The San Francisco call., 1904-03-06


not in the mothers heart. Moreover,
Lucy, in her agony at the thought OF
leaving the girl alone in the Worlu'
watched Essex with desperate anAl-
ETY. trying to fathom his feelings II
seemed to the unworldly woman, that
this attractive gentleman might have
been sent by fate to be the HUSBAND
who was to love and guard the chhd
when the mother was gone.
A few days after the party at Mrs.
Willerss rooms Essex had invited Mari
posa to go with him to a performance
of ''II' Trovatore, to be given at Wade s
Opera-house. The company, managed
by a French man called Lepine, was
one of those small foreign ones that in
those days toured the West to their
own profit and the pleasure Of their
audiences. The star was advertised as
a French diva Of European renown.
Essex had heard her on the Continent.
and pronounced her well worth hearing,
If rather too fat to be satisfying to the
esthetic demands Of the part Of Leo
nora. Grand opera was still something
Of rarity in San Francisco and 1t
promised to be an occasion. The pa
pers printed the names Of those who
had bought boxes. Mariposa had read
that evening that Jacob Shackleton
would occupy the left-hand proscenium
box with his wife and family.
His daughter" said Mariposa, stand
ing in front Of the glass as she put on
finishing touches, ''is ugly. Mrs. Willers
says. I think that's the way 1T ought
to be. 1t wouldn't be fair to be an
heiress and handsome"
TT wouldn't be fair for you to be an
heiress, certainly" commented the
mother from her armchair.
You don't think I abuse the privi-
lege a penniless girl has Of being good
1ooking?" said Mariposa, turning from
the glass with a twinkling eye.
She looked her best and knew It,
Relics Of better days fingered in the
bureau drawers and jewel boxes Of
these ladies as they did in the small
parlor. That night they had been mus
tered in their might for Mariposa's s
decking. She was proud In the con-
sciousness that the dress OF fine black
lace she wore, through the meshes Of
which her statuesque arms and neck
cleaned like ivory, was made from a
shawl that in It's day had been a costly
possession. Her throat was bare, the
lace leaving it free and closing below It.
Where the black edges came together
over the white skin a small brooch Of
diamonds was fastened. Below the rim
of her hat, her hair glowed like copper.
and the coloring Of her lips and cheeks
was deepened by excitement into vary
ing shades OF coral.
AS they entered the theater, Essex
was aware that many heads were
turned in their direction. But Mari
posa was too imbued with the joyous
unusualness of the moment to notice it..
She had forgotten herself entirely. and
sitting a little forward, her lips parted,
surveyed the rustling and fast-hIling
house.
The glow Of the days OF Comstock
glory was still In the air. San Fran
cisco was still the city OF gold and sill
yer. The bonanza kings had not left
it, but were trying to accommodate
themselves to the palaces they were
rearing with their loose millions. So
ciety yet retained it's Cosmopolitan
tone. careless, brilliant, and unconven-
tional- There were figures in It that
had made it famous-men who began
life with pick and shovel and ended
1t In an orgy Of luxury; women, whose
habits Of early poverty dropped from
them Ike a garment, and who, carried
away by their power, displayed the bar
barrie caprices Of Roman expresses.
The sudden possession Of wealth had
intoxicated this people. lifting them
from the level Of the commonplace into
saturnalia Of extravaganza. Poverty,
the only restraint many Of them had
ever felt, was gone. Money had made
them lawless, whimsical. bizarre. 1t
had developed aIl-conquerfng PERSONAL
tiles, potent individualities. They were
still playing with it, wondering at 1t.
throwing it about.
Essex let his glance roam over the
audience, that filed the parqueS, and
the three horseshoes above IT. II struck
him as being more Latin than Ameri-
can. That foreignness which has al
ways clung to California was curious
ly pronounced IN this gathering Of va
ried classes. He saw many faces with
the ebon hair and olive skins OF the
Spanish Californians, lovely women
languid and fawn-eyed, badly dressed
for they were almost all poor now.
who once were lords Of the soil.
The great Southern element which. in
It's day, set the tone Of the city and
contributed much to its traditions Of
birth and breeding. was already falling
into the background Many of it's
women had only their beauty left, and
this they had adorned, as Mariposa had
hers, with such remnants Of the days
when Plancus was consul, as remained
bits Of Jewelry, old and unmodish
cumbrously handsome, edgings OF =.
a pale-colored feather In an old hat. a
Grape shawl worn with an air, a strip
Of beads carried bravely, though bea
ere no longer In the mode.
Essex raised his glass from the Re
rusal Of the sea OF faces, to the bo
which the Shackleton party had IL n
entered. There was no question al uf
the Americanism Of this group. ths
young man thought, as he stared a,
Jake Shackleton.
The two ladies in the front OF the box
were Mrs. and Miss Shackleton. The
former was fioridly handsome, almost
aristocratic. the gazer thought, lookin
at her firmly modelled. composed fac.
under IFS roll of oraU bafr Tba douc-t