When Mr. Hammond heard about the great dance that was coming off in
honor of Ben West, he said it did seem to him as if a dance was the only
thing the people of Orangeville could get up. He had never known them
as a community to get up anything else but a dance, and yet, he said,
there are some very fine people who attend these country dances. Persons
of noble character, who live lives of self-denial in their homes and
meet trials and misfortunes bravely and heroically, I am glad to say.
Julia did not attend the dance because it was too near her wedding day;
but Ben West had a very enjoyable time, for the leading young ladies in
Orangeville were delighted at having the opportunity of dancing once
more with their old friend. But now a new interest had centered in him,
in the fact of his being the rising man and soon to be married.
There was a very large crowd at the dance. A number came from Roseland;
in fact, there were more than the hall could accommodate. There were a
number of men wanting to see Ben West a few minutes on the side, to talk
with him about what show there would be for them at the Klondike, as
each of them wished to be successful like Ben West.
For three weeks previous to his being married, Ben did not know whether
he was afoot or on horseback. What with the joy his father and mother
manifested at having him back again in their home, and the real, sweet,
loving and delightful hours he spent with Julia, who was free in her
demonstrations of affection, he being so worthy of it.
At last that day which always seems so long in coming, but which always
comes, came to Ben West and Julia Hammond. They had a quiet wedding in
the morning; then came the wedding dinner, after which they went to
Roseland, taking in the theater in the evening and stopping at the
Arlington Hotel that night. The next day they took the Flyer for San
Francisco. On arriving in that city they went to the Clifton Hotel. In
the evening they attended the opera.
As Julia had never been to San Francisco, they decided to spend a week
in sight-seeing. The second week they spent in looking at elegant
houses. After looking round for six days they bought a mansion on Van
Ness avenue for eighty thousand dollars. It originally cost one hundred
and thirty thousand. Then, the third week they spent in selecting
furniture, which cost them twenty thousand dollars. The fourth week they
bought a fine matched team and a carriage, for which they paid fifteen
hundred dollars, and kept them at a livery stable. They also purchased
two bicycles and an automobile, and got three servants, a maid for
Julia, a woman to do the housework, and a Chinese cook. All laundry work
was done out of the house. The second month was spent in going to many
interesting places outside of San Francisco as well as taking in more of
the city. Everything so far had run very smoothly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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