He apologized for the absence of his wife, saying she had been called

away suddenly, owing to the illness of her mother. His housekeeper and

gardener would act as witnesses. Sanderson hastily took Anna to one

side and said: "I forgot to tell you, darling, that I am going to be

married by my two first names only, George Lennox. It is just the

same, but if the Sanderson got into any of those country marriage

license papers, I should be afraid the governor would hear of

it--penalty of having a great name, you know," he concluded gayly.

"Thought I had better mention it, as it would not do to have you

surprised over your husband's name."

Again the feeling of dread completely over-powered her. She looked at

him with her great sorrowful eyes, as a trapped animal will sometimes

look at its captor, but she could not speak. Some terrible blight

seemed to have overgrown her brain, depriving her of speech and

willpower.

The witnesses entered. Anna was too agitated to notice that the Rev.

John Langdon's housekeeper was a very singular looking young woman for

her position. Her hair was conspicuously dark at the roots and

conspicuously light on the ends. Her face was hard and when she smiled

her mouth, assumed a wolfish expression. She was loudly dressed and

wore a profusion of jewelry--altogether a most remarkable looking woman

for the place she occupied.

The gardener had the appearance of having been suddenly wakened before

nature had had her full quota of sleep. He was blear-eyed and his

breath was more redolent of liquor than one might have expected in the

gardener of a parsonage.

The room in which the ceremony was to take place was the ordinary

cottage parlor, with crochet work on the chairs, and a profusion of

vases and bric-a-brac on the tables. The Rev. John Langdon requested

Anna and Sanderson to stand by a little marble table from which the

housekeeper brushed a profusion of knick-knacks. There was no Bible.

Anna was the first to notice the omission. This seemed to deprive the

young clergyman of his dignity. He looked confused, blushed, and

turning to the housekeeper told her to fetch the Bible. This seemed to

appeal to the housekeeper's sense of humor. She burst out laughing and

said something about looking for a needle in a haystack. Sanderson

turned on her furiously, and she left the room, looking sour, and

muttering indignantly. She returned, after what seemed an interminable

space of time, and the ceremony proceeded.

Anna did not recognize her own voice as she answered the responses.

Sanderson's was clear and ringing; his tones never faltered. When the

time came to put the ring on her finger, Anna's hand trembled so

violently that the ring fell to the floor and rolled away. Sanderson's

face turned pale. It seemed to him like a providential dispensation.

For some minutes, the assembled company joined in the hunt for the

ring. It was found at length by the yellow-haired housekeeper, who

returned it with her most wolfish grin.




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