Спрут: Калифорнийская история

           ItwasinVanamee’sflightintothewilderness;thestoryoftheLongTrail,thesunsetsbehindthealtar-likemesas,thebakingdesolationofthedeserts;thestrenuous,fiercelifeofforgottentowns,downthere,faroff,lostbelowthehorizonsofthesouthwest;thesonorousmusicofunfamiliarnames—Quijotoa,Uintah,Sonora,Laredo,Uncompahgre.ItwasintheMission,withitscrackedbells,itsdecayingwalls,itsvenerablesundial,itsfountainandoldgarden,andintheMissionFathersthemselves,thepriests,thepadres,plantingthefirstwheatandoilandwinetoproducetheelementsoftheSacrament—atrinityofgreatindustries,takingtheirriseinareligiousrite.

           Abruptly,asifinconfirmation,PresleyheardthesoundofabellfromthedirectionoftheMissionitself.ItwasthedeProfundis,anoteoftheOldWorld;oftheancientregime,anechofromthehillsidesofmediaevalEurope,soundingthereinthisnewland,unfamiliarandstrangeatthisend-of-the-centurytime.

           Bynow,however,itwasdark.Presleyhurriedforward.HecametothelinefenceoftheQuienSaberanch.Everythingwasverystill.Thestarswereallout.TherewasnotasoundotherthanthedeProfundis,stillsoundingfromveryfaraway.Atlongintervalsthegreatearthsigheddreamilyinitssleep.Allabout,thefeelingofabsolutepeaceandquietandsecurityanduntroubledhappinessandcontentseemeddescendingfromthestarslikeabenediction.Thebeautyofhispoem,itsidyl,cametohimlikeacaress;thatalonehadbeenlacking.Itwasthat,perhaps,whichhadleftithithertoincomplete.