"What we have said
is a solemn promise among my people; it would not be possible to
break it."
Ysidro's home was in the centre of the village, on a slightly rising
ground; it was a picturesque group of four small houses, three of
tule reeds and one of adobe,-- the latter a comfortable little house
of two rooms, with a floor and a shingled roof, both luxuries in
San Pasquale. The great fig-tree, whose luxuriance and size were
noted far and near throughout the country, stood half-way down
the slope; but its boughs shaded all three of the tule houses. On
one of its lower branches was fastened a dove-cote, ingeniously
made of willow wands, plastered with adobe, and containing so
many rooms that the whole tree seemed sometimes a-flutter with
doves and dovelings. Here and there, between the houses, were
huge baskets, larger than barrels, woven of twigs, as the eagle
weaves its nest, only tighter and thicker. These were the outdoor
granaries; in these were kept acorns, barley, wheat, and corn.
Ramona thought them, as well she might, the prettiest things she
ever saw.
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