Go, my dear friend, to Yerba Buena.
I will give you letters to the fathers of the Mission Dolores.
Heaven will direct you after you arrive. You can communicate with
me through them. I shall remain here as long as my charge continues.
If driven out, I shall trust God to safely guide me to France. When I
am worn out, I shall die in peace under the shadows of Notre Dame."
At the hour of mass Maxime kneels to receive the blessing of the
Church.
The volunteers are in the saddle. It is the man, not the priest,
who embraces the freed "pathfinder." Valois' eyes are dim with tears
as he waves the adieu to the missionary. Not a word does Don Miguel
vouchsafe to the departing squad. The aversion of the dwellers in
Lagunitas is as great as their chief's.
Maxime joins the escort on the trail. Runaway sailors, voyageurs,
stray adventurers are they--queer flotsam on the sea of human life.
He learns from them the current stories of the day. He can trace
in the mysterious verbal "order to return," and that never-produced
"packet" given to Fremont by Gillespie, a guiding influence from
afar. The appearance of the strong fleet and the hostilities of
Captain Fremont are mysteriously connected. Was it from Washington
these wonders were worked? As they march, unopposed, over the
alamedas of San Joaquin, bearing toward the Coast Range, they pass
under overhanging Mount Diablo.
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