Page:Orange Grove.djvu/261

 the most fittin' style for such a magnificent affair. In them days, oh 'twan't long ago though, school'ouses were built in a plain substantial style, with rough, wooden benches, and Sykes, he had a good deal of taste and he thought that wouldn't exactly correspond, and so he had 'em covered with black drapery. Now he was such a simple, honest-hearted soul he didn't know the difference between a weddin' and a funeral, and it strikes me there wouldn't be so much disappintment in the world if folks ginerally took that rational view of it. Now Sykes, he had a good deal of taste, and was very fond of flowers so he had wreathes of sun-flowers all round the room, and he made a great boquet of sun-flowers he meant to have the bride hold in her hand, but she had so much else in her hands that she looked as if she was goin' to drop it, and so he just took it and laid it down on the floor between 'em. Then in another thing he showed great taste as if he wanted to have things about right. He liked the effect of havin' it dark which would make it a much more magnificent affair than as if 't was light, as well as more solemn. So he had the rough board shutters closed and lit some taller candles. He hadn't no candle-sticks and he showed his common sense agin, in not bein' over nice on such a solemn occasion. He put one in a pewter mug, all polished up so it looked like silver, and one in a chany sarcer that belonged to one of his grandmothers in England. Such associations made it pleasant you know. Them stood, the mug in front o' him, and the chany sarcer in front o' her, so they could see they hadn't got hold of nobody else but