chain--it ties us to
each yuther. Don't you like it?"

"Yes'm, I shore does."

"How come you complains about it fer?"

"I ain't got no lament, Pearline--dat is, I ain't mean it dat way."

The bridegroom filled his mouth with food and for the next ten minutes
ate voraciously. One watching him would draw the inference that he was
not eating to enjoy the food so much as to find some occupation for his
mouth beside speech.

Pearline reached out with her free hand and toyed with the chain,
twisting it about her fingers lovingly, a dreamy light in her coal-black
eyes.

"Us had de biggest weddin' in cullud circles, Plaster," she murmured.

"I ain't no cullud circle," Plaster mumbled, his mouth full of food.
"But I reckin I got to run circles aroun' you 'slong as dis ole chain
stays on. Don't rattle dat chain so loud, Pearly! Gosh! It makes a heap
of racket fer its little size."

"You jes' now said it wus a big, heavy chain fer its size," his wife
reminded him in a sweetly argumentative tone.

"Yes'm, it am--dis chain is bofe little an' big--fer its size," the
groom amended hastily. "Stop talkin' about dis chain!"

"You started dis talk," she reminded him reproachfully. "You said it
hurted yo' wrist."

There was a loud knock upon the door. Plaster sprang up to answer. The
chain jerked at his wrist.

"Good gawsh!" he snorted. "Come to de door wid me, honey, so I kin open
up."

"I cain't, Plaster," the bride exclaimed in a panic. "I ain't dressed
fer comp'ny dis soon in de mawnin."

"You's got on all de clothes you owns," the groom reminded her.

"Suttinly, but I ain't got no white powder on my black nose," she
giggled. "Come back in de nex' room an' let me fresh up befo' we opens
de door."

"I stayed in dar a plum' hour while you wus freshin' up fer yo'
viteles," Plaster grumbled.

"Don't git grumped up, Plaster," Pearline urged. "You ack like yo' love
is commenced to wilt aroun' de edges."

Meekly the man followed her to the bedroom and stood for fifteen minutes
while the bride primped her hair, powdered her nose, adjusted her
collar, fiddled with her belt, put pins in her shirt-waist, took them
out and deposited them in her mouth, put them back into her waist,
turned around and looked at herself in the mirror, hunted for a fresh
handkerchief and could not find it, located it at last in the bosom of
her waist, wondered where she had left her chewing-gum, found it on top
of the box of face-powder, and f