and uncontrolled possession. Well, gentlemen, to make a long story
short, we loved each other most devotedly; for she was a girl of
singular judgment and penetration, and placed little store by mere
personal appearance in those she loved: the mind, gentlemen--the mind
was what this amiable girl looked to. Well, as I was saying, we loved
each other with the fondest affection, and at length I succeeded in
prevailing upon her to name the happy day when we should become one.
Need I describe to you, gentleman, what were my transports--what the
intoxicating feelings of delight with which my whole soul was absorbed
by the contemplation of the delicious prospect that lay before me! A
beautiful woman and a fortune of L10,000 within my grasp! No. I'm sure I
need not describe the sensations I allude to, gentlemen--you will at
once conceive and appreciate them.

Well, my friends, all went smoothly on with me this time. The happy day
arrived--we proceeded to church. The clergyman began the service. In
three minutes more, gentleman, I would have been indissolubly united to
my beloved and her L10,000, when, at this critical moment, a person
rushed breathless into the church, forced his way through the crowd of
friends by whom we were surrounded, and caught my betrothed in his arms,
exclaiming--"Jessie, Jessie! would you forsake me? Have you forgot your
vows?" Jessie replied by a loud shriek, and immediately fainted.

Here, then, you see, gentlemen (continued the little hump-backed man in
the bright yellow waistcoat), was a pretty kick-up all in a moment.

In a twinkling, the bevy of friends by whom we were accompanied
scattered in all directions--some running for water, some for brandy,
some for one thing and some for another, till there was scarcely one
left in the church. The service was, of course, instantly stopped; and
my beloved was, in the meantime, very tenderly supported by the arms of
the stranger; for such he was to me at any rate, although by no means
so either to the lady herself or to her friends. I was, as you may well
believe, all astonishment and amazement at this extraordinary scene, and
could not at all conceive what it meant; but it was not long before I
was very fully informed on this head. To return, however, in the
meantime, to the lady. On recovering from her fainting fit, the
stranger, who had been all along contemplating her with a look of the
most tender affection, asked her, in a gentle voice, "If she wo