The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1893-06-27

Fanny, do you take Samuel to be
your welded husband? Do you prom-
Use to be @ true and loving wife TO him
til! separated by death p
"sPerhaps I'll think about 1t judgc,n
said Fanny, with q little of her sauci-
ness.
"Then, raising his hands impressive
ly, he said
"I pronounce you man and wife,
and let every one hereafter hold his
There, there, children he con-
tinued, tits all done now. I'll just
have time to salute the bride and catch
the stage
1.-THE Judge met MI. Paine, editor OF
the Weekly Haddem Gazette, q little
father on, and said:
"'Paine, do you want o news item
I've only got q minute to give 1t to you.
ried. tied the knot myself about 1--WE
minutes ago.
"Of course Paine wasn't going to be
such o fool as to miss an item like that.
So home he went and wrote up half q
column or more on the happy event,
at the end congratulating the bride
and groom on their safe arrival In the
pleasant port Of matrimony after a long
and stormy c~ourtship..
"Cii5 puat upScJ Iu6 tOWD.
read that item / was so weak /
couldn't stand up. 1t never had oc-
cnrred to me-, or to Fanny, or to the
Judge, either, 1 don't believe, that it
was a bona fide marriage, but there 1t
was all down In black and white and it
didn't look the least bit like a joke.
"Of course everybody / met congra-
tulated me. The more I denied it, the
more they believed there was m
thing in it.
after a day or two things began to
look 80 serious l went to see Lawyer
Soaring /; he was an old friend of mine
and q war comrade, too. I gave him a
history of the whole case, and asked
him what he thought of 1t. He deliber-
ated awhile and then jumped up and
shook my hand saying:
ut Is my honest opinion, Sam, that
Parson Hathaway couldn't have mar
ried you any better than that If he had
81 thought about it all night, and
then concluded / must see Fanny and
BILE.
found her quiet and self-possessed,
but her eyes had a suspicious redness
around the rims. / plunged right into
the subject and said:
"'Fanny, I have come to tell YOU
how sorry 1 am that little joke happen
ed, and how serious it seems to be
Ned Soaring says it looks very much
like O legal marriage.
"Fanny's face grew white as q cloth
at this.
"'GOd knows, Fanny, If I could have
1t undone again l would do so. I have
been ready to marry you any time dur
ing the past year, but l never wanted
to force you into anything like this.
AS 1t Is, the ceremony makes no
difference to me. I have thought and
thought w the matter, and I have
concluded there is q way out of the
difficulty. 1 will go away, and then,
after awhile, you can go to some other
state and get a divorce from me- for de-
sertion.'
"Long before I had finished Fanny
was sobbing as If her heart would
break. Said l, at last, Fanny, won't
you say good bye to me- 1 may not
see you again, as 1 am going away so
soon.'
"And then, instead of saying good bye
and letting me go, she flew to me and
put both arms around my neck, laid
her lead on my shoulder, and said, be-
tween her sobs, Il will never let you
go; l thought didn't love you, Sam,
but I do, l dop
"By and by we got more composed,
and sat down to talk matters over, and
then it seemed as if we had suddenly
changed characters, for Fanny was all
meekness n submission, and | was
the one who made terms and condi-
tions.
"If all the lawyers in the state pro-
nounce that a legal MARRIAGE said L,
at length, Il will never call you my
wife til! you come to me of your own
free will in the old church down
yonder, and promise before the dominic
and all u friends to be my true and
loving wife,
did"