ning. "And would you believe it, girls?" she cried
ecstatically. "If it hadn't have been Eve's wedding-day, and I'd got
to bake cakes for the sociable, and so had to be up at three this very
morning, while he was still dreaming he was a whiskey trust or some
other drunken delusion, I'd sure never have seen that wad nor touched
five cents of it, he's that close. Say, girls," she beamed, "I never
said a word to Jake for getting soused, not a word. And I let him
sleep right on, an' when he woke to light fires, and start baking, I
just give him a real elegant breakfast with cream in his coffee, an'
asked him if he'd like a bottle of rye for his head. But say, I never
see him shovel coal harder in my life than he did in that coal-box
after breakfast. I'd like to gamble he's still shovelin' it."

It certainly was a gala day in Barnriff. The festivity had even
penetrated to the veins of Silas Rocket, and possessed him of an
atmosphere which "let him in" to the extent of three rounds of
drinks to the boys before eleven o'clock. The men for the most part
took a long time with their morning ablutions. But the effect was
really impressive and quite worth the extra trouble. The result so
lightened up the dingy village, that some of them, one realized, had
considerable pretensions to good looks. And a further curious thing
about this cleansing process was that it affected their attitude
toward each other. Their talk became less familiar, a wave of
something almost like politeness set in. It suggested a clean
starched shirt just home from the laundry. They walked about
without their customary slouch, and each man radiated an atmosphere
of conscious rectitude that became almost importance. Peter Blunt,
talking to Doc Crombie, said he'd never seen so many precise creases
in broadcloth since he'd lived in Barnriff.

There was no business to be done that day. Even Smallbones was forced
to keep his doors shut, though not without audible protest. He
asserted loudly that Congress should be asked to pass a law preventing
marriages taking place in mercantile centres.

No one saw the bride and bridegroom that morning except Peter Blunt
and Annie Gay. Annie was acting as Eve's maid for the occasion. She
positively refused to let the girl dress herself, and though she could
not be her bridesmaid, had expressed her deliberate intention of being
her strong support. She and Eve had worked together on the wedding
dress, which was of simple white