Middletown transcript., 1868-03-28
popular Talrs.
Katie North's Elopement.
D. HoIga WHITE.

Katie North was an ang i, but flying,
like Icarus, too near the sun, her fragile
wings melted away from her shoulders and
she gravitatcd carthward, No other sup
position to account for her appearance here
below would satisfy the bcholler, unless it
were one involving the nebula theory.
She seemed impalpable, intangible; 4; there
was nothing gross, nothing Z" of the earth,
earthly" Her light feet scarce touched
the ground, and she seemed to float along
an airy, unsubstantal mass of curls,
smiles and white muslin. Her eyes re-
tanned the color caught in hcavcn-cloud-
less sapphires. Her hair was printed with
the golden sunset each instant changing
to some new shade still more beautiful than
the last But, withal, Katie had some
human attributes. She had an imperious
little will of her own, because it had never
been thwarted Carrcssed and petted by
her doting father from babyhood up, sh,
had never known restraint or endured the
pain of having the wish ungratifed. A
grieved look on her sunny face had ever
been potent to Danish parental frowns, and
she lived on, through the summer of child
hood, the happy careless songbird that
fears not or knows not the coming winter,
and burdens not its lays with prophetic
sadness.
In one other respect Katie manifested
very human tendency. She had great
admiration for handsome young fellows
with glossy moustaches; an admiration
which gave her father some uncasincss, for
he was anxious to have his daughter COM
fortably married and occupying re-
spectacle position in society; and he knew
that, as rule, handsome young men are
not so well-to-do, so "solid," as uglicr
and older men. This rule can only be ac-
counted for by the great law of compensa-
tion. Beauty, genius and wealth are sell
dom united in the same person. Every
blessing has its offset; every charm is
matched by some unpleasant quality or
condition. Youth and poverty, age and
wealth, beauty and simplicity, genius and
mgliness, are oftenest paired with each
other.
Mr.. North had taken note of his daugh-
ter's unworldly disposition, her uncalcula-
ting nature, her preference of youth, beauty,
and rags (metaphorically speaking), to age,
ugliness, and wealth, and it troubled him
not little. He loved Katie and could
not command, while wise counsel as to
snatches, with illusions to certain middle
aged and "solid" men, was thrown away
on her. She could not understand, and
was obstinate. Knowing nothing of the
intricate machinery by which greenbacks
are manufactured, nor of the trouble and
application necessary to success in busi-
ness, she imagined mooey was one of the
most plentiful things in the world, and
agreeable qualities the most scarce. She
continued to throw her smiles away upon
handsome young men, and to pout her
pretty lips at the heavy suitors introduced
by her father. In this dilemma pater fa-
nilias determined to resort to strategy.
The son of an old friend had lately re-
turned from Europe. He was wealthy,
intelligent, MISUNDERSTANDING, and OF
polished manners, and Mr.. North set his
heart on having him for son-in-law. He
knew that Katie could have but two objcc-