and Hudson placed them as comfortably as possible, although they were obliged to sit on the floor.

The wagon jolted down the canon, the mules plunging, the vaqueros shouting; but the moon glittered like a silvered snow peak, the wild green forest was about them, and even Eulogia grew a little sentimental as Abel Hudson’s blue eyes bent over hers and his curly head cut off Dona Pomposa’s view.

“Dear senorita,” he said, “thy tongue is very sharp, but thou hast a kind heart.  Hast thou no place in it for Abel Hudson?”

“In the sala, senor—­where many others are received—­with mamma and Aunt Anastacia sitting in the corner.”

He laughed.  “Thou wilt always jest!  But I would take all the rooms, and turn every one out, even to Dona Pomposa and Dona Anastacia!”