344 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



December 



ern "whsn a man carae offering to 

 hire them a wheel, only, as it was a 

 man's wheel, the rider would have 

 to wear bloomers, he said. 



"That's all right, " replied Mrs. 

 Rodney. "I'll have them by the 

 time you get the wheel here." 



"With the aid of the landlady's 

 sewing machine she quickly trans- 

 formed a dark petticoat into a pair 

 of baggy trousers, which she tied 

 about her ankles with strings. Her 

 silk skirt she rolled in a tight bun- 

 dle, to be carried behind her and 

 donned at the journey's end, and 

 •when the wheel was brought she 

 mounted it at once. 



The hills were hard to climb and 

 dangerous to descend. Each woman 

 had several falls, but neither was 

 seriously hurt, the worst damage be- 

 ing a scratch on Mrs. Eodney 's brow 

 from which a little blood trickled. 

 Neither of them noticed that a man 

 followed them on a wheel all the 

 ■way, the same one who stood behind 

 them in the telegraph ofiQce. 



A few minutes before 3 o'clock 

 they reached their destination, and 

 Mrs. Eodney donned her silk skirt. 

 The smart and respectable appear- 

 ance it gave to her lower half con- 

 trasted so violently with her bedrag- 

 gled, disheveled, gore dabbled and 

 mud caked upper half that Kate 

 could not refrain from laughing, 

 but her own plight was little if any 

 better. 



Mrs. Peyton, who met them on 

 the porch, cried out in alarm : "Good 

 gracious! What has happened? Oh, 

 I'm sorry you went out." 



"You will be glad of it directly, I 

 hope, " answered the girl seriously. 

 "Has the wedding taken place yet?" 



"Oh, 3'es. Half an hour ago." 



Mrs. Eodney sprang forward, her 

 eyes blazing, aud hoarsely demand- 

 ed, "Do you mean that Mr. Eodney 

 married somebody here todaj'?" 



"\Yiiy, certainly; j'es," replied 

 Mrs. Peyton, retreating a little bo- 

 fore the frightful looking woman. 



"He married my daughter." 



"He couldn't. He is my husband!" 



Mrs. Peyton shrieked and swoon- 

 ed in Kate's arms. Several persons 

 ran out at her cry, and Mrs. Eodney 

 slipped into the parlor unnoticed in 

 the confusion, followed by the pur- 

 suing wheelman, who stealthily ap- 

 peared from the shrubbery. 



The enraged wife strode quickly 

 to where Mrs. Eodney stood sur- 

 rounded by guests and burst into a 

 torrent of denunciation. "You 

 treacherous, lying scoundrell" she 

 hurled at him in a voice vibrant 

 with fury. "I've caught you, have 

 I? You thought you could fool me 

 with your lies. So this is your big 

 bank cracking job, eh? Marrying 

 another girl ! Where is she? Show 

 her to me. I want to tell her who 

 you are — what she has married. You 

 lying thief!" 



The respectable company stood in 

 petrified horror. The bridegroom at 

 bay, nerved by desperation to a mas- 

 terly effort at bravado, exclaimed in 

 assumed astonishment, "Who is this 

 crazy woman?" 



"What! You don't know me, Jer- 

 ry I And I'm crazy, am I? Not half 

 as crazy as you'll bo when I land 

 you in state prison for bigamy." 



"I'll get an ofiQcer, " he cried, 

 starting for the door, in hope of 

 flight, but at his second step that 

 pursuing wheelman stopped him, 

 cheerily saying, "For fear she might 

 forget to press the bigamy charge, 

 Jerry, I'll just scoop you in myself 

 for burglary. ' ' 



Jerrj' sprang back and attempted 

 to draw a revolver, but was clutch- 

 ed, "back heeled" and laid low in an 

 instant with the man kneeling on 

 his breast. Wifely fealty, overcom- 

 ing sense of wrong, moved Mrs. 

 Eodney to hurl a heavy porcelain 

 vase at the officer's head, but luck- 

 ily her aim vv'as bad. When the pros- 

 trate rascal had been handcuffed, 

 his captor explained: 



"I am John Lawrence of the New 



