The San Francisco call., 1904-03-27

ment of the wealth she represented.
His original idea OF Mariposa as a
handsome mistress that he would take
to France and there nut on the opera
tic stage. of whom he would be the
proud owner while they toured Eu-
rope together, her voice and beauty
charming kings. had been abandoned
since the night of his Talk with Har-
ney. He would marry her. and. with
her completely under his dominion, he
would turn upon the Shackleton es-
tate and make her claim. He sup
posed her to be in entire ignorance OF
her parentage,. and his first idea had
been to marry her and not tighten this
ignorance till she was safely in his
power. He had a fear OF her shrink
ing before the hazards of the enter
prise, but he was confident that, once
his, all scruples, timidity and will
would give way before him.
But her refusal of him had upset
these~calcuiations. and her coidnes3
and repugnance had been as oil to the
flame of his passion. He was enraged
with himself and with her. He
thought of the night in the cottage
and cursed himself for his precipita-
ton. and his gods for the Ill luck that,
too late, had revealed 10 him her Tela-
tionship to the dead millionaire. At
first he had thought the offer OF mar
riase would obliterate all unpleasant
memories. But her manner that day
in the park had frightened him. 1t
was not the naughty manner. adopted
to conceal hidden fires, of the woman
who still loves. There had been a
chill poise about her that suggested
complete withdrawal from his inau-
ence.
Since then he had cogitated much.
He foresaw that it was going to be very
difficult to see and have speech of
her. An occasional walk up Third
street to Sutter with Mrs. Willers kept
him informed of her movements and
doings. Had he guessed that Mrs.
Willers, with her rouge higher up on
one cheek than the other, the black
ourls of her bang sprawlingly pressed
against her brow by spotted veil.
was quite conversant with his preten-
sions and their non-suocess. he would
have been more guarded in his exhi-
bition of interest. AS il was Mrs.
Willers wrote TO Mariposa after one of
these walks in which Essex's ques-
tions had been carelessly numerous
and frank. and told her that he was
still "camped on her trail, and for
goodness sake not TO weaken" Mari
posa tore up the letter with an angry
ejaculation.
Not to weaken" she said to her
self. If she had only dared to tell
Mrs. Willers the whole instead of half
the truth!
The difficulty of seeing Mariposa
was further intensified by the fulIness
of his own days. He had little time
to spare. The new proprietor worked
his people for all there was in them
and paid them we'll. Several times on
the regular weekly holiday the supe-
rior men on The Trumpet were given.
he loitered along streets where she
had been wont to pass. But he never
saw her. The chance that had IA
vored him that once in the Dark was
not repeated. Mrs. Willers said she
was very busy. Essex began to Won
der if she suspected him of lying in
wait for her and was taking her walks
along unfrequented byways.
Finally, after Christmas had passed
and he had still not caught glimpse
of her, he determined to see her in the
only way that seemed possible. He
had inherited certain traditions of
good breeding from his mother. and it
offended this streak of delicacy and
decency that was still family discerni-
BILE in his character to intrude upon a
lady who had so obviously shown
hi
nothing else for it. Interests that
were vital were at stake. Moreover.
his desire, for loves sake, to see her
again was overmastering. Her face
came between him and his work
There were nights when he stood op-
posite the Garcia house watching for
her shadow on the blind.
He timed his visit at an hour when.
according TO the information ex-
tracted from Mrs. Willers, Mariposa's
last pupil for the day should have left.
He Ioitered about at the corner of the
street and saw the pupil-one of the
grown-up ones in a seaIskin sack and
a black Gainsborough hat-open the
gate and sweep majestically down the
street. Then he strode from his coign
of vantage, stepped lightly up the
stairs. and rang the bell.
1t was after school hours, and Beni-
to opened the door. Essex. in his silk
hat and long, dark overcoat. tall and
distinguished, was so much more i'm
pressive figure than Win that the lit
tie boy stared at him in overawed sur
prise, and only found his breath when
the stranger demanded Miss MOreau-
Yes. she's in" said Benito. back
ing away toward the stairs; I'll call
her. She has quite a lot of callers
sometimes he hazarded pleasantly.
The door near by opened a crack.
and a female voice issued therefrOm in
a suppressed tone Of irritation.
"Benito, why don't YOU show the
gentleman into the parlor?"
Hell go in if he wants" said Be
nito who evidently had decided that
the stranger knew how to take care of
himself: that's the door"
Essex, who was conscious that the
eye which pertained to the voice was
surveying him intently through the
crack did as he was hidden and found
himself in the close, musty parlor- 1t