lly into the wedding circle, bellowing, tossing
her head, and flourishing her tail in a terrific and antinuptial manner.
The Rev. Mr. Sifter was the first one to leave, and, being very spare,
he passed swiftly through the trees and bushes, never looking behind him
till he had reached the meeting house, where he stopped and in his
unconscious delirium caught at the bell rope and rang the bell with a
vigor that started every one from his work, so that in a few minutes
'Extinguisher No. 1' was hurried along the roads by an extempore company
of about fifty men and boys.

Meanwhile, the witnesses of the rural wedding had all skedaddled--to
borrow a Greek word--into the woods, in dire confusion, tearing
dresses, pulling down 'back hair,' hitching hoop skirts, and tumbling
over blackberry vines--but each intent on increasing the distance from
the mad cow. Ann Harriet was not so fortunate; her size prevented her
running, and a fiery peony on her bosom attracted the animal's
attention, so that, with a loud roar, the beast rushed directly upon
her. Had Ann Harriet been--as she was a few weeks before--an unprotected
female, the undertaker of Peonytown would have had a 'big job' that day;
but luckily, he who had just sworn to love and protect her saw that now
was his time and chance to begin; so, drawing his sword, he stepped in
front of his trembling bride, and, as the cow approached with head down
and eyeballs glaring wildly, he aimed a blow with his weapon, which
inflicted a severe cut on her nose.

The cow paused.

'Step backward gradually, my Ann Harriet,' said the valiant Dobbs, 'and
I will see that she does not touch you.'

Ann Harriet stepped backward, but not 'gradually,' for she trod on a
loose stone, which upset her, and she rolled over and over down a
sloping rock, ruining, on the way, any quantity of huckleberry bushes
and pennyroyal. This started the cow, who made another furious charge at
the soldier, who this time, by a well-directed blow, cut one horn sheer
off.

'That's good!' exclaimed he; 'next time I'll take t'other horn, and then
commence on her legs.'

The cow made another retreat, but appeared by no means vanquished. The
Captain stood his ground manfully. Ann Harriet sat on the moss at the
foot of the rock, disentangling from her hair the bruised and mangled
caterpillars which still remained there.

Just as the cow was about to make her third charge, shouts were heard in
the path which led to the vi