The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1885-06-18

man there vino would not have stood in
/ his boots. or woman who would not
gladly have stood in those of his wife
to be.
Then came the parsOn-not the rec
tor, who lived at Oxford, and edited
! Greek PLAYS, and held six other livings,
/ of which he had once or twice visited
one or twO-but very young and very
nervous lad from Manchester, whom
nobody knew, and who knew nobody at
/ Merriam. Il was a sort of relief to Pa
tience to see a stranger behind the altar.
rails. She walked up the aisle, pale,
| indeed, but more composed than it Is
held fitting for a bride to be. Bride
! groom. and even parSOn, were the mora
nervous of the three. III the foreign
curate had been more used to his work
! he must have seen at once that what he
was going to cele brate was no true
marriage at all.
As for old Tom BlackthOrn, he looked
round him proudly, as if he were mas
/ ter of all, and was already feeling in
! his pockets, for half-crowns to give to
the parish at large They were not
there at present, but no doubt, as soon
as Patience became Mrs. Marrish, they
would come.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered TO-
! gether here"
Patience BlackthOrn would soon be
Patience Marrish now; for better for
worse, for richer for poorer-for richer
and for worse, for choice out of the two
pair of chances. Nobody answered to
the charge that any impeachment should
be confessed at that eleventh, or, rather,
twelfth hour. Enoch MarriSh, so that
everything should 90 smsothly, and
that the clerk should have nj claim to
an extra shilling on the score OF looking
after him without occasion, got ready
the magic ring from his waistcoat
! pocket while the parson was asking him
whether. forsaking all other, he would
keep with Patience Blackthorn as long
as they both should live. But, if he
wished to dispense with the clerks Off
ces, he should have read up the clurk's
duties; and, seeing the brides fingers
move for she could not keep them
still-he, naturally enough for a man
without practice. took this to be- the
moment for the ring.
Il willr' said he, and reached out his
! hand for hers.
But plain gold rings, from their
! shape, material and size. are slippery
things in themselves, though they hold
people so tightly. Not for the first
time in the history of marriage the
ring, rs if inspired with an Il wilP' of
its own, jumped out of his anxious fin
! gers and danced merrily over the floor.
! fnr
! would have behaved better But ring
one picks up by the wayside may be ex-
pected to have a grain or two OF vaga-
bond in its gold.
{ Every gem, jewel and piece of metal
work, such as ring, or horseshoe. OF
so forth, and more especially every ring.
! has its occult spirit, which may be
| angel or may be demon. So much
every student knows; though how he
knows it would take too long to tell. 1t
must, however, have been neither angel
/ nor devil. but an imp of mischief, that
/ inspired this particular ring to plague
| and battle its owner for the time being.
The parson, not being used to such in
terruptions, stopped short at
Patience, wilt thou have this
man"
And the clerk made dash with his
foot at the dancing imp, which, how
| ever, eluded him, and went rolling on.
'.Let'n 60" said the blacksmith 5
wife. 1--we seed that trick aforr. Here.
Master Marrish; I'll lend We mine. 'Tis
bit biggish; but, Lord, I've known
'em properly married with 4 brass cur
tain-ring before now"
1t seemed the best thing to be done.
Had not Enoch himself wished for bras
instead of gold? He was, indeed, for
tunes favorite; his slightest wish
seemed 10 fulfill Itself now. And. Of
course. the gold thing would be found
hereafter, with searching Not even a
church-mouSe can eat gold, for all it's
| poverty.
And forsaking all other keep thee
only unto him"
by lingo" cried out voice from b
dark pew, with too much impulse in it
to respect times and places, that poor
devil of sergeant couldn't have kicked
the bucket after all! Why-it's his
ring"
The nervous eurafe dropped his book
with bang. The clerk was petrified
where he stood; Enoch boile6 with rage
at this scandalous interruption. Even
Patience started, though she had
schOoled herself against any surprise,
and. in spite of herself, turned round.
The voice she would have known, if
it had not been for her eyes. For what
she saw was not any possible owner OF
the voice from the dark pew. 1t WAS
in another shadow that she saw form
dressed in ragged rcgimentals; and be-
fore their wearer could avoid her
glance, and shrink farther back into thu
shade
Patience the bride, and Stephen the
corpse, were face to face once more.
He had not been able TO return to
Spain without seeing her once more,
though it was only to watch her becom-
ing the wife of villsin and traitor
So for a whole moment they stood, none
needing them in the greater scandal
He read in her face such sudden de-
spair, she in his such heartbreak, that
they could hardly bear 70 see. Tho
church vanished from their sight; they
were face 70 face, alone.
TO BE CONTINUED.
INTEREST RULES.
Sbort AID C,rrect Nethod. of Cor,~.tfps