almost too festive, too estival, too ebullient for this poor
earth of ours. His wife, whose costume I will not describe and whose
state of mind I shall not explore, showed a subdued sedateness--though a
glad--which restored the balance.

Raymond Prince saw the ceremony from one of the back pews. If he
attended the out-of-door reception at the house, it must have been but
briefly: I quite missed him there. For him the wedding proper had been
less a ceremony than a parade. I can fancy how he resented the
organist's grand outburst and the triumphal descent (undeniably
effective) of the bridal party over those six or seven steps. Again he
was an unregarded and negligible spectator. I presume he missed Johnny's
hand in Albert's, and Johnny's pressure on Albert's shoulder--the one
with the stain; and I hope he did. It was the hand of the stronger,
taking possession. "My prop, my future mainstay!" said Johnny's action.

And it was as an unregarded and negligible spectator--now his permanent
role--that Raymond Prince took the slow train back to town.

THE END

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Riverside Press
CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS
U . S . A

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