The Heart Line: A Drama of San Francisco — John Shaqi
The Heart Line: A Drama of San FranciscoBurgess, Gelett
General
The Heart Line: A Drama of San Francisco
Burgess, Gelett
Bohemianism -- Fiction; Fortune-tellers -- Fiction; San Francisco (Calif.) -- Fiction
"’Won’t never’!" She glared at him. "What did I say about double
negatives, boy? Two negatives make a positive, two pints make a quart,
two fools make a quarrel, two quarrels make a fool. What language! I
was at Vassar, too—I was secretary of my class! Oh, I want to see
Victoria! She would understand, I’m sure! Oh, Francis!" Her voice
dwindled away and her eyes closed.
For a moment she seemed to be asleep. Then a sudden convulsion
frightened him. She spoke again without raising her lids.
"Why, there’s mother! Come and kiss me, mother! Did Weenie send for
you, mother? Oh, Weenie! Who’s the old man? Father? I never saw
father on this side, did I, Weenie? He passed out when I was very
little, didn’t he? So many people! Why, the room is full of them!
Yes, I’m coming—"
The boy was tugging frantically at her hand, calling to her without
ceasing, sobbing in his fright. He succeeded at last in bringing her
out of her trance and she opened her eyes to stare at him. Her breath
was coming harder. With a great effort she reached for the boy’s head
and pulled it nearer, gazing into his frightened eyes.
"Poor Francis!" she gasped. "You’ve been so good, dear—you’ve been my
hope! Felicia Grant’s hope! You have no name, dear; take that one,
instead of mine—Francis Granthope—oh, this pain!"
"Shan’t I get you the medicine?" he asked, sobbing.
"No, it’s no use." She pushed him gently away. "I’m going—to
sleep—now— Don’t call me back, Francis; I want rest. Remember the
trunk—good-by!"
She closed her eyes and rolled over on her side, turning her face away
from him.
He waited half an hour in silence. Then he put his hands to her arms
softly.
"Mamsy!" he said quietly but insistently. "Are you asleep, Mamsy?"
There was no answer.
He arose and looked for her leather bag. He found it on the floor where
she had fallen. Opening it, he found inside a heterogeneous
collection—strings, hair-pins, peppermints, papers, a lock of hair in an
envelope, a photograph, several gold pieces, and the key—he took it and
tiptoed into the little side room with excited interest. He had never
looked inside the trunk before and his eagerness made his hands tremble
as he unlocked it.
On top was a tray filled with account-books and papers, letters, folded
newspapers and a mahogany box. It was all he could do to lift it to get
at what was beneath. He struggled with it until he had tilted it up and
slid it down to the floor.
Below was a mass of white satin and lace. He lifted this piece by
piece, disclosing a heavy wedding gown, silk-lined, wrapped in tissue
paper, and many accessories of an elaborate trousseau—a half-dozen pairs
of silk stockings, a pair of exquisite white satin slippers, a box of
long white gloves, another of lace handkerchiefs, dozens of mysterious
articles of lingerie, embroidered and lace-trimmed. In a lower corner
was a little, white vellum, gold-clasped prayer-book.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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