Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1910-10-27

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THREW his LONG ARMS OVER ms HEAD.
men who worked with him absent
themselves temporarily ON mysterious
crrandS and be good uaturcdly rallied
10y the others on their return Little
by little he had learned the legal steps
20 marriage-when and where and how
to obtain the license and the cost. then
to whom to so aud what 10 do and the
final cost And with this knowledge
had come the idea. dim and hazy at
first that this was the best way to do.
Besides and above all. Rev. Mr.. Lowell
stood for it-Mr. Lowell. the head OF
the Good Samaritan Settlement House
on Del Mar street, to whom all the for
eiGn quarter looked up and whom
Maksim almost worShiped.
Natasha was like minded and for
quite similar reasons. She worked in
cannery. She had gone to school Il
little, and in numberless indirect ways
she had reached the conclusion that,
while the Molokan marriage was well
enough in Russia. 1t would never do in
the United States.
The Saturday night following the
marriage negotiations MakSim came
home from his work and. as usual,
placed his weeks wages twelve good
American dollars, in his fathers hands
"Maksim," said the old man. speak
Ing in Russian-"MakSim my son, il
has been arranged between Elder Shu-
ben and myself that you and the fair
Natasha are to be married. You are
both quite old enough. You are to be
married one week from tomorrow. I
trust you are happy at the prospect
my son"
Yes" assented MakSim, Il want to
marry NataSha. but And he hcsi.
tated, his eyes on the floor.
But what" demanded old Evan.
How are we to he married." tenta.
lively asked MakSim.
How married; By the elders. OF
course. NNtasha'S mother. Katga, is
already preparing the feast"
But" objected Maksim. hesitating.
for he well knew tho storm he was
about to call down upon his head-"bu'
Natasha and l don't want it that way.
We want TO get married, with "a pa.
per, by justice or-or Mr.. Lowell, In
the American way. 1t is our wish"
The effect was as he expected. The
whole communal famil--Evan and
Olga, his wife, and the four older sons
and their wives-who had gathered
about, were inexpreSsibly shocked
Old Evans long gray beard swept his
breast in his agitation,
What" he thundercd. You will,
forsakc the church Tor the heather
promised were to be scattered or be.
come our servants when we entered
this our Canaan: You will take up
with these unclean pork eaters" And
he rallied on amid Il general family
chorus OF lamentations.
In the meantime similar storm had
broken out in the family Of the Shu-
bens. storm that beat about the de
voted head Of poor Natasha.
And the next day the news spread
quickly over the whole OF Eden" as
some newspaper wag had facetiously
named the Molokan quarter, that the
expected marriage was not to take
place for the good and sufficient rea-
son that both the prospective bride and
groom We're possessed OF devils, There
was busy gossip; there was ferment
Of excitement; there were wild I'll
mors
At bottom the trouble was n contest
between two modes of life.
Hour by hour the boy and girl real
lied more and more the seriousness
of the situation. They were both un-
der tremendous pressure of public
opinion. How to get married in the
American way and not split the Molo-
kan community wide open and work
their own ruin was problem zoo big
for the peasant lovers. They could
not elope, as Americans might. They
were aliens in an alien land.
Slowly an idea shaped itself in Max
Sims mind. He would lay the whole
matter before Mr.. lowell, who was in