Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1912-06-20

I'm any circumstances. in spite of all?
love you because you are You, not
because you are here. must be loved
in the same way always"
She looked at me now silently, and I
leaned and kissed her full on the
mouth.
She did not rebel or draw away, but
there was that on her face, ! say,
which left me only reverent. Her hand
fell into mine We sat there plighted.
piighted in our rags and misery and
want and solitude. Though | should
live twice the allotted span of man,
never should forget what came into
my soul that hour.
After time | turned from her and
from the hills and from the sky and
looked about US at the poor belongings
with which we were to begin our
world. All at once my eye fell upon
one of our lighter robes, now fairly
white with much working. / drew it
toward me, and with her still leaning
against my shoulder took up a char
red stick. and so laboriously wrote
upon the surface of the hide these
words Of our covenant:
81, John Cowles. take thee. Ellen
Meriwether, to be my lawful welded
wife, In sickness and In health, for bet
ter or for worse. till death do us part"
And signed it and made seal after
my name.
Write" said to her; write as
have written
/ She took fresh brand bIackened at
the end and in lesser characters wrote
slowly letter by letter:
81, Ellen Meriwether. take thee, John
Cowles. to be my lawful, welded hus-
band She paused, but | would not
urge her, and it was moments before
sheresumed-''in sickness and in health,
for better or for worse Again she
paused thinking, thinking and so con-
cluded, It'll death do us part
.'It MEANS" she said to me simply as
a child. until we have both gone back
into the flowers and the trees"
1 took her hand In mine. Mayhap
book and bell and organ peal and YES
tured choir and high ceremony Of the
church may be more solemn, but |.
who speak the truth from this very
knowledge, think it could not be.
I when you have signed that, Ellen"
j said to her at last, I'VE two are man
and wife, now and forever, here and
any place in the world. That is bind
ing ceremony, and it endows you with
your share of all my property. small or
large. as that may be. 1t is legal
wedding, and it holds us with all the
powers the law can have. 1t Is con-
tract"
do not talk to me of contracts" she
said. Il am thinking of nothing but
our-wedding."
/ Still mystical, still enigma, still wo-
man, she would have it that the stars,
the mountains-the witnesses-and not
ourselves, made the wedding. left it
SO, sure of nothing so much as that,
whatever her way of thought might be,
it was better than my own.
But if do not sign thisY' she ask
ed at length.
Then we are not married"
She sighed and laid down the pen.
'sThen shall not sign it-yet," she
said
l caught up her hand as though !
would write for her.
NO." she said; "it shall be only our
engagement, our troth between us.
This will be our way. have not yet
been sufficiently wooed, John Cowles!
looked into her eyes and it seemed
to me l saw there something of the
same light had seen when she was
the masked coquette of the army ball
the yearning, the melancholy, the
mysticism, the challenge. the invita-
ton and the doubling ali, who shall
say what there is in a woman's eye!
But saw also what had been in her
eyes each time ! had seen her since
that hour. left it so, knowing that
her way would be best.
when we have escaped" she went
ON, ''if ever we do escape, then this
will still be our troth, will it not, John
Cowles?"
] YES, and our marriage when you
have signed, now or any other time"
But If you had ever signed words
like these with any other woman, then