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
"Yes!" She finally made him out, but still gazed at him, somewhat
frightened. Her face was bloodless.
"Come in," he said kindly. "I’m Granthope. You’ll have to excuse this
costume." He set a chair for her, but she stood, timidly regarding him.
"I’m awfully afraid I’m bothering you, Mr. Granthope, coming so late—I
know I ought to have come in your office hours, but I couldn’t possibly
get off—and I did want to see you awfully! D’you suppose you could help
me a little, now? I thought you might be able to, you said such
wonderful things when I was here before, and I just can’t stand it not
to know, and I don’t know what to do."
"Do sit down. Tell me what’s the matter, my dear."
She crept into a chair, and sat with nervous hands, staring at him.
"Why, don’t you remember?" She gazed at him in alarm. "Oh, I’ve
depended so on what you said—it’s all that kept me going!"
"Just pardon me a moment, please." He went to his desk drawer and began
to fumble over his card catalogue. "I have a memorandum to make. Then
I’ll talk to you." He came to the card, and made a penciled note and
glanced it over. Then he returned to her and sat down. "Now tell me
all about it," he said gravely. "I remember perfectly, of course. Bill
was in the Philippines, wasn’t he? You hadn’t heard from him for some
time, and you were expecting him home on the next transport?"
She sat, limply huddled in her chair, gazing at him through her sad
eyes.
"He did come back. I couldn’t meet the boat. I missed him. And now
he’s gone!"
"He didn’t let you know where he went?"
"Oh, Mr. Granthope, it’s too awful! I can’t bear it, but I could stand
anything if I could only find him! You _must_ find him for me."
"I’ll do what I can, my dear. Your hand shows that it will all come out
for the best. I wouldn’t worry."
"Oh, but you don’t know! You don’t know how bad it is!" she moaned. "I
thought you might know. He was wounded in a battle."
"But he came back?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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