He must have nerve to tackle her after he saw her
squelch you. But you can never tell what a woman is going to do."
"If you had kept off a bit I would be sitting right there now instead of
that young fellow. They seem to chatter away like old friends."
The next morning John and Mary ate breakfast together in Washington and
that afternoon journeyed on to New York. When they went into the diner
for supper and the waiter referred to Mary as John's wife, she did not
blush, but touched his arm and looked at him with a smile of confidence
and love. As he returned the glance a close observer would have said;
"They are newly married."
* * * * *
The next morning Mrs. Cornwall received a telegram: "Have followed your
advice. Married Mary last night. Her picture is on my dresser. You can
wire us at The McAlpin. John."
Mary and John also telegraphed her mother announcing the marriage and
stating that they would stop over ten days on their way home to Harlan.
* * * * *
John accompanied Mary to Wellesley, where she finally succeeded in
explaining why it was necessary that she should be permitted to resign
as teacher of mathematics.
The girls at first sight of John were quite hysterical, exclaiming:
"What a handsome man Miss Saylor's brother is!" When they learned his
identity and that he came to take her away, he was condemned as a horrid
old baldheaded man. This opinion was mildly modified at the farewell
dinner the school gave to Miss Saylor, where John at his best gave the
young ladies an informal talk on,--"School Days, School Teachers and
Matrimony." More than half of the girls were so impressed by the sense
and sentiment of his talk that for a day or two they thought seriously
of becoming teachers and waiting until they were thirty, when they would
marry a nice-looking and prosperous young lawyer like Miss Saylor's
John.
John rushed through his business engagement in Boston; then they went
down to Atlantic City for several days.
He had written Bradford and Mr. Rogers telling of his marriage. They had
each telegraphed congratulations and insisted that John wire the time of
their arrival in Pittsburgh. This he did.
They were met at the station by Bradford and Dorothy and Mr. Rogers and
his wife. Both families insisted that they should be their guests while
in the city. A compromise was effected by going home with Bradford and
Dorothy and accepti
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