Mission Bells [pp. 1-16]

Jissioni Bells.
CAN I,IS REY.
legend that seems worth telling here is
distantly connected with Father Jaime
and the Indian battle of 1775. I heard
it long ago from a priest whom I met in
the Santa Maria valley, living in a lonely
adobe casa, with an Indian lad for his
only companion.
At San Diego, he said, several of the
Indian converts were like young children or monkeys, hard to render docile, and that they had long hated the
ringing of the bells, because at regular
hours they were called to labor in the
fields and gardens. So, one morning,
soon after the Mission was established,
the bells did not ring, and when the
much-scandalized priest looked, behold!
they were stuffed full of thorny weeds,
the dry I"tutmble-wveed'" of the mesas.
A simple and effective method was
adopted for the discovery and punishment of the culprits. Padre Jaime, as
the legend goes on to tell, called the
Indians together, and told them that
a serious sin had been committed, but
not without a witness - the witness of
the bells themselves. He would name
over the Indians in order, from oldesttto
youngest, and as soon as he reached
one of the culprits the bells would ring.
Solemn silence prevailed among the
half ineredulous, half frightened Indians, as the padre began. He had his
suspicions fixed, and justly, too, upon
I 892.]
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