RAISING CORN
THE place the Fathers first selected for the Mission was very low, and before they had lived there many winters, a great rain made the creek overflow its banks and flood the Mission.
“This place is too low; we must move farther away from the creek,” said the Fathers, as they watched the muddy water swirling about among their houses.
So before long the entire Mission was moved three miles away to a safe place.
Father Joseph was the name of the younger of the two Fathers. He had charge of the Mission gardens, and one day in May he walked out among the gardens that had been planted. Massea was at work pulling weeds. As Father Joseph came near, he said, “Massea, our garden needs more water.”
Massea said, “Yes, it is too dry; but there will be no rain for three or four months yet.”
“What can we do to bring some water to the garden?” said Father Joseph. “I wonder if wecould not make a long ditch from the Guadalupe Creek around our garden and then back to the creek again.”
“It would bring the water, but it would be much work, Father,” said Massea.
“We have many Indians who could work,” said Father Joseph. “I will ask Father Pena what he thinks about it.”
Father Pena thought the idea was a good one. So in a few days, after they had marked out the course of the ditch, there were two hundred Indian men at work digging. Even Docas worked after school was done. They worked so hard that in a few weeks the ditch was made, and part of the water of the creek was flowing through it. After that the gardens were never dry any more.
The children liked the ditch too, for it was such a fine place to go wading in. Heema made tiny boats out of tules[1]as nearly like Massea’s big boat as he could. Even Docas liked to watch his little brother and sister sail their boats on the water in the ditch.
By the side of the irrigating ditch grew many rows of corn. When it was ripe, Massea went to his house and got a very large, deep basket.
Docas said, “Where are you going, father?”
Massea gathering cornMassea gathering corn.
Massea gathering corn.
Massea gathering corn.
“Father Joseph told me to get this basket and cut the corn,” said Massea.
“May I go with you, father?” asked Alachu.
“Yes, if you will not get in the way,” said Massea.
So Massea carried his basket to the cornfield, and Alachu trotted along by his side. He went down each row of corn, cutting off the heads and putting them into his basket. Sometimes he happened to drop a head, but when he did that, Alachu picked it up for him, and he put it into his basket.
When the basket was full, he carried it to the end of the field where Docas was waiting with a cart drawn by oxen. Massea emptied the baskets into the cart until it was full; then Docas drove the cart to a storehouse.
One rainy day in winter when they could not work outside, Father Joseph said to a number of the Indian men, “I want you to go to the storehouse to-day to husk corn.”
After school Docas went to the storehouse, too, and found Massea sitting on the floor with the other men. Massea tied a few empty husks together; then he took the ears that Docas had husked. He rubbed a full ear against the husks until all the grains of corn had dropped down into the basket on the floor.
Then it was ready to be roasted.
[1]Tu’le, a large bulrush growing abundantly on overflowed land in California and elsewhere.
[1]Tu’le, a large bulrush growing abundantly on overflowed land in California and elsewhere.