The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1900-03-22
IN THE NICK OF TIME.
BY MARCO MORROW.

keep my PROMISE. IL oe your
best man. Not that wouldn't like
to get out of it," went on; but you
insist, and I suppose that"
'Oh, come now," said Tom, "don't
go in for cynicism; that's cheap. OF
course, I'm willing to admit that
from your point of view, perhaps, Dor
othy Melton may have treated you
badly enough, but I wouldn't curse
the whole sex and rail at matrimony
and all that. You'll. get over it in
time, you know"
Tom is an old friend, and allows
himself liberties. I kept my head, and
s replied calmly:
''I am not cynical, and I'm not
railing at matrimony. Moreover,
! that little affair with the young woman
yen mention, which I have quite for
Z gotten
Tom smiled in peculiarly trying
manner.
(which have entirely forgotten-' -
2 repeated.
..And will forget anew every day
you live," said Tom.
Has had nothing whatever to do
with my Termination to devote myself
entirely to my profession. I have al
ready frittered away entirely too much
3 of my life on what we are pleased to
call society But of course I'll keep
my promise to you.
'tNow look here, old man." Tom
began; but he saw, suppose, some
thing in my face which warned him
that was not to be moved. At any
rate he laughed and shrugged his
shoulders, and then said:
We'll, I'll count On You for best
man. June seventh is the day, and I
hope you won't find it such an awful
bore as you seem to expect"
The marriage was to come off at
Riyerton, and I congratulated myself
that the guests, with few exceptions,
wonld be Riverton folk whom I did
not know. / could do my duty by
Tom, take last farewell of butterfly
society, and then settle down for good
upon the career which I fondly hoped
would end upon the supreme bench.
would work, and work hard. Dorothy
Melton, with whom I quarreled six
months ago, should never think that
she had broken my heart or shattered
my life, or anything of that sort. for
she hadn't She simply had revealed
to me the fckleness Of her sex and
brought me to the realization that q
career, after all, is the only thing that
can really satisfy man worth any
thing.
AS the time of Toms wedding ap-
proached I wrote him that I should
run down to Riverton "a hours in ad
vance in order to attend to all the
thousand and one duties which de-
voIye upon the best man; but at the
last moment my one really good client,
man rich and cranky, succeeded in
getting so hopelessly involved in an
injunction suit that nothing but i'm
mediate and earnest personal attention
could keep him from going to Jail for
contempt OF court. I saved him from
that ignominy, but only after spending
the entire morning of the wedding
day in court, and barely caught the
last train by which could reach Riv
erton in time for the ceremony. Tom
and his friends would have to look
after the details of the wedding which
was compelled to neglect
had forgotten that Uncle William
Clarkson lived at Riyerton, or I might
have been prepared for him; but be-
fore the train had fairly stopped at
the station Uncle William was at my
side, grasping my hand and reaching
for my bag. "Here you are at last,
he was saying. 'tPve been at every
train that came in today. You've got
TO go up to the house with me and get
little snack of something to eat be-
fore the wedding"
But Tom" interposed.
s'oh, that's all right" said Uncle
William. .'tI've arranged it all with
your friend Tom, and I'll have you at
Christ church in plenty of time for
the wedding. So come along; your
aunt's waiting for you"
Really, what could I do? I looked
about helplessly, hoping that Tom or
some of his friends would appear and
lay claim to me, but Uncle William
had evidently impressed upon them
that he was going to have his own
way with me, and they came not.
OF course, should have been very
glad to dine with Uncle William and
s Aunt Margaret, but when a fellow is
going to be best man at his best
friends wedding, and has only two
hours aud half before the ceremony,
he is not exactly in the mood for visit
ing even his nearest and dearest rela-
tiyes. I tried to say something of the
& kind to Uncle William, but he retorted:
'sOh, pshaw, now! There amt a
thing to do, and what's the use of your
going to the hotel or to one of Toms
3 friends houses where they are already
running over with company? No use
at all. Your Aunt Margaret will give
q you nice little dinner right away,
you can get on your wedding togs and
Ret to the church in plenty of time
without any of the fuming aud fussing
! The others will go through. There's q
phone in the house; you can let Tom
know you are here, and that's all that's
necessary.
I remembered that / did not espe-
cially care to meet more people than
was necessary, but still it was with
some misgivings that I followed my
ehipper, and I am afraid somewhat
oficious, uncle to his new town house.
At five o'clock found myself in Aunt
Margaret's front parlor.
Uncle William called mp Tom by
telephone, and after few minutes
chat with him I felt somewhat reas-
sured. Dinner was announced very
early, and was soon over. As the
clock chimed six I went upstairs to
make hurried toilet. But where was
my bag? I hurried downstairs again
aud put the question to Uncle Will
liam.
'sSy Jove!" be exclaimed, "we must