The San Francisco call., 1897-02-07

the mad rush to be first on board is owe,
the passengers gravitate to the front end
of the saloon and sitting there in morosa
and stony silence, either feign utter
ignorance OF the existence of their fellow.
sufferers or stare at each other super!
ciliously with coldly critical and disan.
proving eyes, or openly express by look
and manner their hatred of their environ.
ment and their disgust at the circum.
stances which placed them therein.
Among the "left-overs" the other nigb+
was tall and willowy young damsel ~
naughty carriage. who was crowned with
an enormous hat, beplumed and beloved
in the latest style, and wore upon her
shoulders one of the very newest cane,
with storm collar several yards high.
Although she carried several bundIa.
it was evident from their appearance and
her manner that they contained neither
plebeian groceries nor dry goods, but
rather, some dainty and breakable article,
which their fair purchaser did not care tn
trust to the untsnder merciss of a deliverv
clerk. 1t was also evident that she wa.
one of those happy individuals who faaI
that between them and the ordinarv
human being there is little in common
There was an air of frosty superioritv
about her which was actually chilling
and when she took possession of the cor
ner seat by the door and sat there tho
personi fication of statuesque dipni,r
there were many who forgot their ner'
sonaI sorrows for the moment as tba,,
gazed admiringly at the tip of bo.
nose, and wondered why SO loftv =
young woman did not have her own nri'
vate conveyance across the bay instead NJ
going over in the same boat with comn,op
people.
Slowly the steamer labored through tb0
darkness, and deeper grew the gloom in
the ca bin. until it was as thick as Lon
don fog, and then suddenly, as the end of
the trip drew near, the modern Galatea in
the corner seat awakened into life. IT was
as though the~spirit had moved herr to
liven things up little, and she proceeded
to do it with vengeance.
Slowly she. arose, took step forward
and then began to dance a most energatic
and lively Jig in the vacant space before
the door.
She hopped up and down like a iumn.
ing-iack: she pirouetted like a Jayane.e
mouse; she bent and swayed like Kiralfv
spectators stared at her open-mouthed
undecided whether to applaud her an
parent efforts to amuse them or TO call for
the deckhands to arrest her as an escaped
lunatic.
Wilder and wilder grew her gyrations.
The waving feathers and bows on her big
hat suggested an Indian headdress and
made her performance seem less like a
jig than ghost dance.
One or two of the ladies had begun to
look little alarmed, when the impact of
the steamer against the dock piles sent
the disciple OF Terpsichore against the
door iamb, and with one wild, convulsive
kick, aimed apparently at the chandelier,
the dance came to an end and the dancer
disappeared int the darkness outside.
Then, and not until then, did the SPELL
bound onIookers think of disem barking;
and as they rose, still wondering what it
all meant. to begin the usual fight tor pre-
cedence, a feminine voice solved the mys-
Iery.
That said the oracle, in toue of
solemn conviction, sis what comes OF rig
ging yourself out in one of them wired
skirts and getting your foot caught in itp'
FUNEGAL MCVAHoN.