e hoss. We air sum used ter
hoss-thieves in Tennessee; but I never heered o' one yit thet left
his name fur a refference berhind him, ter show which road he tuk, 'n'
fastened ther stolen critter ter his front gate when he got hum! I allow
me 'n' yeow hedn't better say anythin' much more on ther subjeck, fur I
allow we air bound to querril ef we dew;" and nothing that Merrill said
could draw another word out of Aunt Ri in regard to Alessandro's death.
But there was another subject on which she was tireless, and her speech
eloquent. It was the kindness and goodness of the Cahuilla people. The
last vestige of her prejudice against Indians had melted and gone, in
the presence of their simple-hearted friendliness. "I'll never hear a
word said agin 'em, never, ter my longest day," she said. "The way the
pore things hed jest stripped theirselves, to git things fur Ramony,
beat all ever I see among white folks, 'n' I've ben raound more'n most.
'N' they wa'n't lookin' fur no pay, nuther; fur they didn't know, till
Feeleepy 'n' me cum, thet she had any folks ennywhar, 'n' they'd ha'
taken care on her till she died, jest the same. The sick allers ez took
care on among them, they sed, 's long uz enny on em hez got a thing
left. Thet's ther way they air raised; I allow white folks might take a
lesson on 'em, in thet; 'n' in heaps uv other things tew. Oh, I'm done
talkin' again Injuns, naow, don't yeow furgit it! But I know, fur all
thet, 't won't make any difference; 'pears like there cuddn't nobody
b'leeve ennythin' 'n this world 'thout seein' 't theirselves. I wuz thet
way tew; I allow I hain't got no call ter talk; but I jest wish the hull
world could see what I've seen! Thet's all!"

It was a sad day in the village when Ramona and her friends departed.
Heartily as the kindly people rejoiced in her having found such a
protector for herself and her child, and deeply as they felt Felipe's
and Aunt Ri's good-will and gratitude towards them, they were yet
conscious of a loss,--of a void. The gulf between them and the rest of
the world seemed defined anew, their sense of isolation deepened, their
hopeless poverty emphasized. Ramona, wife of Alessandro, had been as
their sister,--one of them; as such, she would have had share in all
their life had to offer. But its utmost was nothing, was but hardship
and deprivation; and she was being borne away from it, like one rescued,
not so much from death, as from a life worse than death.

The