Yesterday, an American novel

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YESTERDAY. (An American Novel.) New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1882. i6mo, pp. 300. (Leisure Hour Series, No. 137.)

FICTION. Yesterday. (An American Novel.) New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1882. i6mo, pp. 300. (Leisure Hour Series, No. 137.)

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LEISURE HOUR SERIES.— No. 137 y

AN AMERICAN NOVEL

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY

Copj'right, 1882,

BY

HENRY HOLT & CO.

YESTERDAY.

CHAPTER 1. TT TELL, Mont, where's the next house on your list?”

V V “There you are, that white gate to the left.”

“That? Here, you,” to the driver of the long, open wagon, “stop a bit, will you, and let's look about us.”

The wagon therefore drew up at the gate. The first speaker — a showy man with coarse, dark hair, and thick, brushy mustache, a loud voice and a louder laugh — gave a long stare up the straight drive, between the old willows just breaking into leaf under the April sun. At the end was a large old-fashioned white house with high steps. Having considered it a moment, he again addressed the man behind him —

“ Room enough; but not too shady. No chills?”

“Not a shiver. I'm too careful of myself fer that, Goring, I promise you.”

“Mont,” or Mr. Monteith Tyne — to give luna his full name — was a contrast to his companion,, being;, if alsa

YESTERDA Y.

tall and large, rather thin and plain; ugly, one must have said, but for an air of distinction that made him almost handsome again. He had a worn look when he was not speaking, which gave him the appearance of being the oldest of the party. Beside him sat the youngest, whose amiable, but not over-wise and still boyish face ended in a chin so narrow, that he had taken the precaution of filling it out betimes, with a pair of blonde whiskers. This individual now put in his word.

“I want a few trees; haven’t I my hammock to swing.?”

“You lazy chap ! ” Goring retorted, laughing. ‘ ‘ Y ou’ve nothing to think of but to measure your length when you choose summer quarters, Charley Corbin.”

“Well, shall we drive in } ” asked Tyne.

“No; don’t do that,” said Goring. “We needn’t all look at every house; and I want to smoke. I’ll stop here, and the rest of you fellows can interview the old man, or old woman, or old monkey, or old donkey, or whatever it may be.”

“Have it your own way,” said Tyne, “but be civil; the old lady’s ray aunt, Mrs. Bishop. ”

“Hallo! Then it’s a family job.? Still, as you say, you know when you’re well off. I’d trust you to make yourself a soft nest any day.”

‘ ‘ Oh, Lord 1 ” exclaimed a fourth person, sitting behind Corbin — a very handsome, but very hard-looking,

YESTERDA Y.

red-haired man this, who was leaning back rather gracefully, and twisting a soft mustache. ‘^Do you suppose Mrs. Bishop would ever let a house to any of us? She has a soul above greenbacks, and we are such wild young fellows.”

You go and talk to her, and she’ll soon come round,” said Goring. “You’ve got a tongue, you I ”

“I, my diplomatic friend! My strong point in this neighborhood is discreet silence. The old lady has her prejudices; she thinks I get tight and smash furniture; I should only rub her fur the wrong way. Mont, you dutiful nephew, it’s your turn.”

“Very well. Hawk; I’m off.”

“ But won’t you get a thundering lecture I ”

“What for?”

“Your hat. It looks as if you’d been on a ‘bust’ already. ”

“That’s Goring’s fault for making us try the short cut by Rossiter’s farm. If I had known that Rossiter hadn’t trimmed his cherry-trees in the century, I would have vetoed that. And, Lord love you. Goring, don’t light up while I’m here; I shall catch it worse if I go scented.”

“Anything for a quiet life,” growled Goring, and threw his match into the road.

“ But where’ll we keep our boats? ” Corbin suggested. “This house is on the wrong side.”

YESTERDA Y.

‘‘ Mrs. Bishop owns the water front and the boathouse on the field next Start’s Hotel,” answered Tyne; “and if she hasn’t leased it to him, as she talked of doing, it goes with the house.”

“Well,” said Goring, “ go and see anyway, Mont, will you ? The other places we’ve been to are beastly holes; and your relations must keep a house fit to live in. We’ll depend on you, for if she’s particular, such a rattling gang had better not show all at once. If you’re nervous, though, take Sundon along; he’d do more good than harm. ”

Goring leaned over as he spoke, toward the last of the party, who sat beside Hawk, — a place many a man would not have cared to choose, on account of the comparisons sure to be drawn on the score of personal appearance. Such a neighborhood brought out the special defects of the person present, — a forehead a little retreating when seen in profile, a too short neck, a heavy though not awkward figure. His hair was light brown, — a more fashionable shade than Hawk’s — but it was very straight, having none of those natural waves which the prettiest girls of the season envied. On the other hand, his eyes, gray, like his companion’s, were several shades darker, with sensitive pupils narrowing in light, or widening in shadow, — a detail unexpected, and to a careless observer’s fancy out of keeping, in an organization so full of physical vigor; but one which in itself gives an air of mobility and ex-

YESTERDA Y.

pressiveness to any countenance. The effect of it was borne out by the well-cut curves of his lips, not entirely hidden by his light mustache. The combined suggestions of his face made up a rather puzzling whole. A suspicious critic might have come to the conclusion that he had finer instincts than had been done justice to by the average course of his life. •

He had been listening to the conversation with a smile, but taking no part in it. At Goring's address he put on a deprecating air, and answered in a tone of evidently affected softness —

What ! I to go first, when there’s a lady in the case 1 My dear fellow, you are too complimentary by half and three-quarters. After you. ”

Goring roared. ‘‘What first-rate taffy, Harry! Try that style on the old lady, and she’ll let us off half the rent, if Mont doesn’t look out sharper for her interest than ours.”

“Oh, I’m nowhere as a fascinator when you’re about” More laughter. “But seriously now, shan’t I make mischief, Mont? Haven’t I heard you say the old lady had a horror of the profession ? ”

‘ ‘ So great, that she don’t even let herself know who belongs to it You’re safe there, I believe.”

“I say,” broke in Goring, “we’re losing time. Harry, haven’t you to be back early ? ”

YESTERDA Y.

‘‘True enough.”

“So have I. Look here then; you see the house while Mont takes us on to the next one. Where is it, Mont? ”

“ Firebrace's, on the water-side — not a hundred steps farther.”

“ Man or woman ? ”

“An old ’longshore . fisherman-farmer, half eel and half pine-knot; he’s put himself on the outside of enough whisky and Jersey lightning, for the last half-century, to kill any one else; but it’s only spoiled his temper and preserved him in alcohol, like a snake in a museum. Yes, that’s not a bad plan. You. go first, Harry, then I’ll come back for you. My aunt mustn’t think me rude; and Firebrace must be handled by some one that understands him. ”

“Oh, leave him to me while you make your call, if you want,” proposed Hawk.

“No, I’d better begin him; you’re too deep — ^you’d frighten him with your finessing; and we want him at his best, for if Mrs. Bishop has given up her water front, his house may suit us more than hers. So that settles it. ”

‘ ‘ All right ”

“Just give me a hint how to start, commander, since you’re at home here,” said Sundon, ---speaking now in a brisk everyday tone; but with a voice plainly more musical and of greater compass than the other men’s.

YESTERDA Y.

‘‘Go to the front steps,” Tyne answered, “then turn to the right; you’ll see the outside of the house in that way, and then the gravel walk takes you to the little house which was the gardener’s, and that my aunt moved into when she decided to let the other. You’ll find some one there to show you about You needn’t ask many questions; I know already the house is in repair, and the rent’s not too high; just see if you like it Mention my name, of course. As for yourself, put on your gravest face, look quiet, and a little sentimental if you feel inclined; the style of the ‘Poor Young Man,’ in fact Anything short of passing yourself off for a clergyman, in which you might possibly be found out”

“Do I look like it.? Do I speak like it.? Good Lord, how badly those clerical fellows do speak ! T’other day I went to hear their great gun at St. Leo’s — ”

“ Oh ! oh ! oh-h ! ” from the rest of the party.

“Yes, yes, yes. Just in the way of business, you must know. The papers were all praising his ‘ delivery, ’ and his ‘ elocution, ’ and his ‘ power over the emotions of his audience,’ till I thought I must see if he knew anything I didn’t”

“You’re always studying up,” said Goring. “Should think it would be an infernal nuisance.”

“No more than to you to turn over your investments. But this time I was swindled. Gabble, gabble, from one

YESTERDAY.

end of that everlasting service to the other. The sexton put me in a pew with an old maid and a school-girl from the backwoods. At first they were mightily impressed; but about the middle of it the little thing whispers, ‘Don't he read too fast ? ’ and the dragon answers, ‘ These services are so long, he must, to get through in time.’ I hadn’t quite the courage to ask, ‘ You mean in time for dinner .? ’ Well, any more orders ? ” dismounting with the last words.

“No skylarking with the waiter-girl,” put in Goring.

‘ ‘ After you, again ! ”

“ Your hat a little straighter,” said Tyne. “All right now. Forward march 1 ”

Sundon lifted his hand in a military salute, and walked off with an air of responsibility, in spite of a lurking twinkle in his eyes.

He did not carry out Tyne’s directions to the letter, after all; for when he reached the foot of the steps, he saw the door at the top beginning to open, and a glimpse of black dress and white cap. “The old lady must be there,” he thought, and mounted up to see; but when he reached the top, he found himself unexpectedly confronted by a woman nobody could have called old. Her brown deep-set eyes looked a little hollow and weary, and her cheeks were pale, as if she was recovering from an illness or a shock; but her lips were red and fresh, and the

YESTERDAY.

short oval of her face was completed by a smooth, broad forehead, from which her soft brown hair, growing rather low, was put back, in the fashion of the day. She wore the simplest of long black cashmere dresses, and a little w^hite muslin cap. “Not the old lady, and certainly not a servant,’" Sundon thought; “a widow, or a girl.? I can’t tell. Some near relation, at any rate. Mont should have told me — ” with a glance back at the wagon, which, how^ever, by this time had gone on. He bowed, and inquired for Mrs. Bishop.

“She is not at home,” was the answer. (“ Pretty little soft voice,” he commented to himself, “but wants color as much as her cheeks. Why hasn’t Mont tried to warm her ? ”) “I will take any message for her.”

‘ ‘ I would like to see the house, if I may. I came from New York this morning on purpose to look at houses.”

“I will show it to you. Of course, in Mrs. Bishop’s absence I cannot do more. But no one has even the refusal of it yet, as far as I know; so it would be worth your while.”

They went together through the rooms, large, scantily furnished in a style long out of date, with everything removed that gave an air of modern daily occupation, but much remaining to suggest old days of formal prosperity. It was a house that would be cool and airy in summer, and the large garden at the back had many shady nooks, lO YESTERDAY,

besides promise of vegetables and fruit in the sunny spaces. Unfortunately the young lady had to inform Sundon, that Mrs. Bishop had let the field on the shore and all its belongings to Start. ‘^None of the houses on the beach are to let 'either, ” she added, except Mr. Firebrace s, which is rather cramped, if you have a large family. ”

‘‘There are five of us, not counting seiwants.”

“Are any of them children? Mrs. Bishop wished me particularly to ask.”

“Why, no,” said Sundon, laughing, “we are five full-grown bachelors, though we still keep up our boyish passion for dabbling in salt water. One of us you must know already, — my friend, Monteith Tyne.” Why had he not named him before ? He could not tell; some vague fancy of observing the ground for himself had led him on.

“Yes,” she said, “he is my cousin. He could not come himself to-day, then ? ”

This remark, made with decided animation, was the first she had volunteered not strictly in the line of business.

“He has gone with the rest to have a look at Firebrace’s, but will be here directly. It’s plain he did not hope to find you, or I should not have been allowed to come alone. ”

“ I hope he will not be long, for 1 must go very soon

YESTERDAY.

II to the train for Mrs. Bishop; though I am not sure she will return now.”

(“She wants to see him,” thought Sundon. “Query, how much ? ”)

“If you think it worth while, you might wait and see her yourself; still I am not quite certain. But I must excuse myself, to get ready; you have seen everything — Why, this has been left; I must take it over.”

They were again at the house door, and she had caught sight of a basket packed full of books, standing in the hall. She began to lift it.

“Don’t,” said he, “it is too heavy for you. Let me carry it.”

“Oh no, thank you.”

“At least let me help you with it.”

It ended in their taking it between them to the “other house,” a little old low wooden structure, close on the road but for a low ragged hedge. The lady looked about her a minute, as they set the basket down on the veranda, then said, “Many thanks; now don’t let me detain you.”

“You are not off yet yourself? ”

“lam waiting for my horse and wagon.”

“If I might wait with you till Mont comes — and here he is.”

Tyne was just entering by the gate in the hedge. He

Y ESTER DA F.

walked quickly up, with a start and an air of surprise; the lady met him cordially.

‘‘Why, Grace !” he said. (“The name suits her exactly,” thought Sundon). “I was sure you were in Philadelphia ! ”

“No; Cousin Sarah wrote at the last moment that the children were sick, and I had better not come.”

‘ ‘ Of course; you are not up to playing the nurse yet Where’s aunt ? ”

“She stayed last night in town. I am just going to the train for her. ”

“You don’t mean to say she left you all alone here .? ”

“Oh, that’s nothing. And I have been showing the house to your friend.”

“Miss Delahay— allow me — Mr. Sundon.” (“Not a wdow then,” Sundon said to himself.) “You have heard me speak of him; in fact, though you have not met him, you have seen him before; and I know you have not my aunt’s prejudices.”

“When, Mont? Oh, I know; when you made up that theater-party last year in Christmas-week. I have a great deal of pleasure to thank you for, Mr. Sundon.” Her tone and smile were enthusiastic, in spite of the formality of her words.

“ Ah ! ” said he, “I thought one evening in Christmas-

YES TER DA Y.

week that I had a particularly sympathetic audience; that must have been the time. ”

. “Shall I tell you what we said afterwards, into the bargain ? ” asked Tyne, with a mischievous look.

“Oh, that is all nonsense,” said Grace; “it is not even new. Mr. Sundon must have heard too many such foolish things already.”

“Were they so very uncomplimentary, as a set-off to the pleasure ? ” Sundon asked.

“You might not think them flattering,” Grace returned, a little embarrassed.

“Let us give him the chance to judge for himself,” said Tyne. “ My cousin, in spite of her enjoyment of acting as an artistic matter, declared that she not only did not care for the personality of the actors, but hardly understood that they were real people at all. If I had told her they were optical illusions, clever reflections in magic mirrors, helped out by ventriloquist tricks, she would have believed me, she maintained. Now, Grace, you can see for yourself that you haven’t owed your entertainment merely to a shadow.”

Grace was sitting in a straw chair with broad arms, and was letting one hand rest on one of them, — a thin hand now, but evidently pretty not long since. Sundon put out his own, and laid it lightly on hers a moment, disregarding Tyne’s warning glance.

YESTERDA Y.

“Is that real, do you think, Miss Delahay?” he said.

She had been smiling; she still smiled as she looked down at his handsome well-shaped hand, large and strong, but whiter and showing less signs of work than most men’s. His fancy, however, saw something in her eyes that made him say, “It will be brown enough by and by, I promise you; I mean to go in for rowing and sailing this vacation. ” With that he lifted it off, wondering why hers should tremble so. How delicate she seemed ! It made her for the moment less pleasing to him.

“I assure you, I think you a man,” she said. “You will allow for my never having met an actor off the stage before .? ”

“If our acquaintance is to last, as I hope it is, I promise not to play any part with you but my own,” he said.

Grace raised her head a little higher, with a look that went through him like a lightning -flash, and was gone as quickly. Sundon almost thought himself mistaken. Could a young girl, brought up as Tyne’s cousin probably would have been, give such glances? It reminded him of nothing less than an experience of the year before with Tyne himself. They had a mutual acquaintance of whom the world said, “His rooms are no better than a private gambling-house; ” and once the two happened to be playing cards together there, and for high stakes. Tyne had not quite broken with old habits

YESTERDAY.

on that point then. They both were clever at the game they had chosen, but Sundon rather the best Tyne cared nothing how it ended, but he knew Sundon to be pushed for money. The luck shifted from one to the other, till at length it took a sudden turn in Sundon’s favor; and then it was he had felt that look of Tyne's, so quick no one else saw it, so sharp it was not to be misunderstood.

‘ ‘ He thinks- I'm cheating ! " Sundon said to himself. ‘ ‘ He shall see. " He played on, and chance and skill combined for him to win. When it was over, Tyne only said indifferently, “I'm going now; suppose you come along;” and talked of other things till they reached his rooms, when he asked Sundon in, and saying, “We'd better settle, now I have the money,” wrote a check and handed it to him. Sundon looked at it and tore it up.

“ What's that for.? ” asked Tyne. “That's my writing, and represents so much of my balance; it's neither forged nor overdrawn.”

“You think I've cheated you,” said Sundon.

“Stuff ! If I did, I'd have made a row when I had the other fellows to bear me out”

“You weren't sure enough for that, but you thought so all the same. I won't stand it How could you, after all we've been through together ? To be sure, you haven't tried me just this way before.”

“But what should make you think so.?”

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“I saw it in your eyes.”

“What, while your heart was in your play?”

“Isn’t it part of my regular business to see two, three, a dozen things at once? It came and went in your eyes, out it isn’t out of your mind yet. I won’t take your money till it is.”

“I know you want it; Brown said so.”

“That’s nothing to you; I didn’t tell you.”

“You know I’m always willing to lend, and when you’ve fairly won, do you think I won’t pay up ? There now, ” writing a second check, ‘ ‘ unless you want to quarrel with me, take it now.”

Sundon took it, and from that time they were closer friends than ever.

Whether there would be any corresponding conclusion with Grace Delahay, it was too soon to divine. Just now she had carelessly answered, “ Oh, no doubt”; and Tyne had changed the subject entirely, saying,

‘ ‘ Harry, I’m afraid you’ll think I’ve sent you here, in the matter of the houses, on a fool’s errand. Our fellows have fallen in love with Firebrace’s establishment, most of all with his dock, and won’t hear of anything else. We shall be consulted as a matter of form; but since it’s really good enough, we may as well give in.”

“We shall still be neighbors this summer, Miss Delahay, I hope,” said Sundon, “since I understand you re-

YESTE/WA Y.

main here; and as I have been fortunate enough to meet you, I may hope to see you again ?

“Probably. At all events I must take leave of you now. ”

An awkward, overgrown boy had brought round a shabby pony-phaeton, drawn by a bony and unpromisinglooking horse. Grace slipped into the house for a moment, and returned with a little black shawl wrapped about her, and her cap exchanged for a close-fitting bonnet.

•- “Still the same old rattle-trap,” said Tyne. “I wonder it holds together, but that beast will never break it up. Aunt ought to 'give you something better to drive, once she gets a tenant. Remember me to her; ask her to make up her mind to seeing me about here through the summer. But are your plans settled yet } ”

“No,” Grace answered, “I am hardly strong enough, and there are not so many chances.”

“ I must see what I can do. Are you off.? ” Sundon had helped her into the phaeton. “Good-bye; Til be down again soon, to-morrow if possible.”

“Look here, Mont,” said Sundon, as soon as Grace was out of sight, while they still stood at the gate; “does our not taking your aunt’s house make any difference to that young lady .? ”

“Not the least. I wish it did; but she depends on nobody but herself.”

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“You never told me anything about her, do you know ? ”

‘ ‘ I don’t want to get into the way of boring you with my relations.”

“No danger. As far as I hear from you, you have none. So then, what is Miss Delahay to you.? ‘Cousin’ don’t explain everything; and I rather like family histories when they’re not long-wiyded.”

“Well, there were once three sisters; the stiff one, my aunt Mrs. Bishop; the beauty, my mother, — though I don’t prove it, — and the clever one, with the heart of gold into the bargain, Grace’s mother, Mr. William Delahay s wife.”

“William Delahay the banker, that Goring was talking about the other evening?”

‘ ‘ What did he say ? ”

“‘That old fellow that broke all to pieces because he was so devilish soft-hearted.’”