that was a-lyin'
there, an' showed me her name on the monumint. She was buried in her own
folks' lot, an' I never knowed till it was too late that his own lot was
plum full of wives, an' this here was a annex, so to speak. I dunno how I
come to be so took in, but anyways, when James's grief had subsided
somewhat, we decided to travel on the remainin' stretch through this vale
of tears together.

"He told me he had a beautiful home in Taylorville, but was a-livin' where
he was so 's to be near the cemetery an' where he could look after dear
Annie's grave. The sentiment made me think all the more of him, so 's I
didn't hesitate, an' was even willin' to be married with one of my old
rings, to save the expense of a new one. James allers was thrifty, an' the
way he put it, it sounded quite reasonable, so 's that's how it comes, my
dear, that in spite of havin' had seven husbands, I've only got six
weddin'-rings.

"I put each one on when its own proper anniversary comes around an' wear
it till the next one, when I change again, though for one of the rings it
makes only one day, because the fourth and seventh times I was married so
near together. That sounds queer, my dear, but if you think it over,
you'll see what I mean. It's fortunate, too, in a way, 'cause I found out
by accident years afterward that my fourth weddin'-ring come out of a
pawn-shop, an' I never took much joy out of wearin' it. Bein' just alike,
I wore another one mostly, even when Samuel was alive, but he never
noticed. Besides, I reckon 't wouldn't make no difference, for a man
that'll go to a pawn-shop for a weddin'-ring ain't one to make a row about
his wife's changin' it. When I spoke sharp to him about it, he snickered,
an' said it was appropriate enough, though to this day I've never figured
out precisely just what the old serpent meant by it.

"Well, as I was sayin', my dear, the minister married us in good an'
proper form, an' I must say that, though I've had all kinds of ceremonies,
I take to the 'Piscopal one the most, in spite of havin' been brought up
Methodis', an' hereafter I'll be married by it if the occasion should
arise--an' we drove over to Taylorville.

"The roads was dretful, but bein' experienced in marriage, I could see
that it wasn't that that was makin' James drop the whip, an' pull back on
the lines when he wanted the horses to go faster, an' not hear things I
was a-sayin' to him. Finally, I says, very distinct: 'James, dear, how