| Show A TEXAS WEDDING i The Kind of Music the Brides Father Fath-er Furnished at the Feast All the old residents of Ittontague county Texas remember Uncle Henry Harris tSie preaoher ferryman of Red river during the latter part of the eighties There have been > many greater great-er men in tlhis part of the state and many more intellectual ones but there have been few who were so universally loved or who were so widely mourned for after their death Uncle Henry was a onelegged man and the wooden stump Which supplied the place of his missing member was a very primitive affair It was joined to the stump of his leg by a strap which could be removed re-moved in a few moments Calvin Dubbs a halfbreed Choctaw Indian courted his daughter May Harris Uncle Henry was opposed to he suit of Dubbs because of his ungodliness un-godliness and bad character His daughter did not share in these objectIons objec-tIons One afternoon Calvin Dubbs rode up to the ferry and as the river was high asked to be ferried over The old man and Tobe started to take him across but no sooner did they reach the mid die of the river than their passenger whipped out a bowaeknife and in a few passes severed > the longer of the two lopes that bound them to the trolley The boat immediately swung around 3n the current and remained statidnary in midriver Whats that cried Uncle Henry in alarm Dont you know We cant jet across now Dont know about you I kin l make it all right myself Calvin sprang to the saddle urged lis pony over the side of the boat into tjhe water and struck out for shore The Hwo captives on the boat watched Shim helplessly until he gained the Shore they had just left As he did so May came out of the cabin arrayed in her Sunday best and two men on horseback rode out from their concealment conceal-ment back of the bluff The object of the stratagem gradually dawned one on-e old mans mind Theres goin to be a weddin yelled Calvin from the bank Well let you attend as a witness Whirrs yore license shrieked the father and whars yore preacher Heres the license yelled Dubbs waving a legallooking document can you read it from there And this man heres the < preacher The couple took their places and the alleged preacher began the ceremony Uncle Henry began pleaxllng and expostulating ex-postulating but all 1n vain Suddenly he grabbed the Winchester he carried a in the bottom of hIs boat and drew a bead on his prospective soninlaw Stop that tornfoolishness or Ill shoot Shoot and be dd yelled Calvin Go on parson This latter retnark was addressed ito the preacher onshore on-shore Wihatever might be said against Calvins morals nobody ever doubted his nerve < Crank sounded the Winchester from the boat and with a thud a bullet buried itself in the horn of the bridegrooms bride-grooms saddle Calvin made a quick motion toward his own gun but May caught his arm I Dont she cried Pa wont hurt you If hed wanted to hed bored you the first crack The ceremony was a brief one but every few moments < Uncle Henry would blaze away just close enotfgh to The bridegroom to be unpleasant When it was over the party rode away with many tantalizing adieux to the captives cap-tives on the boatSt Louis Globe I Democrat |
