The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1871-05-13
KITTEN.

/ dwelling in one of the most aristocratiC
streets i'll New York.
| Ellen, the elder, was rocking herself in
! front of the glass between the windows,
and Bessie was standing tiptoe before the
mirror on the mantle-piece, s. fixing" her
self, as ladies call it-that is, re-arranging
her dress generally without rhyme or rea-
son, taking off the bow at her throat, shak-
ing out her false curls, putting up her pan
ier, and betting in her waist.
| These two sisters, the only children of a
rich widowed k-broker, were in every
particular of dress and thought, girls of
the period.
They never quarreled exactly, but were
always at variance in their opinions, and
permitted themselves to win that unpleaS-
ant frankneSs which is the bane of too
great intimacy and the downright contra
diction which prevails with relatives who
are not obliged to be polite i'll the home
circle.
81 wish," said Ellen, "that that Kitten
wouldn't come here any more"
81 wish,' replied Bessie, "that you
would stop calling him Kitten. l don't
see any fun in it. He's not bit like a
Kitten
s. He is, them" laughed Ellen "his hair
is light, what call kitten gray, or drab :;
his eyes are gray, and so is his complexion !;
he wears gray hat, gray pants, gray
gloves !; his sparce mouStache sticks out
Just like cats and he speaks in purring
voice. Externally he is very like a kitten,
but morally think he is more of mouse
order. without 4 grain of spirit. When
ever | see him sliding up to you, without
the courage to pay you open attention, |
think of such is the kingdom of henpecked
husbands"
Il hope" retorted her sister, "that
when you enter the kingdom Of hen pccked
husbands, yours may have a purse 50 long
as your tongue, Ell"
Il tell you, Bessie, if what pa said yes
terday comes to pass, and old Mr. Earring
don's bank breaks, your mild hammered
man will have to take 4 nurse-maid's sit
nation"
And Ellen laughed, and rocked back far
enough to reflect the heels of her tiny boots:
but Bessie sighed, and said thoughtfuly:
81 suppose it would 90 very hard with
poor Kitten to work for his living There s
a great deal said nowadays about the young
folks of the period; but no blame is ever
attached to the way in which the people
bring them up-particularly girls-in idle
ness, ignorance, and extravaganza. Rich
parents take it for granted that their wealth
is going to last forever, and poor ones that,
by hook or crook, their children will get
rich and so they never teach them any
thing that will be of service in adversely
then, when they are thrown out into the
world to shift for themselves, they do it
badly enough-the men often by their wits,
and the women by worse. Now there 5
poor Donald Farrngdon what earthly
thing could he do to earn his salt, to say
nothing of bread?-or You? or |? It's Il
hard hollow world ~
There you are mistaken its not hard
nor hollow, being an incandescent mass
Of
Bother your scence' There's pa a.; let S
90 down to dinner
1t was true. he told them during dinner,
that Harrington q Brother had suspended
payment; their liabilities were large, and
the merchant princes of yesterday were
the beggars of to-day.
| How did the meek and purring " Kitten y
bear the blow?
An only son. he had been reared in lux
ury and in the belief that a great fortune
would be his; that therefore, labor-men-
tai or physical-would never be necessary.
| He knew positively nothing of practical
use, although he could swim like duck,
sing like the tenor of an opera, and dance
| like polish prince. He could drive pair
of fast horses without splitting his tight
violet kid gloves, was celebrated amateur
'.catch - at base ball, the pride of the
rowing club, a Nimrod with the gun, and
a Iolander on the skating rink but he
had never studied profession, nor learned
any honest, hard handed trade. He would
not become a music teacher nor salesman,
so he tried to keep a set of books. He
found that he could not make in one year
| by that as much as he had formerly spent
| in neckties and gloves so he resigned his
situation in three months, and stood alone
in the world, without penny or the means
of earning one, and with all his luxurious
habits to overcome. But there remained
to him still the good gifts of his pride and
| youthful manhood. The first prompted
him to withdraw Immediately from his
50 set" thereby avoiding the humiliation
of 'cuts = the second enabled him to face
| the worst without murmur.
He wrote to Bessie Vandecken, releasing
| her from her engagement, giving his re-
verses as the son. For little while he
hoped she would cling to him but when a
brief note came, expressing polite but cold
regret for his altered fortune, he made VI
| his mind that he must resign love as wei
as friends and position then, in the Ian
guage of the bold outlaw, Rob Roy, "he
pulled his bonnet DER his brow, took to
the woods and hills, and became 4 broken
man.
The firm of Harrington & Brother soor
passed out of the remembrance of all but
the sufferers by it. Kittens father skunk
away to the poverty stricken retreat o.
broken-down gentlemen; for his had beer
no fictitious failure, leaving the bankrupts
rich. Thus Kitten faded SO completely out
of Bessie's .'sct' that she could Learn
nothing of him or his whereabouts. On
the receipt of his letter she felt that she
loved him and told her father so. She wa
young, and stood in awe of her father, who
forbade her to hold out any encouragement
to young Farringdon, giving these reasons
that she, by virtue of her bringing up, wa:
untitled to be the wife of poor man thai
he, her father, would never support a son
in-law that every man should take care o
his own wife, no matter what the circum
stances of her parents might be. If the
young fellow really loved her, he woult
pluck up spirit-which he didn't seem t.
have, by the way-strke a vein of gold, o
find kidd's treasure, and come back and
claim her in good time. Then it would be
well enough to talk of accepting him
always supposing that she kept of the same
mind, which in so young girl, was hardl.