The dore to t’other room was opened, and in we went. I never was so struck all up in a heap afore—thar sot Mary with three or four more gals, butiful as a angel and blushin’ like a rose. When she seed me she kind o’ looked down and sort o’ smiled, and sed “good evenin’.” I couldn’t say a word for my life, for more’n a minit. Thar she sot, the dear gal of my hart—and I couldn’t help but think to myself what a villain a man must be that could marry her and then make her unhappy by treatin’ her mean; and I determined in my sole to stand atween her and the storms of the world, and to love her, and take care of her, and make her happy, as long as I lived. If you could jest seen her as she was dressed then, and you wasn’t a married man, you couldn’t help but envy my luck, after all the trubble I’ve had to git her. She was dressed jest to my likin’, in a fine white muslin frock, with short sleeves, and white satin slippers, with her hair all hangin’ over her snow-white neck and shoulders in butiful curls, without a single brest-pin or any kind of juelry or ornament, ’cept a little white satin bow on the side of her hed. Bimeby Miss Carline cum in the room. “Cum, sis, they’s all reddy,” ses she, and ther was grate big tears in her eyes, and she went and give Mary a kiss rite in her mouth, and hugged her a time or two. We all got up to go. Mary trembled monstrous, and I felt sort o’ fainty myself, but I didn’t feel nothin’ like cryin’. When we got in the room whar the cumpany was, old Squire Rogers stopt us rite in the middle of the flore and axed us for the licens. Cousin Pete handed ’em to him, and he red ’em out loud to the people, who was all as still as deth. After talkin’ a little he went on: “If ennybody’s got ennything to say why this cupple shouldn’t be united in the holy bands of wedlock,” ses he, “let ’em now speak, or always afterwards hold ther peace—” “Oh, my lord! oh, my darlin’ daughter! oh, dear laws a massy!” ses old Miss Stallins as loud as she could squall, a clappin’ her hands and cryin’ and shoutin’ like she was at a camp-meetin’. Thunder and lightnin’! thinks I, here’s another yeath-quake. But I held on to Mary, and was ’termined that nothin’ short of a real bust up of all creation should git her from me. “Go ahed, Squire,” ses Cousin Pete. “It ain’t nothin’.” Mary blushed dredful, and seemed like she would drap on the flore. Miss Carline cum and whispered something to her, and mother and two or three more old wimmin got old Miss Stallins to go in t’other room. The Squire went through the rest of the bisness in a hurry, and me and Mary was made flesh of one bone and bone of one flesh before the old woman got over her highstericks. When she got better she cum to me and hugged and kissed me as hard as she could rite afore ’em all, while all the old codgers in the room was salutin’ the bride as they called it. I didn’t like that part of the ceremony at all, and wanted to change with ’em monstrous bad.