e that had been for years
living in a state of open immorality.

"I didn't get her, at first, not thinking of Uncle Henry and Aunt Mollie.
But she meant just them two. I give her a good hearty laugh, at first;
but it pained her so much I let her talk. It seems she'd gone there to
sell raffle tickets, and they'd taken four, and cooked food for her, and
give her some cherry cordial, which she took on account of being far from
a strong woman; and then Aunt Mollie had told all her past life, with
this horrid scandal about the notary public sticking innocently out of
it.

"Mrs. Julia hadn't been able to see anything but the scandal, she being
an expert in that line. So she had started in to persuade Aunt Mollie
that it was her sacred duty to be married decently to her companion in
crime for forty years. And Aunt Mollie had been right taken with the
idea; in fact, she had entered into it with a social enthusiasm that
didn't seem to Mrs. Julia to have quite enough womanly shame for her dark
past in it. Still, anything to get the guilty couple lawful wedded;
and before she left it was all fixed. Uncle Henry was to make an honest
woman of Aunt Mollie as soon as she could get her trousseau ready.

"Me? I didn't know whether to laugh or get mad. I said the original
marriage had satisfied the peace and dignity of the state of Washington;
and it had done more--it had even satisfied the neighbours. So why not
let it rest? But, no, indeedy! It had never been a marriage in the sight
of God and couldn't be one now. Facts was facts! And she talked some more
about Aunt Mollie not taking her false position in the proper way.

"It had been Mrs. Julia's idea to have the preacher come up and commit
this ceremony quite furtively, with mebbe a couple of legal witnesses,
keeping everything quiet, so as not to have a public scandal. But nothing
like that for the guilty woman! She was going to have a trousseau and a
wedding, with guests and gayety. She wasn't taking it the right way at
all. It seemed like she wanted all the scandal there was going.

"'Really, I can't understand the creature,' says Mrs. Julia. 'She even
speaks of a wedding breakfast! Can you imagine her wishing to flaunt such
a thing?'

"It was then I decided to laugh instead of telling this lady a few things
she couldn't of put in an article. I said Aunt Mollie's taking it this
way showed how depraved people could get after forty years of it; and we
must try to humour the ol