Old Mission Stories of California | Page 4

in some mental problem, and,
with the shrewdness of the aborigine, guessed the subject, and sought
to divert her thoughts into other channels. It was in vain, for one
evening, after their simple meal of herbs, the girl, gathering courage, in
the increasing dusk, asked abruptly, after a long silence:
"Grandmother, why do we live here alone, far from the others in the
ca–on? Why do we - ?" she paused, frightened at her temerity.
The old woman started slightly. She had been sitting with hands folded
quietly in her lap, thinking, possibly, of the absent ones of her family,
gone to be with Ouiot in the everlasting home. Turning to her
granddaughter, she answered, slowly and solemnly:
"My child, I am grieved to have this come upon you now, for I had
hoped you would escape it until, after I am gone to the eternal life
beyond. Then it would not have been to you a burden, only a sorrow,
softened by the thought that I had borne bravely the punishment dealt
out to me, without a word of reproach. I have seen that you had

something on your mind, and guessed this was it, and now that you
have asked me, I think it best to tell you, although you are still but a
child. For you would, I know, brood over it in your heart. Listen, then,
while I tell you my life story."
"My childhood and youth were passed in a manner no different from
that of the other children of our tribe; I worked and played, careless of
everything but the present, until I was a big girl. I was happy in my
ignorance, for why should I be singled out from all the rest to bear the
honor that was to be thrust upon me? I knew not what was in store for
me."
"One night, when I was about fifteen years old, I dreamed that the
spring, near which our kindred live, dried up, and forced us to move to
another spring where we had to stay for two months. When I came to
myself (for it was not so much like sleep as a trance), I wondered; but
this passed away after a time, and I had almost forgotten the occurrence,
when one day, about a month later, we were startled by hearing there
was no water in the spring. The winter before had been very dry, with
almost no rain, and fears had been expressed that the spring would fail
us, a thing which had not occurred for more than three generations. My
dream flashed through my mind, only for an instant, but long enough to
imprint the coincidence on my memory. I thought no more of it,
however, until some six months later, after our return to the spring; for,
as I saw it in my dream, we had been forced to depart, and to be absent
from our beloved dwelling-place for two months. Again I saw, as in a
dream (but this time it was full day, and I knew I was not asleep), our
entire tribe in mourning for our chief who was lying dead and
surrounded by all the elders. It was like a flash of lightning, leaving me,
once more, broad awake, yet I had not been asleep. This time I was
frightened, for I knew there had been members of our tribe who could
foretell the future. Was I to be one of them? I dared not tell any one of
my dream, and waited trembling, from day to day, hoping and praying
that it might not come true. But the future had been revealed to me, and
a few weeks later our chief fell in a battle with our enemies to the east.
When I heard of it I swooned, and my mother found me lying senseless
by the fire. After she had revived me, she asked me the cause of my
fainting, and, weakened from the shock, I told her all."
"'Daughter,' she said, after a long pause, 'you are destined for a great

work, for Ouiot speaks through you.' And, a few days later, after the
burial of the dead, she told the chief men of the tribe what I had seen.
And then ended my happiness: from that day I lived a life of sorrow,
for the burden I had to bear was a heavy one: not only when I foretold
disaster and suffering to our people, but when I had joyful news for
them, even then the dread of knowing the future was terrible.
Sometimes a half-year would pass without communication from above,
and I would begin to hope that the awful gift was taken from me; but
always it would manifest itself again. My husband (for I had been
married not