ced them husband and wife, and there I stood like
a block of marble and held my peace when he asked if any one knew of a
just cause why they shouldn't be joined in holy wedlock. I never even
opened my lips. Then everybody rushed up and congratulated Anne! And
kissed her, and made all sorts of horrible noises over her. And then what
do you think happened? Old Tempy up and practically ordered everybody out
of the house. Said he was tired and wanted to be left alone. 'Good-bye,'
he said, just like that, right in our faces--right in mother's face, and
the preacher's, and old Mrs. Browne's. You could have heard a pin drop.
'Good-bye,' that's what he said, and then, will you believe it, he turned
to one of the pie-faced lawyers and said to him: 'Will you turn over that
package to my wife, Mr. Hollenback?' and then he says to that man of his:
'Wade, be good enough to hand Mr. Tresslyn the little acknowledgment for
his services?' Then and there, that lawyer gave Anne a thick envelope and
Wade gave me a little box,--a little bit of a box that I wish I'd kept to
bury the old skinflint in. It would be just about his size. I had it in my
vest pocket for awhile. 'Wade, your arm,' says he, and then with what he
probably intended to be a sweet smile for Anne, he got to his feet and
went out of the room, holding his side and bending over just as if he was
having a devil of time to keep from laughing out loud. I heard the doctor
say something about a pain there, but I didn't pay much attention. What do
you think of that? Got right up and left his guests, his bride and
everybody standing there like a lot of goops. His bride, mind you. I'm
dead sure that so-called stroke of his was all a bluff. He just put one
over on us, that's all. Wasn't any more sick than I am. Didn't you hear
about the stroke? Stroke of luck, I'd call it. And say, what do you think
he gave me as a little acknowledgment for my services? Look! Feast your
eyes upon it!" He turned back the lapel of his coat and fumbled for a
moment before extracting from the cloth a very ordinary looking scarf-pin,
a small aqua-marine surrounded by a narrow rim of pearls. "Great, isn't
it? Magnificent tribute! You could get a dozen of 'em for fifty dollars.
That's what I got for being best man at my sister's funeral, and, by God,
it's more than I deserved at that. He had me sized up properly, I'll say
that for him."

He bowed his head dejectedly, his lips working in a sort of spasmodic
si