"She sure has," Papa told Walker. "Come June, Bess is gonna get her high school diploma in one hand and her teaching certificate in the other! And the folks over around Ellen School want her to teach their three-month summer term." "Gee, that's good! How much are you gonna make?" "I'll get fifty dollars a month, but of course that won't all be profit. I'll have to pay out at least ten a month for room and board." _"_Oh_,_ well, you'll still have plenty left. How 'bout making me a little loan?" Mama started passing around the pies and cakes. All the laughing and talking died down for a few minutes as we raked the bones and scraps to one side of our plates to make room for the sweets. Dorris was the first one to start talking again. "Clyde, your girl up and got married!" "Which one? You know I had me several when I left here!" "I'm talking about Lucille." "Oh, Lucille! Yeah, Mama wrote me about her and Ollie Goode jumping the broom. Too bad. You can tell I'm plain heartbroken, can't you?" "Ah, I tell y'all, the Goodes had an infare to end all infares!" "What was so special about it, Mama?" "Folks told that Mrs. Goode baked five different layer cakes, and then she thought that wouldn't make a big enough show. So, at the last minute, just before Ollie brought his bride home, she dashed in and iced three stacks of corn bread to make them look like three more layer cakes sitting on the sideboard!" "Sure enough, Mama?" Gertie asked. "That's what they told on Mrs. Goode. She does like to put on the dog whenever there's any sort of a to-do." "Now, Mama, you can't talk about infares," Walker said. "You fixed quite a dinner yourself the day y'all welcomed Anna into the family. Remember? You had enough grub cooked up for a log-rolling? "It was nice," Anna told Mama. "Aw, I'm afraid it wasn't much!" "Walker, is Lucille anybody I've met over here?" "No, Anna, you don't know her. She's a girl Old Man Hawk and his wife raised. She's their niece. Mama, did Lucille and Ollie have their wedding at Mister Hawk's house?" "Why, no. They were just like nearly all the other young couples around Drake Eye Springs. One preaching Sunday they come driving up to the church in Ollie's buggy. It was right after services. And they didn't even step down outta the buggy. Folks who hadn't already gone home lingered around 'cause they saw something was up. Both Lucille and Ollie were dressed fit to kill. As soon as the preacher came outta the meeting house, he took his stand by the side of the buggy and started the ceremony. It didn't last two minutes! He just had Lucille and Ollie join right hands and repeat the 'I will's.' He then pronounced them man and wife, and that was the end of it. As soon as Ollie could hand the license papers to the preacher, he gave his old horse a slap with the reins, and off they went!"