ince New
Orleans was left, over a month ago.

At the end of the channel appeared several low white-washed buildings,
along the foot of the ridge which made the point.

"The hide-houses," said Mr. Grigsby, with satisfied nod, "where the
cow-hides used to be stored, waiting for the ships. Smelled bad, too;
shouldn't wonder if there were some waiting now. We'll see the town in
a minute."

A bay began to open on the right; and sure enough, beyond where the
channel broadened, ahead, at this end of the bay, on flat land came
into view a group of houses, both brown and white, and a flag, on a
tall pole, floating over their midst. It was--it was the Stars and
Stripes! Hooray! And again hooray!

"We raised that flag--Fremont and Carson and we others in the
battalion--or one like it, in July, Forty-six," declared Mr. Grigsby.
"Sailed down from Monterey on the fine sloop-of-war _Cyane_, to help
Stockton. Yonder, just back of town, on the first hill, is where the
commodore located his fort, Fort Stockton, to hold the town. He
anchored in the bay and sent his men ashore to do it. On the rear edge
of town, on the first little rise below Fort Stockton, was the Spanish
presidio, or fort--but Fort Stockton had the bulge on it. About thirty
miles northeast (can't see it from here, of course) among the hills is
where General Kearny and his First Dragoons were corralled by the
Californians after they had marched overland from Santa Fe, New Mexico,
a thousand miles across the desert. The dragoons were surrounded and
in bad shape; but Carson and Lieutenant Beale of the Navy and an Indian
crawled and sneaked through the California lines, the whole distance to
San Diego, and brought word to Stockton to hurry up and send
reinforcements. Carson nearly lost his feet, by cactus, and Beale was
laid up for a year. During the war San Diego was no easy place to get
into, or out of, either."

"Where's the mission?" asked Mr. Adams. "The first of the California
missions was here, wasn't it?"

"It used to be in town, before there was any town, they say," answered
Mr. Grigsby. "That was 1769. But when the town had started, the
priests moved the mission about six miles up yonder valley, so as to
get their Injuns away from the fandangoes."

Meanwhile, the _California_ had swung to, opposite the hide-houses.
Out rattled her anchor chain; "Boom!" announced her signal gun. A
number of people had collected in front of the town, which wa