Far-seeing Pedro Guitierrez was gloomily impressed with a Mongolian invasion of California by the Chinese, in which the prevailing religion would be supplanted by heathen temples, and polygamy engrafted on the Constitution.

Everybody agreed however, that the vital question of the hour was the settlement of land titles--Americans who claimed under preemption and the native holders of Spanish grants were equally of the opinion.
In the midst of this the musical voice of Maruja was heard saying, "What is a tramp ?" Raymond, on her right, was ready but not conclusive.
A tramp, if he could sing, would be a troubadour; if he could pray, would be a pilgrim friar--in either case a natural object of womanly solicitude.

But as he could do neither, he was simply a curse.
"And you think that is not an object of womanly solicitude?
But that does not tell me WHAT he is." A dozen gentlemen, swept in the radius of those softly-inquiring eyes, here started to explain.

From them it appeared that there was no such thing in California as a tramp, and there were also a dozen varieties of tramp in California.
"But is he always very uncivil ?" asked Maruja.
Again there were conflicting opinions.

You might have to shoot him on sight, and you might have him invariably run from you.