A confused chorus answered him affirmatively,and he immediately arranged Clayton in one corner of the room with his serious attendants on one side,and Raines,grave to solemnity,on the other.Easter's mother and her assistants came in from the kitchen,and the doors were filled with faces.Above,the tramping of feet became more hurried;below,all stood with expectant faces turned to the rude staircase.Clayton's heart began to throb,and a strange light brightened under Raines's heavy brows.
"Hurry up,thar!"shouted Hicks,impatiently.
A moment later two pairs of rough shoes came down the steps,and after them two slippered feet that fixed every eye in the room,until the figure and face above them slowly descended into the light.
Midway the girl paused with a timid air.Had an angel been lowered to mortal view,the waiting people would not have been stricken with more wonder.Raines's face relaxed into a look almost of awe,and even Hicks for the instant was stunned into reverence.Mountain eyes had never beheld such loveliness so arrayed.It was simple enough-the garment-all white,and of a misty texture,yet it formed a mysterious vision to them.About the girl's brow was a wreath of pink and white laurel.A veil had not been used.It would hide her face,she said,and she did not see why that should be done.For an instant she stood poised so lightly that she seemed to sway like a vision,as the candle-lights quivered about her,with her hands clasped in front of her,and her eyes wandering about the room till they lighted upon Clayton with a look of love that seemed to make her conscious only of him.Then,with quickening breath,lips parted slightly,cheeks slowly flushing,and shining eyes still upon him,she moved slowly across the room until she stood at his side.
Raines gathered himself together as from a dream,and stepped before the pair.Broken and husky at first,his voice trembled in spite of himself,but thereafter there was no hint of the powerful emotions at play within him.Only as he joined their hands,his eyes rested an instant with infinite tenderness on Easter's face-as though the look were a last farewell-and his voice deepened with solemn earnestness when he bade Clayton protect and cherish her until death.There was a strange mixture in those last words of the office and the man-of divine authority and personal appeal-and Clay.ton was deeply stirred.The benediction over4the young preacher was turning away,when some one called huskily from the rear of the cabin:
"Whyn't ye kiss the bride?
It was Easter's father,and the voice,rough as it was,brought a sensation of relief to all.The young mountaineer's features contracted with swift pain,and as Easter leaned toward him,with subtle delicacy,he touched,not her lips,but her forehead,as reverently as though she had been a saint.
Instantly the fiddles began,the floor was cleared,the bridal party hurried into the kitchen,and the cabin began to shake beneath dancing feet.Hicks was fulfilling his word,and in the kitchen his wife had done her part.Everything known to the mountaineer palate was piled in profusion on the table,but Clayton and Easter ate nothing.To him the whole evening was a nightmare,which the solemn moments of the marriage had made the more hideous.
He was restless and eager to get away.The dancing was becoming more furious,and above the noise rose Hicks's voice prompting the dancers.The ruder ones still hung about the doors,regarding Clayton curiously,or with eager eyes upon the feast.Easter was vaguely troubled,and conflicting with the innocent pride and joy in her eyes were the questioning glances she turned to Clayton's darkening face.At last they were hurried out,and in came the crowd like hungry wolves.
Placing Clayton and Easter in a corner of the room,the attendants themselves took part in the dancing,and such dancing Clayton had never seen.Doors and windows were full of faces,and the room was crowded;from the kitchen came coarse laughter and the rattling of dishes.
Occasionally Hicks would disappear with several others,and would return with his face redder than ever.
Easter became uneasy.Once she left Clayton's side and expostulated with her father,but he shook her from his arm roughly.Raines saw this,and a moment later he led the old mountaineer from the room.Thereafter the latter was quieter,but only for a little while.Several times the kitchen was filled and emptied,and ever was the crowd unsteadier.Soon even Raines's influence was of no avail,and the bottle was passed openly from guest to guest.
"Whyn't ye dance?"
Clayton felt his arm grasped,and Hicks stood swaying before him.
"Whyn't ye dance?"he repeated."Can't ye dance?Mebbe ye air too good-like Sherd.Well,Easter kin,Hyar,Mart,come 'n'dance with the gal.She air the best dancer in these parts."Clayton had his hand upon Easter as though to forbid her.The mountaineer saw the movement,and his face flamed;but before he could speak,the girl pressed Clayton's arm,and,with an appealing glance,rose to her feet.
