The Lure of San Francisco A Romance Amid Old Landmarks
/ 2008-11-21 00:00:00
Luis rashly threatened to run away with
his betrothed, while Rafaela, frightened, reminded him that there was
not a priest in California or Mexico who would marry them without the
king's order. And so each time the packet boat entered the harbor their
hearts beat with renewed hope and then, disappointed, they watched it
disappear through the Gulf of the Farallones, knowing that months would
pass before another would arrive.
"Thus six years had gone by since permission had been asked of the king;
six interminable years, they seemed to the lovers. Again the packet boat
was sighted on the distant horizon. Luis saw the full white sails sweep
past the fort guarding the entrance; he heard the salute of the guns and
watched the anchor lowered into the water before he made his way slowly
down to the shore. It would be the same answer he had received so many
times, he was, sure, and he dreaded to put the question again. Ten
minutes later he was racing over the sand-dunes to the Presidio, his
face radiant and his hand tightly clasping an official document. It had
come at last--the order from the king! Where was Rafaela? He hurried to
her house and, folding her close in his arms, be whispered that their
long waiting was at an end; that she was his as long as life should
last.
"But, oh, such a little span of happiness was theirs! Only two brief
years, and then the cold hand of death was laid upon the sweet Rafaela."
For a moment my companion did not move.
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