The Press., 1915-01-13

was aware of the approaching mar
 riage save the prospective bride, the
 minister and himself.
 Ananias ate scarcely any supper, al- | though Mrs. Powell had prepared his | favorite dish of oyster stew. She sat opposite him and blinked her eyes at him until he gulped down huge cup | of scalding hot tea and bolted away | from the table.
 "Little dearv' murmured the widow with strange smile on her face. Ananias locked himself into his room
 and made an elaborate if hasty toilet. After many maneuvers he let himself | out and managed to escape by the back | hall door. There was no sign of the
 widow, and he hoped she had gone to call upon one of her cronies. It would be i'll luck indeed if she had taken it into her head to call upon Elm Bevis, though the two rivals were not the best of friends since Ananias came be- tween them.
 StUl. tue w luOW 1OWoiI WAS dpU IO do the most baff1ing things. Ananias hurried to Riddles stables and climbed into the buggy which a grinning negro had prepared for him. He drove rapidly out of the yard, near ly losing a wheel in the turn. for he was not a skillful driver. Quince Harbor folks are inquisitive and prone to mind each others busi- ness to a most annoying degree; there fore 1t had been decided that Elm Be- wis was to wait for Ananias in Whip poorwill lane by the brook. He would catch her up into the vehicle. and away they would go to Big Harbor. Whippoorwill lane was there, and so was Elm Bevis, for Ananias recognized her uncovered head.
 He pressed her hand and received tender pressure in return. After that they rode in silence through the woods toward Big Harbor.
 At last they reached the main street of Big Harbor and the sorrel horse chose to gallop madly until Ananias, saving at the reins, managed to bring him to a stop before the gate of the parsonage.
 "Belay therew yelled the little ex- sailor angrily just as the minister opened the front door and stepped into the porch to meet them.
 The prospective bride got out unaid ed while Ananias was tying the sorrel horse and she was inside the house by the time Ananias had reached the gate.
 When Ananias Slime reached the par Tor, where stood the beaming clergy man and his smiling wife and couple of servants for witnesses, he stood in the doorway aghast at the sight that met his amazed eyes. The bride was there-a bride was there, indeed, but not the one he had so carefully chosen! Standing there in the modest splendor of gray satin dress hurriedly gar nished with white lace and punches of Widow-Rowell!
 Elm Bevis was nowhere to be seen.
 Somehow he had been tricked by the artful widow whom he had at first courted, only to leave when better chance presented itself. Surely retri- button was close upon the heels of Ananias Slime!
 "We are waiting, MT. Sline," remind ed MT. Twigg, smiling benevolently.
 Dear Ananias!" cooed Hetty Rowell, fixing her agate colored eyes upon him.
 Ananias moved forward mechanical iy. There seemed nothing else to do. Things were hideously mixed and bitter fate seemed to have driven him straight into the arms of the Widow Rowell. He felt that she had outKik ted him again-never more would he try to get the best of her. He would admit defeat. As for Elm Bevis, what could he do about it now without creating a scandal that would shake the three villages to the core?
 Nothing!
 So Ananias went forward and WAS joined in the bonds of holy matrimony to Hetty Rowell. When the ceremony was over Mrs. Twigg congratulated them warmly.
 ''It's the oldest thing" she babbled but Josiah and I really thought the bride-we understood it was to be another. We are quite surprisedp'
 "So are wer' smiled Mrs. Ananias Slime as she took her husbands arm and went down to the waiting buggy and the impatient sorrel horse.
 Somebody tossed an old shoe after them for luck and it struck Ananias right in the back of the neck, so that he uttered an explosive blast of pro- fanity that caused the minister and his wife to close their front door hurriedly.
 But the Widow Rowell-I mean Mrs. Ananias Sline-merely smiled compass sionately, as if she knew that her hus- band had just cause for exasperation
 A Cure For Snake Bite.