The Squatter and the Don

Darrell is furious about the lassoing and becoming an object of ridicule, even among his children. When the settlers congregate at the Darrell house, eager to hear the result of Darrell’s standoff with Mariano, Darrell stiffly reports that they must await Clarence’s return before confirming Mathews’s accusations. The men grow riled, blaming Mariano for all their problems.

Mrs. Darrell enters and asks the men to sit so she may speak. She reports that she commanded Clarence to pay for the land and argues that moral settlers should wait until land grants are settled before seeking to inhabit lands owned by Spano-Americans. Mrs. Darrell leaves, and Romeo and Everett champion her wisdom. The older squatters disagree with her logic. Darrell, feeling he has been made foolish by his son and wife, remains silent.

Darrell stubbornly rejects his wife’s apology for going behind his back. Stung by his anger, she sleeps in Clarence’s empty room. This only increases Darrell’s anger, which he knows is worsened by his stubbornness. He passes a sleepless night, as does Mercedes, who fears the animosity will cause problems for Clarence. When her father leaves for a short ride, she is anxious that he won’t return.

Mercedes is comforted by Mariano’s assurances that all will be well, though she stays in her room to hide her eyes, swollen from crying. George urges her to join the family for a day of canning peaches, renewing Mercedes’s alarm when she learns her father is not expected at dinner. She is dismayed when the women of her family say that, given Darrell’s actions, the wedding between Clarence and Mercedes should be called off. George advocates waiting for Clarence’s return and response before reacting. Josefa announces she will call off the engagement; George urges Mercedes not to panic and offers to help ensure Clarence speaks to Victoriano or Mariano before Josefa can send him off.

Mercedes returns to her room to pray, which quickly dissolves into crying. Josefa, worried Mercedes will make herself sick, promises not to send Clarence away without finding a solution. Though the Alamar women try to comfort Mercedes with the idea that the wedding might be postponed, not canceled, Mercedes continues to fret.

Clarence, meanwhile, rides back from San Diego, excited to share promising news about Gabriel’s job in San Francisco. A notary informed him, however, about Roper and Gasbang’s inquiry into Clarence’s payment to Mariano. When he returns home, he hears of Darrell’s attack on Mariano. Darrell, pride still injured, is not soothed by Clarence’s composed explanation of the payment. He threatens to return to Alameda, angry when he learns Clarence has purchased the property.

Clarence becomes offended when Darrell accuses him of paying for the land to “buy” Mercedes. Darrell insults Clarence until Clarence leaves, promising not to return to the house, which upsets his siblings and mother immensely.

Clarence, horrified at the insult to his fiancée, travels to the Alamar rancho with Everett. He plans to seek refuge with the Alamars, though he will go to San Francisco until Mercedes requests his return if the Alamars are too upset with Darrell to allow his son to stay. At the rancho, Clarence encounters Victoriano who joins Everett in encouraging Clarence to remain optimistic.

Mercedes, worried about insulting her father by still marrying Clarence, is relieved to hear that Clarence has been “exiled.” She encourages Clarence to remain open to forgiveness, citing Darrell’s long history of being a good father. Clarence offers to let her out of their engagement, but Mercedes insists she doesn’t want this. He asks her to marry him sooner, claiming he will leave while he awaits her answer. He feels hopeless; however, he is certain Mercedes will never marry him after Darrell’s insults. Mercedes calls after him, but she is gone when he returns to the Alamar house. He drives away, not seeing that Mercedes has fainted on the side of the road.

Victoriano and Josefa, returning from Mrs. Mechlin’s house, see Clarence’s second departure. Confused at the miscommunication that led their housekeeper to believe Mercedes was with Victoriano, Victoriano pursues Clarence. Josefa, soon joined by a returning Mariano, Gabriel, and George, seeks Mercedes. They are alarmed when they find her unconscious. When she wakes, she asks for Clarence and is pleased that Victoriano has gone after him.

However, Victoriano reaches San Diego too late, as the steamer has already left the dock with Clarence aboard. Clarence has left a note, promising to write to Mariano once he reaches San Francisco. Victoriano, fearing he will never see Clarence again, returns home. At home, Mercedes ails, refusing to rise from bed until Clarence returns. She begins to burn with fever, as does Alice, at the Darrell house. Everett reports that Alice also calls for Clarence. Everett leaves to call for both girls’ doctors and send telegrams to San Francisco, urging Clarence’s speedy return.

When the steamer pauses in Los Angeles, Clarence disembarks. He encounters Fred Haverly, who wishes to discuss the mines, urging Clarence to wait an extra day in Los Angeles before continuing to San Francisco to discuss the business at leisure. Clarence writes to his family and the Alamars. The next day, he and Fred decide to decamp for Arizona. En route, Clarence contracts typhoid fever.

Roper, known as dishonest in San Diego, meets with Gasbang and Mathews. They scheme to keep Marino’s land in legal dispute, including via bribery of judges. Gasbang and Mathews are thrilled at the discord they have sowed between Clarence, Darrell, and Mariano. Darrell suffers the physical effects of the tight lassoing and the mental impact of his wife’s anger and his son’s absence.

Clarence, stricken with fever, urges Fred not to share news of his illness, lest it worry Mercedes. Clarence’s Los Angeles letters arrive in San Diego; the Alamars and George write back regarding Mercedes’ illness, but these are sent to San Francisco, not Yuma, where Clarence is. Months pass, and the Alamars grow increasingly concerned that they haven’t heard from Clarence. Mercedes and Alice remain weak, though their fevers abate.

Roper incites the squatters; only a few members, like Romeo, dissent from this increased agitation against Mariano. Roper and Gasbang decide to wait until after the survey before striking via Roper’s connections to a prominent San Diego judge. Mathews, frustrated with waiting, begins to misuse alcohol. Mathews’s sister urges Darrell to speak to her brother to warn him against the dangers of alcohol misuse. Darrell travels along the road where he argues with Mariano, regretting his actions. With Clarence missing, he has come to follow his beloved son’s way of thinking regarding “squatterism.” When he sees George holding his son, Darrell fears that he has ensured he will never see his grandchild from Clarence and Mercedes’s union.

Miss Mathews reports that her brother, while inebriated, has spoken of killing George. They hear Mathews’s rifle go off. When Mathews returns, Darrell asks for his rifle, which is not in the house. They find it outside and fear Mathews has killed George. Before they can discover what has happened, Mathews begins smashing the furniture in his house; his sister agrees to take him to an asylum.

George suffers a non-fatal gunshot wound; he recovers in town and makes plans for the San Diego bank, discussing with Elvira how the Texas Pacific Railroad will help the South. They lament their fear that Congress will care more for Central Pacific lobbyists’ concerns than for the benefit of a whole region of the country. They decry the greed of the Central Pacific. The narrator notes that hope remained high for the Texas Pacific in 1874-75.

Mariano and Victoriano herd cattle to Clarence’s mines; Victoriano admits his love to Alice before leaving. Mercedes recovers slowly, hindered by Clarence’s continued absence, George’s injury, and Mariano’s upcoming departure. She stays with George and Elvira while her father and Victoriano travel.

Mariano and Victoriano try to outrun a storm as they travel east but wake to an incoming snowstorm. They hastily build fires and resolve to retreat to a more covered location. Victoriano, however, finds he cannot stand, his legs curiously numb. The guide and ranch hands set up camp to wait out the storm with the cattle while Mariano escorts Victoriano home. Mariano falls ill, leading him to spend six weeks recuperating. Victoriano’s legs also slowly improve.