For Honor’s Sake Read Online Free PDF Page A

sight of so many attractive women. That only thirty of them were destined to become husbands mattered little. What did matter was that these particular women chose to journey thousands of miles, braving all sorts of dangers, to become wives in a land populated mostly by men. Where these brave women ventured, others were bound to follow. Finally, Mr. Goddard managed to subdue the noisy crowd and the serious business of matching husbands and wives began.
    What first attracted Rod to the building was the mob scene being enacted in the immediate vicinity. He had just returned from an exhausting trip to Monterey and wanted nothing more than to relax in a hot bath and sleep the clock around. Luckily, this was his last trip to San Francisco for awhile and then he could return hometo Rancho Delgado where Elena awaited him. Their wedding could no longer be put off. His marriage to Elena Montoya, arranged by their respective fathers when they were children, must finally come to pass despite the fact that Rod had managed to postpone the long awaited event for several years. But finally Elena had grown impatient. And when his father, Don Diego, invited Elena to live at his rancho while her father and mother visited Spain, Rod knew the time for procrastination had ended. On his return to San Luis Obispo he and Elena would become man and wife in accordance with his father’s wishes.
    It was almost with a feeling of destiny fulfilled that Rod approached the building and fought his way inside. The moment he spied the young ladies standing on the platform he knew exactly what was taking place. Stealthily he slid his hand inside the pocket of his leather vest and touched the folded sheet of paper he had completely forgotten about during his trying week of confronting bureaucratic courts, shyster lawyers and judges inclined to overlook the claims of proud Castilian landowners whose land lay mostly along the El Camino Real.
    Since the Land Act of 1851 in which Rancheros must prove ownership of family lands and where sizes were reduced in most of the original holdings, Rod and his father had been working tirelessly to obtain the proper documents to define boundries of lands alloted to them long years past. It had taken months to gather accurate documentation of their vast holdings, nearly 70,000 acres surrounding San Louis Obispo, but finally Rod had taken everything to Monterey this past week to present before the courts. Anti-Mexican sentiment ran high, legal fees exorbitant, venal judges on the side of the would-be land grabbers. But Don Diego, with the help of his son, had emerged victorious after great personal cost of both time and money. The Delgadoholdings once again belonged exclusively to the Delgado family and they were free to rid themselves of the squatters who had settled like leeches upon their land. It is no wonder that Rod had forgotten about the poker game and the ultimate prize he had won.
    Making his way to a relatively deserted corner, Rod leaned his long frame into the wall and coolly surveyed his surroundings. Time and again his penetrating dark eyes were inexplicably drawn to the platform displaying the blushing brides-to-be. The proceedings had already begun and nearly ten young ladies had been matched to their mates and were in an adjoining room waiting their turn before the preacher. Scrupulously honest and concerned for his young charges’ welfare, one of Mr. Goddard’s stipulations was that the couples would be married immediately, before they even left the premises. Only then would he consider his duty discharged.
    One by one the ranks of the young brides were diminished until only five remained. Of the women being triumphantly claimed only two held any interest for Rod. One was a dark-haired girl dressed in yellow and the other a vision of loveliness in blue with a mass of honey-colored hair tumbling down her back in a riot of artless curls. The next number was called and the dark-haired girl gave a squeal, hugged