The church is no distance from the store so the bride and groom walked home. It is said that on the way Miss Amelia began to talk about some deal she had worked up with a farmer over a load of kindling wood. In fact, she treated her groom ily the same manner she would have used with some er who had e into the store to buy a pint from her. But so far all had goly enough; the town was gratified, as people had seen what this love had doo Marvin Mad hoped that it might also reform his bride. At least, they ted on the marriage to tone down Miss Amelias temper, to put a bit of bride-fat on her, and to ge her at last into a calculable woman.
They were wrong. The young boys who watched through the window on that night said that this is what actually happehe bride and groom ate a grand supper prepared by Jeff, the old Negro who cooked for Miss Amelia. The bride took sed servings of everything, but the groom picked with his food. Then the bride went about her ordinary business -- reading the neer, finishing an iory of the sto the store, and so forth. The groom hung about in the doorway with a loose, foolish, blissful fad was not noticed. At eleven oclock the bride took a lamp a upstairs. The groom followed close behind her. So far all had goly enough, but what followed after was unholy.
Within half an hour Miss Amelia had stomped dowairs in breeches and a khaki jacket. Her face had darkened so that it looked quite black. She slammed the kit door and gave it an ugly kick. Then she trolled herself. She poked up the fire, sat dout her feet up o stove. She read the Farmers Almanac, drank coffee, and had a smoke with her fathers pipe. Her face was hard, stern, and had now whiteo its natural color. Sometimes she paused to jot down some information from the Almana a piece of paper. Toward dawn she went into her offid uncovered her typewriter, which she had retly bought and was only just learning how to run. That was the way in which she spent the whole of her wedding night. At daylight she went out to her yard as though nothing whatsoever had occurred and did some carpentering on a rabbit hutch which she had begun the week before and inteo sell somewhere.
A groom is in a sorry fix when he is u his well-beloved bride to bed with him, and the whole town knows it. Marvin Macy came down that day still in his wedding finery, and with a sick face. God knows how he had spent the night. He moped about the yard, watg Miss Amelia, but keeping some distance away from her. Then toward noon an idea came to him and he went off in the dire of Society City. He returned with presents -- an opal ring, a pink enamel doreen of the sort which was then in fashion, a silver bracelet with two hearts on it, and a box of dy which had cost two dollars and a half. Miss Amelia looked over these fine gifts and opehe box of dy, for she was hungry. The rest of the presents she judged shrewdly for a moment to sum up their value -- the them in the ter out for sale. The night ent in much the same manner as the preg one -- except that Miss Amelia brought her feather mattress to make a pallet by the kit stove, and she slept fairly well.
Things went on like this for three days. Miss Amelia went about her business as usual, and took great i in some rumor that a bridge was to be built some ten miles down the road. Marvin Macy still followed her about around the premises, and it lain from his face how he suffered. Then on the fourth day he did aremely simple-mihing: