The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1858-06-03
The PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.


COIllIIIcTClaI ADVERTISER
Dsass re- . LaAy.
Mr.. c.ri.ene's boardins-houss was eminently re
spe,table. II was situated not . hundred miles from
Clinton Place, and was ffequented by . staQnant se
Of people, al well-to-do IN the world. and an stupic
and tiresome. The gentlemen all wore evening coat,
N The morning. and the ladies' affected black sill
dresses and were particularly solemn over dinner
Convsrsafson rarely rose above q whisper at that i'm
posing meal The aspect of Mn. Carlacue herself
Who sat ut the head Of the long table, bony and grim
Gent to restrain any indecent mirth or vulgar enjoy
Deut- l am not now surprised that I suffer from
dyspepsia After eating 80 many Of those melancholy
dlnners. where the digestive organs we're absolutely
chilled into ~inaction, 1t is not wonderfult that I should
ind myself continually swallowing pieces of rhubarb,
and feeling horrid symptoms about the gastric region.
Why I staid there so long is still a mystery to me.
Z was the custom for quiet business people to 60
there; and to live at Mrs Carlacue's was in some
degree to entitle ones self to . character for prudence
and prupriety. Some business interests perhaps de-
ssdsd me to 60 there, and I am zoophytic in my
habtts. and change my locality with reluctance.
Nn Carlacue was not a pleasant woman, on the
whole. She had seen better days-that is to saw,
hef husband had once been q merchant, failed, and
15ed, and left . Evolutionary respectability to Mrs.
CArieeue - her widows portion On this and her
boarders she subsisted- She continued, however,
TO robe herself 30 magni6cently in her antecedents.
that 1t became Q matter of surprise to every one that
50 eminent . lady should condescend to keep q board
,ng-house- All her professional avocations were per-
formed In 20 royal q manner as to be positively awful
20 her guests We we're all afraid of her. She pre-
ented . bill in such q manner, that instead Of the
iong array OF figures, one saw only Mrs. Carlacue's
INDUSTRIOUS genealogy stretching down the paper.
Any budding rebellion against over-charges was
quickly suppressed by the memories Of the grandeur
II CariAcue deceased, and the house yet existing in
lafayette Place, where the name of Carlacue was
honored- No physical weakness on the part of her
guests was ct all sympathized in by Mrs. Carlacue.
We're you i'll, and unable to come down to dinner it,
were an act Of daring to demand meals in your room.
mere was q neighboring restaurant whose hospitality
WAS open, but Mrs. Cariacue's system was not to be
disturbed She was never accustomed to wait ON
f1valids when Carlacue was in his spogee. She did
rot keep . boarding-house-Hat was a point that she
wished to have distinctly understood. If she took q
fsw respectable persons to live with her, that was no
reason Why they should forget that she was a lady.
Heaven forgive me, but there we're times when I
entirely forgot Mrs Carlacue's claims to g~entility,
nud thought her q heartless old humbug, who ruled
over her entrspped guests like = vulgar, abominable
Id despot.
There. was = mystery residing in Mrs. Carlacue's
establshment ut the time that I lived under her iron
sway. A pretty, child-faced girl, with long fair
rurls, who seemed 70 droop under the baneful infu-
cncs Of that dreary house as a flower spindles and
vhitens in . dark cellar. She was called Mrs Grey,
but beyond that We knew nothing Of her history.
She lived in . hall bedroom on the third story, and
sas . quiet and noiseless lodser. She seemed to have
rome deep grief eating into her heart; for her smile,
vneo one oo smile, was more melancholy than tears,
and seemed Ike the pale ghost Of some vanished
happiness haunting her palfid features. She always
dressed in black, and her attire, though betraying q
forced economy, was always indescribably elegant
1t frst I put her down as 8 day-governess. Then I
formed the theory that she was an officers widow,
subsisting on some small stipend Then I rejected
III these theories, and simply came to regard her as
= mystery.
0rey's approach-very one save the grim old Mrs
Carlacue. Arithmefical, hardened old merchants,
prematurely old clerks. who had ciphered their youth
sway before they were out Of jackets, wary and sus-
licious brokers, and respectable old maidens of indie
uendent means, all had q kind word for Mrs. Grey;
he was 80 gentle. 50 pretty, 50 evidently griefworn,
% resigned, that il must have been q hard heart in
Iced, that refused to grant her a little sympathy.
That heart, however, rattledL will not say beat-in
MraL Cariacue's bony old BOSOM She looked with q
hard, relentless eye on poor Mrs. Grey. She snubbed
Sr at the table before the guests; she turned a deaf
NJ to her requests; she sent her the outside slice Of
the roast beef; ard helped her last to pumpkin pie.
( was some time before I arrived at the secret of this
avaee demeanor, and it was not until poor, patient
Mrs Grey fell suddenly i'll, and was obliged to have
= doctor, that I discovered that she owed Mrs. Carla-
me q bill for board Then Mrs CarIacue e~xpatiated
% her friends or her amiabilify IN retaining this
sentlewoman in her house. She had q husband
1omewhere in California. Mrs Carlacue said, with a
neer, but the promised remittances did not arrive.
Il was always the way with those people. They al
Ways had husbands somewhere, that never made
their appearance, and were expecting remitfances by
the next steamer that never arrived. When she had
Or house IN Lafayette Place, she always paid her
Ms, and the lamented yr. Cariacue would have
Nd before he permitted her to live on any ones
bounty. Oh, you old bedizened hypocrite you
know in your secret heart that Mr.. Carlacue passed
out Of this world owing $4,000, and that your fine
in Lafayette Place was sold under execu-
tion; and that there exists still on Madame Larami's
books an unsettled account with the name Of Carla-
cue at the head of the page.
Days and weeks passed. and still poor Mrs. Grey
kept her room II was no common Illness that struck
her down, I knew. 1t was hoped deferred, and
wounded pride, and all the misery that a delicate
nature suffers when touched by such rernorseless
hands e. those of old Carlacue. / did what l could.
I sent her fruits, and preserves. and books in secret
for I tell you l was afraid of the cid dragon-and
declare I would have paid her bill, only 1 was then
and had . young brother at school depending on me.
One morning A. was going out after breakfast,
md - I paused, from q sort OF vague instinct, OPP
posits poor Mira Grey's door, I heard . stormy voice
hat I knew too we'll 1t was sharp, grating, horri-
bls - the sling Of . saw.
ssIts ssandalous, > I heard Mrs. Carlacue say. for
hat pleasant voice was hers" scandalous, l say.
Could you not get some one else to swindle. madam,
besides . poor, lone widow. ! have been a lady,
ma'am, myself. and I hope am one still, and 1 know
bow ladies should act, and l must say that your treat
Int Of NE il such as I did not expect"
ssIndeed, Mira Carlacue," 1 heard q faint, we'll
Enovn voice reply, indeed I can not help it. /
aid you as long as I couii, and I expect a remit
nnce every day from my husband The moment it
Iones you shall have your money"
- Christmas 10 coming too,' eaid the old brute,
nth . horrid laugh. Husbands, if they are hus-
,ands, don't leave their wives without money" q
No answer anne to this abominable insinuation,
I Nv - well ss If I was in the room the pale
be cuntract with anguish, and the delicate form Z
huddr 1t this savage blow.
ssThs long and the short Of it is, I want my room
na'am,'' continued the Carlacue- "I can't afford
Q give my house for nothing to people that no one
DoWu ncshing about. You'd better tramp. ma'am-
0nnf nv room.n ,
81 Am IN, very III. Mrs. Carlacue. Pray let me
ny hr . few days. The doctor says ii will be dan {
uEous fbr me to move just now" :
M doctor, indeed! Who's to pay him, I'd like :
} mow2 won't, thats certain. Perhaps your '
friend, Mr.. Troy, would ike to foot your :
f1las' :
Again the sneer. Even my poor attentions were q