There were many hasty unions in those days,
and the Holy Church was only too glad to be able to give them its
legal indorsement. But the good Padre was a little sorry for the honest
sailor, and gave the girl some serious advice.
The San Francisco papers the next morning threw some dubious light upon
the matter in a paragraph headed, "Another Police Fiasco."
"We understand that the indefatigable police of San Francisco, after
ascertaining that Marco Franti, the noted gold-dust thief, was hiding on
the shore near the Presidio, proceeded there with great solemnity, and
arrived, as usual, a few hours after their man had escaped. But the
climax of incapacity was reached when, as it is alleged, the sweetheart
of the absconding Franti, and daughter of a brother fisherman, eloped
still later, and joined her lover under the very noses of the police.
The attempt of the detectives to excuse themselves at headquarters by
reporting that they were also on the track of an alleged escaped Sydney
Duck was received with the derision and skepticism it deserved, as it
seemed that these worthies mistook the mail steamer, which they should
have boarded to get certain extradition papers, for a coasting steamer.
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