Chimes of Mission Bells

le at Sierra Gorda that Junipero Serra became afflicted with a painful sore which broke out on his right leg and which never healed in all his eventful and laborious career. Many historians allude to this sore as a "wound," but no record is extant to indicate it as such, the most authentic conclusions being that this sore was due to natural causes greatly augmented and brought on by the hardships and climatic conditions he encountered in this missionary field.

The average person would think Junipero Serra and his companions had surely satiated their thirst for missionary labors during the nine long toilsome years they spent in Mexico, far, far away from loving home, affectionate kindred and the Old World culture to which they bade farewell when the last glistening silhouette of the Spanish Coast vanished from their view in 1759, but not so! Their pilgrimage was but begun! The pilgrimage which was to blossom heavenly and earthly blessings as beautiful and countless as the flowers which jeweled the slopes an