Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1893-08-30
Married In Haste.


age. He wanted to make me horse
breeder, but / wanted law, and there we
hitched.
About year before | should have fin
ished at college he wrote brief letter
the only one l ever had from him-con-
veying the information that if | knew
what was good for me | would be married
before l was 21. That letter bothered
me great deal.
The letter contained not word about
education of the law. Anyhow, my birth
day and commencement day occurred the
same week, and / thought | would risk
the undesirable consequences of waiting.
whatever they were.
Two days before commencement father
was stricken with apoplexy. He was un-
conscious when | got to the farm and
lived only a few hours. His last few
months had been marked by total inca
pacity for business, and mother was near
ly worn out with looking after things.
When the will was opened, it almost
knocked me out. 1t left everything to
mother in trust for me on the sole condi-
ton that was to be married within "A
hours after my graduation.
If | did not graduate, | was TO be mar
ried by II o'clock noon on the day | be-
came q years old. Moreover, if old
Parson Baker was still alive, he was to
do the job. In the event Of my failure,
for any cause, to meet these conditions, |
was to have $1,000, and the rest after
mothers's death was to 60 TO fathers
three nephews, who were plodding farm
ers in an adjacent county.
Now here was a nice layout. l was
not engaged, and the girl whom | thought
of in this connection was the daughter Of
widow living down the road about two
miles, whose face had washed with snow
and who had spelled me down in the dis
trict school, both times innumerable.
Parson Baker lived in little village
% miles down the pike where there was
neither railroad or telegraph station. l
explained the situation to the young lady
and she bIushihgly consented. Why
shouldn't she She had known me near
ly all her life, and there were 100000
and reasonable good looking husband
in it.
So far everything was easy. There
were yet Is hours before the limit of time
should expire, and we felt safe. | put
the best rider among our neighbor boys
on our fastest saddle horse and started
him off to get Parson Baker, requesting
him on no account to fail to be at our
farm by II o'clock the next day.
The young man started out about 8
o'clock in the evening in heavy rain
and made the preacher about II o'clock
that night. The preacher told him to
remain until next morning TO rest his
horse, while Baker saddled his own and
was away by o'clock in the morning,
simply telling his aged wife that he was
called to his circuit on important busi-
ness.
Not five miles from home the plucky
preacher found his road barred by a
washed out bridge, and he was obliged to
make long detour-l1 mies-to get
back to his road beyond the gap.
From here on he was siDgularly unfor-
tunate. His horse picked up stone and
went lame, and halfs at three or four
farms we're made before he got another.
By this time it was o'clock, and he
was yet IA muddy miles from our house
aud rain falling in sheets Many an old
man of 20 years would have given over
his pursuit of an uncertainty, for he
didn't know what was the matter.
"But never stopped to think what
the business was" he said to me after
ward. Il simply knew that | was to get
there-lhe Lord willing-by IL o'clock. "
At 11.30 the grand old fellow was
within a mile of the house. He had
come to what he thought was an over
flown bridge across little brook empting
into the Scioto river at his left. but he
had no idea that the bridge itself was
gone, for he had crossed several such
places on his road. fe urged his horse
forward, aud plump into Il feet Of water
they went between the abutments.
The horse was game as we'll as his
master and swan to the fenced side OF
the road, where he got bis footing, the
water being about three feet deep.
The parson threw the bride over a
fence rail and left his painting and ex-
hausted steed, taking across the fields to
the house and saving mile thereby
4 The lawyer saw him coming and met him