TRAGEDY IN SONOMA--CHRISTIAN BRUNNER IN A PRISON CELL--ST. CATHERINE'S
CONVENT AT BENICIA--ROMANCE OF SPANISH CALIFORNIA--THE BEAUTIFUL ANGEL
IN BLACK--THE PRAYER OF DONA CONCEPCION ARGUELLO REALIZED--MONASTIC
BITES.
Time passed. Not a word had come to me from Sonoma in months, when
Benjamin handed me the _Union_, and with horror I read the headlines to
which he pointed: "TRAGEDY IN SONOMA. CHRISTIAN BRUNNER, AN OLD
RESIDENT, SLAYS HIS OWN NEPHEW!"
From the lurid details published, I learned that the Brunners had asked
this nephew to come to them, and had sent him money to defray his
expenses from Switzerland to California. Upon his arrival in Sonoma, he
had settled himself in the proffered home, and at once begun a life of
extravagance, at the expense of his relatives. He was repeatedly warned
against trifling with their affection, and wasting their hard-earned
riches. Then patience ceased, and he was forbidden the house of his
uncle.
Meanwhile, his aunt became seriously ill, and the young man visited her
secretly, and prevailed upon her to give him, in the event of her
death, certain cattle and other property which stood in her name. She,
however, recovered health; and he in the presence of his uncle,
insisted that she had given him the property outright, and he wanted
possession. This made trouble between the old couple, and the wife took
refuge with friends in San Francisco. The night after her departure,
the husband entered his own room and found the nephew in his bed.
Thoroughly enraged, he ordered him up and out of his sight, and was
insolently told by the young man that he was owner of that property and
in rightful possession of the same. At this, his uncle snatched his
pistol from the table at the bedside, and fired the fatal shot.
This almost incredible news was so harrowing that I could scarcely
think of anything, except grandpa chained in a prison cell, grandma in
hiding away from home, and excited groups of people gathering about the
thoroughfares of Sonoma discussing the tragedy.
I was not sorry that at this time an epidemic of measles broke out in
Sacramento, and Georgia became one of its early victims. This brought
both girls back to the ranch, and during Georgia's convalescence, we
had many serious talks about the Brunners' troubles. We wrote to
grandma, but received no answer, and could only wait to learn what
would be done with grandpa. He was arraigned and held; but the date set
for trial was not fixed before Benjamin took Frances and Georgia to
Benicia, to enter the September term of St. Catherine's Convent School.
Upon Ben's return, I observed that he and Elitha were keeping from me
some mysterious but pleasurable secret. It came out a few days later
when Elitha began making a black and a white uniform which would fit no
one except me. When ready to try them on, she informed me that we would
have to sew early and late, that I might be ready to enter the convent
by the first of October, and thereby reap the benefit of the
institution's established custom--"That when more than two of a family
become pupils the same term, the third one shall be received free of
charge (except incidentals) with the understanding that the family thus
favored shall exert its influence toward bringing an additional pupil
into the school."
Friends who had religious prejudices advised Ben against putting us
under Catholic influence, but he replied good-naturedly: "The school is
excellent, the girls are Protestants, and I am not afraid. Besides, I
have told them all the horrible and uncanny stories that I have heard
about convents, and they will not care to meddle with anything outside
of the prescribed course of study."
He was twenty years older than I, and had such conservative and
dignified ways, that I often stood in awe of him. So when he let the
convent gate close behind us with a loud click and said, "Now, you are
a goner," I scanned his face apprehensively, but seeing nothing very
alarming, silently followed him through the massive door which was in
charge of a white-robed nun of the Dominican order.
[Illustration: ST. CATHERINE'S CONVENT AT BENICIA, CALIFORNIA]
[Illustration: CHAPEL, ST. CATHERINE'S CONVENT]
Presently Mother Mary Superior and my two sisters came to us in the
reception room and my brother deposited the fund for my school
incidentals, and after a brief conversation, departed. The preparations
in connection with my coming had been so rapidly carried out that I had
had little time in which to question or anticipate what my reception at
the convent might be. Now, however, Mother Mary, with open watch in
hand, stood before me, saying,
"Your sister Georgia cried twice as long as expected when she came;
still I will allow you the regular five minutes."
"I don't wish to cry," was my timid response.
"But," she insisted, "you must shed a few entrance tears to--" Before
she finished her sentence, and without thinking that it would be
overreaching a stranger's privilege, I impulsively threw my arms around
her neck, laid my cheek against hers, and whispered, "Please don't make
me cry."
She drew me closer to her, and her lips touched my forehead, and she
said, "No, child, you need not." Then she bade me go with my sisters
and become acquainted with my new surroundings.
I was at once made to feel that I was welcome to every advantage and
privilege accorded to Frances and Georgia. The following Monday, soon
after breakfast, I slipped unobserved from the recreation room and made
my way to the children's dormitory, where Sister Mary Joseph was busily
engaged. I told her that I had come to help make beds and that I hoped
she would also let me wash or wipe the silverware used at the noon and
evening meals. She would not accept my services until she became
thoroughly satisfied that I had not offered them because I felt that I
was expected to do so, but because I earnestly desired to do whatever I
could in return for the educational and cultural advantages so freely
tendered me by the convent.
By the end of the week I knew the way to parts of the buildings not
usually open to pupils. Up in the clothes room, I found Sister Mary
Frances, and on assuring her that I only wanted occupation for part of
my leisure time, she let me help her to sort and distribute the
clothing of the small girls, on Saturdays. Sister Rose let me come to
her in the kitchen an hour on Sundays, and other light tasks were
assigned me at my request.
Then did I eat the bread of independence, take a wholesome interest in
my studies, and enjoy the friends I gained!
My seat in the refectory was between my sister Georgia and Miss
Cayitana Payñe, a wealthy Spanish girl. Near neighbors were the two
Estudillo sisters, who were prouder of their Castilian lineage than of
the princely estate which they had inherited through it. To them I was
in a measure indebted for pleasing conversation at table. My abundant
glossy black hair and brunette type had first attracted their
attention, and suggested the probability of Spanish blood in my veins.
After they had learned otherwise, those points of resemblance still
awoke in them an unobtrusive interest in my welfare. I became aware of
its depth one evening in the recreation room while Georgia was home
for a month on sick leave.
I was near Miss Dolores Estudillo, and overheard her say quietly to her
sister, in Spanish, "Magdalena, see how care-free the young girl at my
side seems tonight. The far-away look so often in her eyes leads me to think
that our dear Lord has given her many crosses to bear. Her hands show
marks of hard work and her clothing is inexpensive, yet she appears of
good birth and when I can throw pleasure in her way, I mean to do it."
Whereupon Miss Magdalena turned to me and asked, "Do you live in
Sacramento, Miss Donner?"
"No, I live on a ranch twenty miles from the city."
"Do your parents like it there?"
"I have no parents, they died when I was four years old."
She did not ask another question, nor did she know that I had caught
the note of sympathy in her apology as she turned away. From that time
on, she and her coterie of young friends showed me many delicate
attentions.
While still a new pupil, I not infrequently met Sister Dominica resting
at the foot of the steps after her walk in the sunshine, and with a
gracious, "Thank you," she would permit me to assist her up the flight
of stairs leading to her apartment. Bowed by age, and wasted by
disease, she was patiently awaiting the final summons. I became deeply
interested in her before I learned that this wan bit of humanity was
the once winsome daughter of Commandante Arguello, and the heroine of
a pathetic romance of Spanish California's day.[17]
The hero was Rezanoff, an officer of high repute, sent by Russia in
1806 to inspect its establishment at the port of Sitka, Alaska. Finding
the colony there in almost destitute condition, he had embarked on the
first voyage of a Russian vessel to the port of San Francisco,
California. There being no commercial treaty between the two ports,
Rezanoff made personal appeal for help to Governor Arrillago, and later
to Commandante Arguello. After many difficulties and delays, he
succeeded in obtaining the sorely needed supplies.
Meanwhile, the young officer frequently met in her father's house the
vivacious Doña Concepcion Arguello, and Cupid soon joined their hearts
with an immortal chain.
After their betrothal, Rezanoff hastened back to the destitute colony
with supplies. Then he sped on toward St. Petersburg, buoyant with a
lover's hope of obtaining his sovereign's sanction to his marriage, and
perhaps an appointment to Spain, which would enable him to give his
bride a distinguished position in the country of her proud ancestors.
Alas, death overtook the lover _en route_ across the snows of Siberia.
When Doña Concepcion learned of her bereavement, her lamentations were
tearless, her sorrow inconsolable. She turned from social duties and
honors, and, clad in mourning weeds, devoted her time and means to the
poor and the afflicted, among whom she became known and idolized as
"the beautiful angel in black." After the death of her parents, she
endowed St. Catherine's Convent with her inheritance, took the vows of
the Dominican nun, and the world saw her no more.
Early in her sorrow, she had prayed that death might come to her in the
season when the snow lay deep on Siberia's plain; and her prayer was
realized, for it was on a bleak winter morning that we pupils gathered
in silence around the breakfast table, knowing that Sister Dominica lay
upon her bier in the chapel.
The meal was nearly finished when Sister Amelda entered, and spoke to a
couple of the Spanish young ladies, who bowed and immediately withdrew.
As she came down the line selecting other Spanish friends of the dead,
she stopped beside me long enough to say:
"You also may go to her. You comforted her in life, and it is fitting
that you should be among those who keep the last watch, and that your
prayers mingle with theirs."
After her burial, which was consecrated by monastic rites, I returned
to the schoolroom with reverential memories of Sister Dominica, the
once "beautiful angel in black."
The school year closed in July, 1858, and I left the convent with
regret. The gentle, self-sacrificing conduct of the nuns had destroyed
the effect of the prejudicial stories I had heard against conventual
life. The tender, ennobling influences which had surrounded me had
been more impressive than any I had experienced during orphanhood, and
I dreaded what the noisy world might again have in store for me.
My sister Frances and William R. Wilder, who had been betrothed for
more than a year, and had kept their secret until we three returned
from the convent, were married November 24, 1858, and soon thereafter
moved to a pleasant home of their own on a farm adjoining Rancho de los
Cazadores. The following January, Georgia and I entered public school
in Sacramento, where we spent a year and a half in earnest and arduous
study.
[Footnote 17: The subject of a poem by Bret Harte, and of a novel by
Mrs. Gertrude Atherton.]