The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1856-10-23
Coming Down,
BY ALICE CARY.

furnished with all the elegance and luxury which
minister to taste and comfort. In short, they had d
great house, u great deal OF furniture, a great many
@ervants, and a great many clothes. 1hey had nIo
horses and fine carriages. q fine conservatory anu LlIe
pictures, and were, in all respects, fine people. Ihey
gave splendid entertainments had tfaFcied al Hoin =
ind abroad gave and received presents NiS4teo ad
the fashionable resorts in the summer, and IN winter
made life one round ofWhat is termed pleasure. Mrs.
Dexter was a beautiful and accomplished woman, and
lived rs she had been educated to live, and as she
supposed was proper for a woman Of her position and
fortune to live. Her baby was in the nursery-well
cared for, she knew and yet it caused her not a lit
tie anxiety that she was unable to sec it oftener than
once or twice a day-her engagements were so nu-
merous they would not allow it.
Busy, and weary, and worn were they neither
happy themselves nor causing happiness to others.
They were, of course, & good deal envied and disliked,
and suffered not q little from unfriendly suspicious.
1t is one Of the penalties of prosperity that it enables
even our best friends to see ali the little defects Of our
character, and sometimes to imagine faults and fail
lngs OF which, in reality, We are guiltless.
"Why IS it that we are so bored to death 20 said
Mr.. and Mrs. Dexter. Nothing seems fresh or
pleasant and surely we ought to be happy if any
body is-we possess largely the means OF happines."
So they turned and overturned their affairs
counted the rooms of their house, the number OF their
wardrobes, and scrutinized their furniture but they
were only more and more puzzled. In all the list Of
their fashionable acquaintance they could think Of
but one family who had ampler means or lived more
stylish than themselves. They had once or twice
seen n finer coach than their own, though seldom more
splendid horses a few costlier entertainments they
had attended than they were able to give, but not
many and no lady wore finer jewels or brooches than
Mrs. Dexter.
They were not admired much, it is true, and she
sometimes thought her taste in selecting must be at
fault but not so that Mrs. Dexter should wear silks
and diamonds was a matter of cOurse-aId so, Of
course, they gave nobody either pleasure or surprise,
and least of alIshimself.
Fire blazing before them, and mirrors flashing be-
hind, they sat in their fine house and wondered why
they were not happy, and concluded that they could
not be possessed OF that amount OF wealth that insured
happiness, for in no other way could they account for
the humdrum of life they lived.
They did net sleep well at night-why they could
not guess, unless it were the fault of their beds they
must have more luxurious ones, If III any part OF the
world they were to be obtained. They had littleappe-
tte the cook must be to blame they employ an
other entertainments do not entertain them, and
visiting and visitors were alike tiresome. If they had
wealth enough to do just as they would like to do,
they would surely battle the demon Of ennui that so
tOrmented them now.
The chances Of speculation were turned over, and
Mr.. Dexter was not long in selecting one which he
thought promised well. So sure were they of flyora-
bic results, that they concluded it would be foolish
ness to wait for the actual realization Of the wealth
that was almost within their reach, and so at once
drew upon a visionary capital. 70 their surprise
happiness refused to come, despite their golden bid
ding. From their splendid entertainments they re-
tired more weary than before, from their softer beds
arose more languid and listless, and in their dazzling
COtcu EUue WITH no more ease ana COMFORT that 10f-
merly the French cooks failed to suit their.SSappe-
titles, and merchants and miliners were alike unsuc-
cessful Ill their attempts to meet their wishes. At the
end of a year of most extraYagant dissipation there
came a crash in the affairs Of Mr.. Dexter. From
heedleSsness or mismanagement, or both, the late
venture proved an utter failure, and dragged after it
TO ruin, cooks, coaches, and all.
"What can be done 20 said Mr.. and Mrs. Dexter.
And, of course, the conclusion was any thing but
coming down. Truth must be smothered and credit
kept good. So thousands were borrowed, and sent
searching after the lost thousands, and for a while the
Dexters moved in splendOr and gayety, and were, to
outward appearances, greatly to be enyied but in
their hearts they felt very much asi standing on dry
boards that for a moment suppressed the fires of an
earthquake.
ssWhat shall we do 90 said both Mr.. and Mrs. Dex-
know they only felt any thing, any thing but
coming down.
What would all their fashionable friends say, and
how they would be avoided that was what they
dreaded more than any privation they would have to
endure.
They could devise no plan Of action ; but in their
effort to keep up yet a little longer, there came a sea-
son OF lodging and hiding, of promising and postpo-
ming, of evasion and Of almost secret starvation.
They grew thin and haggard ; their fine clothes looked
like line rags, or nearly 50, and the pinch Of PERJURY
showed so plainly on their faces that any further at
tempt at concealment was hopeless.
Poor Mrs. Dexter looked like q little white paper
woman, with a kind of smile painted on her lips, for
you might see plainly enough it did not spring from
III Hcdrt anu II seemed mat q DreaUn or WING would
drift her away as easily as the froth from a milk
pail.
Half a dozen scantily fed fires were burning in the
house. when Mrs. Dexter seated herself by one of them
in mute and hopeless despair. Night fell, and the
heavy curtains made it doubly night within the room.
The door opened s~tealthily, and her husband, like q
snow-drift, still and cold, came to her side.
"My dear wife, he said, presently, -. 6 [ would not
mind this terrible calamity but for YOU" His voice
faltered, and he put his arm about her neck with a
tenderness of manner that she was not at all used to-,
though he had always been kind and indulgent. Her
heart had never stirred as it then did when she heard
him say, Here is a thousand dollars, my DEAR
There actually came a faint color to her cheek, and q
real smile to the lip where the false one had been so
long. The happiness of that moment was worth all
the lest fortune. "My good, noble husband,'' she
SAID, " you must not suffer on my account. [ am
equal to any fortune as long as you love me - and
the hands she laid on his forehead were like a pleasant
healing dew, and her kiss on his cheek made him
richer than he had ever been.
The shell of a fortune in which they had been LIVING
was broken, and they saw for the first time. that there
was D great world outside of it. The anticipated
misery OF coming down lessened wonderfully when
they stood up and faced it. ~
An the hne furniture was sold, the French cooks
dismissed, dressing maids and chamber maids were
sent away. Mrs. Dexter herself took CHARGE of the
baby, and half the h~ouSSAwas let. One servant and
a small carriage were all the luxuries they reserved
for themselves.
All day after the coming down, Mr.. Dexter kept
tueprIYed of the clegancies to which she had been used
ne Gould NOT haar n ~ how koar- 70 49, O,loD-