Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-23
CHAPTER xxx.

S1A3 AAxAs
On the following afternoon Frances
Gambler and Durkin were quietly married.
It was q within of Durkin's that the
ceremony should take place on Broadway,
ION the old alley as he put it. where
I've had SO many ups and downs" So, his
arm in a black silk sling, and she in
gown of sober black velvet, with only a
bunch of violets bought from an Italian
boy on q street corner. they rode together
in a motor cab to the rectory OF Grace
Church.
To the silent disappointment Of each OF
them the rector was not at home. They
were told, indeed, that 1t would be impossi-
BILE for q marriage service to be held at the
church that afternoon. A little depressed,
inwardly, at this first accidental cross
thread of fate they at once made their way
up 18th avenue to the Church Of the Trans
figuration. ,.n ..,d
Frances, as they rode up the undniatihs
line of the avenue, would be to have 1t all
carried on over, a long-distance telephone.
We should have had some justice OF the
peace in Jersey City ring us up at GER
tain time, and send the words Of the serv-
ice over the wire. That would nave been
more in the picture. Then you should nave
twisted up an emergency wedding ring OF
XIX wire, and slipped it on my finger, ana
then cut in on a Postal Union or an Asso-
ciated Press wire and announced the happy
event to the worlde
She ratified bravely on in this key, for
she had noticed, in the strong sidelight of
the cab window, that he looked pale ana
worn and old. seeming, as he sat there at
her side, only a shadow of the buoyant,
resilient, old-time Durkfn that she had
once known.
The service was read in the chapel. by
hurried and deep-voiced English curate,
genial1y, before unceremoniously slipping
of his surplice He wished them much
happiness. Then he told them that the
full names would have to be signed in the
be sent to the board of health and that 1t
was customary to give the sexton and his
assistant 81 each for acting as witnesses.
Frances noticed Durkin's little vince at
the obtrusion of this unlooked-for sordid
ness, though he glanced up and smiled at
her reassuringly as he wrote in the regis
ter, James Altman Durkin." and waited
for her to sign Frances Edith Gambler.
The service, in some way. had utterly
failed to impress Durkin it ought. The
empty seats of the chapel, with only one
pew crowded with little line of ttterins;
whispering schoolgirls, who had wandered
in out of idle curiosity, the hurriedly MUM
bled words of the curate-he afterward con-
fessed to them that this was his third sery-
ice since luncheon-the unexpected brief
ness of the ceremony itself, the absence of
those emblems and rituals which from time
immemoral had been associated with mar
riage in his mnd-these had combined TO
attach to the scene a teasing sense or I'M
reality.
It was only when the words with all my
worldly goods thee endow,' were repeated
that he smiled and looked down at the
wiman beside him. She caught his eye and
laughed a little, as she turned hurr1edly
away though he could see the teardrops
glistening on her eyelashes.
She held his hand fiercely in her own as
they rode from the little UNCOVERED
church, each wondering at the mood of in
eloquence Weighing down the other g.,
feel as.thaugh had been bought and sold.
that I had been tied up and given to you.
that-oh, that had been nailed on to You
with horseshoe nails! Do you feel any diff
ferenceT
~ feel as though had been cheated out
OF sonething-its SO hard to express!-that
ought to have found another You when
turned away from the railing; that 1 ought
gether-and yet-yet here you are, the same
old adorable You. with not particle OF
change!'
we were married. in reality, that afternoon
I opened the door to MacNutt's ring and
saw you standing there looking in at me as
though you had seen ghost
mo. my own, We were Joined together
and made one million years ago. you and
I, in some unknown star. million million
miles away from this old earth: and through
all those years we have only wandered and
drifted about. looking for each other!'
silly she said happily. with her slow,
English smile.
In the gloom of the motor cab. with a
sudden. impulsve little movement Of the
body. she leaned over and kissed him.
'3You forgot that she said joyously.
from the pillow of his shoulder. You for
got about that in the chapel
They, drifted down through what seemed
a shadowy and faraway city, threading
their course past phantasmal carriages
and spectral crowds engrossed in their fool
ish little ghost-like businesses of buying
and selling. of coming and going.
You're all I've got now" she murmured
again. with irrelevant dolefudness.
Her head still rested on the hollow of his
shoulder. His only answer was to draw
the warmth and clinging weight of her
body closer to him.
"And you'll have to die some day.! she
walled in sudden misery. And though he
| laughingly protested that she was screwing
| him down a little too early in the game
she reached up with her Intellectual arms
and flung them passionately about him,
| much as she had done before. as though
such momentary guardianship might shield
| him from both life and death itself, for all
time to come.