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Show AFTER THE WEDDING. Scenes at Which the Bride Is Condemned Con-demned by Her Relatives. It was the day after ihe wedding and every one was in a bad humor. Pater-famalias Pater-famalias coming downstairs to breakfast break-fast had slipped on a grain of rice on the stairs and wrenched his back. Matcrfamilias was grieving over the loss of her favorite daughter and the fact that two of her best Royal Worcester Wor-cester plates had been broken and three silver spoons stolen by some one in attendant at-tendant e at the reception. Margaret came in looking like a thunder thun-der cloud. "When people are starving to death in China it does seem a shame thai more than a million pounds of rice should be lying all over this house," she said: Then she turned to the assembled multitude. "My feet hurt." she cried. "I stood up seven hours running yesterday yes-terday and my feet are nearly killing me, and I cannot find anywhere the only shies I ever loved. They are so soft and easy that I never knew I had them on, and instead of being able to wear those today when I am so tired, here I had to put on a new pair of stiff ties to come down to breakfast in. "Has anyone seen my slippers? I have looked in every room in this house for them, and they are not to be found. I suppose one of the maids in a spasm of cleanliness tucked them on a remote shelf in some dark closet, and I will never see fhem any more." "What did they look like?" asked her older brother, languidly. "They had once been beautiful. They had coquettish red heels and jaunty gold buckles, and once upon a time I paid JH for those foolish things. Have you seen them, 'Bob'?" "Yes." "Where?' "Tied to Miranda's trunk by means of a long pieces of white ribbon. Fact is I tied them myself, and they were as decorative as possible. What's the use of raving, Madge, they are gone now?" But Mr. Robert had his troubles a little later, when he took his handkerchief handker-chief out of his raincoat pocket in a crowded car and flirted a lot of rice on the face of a young woman sitting on the seat near which he was standing, and in whose eyes he had imagined he saw a little look of interest directed at him. Later in the day the feminine members mem-bers of the family gathered in the late lamented Miranda's room to divide among them the possessions of that young woman, which she had, in the pride of her trousseau, contemptuously intimated that they might have. They had quarreled over a blue kimono ki-mono and a large ton sunshade, and were just beginning to row over a very delicate petticoat, which only needed a little mending here and there to make it desirable, when materfamilies came into the room with a perturbed look on her face. "Whoever took those teaspoons must have taken mv umbrella also." she said. "My best umbrella, the silk one with the worked metal handle. It was the prettiest one I ever saw. Tour aunt gave it to me, and she told me herself that it cost $25 in Paris. I had it put away most carefully in my closet, but it isn't there now. And think it had never even had the cover off it." "I suppose we had better tell her," said Madge to the other girls. 'Y'es, no use putting it off any longer," long-er," they replied In chorus. "Very well, then, mother, Miranda took your umbrella with her. She said hers wasn't nearly handsome enough for her going-a way gown, and so she took yours and. asked us to tell you after she had gone. She said we were to say 'thank you' for her, and to add that you had always been such an indulgent in-dulgent mother that she knew; you would not mind." "Wouldn't I. indeed! Well, I shall write to her today to send it back by express at once. She took your bracelet, brace-let, Madge I suppose I might as well break it to you now and some of the baby pins of the other girls." "Robber!" remarked the fond sisters sis-ters of the bride in one breath. "There is another disagreeable thing I have to say to you, my daughters, that I might as well say now and get it over," went on miterfamilias. "The expense of Miranda's wedding has been so great that your father has decided he will not be able to send us to Narra-gansett Narra-gansett this summer, as usual, but that instead we will have to go to the Eastern East-ern Shore. I know you are going to be disappointed, but remember Miranda is the oldest, and it was proper she should be given a smart wedding. Next summer sum-mer we will take up our usual life, but this year you must make some sacrifices sacri-fices for the sake of your dear sister." "Dear, indeed!" mourned Madge, and there were lamentations from far and near. Taking it altogether, a "wedding in the family is not the unalloyed blessing the unwitting might think. There have been cyclones with less trouble attached. |