The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1873-05-10
TIE PACIFIC
Commercial A0Oertistr,
MAY ]
Which was the Heiresse

Raymond on the summer evening when DC "ent
away 10 seek ms fortune.
He had found it already. IN a certain sense 10
50 far as a man may ind trcasuEe-trove IN the
rich abundance Of z wOman's love for Lilias
loved him, and Lilias' heart Was g gold mine in
itself.
She turned and went back into the house, with
the glistening dew of tears upon her cheeks and
q mourning culver on her lip.
How silly 1 am 3" she murmured TO herself.
" IL will be but q year or two at the %furthest,
and be has much more TO endure and battle with
than II
And Lilias replned at the fate assigned TO her
in the great play-bill of the world. Ii was hard
70 realize the truth of the blind poets words,
that . they also serve who only stand and wait. =
If she could have worked to earn money and
help him if she might have been privileged 10
bear a weapon in the strife. Alas it Is so hard
TO sit still and count the seconds which must
elapse ere the crisis Of our fate dawns upon the
leaden horizon of life.
So Henry Dalmayne went 10 London, and
Lilias stayed behind, to bear tie separation as
best she might.
:. Engaged, eh?' growled old Mr.. Peckham,
Henry's maternal uncle, whose skin had turned
yellow with the reflection of much gold, and
whose heart was harder than the marble Of which
his mansion was built. Nephew, you're a fool
Engage-at two and twenty! -
But Uncle Ralph, she is the sweetest girl
you ever saw
:. Sweetest girl! Sweetest fddlesticks - roared
out the irate old gentleman. There, there,
don't talk sentiment TO me. I've no patience
with it."
Henry was silent. The glitter of the frescoed
ceilings-the fash of silver and cut glass-the
exquisite aroma Of the rare wine, and the velvet
flush Of hot-house peaches, became dlstasteiul to
him. all ut once. Uncle Peckham had promised
to make his fortune for him-but Henry was not
at all sure that he wanted his fortune much, on
these terms. One glance, one smile from LiliGs-
were they not worth all these hollow pageantrie3?
Here" said Uncle Ralph, tossing a card
across the table. GIVE got you an invitation to
Lady ! ruce's party tonight. You'll meet some
people there who are worth the knowing
Henry Dalmayne hesitated it was the evening
he had set aside in each week for writing to
Lilias. She would miss her letter-but, after all,
it would be only one days delay. lie could
write as well upon the next night.
So Henry went to Lady Bruce's under the wing
of his uncle, the wealthy stockbroker.
Well" quoth Uncle Peckbam, when the
festivities were over, and they were once more
sitting beside the fire that shone and sparkled
like deep-hued rubies beneath the carved arab
esques Of the marble mantle in the rich mans
dining-room; "how do you like Sarah Ester
brook ?"
Very well, sir :"
- Very we'll! - mimicked Mr.. Peckham. "Do
you know that her father is worth a quarter OF q
million?'
sis he, SIR"
SIS he, sir? Henry 80 roarcd the old gentle
man; 81 believe you re a fool. Why, there are
a score of the wealthiest young men in town who
would give half that they posse --ay, the whole
of it, il need be-fOr the smiles and glances Mi. J
Easterbrook vouchsafed to you this very night"
"She was very polite, sir said Henry, with
rather of q puzzled look " but"
Polite! And pray what would you have Mr..
Dalmayne? Do you want a woman to tell you
out and out in SO many woris, that she likes you,
before you can take n hint?'
Henry colored like a girl. 1t was impossible
TO be quite in ensible to the charm of this flattery,
the more especially as Uncle Peckham was not
ordinarily one who 'butt;red his phrases, az
the expression goe.
Yes my boy-yes,'' went on the stockbroker,
tapping the. table emphatically with his finger
ends /" she does love you! And 1 am not the
only person who has noticed it."
but, uncle, she is so plain!'
What of that? All women can't be Eenuses,
and the p~rettiest of 'em have a grinning skull
and cross bones under their pink and white skins
and fair exteriors. Beauty is only skin dcep.'
Henry thought of pretty Lilias. with q thrill of
tender recollection. Miss Esterbrook, with all
her golden charms, could never hope to rival her!
Yet, as the days and weeks went by, his
thoughts and ideas insensibly changed.
The yellow lustre of the gold-worshiping at
mosphere in which he lived seemed TO wrap him
round the surface-glitter of society ideas gradu-
ally uprooted the old dogmas and axioms of his
youthful faith. And one evening, carried away
by the witchery and enchantment of the hour,
he proposed to Sarah Esterbrook, and was ac-
cepted.
Congratulations poured in upon him the next
day.
- You're the luckiest dog going, Dalmayne,'
cried one.
second and Henry, dazzled by the brilliancy of
his prospects, believed that he was really a most
man.
For, according to popular rumor, he was going
to marry one of the richest girls in London. And
Uncle Peckham took to himself all the credit of
the whole affair.
:. This is better than plodding on ones whole
lie long behind a eounting-house desk" cried
Ralph, joyously rubbing his lean and wrinkled
palms "a young man of enterprise and reso-
luton can accomplish anything he let's about
nowadays, especially if. like you, Nephew Dali
he happens to be tolcrably decent
looking
A man does not usually degenerate into q
villain all at once and when Henry Dalmayne
sat down to write to Lilias Raymond, his frame
Of mind was probably far from enviable. But he
the letter written some how. lie wrote that
no answer would be expected, and no answer came.
Three months afterwards, just as the prepara-
tons for the much talked OF Esterbrook Dalmayue
were eliminating, he Glanced to meet
John Hawley on the street-John's mother lived
it n small place ADJOINING the Raymonds iarm
stopped, with real pleasure on his face.
. John, Is 1t you? Stop a minute and tell me
he news!'
There amt much news quoth John, rather
In common with most of the neighbor5,
he was Inclined to think that Henry had behaved
i'll. Except that Lilias Raymond is well,
and prettier than everI"
Alb" Henry tried to speak carelessly, but
without signal success.
land Squire IRgoldsby's son is getting pretty
in that quarter, went on John - and
Did Robert Raymond died out in India last
and left Lily a clean thirty thousand
d" Did he? | am glad of that"
So Lily was an heiress, after all. Would 1t
not have been better-but Dslmayne resolutely
the half formed conjecture in his mind.
had put his hand to the plow-it was too late