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Show terestln? strap eers the city emerged from -Its apathy of depression. A deal re to lm- ' press the newcomer hospitably took poe-sua. poe-sua. on of It. Both Mercedes and Har-rower Har-rower wer caught In the whirl of a' round of entertainments, during- which they constantly encountered each other. Thrown thus tog-ether their acquaintance rapldlv grew, narrower had not been a', month In Ean Francisco when the little world about him was speculating; on his " Interest In the daughter of Black" Dan-Grace?. Dan-Grace?. - , MercpV was row nearly. 19 years of age. With her Spanish blood to round and ripen her, that corresponded to the- Anglo-Saxon woman's twenty-five. For all her American birth and education she,' was at heart a Latin, subtle, complex.! revengeful. ' There waa little of her farther far-ther in her. She .had none of his simple' largeness of temperament but was made up of feline Intricacies of caprice, vanity and passion. At the present stage in her" llfe her strongest Instinct was love of admiration. Bhe had early comprehended -the power of her beauty, and to exercise" this power was- to her a delight which' never lost Its seat. To throw a spell overmen over-men was the thing- Mercedes loved best to do, and could do with remarkable pro-:-flclency. considering; her years and lnex perlence. -. - - (To Be Continued.) were closed, servants discharged, dressmakers' dress-makers' . bUi. cut down. Many families hitherto prominent dropped out of sight, preferring to hide their poverty In remote corners of the city,' whence, in some cases,- they . never again emerged. The winter, shorn of Us accustomed gaieties, was dull and Quiet. .. . v. "With the spring there came a revival of life and energy. The volatile spirit of the Callforntans began to rise. -One of the chief causes of this was a new series of disturbing rumors from Virginia City. In February a strike was reported in the recently-consolidated group of claims known a the California and Consolidated Virginia. - A vein-of ore seven feet wide and assaying $60 to the ton had been uncovered. un-covered. Talk of the Nevada camp was In the air. The San Franciscans were Incredulous, In-credulous, a fearful of mining stock as the singed cat of the Are, but they listened and watched, feeling the first faint unrest of hope and temptation. Socially, too, the city showed signs of returning cheerfulness. This was due not only to the natural rebound after a period of depression, but to two new arrivals ar-rivals of the sort which those small aggregated agg-regated rroups known as "society" delight de-light to welcome and entertain. The first of these was Mercedes G race ra-ce y. Glamor of many sorts clung about the name of this favorite of fortune. To her natural attractions were added those supposed to be acquired by a sojourn In older and irfbre sophisticated localities. Mercedes had paused from her New Tork boarding-school to the nntshlng Influences of a year "abroad." She had traveled In Europe with a chaperon and taken on the polish of accomplishment under the guidance of experienced teachers. Such news of her as had drifted back to San Francisco was eagerly seised upon by the less fortunate home dwellers. ' From time to time the newspaper printed Item about Mlsa Gracey's triumphant career. Before her arrival San Francisco had already al-ready developed a possessive pride In her as a native daughter who would add to the glory of the Golden State. Mercedes would not, probably, nave been the object of such Interest had not the fortunes of her father and uncle been for the past three years steadily ascending. ascend-ing. The Gracey boys had of late risen from the position of a pair of well-known and capable mlnlrrg men to that of two of ins uiusi promineui (usua rrX. Their means were reported large. They had been among the few who had got put of the Crown Point excitement at the right moment, seUlng their stock at the top price. They were now developing their Cresta Plata property. Should this pan out as they expected there was no knowing where the Gracey boys' successes suc-cesses would end. Mercedes was the only woman relative they possessed. It was no wonder that she was regarded with an almost reverential Interest, and her return re-turn evoked as much curiosity as though it were that of an errant princess. Black Dan, who had gone to- New Tork to meet her, brought her back In triumph. tri-umph. His Idolatrous love had known no abatement In the two years' separation. To have her finally restored to him. In an even completer state of perfection, was a bewildering happiness to him. His primitive primi-tive nature strove to show Its gratitude and tenderness in extravagant ways. . He showered presents on her, ordered the finest suite in the newly-completed Lick house t6,be prepared for her. offered to 'rent any country- place she might choose. That she should accompany him 4o the rough life of Virginia, where he spent most of his time, he never expected. It would be enough for him to see her on his frequent visits to the coast The other notable visitor who arrived in the city almost simultaneously was a young Englishman. Lionel Harrower. He, too, took up his residence in the Lick house, and It was but natural that some of the Interest evoked by the appearance of Black Dan's daughter should be deflected de-flected toward him. Young Harrower was a nephew of that Englishman who fifteen years before had married Mrs. Newbury's sister. Carmen Romero. He was finishing his education by a trip around the world, and had decided de-cided to make a stop of some length in The PIONEER BY. GEBALDINE" BONNER. (Copyright by Bobbs-Merrill Co.) BOOK II CHAPTER VIII. Continued. These were the only words of love that passed between them, but at the time they were uttered they were to both 'as the words of a solemn pact. For the rest of the winter Jerry avoided her. His passion pas-sion was af its height. Between it and his fear of Lupe he was more wretched and unhappy tnan he had ever been In his life. During the spring, with Its tumult of excitement and final catastrophe, and the long summer of dreary recuperation, June walked apart, upheld by the memory of the vows she had plighted. Money was made and lost the little world about her seethed In angry discouragement, while she looked on absently, absorbed In her dream. What delighted or vexed people was of Insignificant moment to her. In the midst of surroundings to which she had once given a sparkling and Intimate attention she was now a cool. Indifferent spectator. Her interest in life was concentrated con-centrated in the thought that Jerry had pledged himself to her. The year after the Crown Point collapse was a sad and chastened one. Money California, then a terra incognita vo uw traveling Briton. From his Bpanisn-Californian Bpanisn-Californian aunt he had brought letters to the Newburys, Mrs. Davenport, and other prominent San Franciscans. The Englishman of Harrower"s class was at that time a rarity In the Far West Bonania heiresses had not yet arisen to be the bait for well-born foreigners for-eigners of all nations. California, outside Its own borders, still enjoyed its original reputation as a land of picturesque gold-diggers gold-diggers and romantic gamblers, and the wandering noble of Anglo-Saxon or Gallic Gal-lic extraction avoided it as an unsafe place where men were still free wltn tne revolver and the bowie knife. Harrower was an even more engrossing object of local curiosity than Mercedes. He was a good-looking young man of five and twenty, quiet In manner, non-committal and brief of speech, deeply Interested Inter-ested In all he saw. and very shy. lie was the heir to a baronetcy and fine country place in Warwickshire. His grandfather, the psesent baronet, was in his eighty-first year, and though a hale old man, could not be expected to live much longer. When he died Lionel Harrower Har-rower would Inherit the title and lands thereby coming into possession of one of the oldest and most beautiful estates In the county. The ' young man neither looked nor hinted any of these matters. But they were all carefully set down In the letters that Carmen Romero wrote to her sister and her friends, and they passed from mouth to mouth, accumulating accumu-lating material as they progressed. San Francisco had not had enough experience in the visiting patrician to be familiar with all the delicate gradations of rank, and Harrower was regarded as of hardly less distinction than a reigning Grand 'Duke. With the unnnrano of tnM two 1n- |