CRAVEN COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA. I45 



The first groomsman opens the dance with the 

 bride, the groom with the first bridesmaid, and, by 

 a time-honored custom, the air is '' Haste to the 

 Wedding." After this the dancing continues until 

 near midnight, when supper is announced, and the 

 bride is led into supper by the first groomsman. 

 The supper table is a bona-fide supper table, ar- 

 ranged to hold all the guests. Considerable in- 

 genuity is shown in devising a suitable form, so as 

 to afford the greatest accommodation, and in deco- 

 rating it. Towers of cake, wreaths, ornaments of 

 every description, may be seen, while by their side 

 an ample provision of turkeys, of ducks, of hams, of 

 rice, and of bread, all showing that it is not a sham, 

 nor designed to be treated as such ; wine, too, flows 

 in abundance ; in fact, the only article which appears 

 to be scarce is water. Toasts are drunk ; jokes fly 

 about, and all are happy, except the parties most 

 concerned, who feel that, though happy, it is too 

 newly to be quite at rest. 



After supper the bride disappears. She is no 

 longer seen in the festive hall ; but the music is 

 playing, and the dancing is proceeding, and one by 

 one the bridesmaids drop in, looking very mysteri- 

 ously, and the dancing proceeds, not the less bois- 

 terous from being after supper, and by degrees the 

 elderly folks drop off, and the groom becomes miss- 

 ing, and the hours wear on apace, and the dance be- 

 comes more languid, and by two or three o'clock in 



