Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1889-08-21
TIT FOR TAT.

In the days when all the world was
romantic, and no one was ashamed of il,
two gentlemen of England conceived
the preposterous, but at the same time
rather fashionable, idea that, because
they were friends, their son and daugh-
ter, then infants in their cradles, must
love each other when they grew to be
man and woman; and, having compared
notes and found that they quite agreed
on this point, set to work with a zeal
worthy of better cause to arrange mat
tiers so that they must turn out exactly
us they desired.
Consequently, each made will and
of the young people declined the hand
of the other, the young person would be
penniless, and his or her estate would go
TO the other young person who was will
ing.
After some years the gentleman whose
;l!ili was daughter left his native Eng
4. land for America, while the other, who
was Il widower, his wife having given
her life for that son, remained in Eng
AS!'Nts ~ LLiStU OICdh IO11Su OSGN FCCI
~: romantic friends.
The English resident was named Ed
!:iGnd Harrington; the American,
i',arles Seabright.
Both were wealthy and brought their
children up carefully.
AS they grew older they permitted
them to Correspond with each other, but
each <uetested the task so that the letters
we. e written by the elders themselves.
Once, at the age of IA, when news
came that little Harold Harrington had
fallen from a tree and broken his leg,
Elsie Seabright was desired to reply that
she felt great regret and sent her best
love and wishes for his speedy recovery,
but the girl, who could never listen to
the boys name with anything like pa
thence, refused to write one word Of this
amiable epistle.
81 wish he had broken his neck, so
that might never hear any more about
him. she said, with stamp of her slip
pered foot, land won't write 6bs."
So again mamma wrote the letter, hav'
ing first locked Elsie up in dark pantry
by way of punishment.
"And am sorry to find child Of mine
so unfeeling," she said. "a broken leg
causes great pain and may make one
lame for life"
"a nice thing for me that would be il
am to marry him." said Elsie.
Indeed, if she had been as sympathetic
as her mother desired, Elsie would have
had opportunity enough to exercise these
feelings, for her young betrothed was
always in some pickle, and had nearly
drowned and nearly shot himself a dozer
times, to say nothing of ordinary troubles
It was tit for tat, at all events, fol
when Elsie had the measles Master Har
old had received the information with 6
contemptuous indifference amounting tx
heartlessness, and had indeed said tina
he did not care.
He hated girls, and this one the worst
of them all.
So, with the ocean between them, the
young people grew to maturity, and TIT
year approached in which they were tt
meet.
But meanwhile all sorts of sad thing
happened. Elsie lost both her father
and mother, and, away in England, Mr.
Harrington died suddenly of apoplexy
So the two men, who had looked for
ward for so many years to meeting whel
their children were married, never me
, again.
Mr.. Harrington would not bring hi
son to America to see his lovely Elsie, al
he had proposed, and but for these obsti
nate wills the matter would have bee,
dropped, for the last thing the young
people desired was to meet each other.
But the young man was of age ant
the young lady also, and the propert!
must be settled, and could not until tn
match was either on or off.
The old lawyers in whose hands tn
affair rested knew the feelings of thei
wards, but they judged that meeting
might mend matters. At least it wa
necessary that they should meet.
, Harold, as in duty bound, was to eros
the ocean to meet his betrothed and giS'
, her an opportunity to refuse him.
The news of his arrival brought int
full activity those feelings of repug
nance that Elsie had conceived for Har
old in her childhood.
She had for a while resolved to yielt
to her dead fathers wishes, but now sh
felt that it was impossible.
J Yet there was enough of worldly wis
dom in her head to teach her how mucl
better it was to be rich than it was to b
poor. -.
If he refused her, her fortune, and hi
also, would be her own by law.
She would force him to refuse her, ant
then she would return him his fortune
and all would be as it should be. Blu
how could she do this?
The girl sat for while in deep reverie
and then arose and clasped her hands to
gether.
ehor'~Tt had struck her.