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
"Then, your mouth has a charming little dent at each corner, and your
lips curve in a perfect bow, and the nick above is just deep and strong
enough for a baby to want to put his little finger into. Your nose is
fine and straight and delicate—I can see the light through the bridge of
it, the skin is so transparent—like mother-o’-pearl. Your eyes are
clear and child-like and the rarest, deepest, pellucid brown. There’s a
moist purple shadow above them, and a warmer brown tone below. Your
lids crinkle and narrow your eyes like a kitten’s. Your hands are as
dewy-delicate as flowers—white above, faint rose in the palm, deepening
almost to strawberry in the finger-tips."
Fancy had laid her head on her arm, upon the railing. When she at last
lifted her eyes the tears trickled comically down her cheeks. "That’s
the first time a woman ever feazed me!" she said, snuffing, and feeling
for her handkerchief. "I’ll have to appoint you Court Flatterer!" She
explained the sovereignty that she enjoyed amongst the Pintos. Clytie,
amused, accepted the distinction conferred upon her.
Their talk ran on till the boat passed under the lee of Goat Island. It
rose, a bare, bleak slope of hillside on the starboard side. Fancy
watched the waters curdling below.
"Ugh!" she exclaimed. "It looks cold, don’t it! I’d hate to be down
there; it’s so wet. Isn’t it funny that suicides always jump overboard
right opposite Goat Island? There seems to be some fascination about
this place. And the bodies are never found. I suppose they drift out
through the Gate. The tide runs awfully strong here, they say."
She removed her gaze with an effort, adding, "I hate to think of it!
Let’s come forward."
They rose and went to the space of deck below the pilot-house and stood
by the rail. Already the tourists and emigrants were there, eager for a
first glimpse of the city. San Francisco stretched before them, a long,
pearl-gray peninsula, its profile undulating in a continuous series of
hills. Along the water front was a mêlée of shipping; behind, the
houses rose to the heaving, irregular sky-line where the blue was deep
and cloudless. The streets showed as gashes, blocking the town off into
parallel divisions. A few tall towers broke the monotony of the huddled,
colorless buildings. They passed a ferry-boat bound for Oakland, and a
foreign man-of-war lying at anchor, nosed by busy launches. The
_Piedmont_ rang down to half-speed, then the vibrations of the paddle
wheels stopped as she shot into the slip. There was a surge of
back-water, a rattling of chains and ratchets, the cables were fastened
and the apron lowered. The crowd surged forward and poured off the boat.
At the front of the Ferry Building Fancy stopped, offering her hand.
"Good-by," she said genially. "You’ve done me more good than a Picon
punch. I’m going home to wear my looking-glass out."
"You’ll never see half I do," Clytie replied, shaking her head.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account