Mr. Culver and Myrtle were married at the same address
by Mr. Ostermaier, standing in front of the fire truck.

But this should be related in detail. So bitter was Charlie Sands, so
uneasy about the license, and so on, that I feel in fairness to Tish
that I should relate exactly what happened.

At ten o'clock that night everything was over, and we had gathered in
Tish's apartment while Hannah broiled a steak, for Tish felt that the
occasion permitted a certain extravagance, when Charlie Sands came in.
Behind him was a dishevelled young man, with wild eyes and a suitcase.
Charlie Sands stood and glared at us.

"Well!" he said. And then: "Where's the young lady?"

"What young lady?" asked Tish, coldly.

The young man stepped forward, with his fists clenched.

"Mine!" he bellowed. "Mine! Don't deny it. I recognize you. I saw
you--the lot of you. I saw you drag her into a car and kidnap her. I saw
that ass Culver and a policeman chasing you in another car. Oh, I know
you, all right. Didn't I pay twenty-two dollars for a taxicab that got
three punctures all at once thirty miles from the city? _Now where is
she?_"

"Just a moment," said Tish's nephew, holding him back by an arm across
his chest. "Just remember that whatever my aunt has done was done with
the best intentions."

"D---- her intentions! I want Myrtle."

The dreadful truth must have come to Tish at that moment, as it did to
the rest of us. I know that she turned pale. But she rose and pointed
magnificently to the door.

"Leave my apartment," she said majestically. And to Charlie Sands: "Take
that madman away and lock him up. Then, if you have anything to say to
me, come back alone."

"Not a step," said the young man. "Where's my marriage license?
Where's----"

But Charlie Sands pushed him out into the hallway and closed the door
on him. Then, with folded arms he surveyed us.

"That's right!" he said. "Knot! I believe most pirates knit on off days.
Now, Aunt Letitia, I want the whole story."

"Story?"

"About the license. He says the girl had the license."

"What license?"

"Don't evade!" he said sternly. "Where were you this afternoon?"

"If you want the truth," said Tish, "although it's none of your
business, Charlie Sands, and you can unfold your arms, because the pose
has no effect on me,--I was out rounding up a young man who had not
registered. I got him and brought him in to my precinct at five minutes
to nine."

"And that's the tr