There are many things we want to do for the
village; most of our people are poor, and can do little more than
get what they need to eat day by day, and my father wishes to see
them better off before he dies. Now that the Americans are coming
in all around us, he is afraid and anxious all the time. He wants to
get a big fence built around our land, so as to show where it is; but
the people cannot take much time to work on the fence; they need
all their time to work for themselves and their families. Indians
have a hard time to live now, Senorita. Were you ever in
Temecula?"
"No," said Ramona. "Is it a large town?"
Alessandro sighed. "Dear Senorita, it is not a town; it is only a
little village not more than twenty houses in all, and some of those
are built only of tule. There is a chapel, and a graveyard. We built
an adobe wall around the graveyard last year. That my father said
we would do, before we built the fence round the village."
"How many people are there in the village?" asked Ramona.
"Nearly two hundred, when they are all there; but many of them
are away most of the time.
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