consideration, the prospects had been most flattering. Mr. Stubbins,
sitting in Mrs. Wiggs's most comfortable chair, with a large slice of
pumpkin-pie in his hand, and with Miss Hazy opposite arrayed in Mrs.
Schultz's black silk, had declared himself ready to marry at once. And
Mrs. Wiggs, believing that a groom in the hand is worth two in the
bush, promptly precipitated the courtship into a wedding.

[Illustration: "Mr. Stubbins, sitting in Mrs. Wiggs's most comfortable
chair, with a large slice of pumpkin-pie in his hand"]

The affair proved the sensation of the hour, and "Miss Hazy's husband"
was the cynosure of all eyes. For one brief week the honeymoon shed
its beguiling light on the neighborhood, then it suffered a sudden and
ignominious eclipse.

The groom got drunk.

Mary was clearing away the supper-dishes when she was startled by a
cry from Miss Hazy:

"My sakes! Lovey Mary! Look at Mr. Stubbins a-comin' up the street! Do
you s'pose he's had a stroke?"

Lovey Mary ran to the window and beheld the "prominent citizen of
Bagdad Junction" in a state of unmistakable intoxication. He was
bareheaded and hilarious, and used the fence as a life-preserver. Miss
Hazy wrung her hands and wept.

"Oh, what'll I do?" she wailed. "I do b'lieve he's had somethin' to
drink. I ain't goin' to stay an' meet him, Mary; I'm goin' to hide. I