The Illegal Marriage — page 40: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

32 THE ILLEGAL MARRIAGE. wildest rage, and if the unfortunate man were not ordered from his grounds, with’ threats of being torn by dogs, he had to listen to an abuse of all preachers and preaching, that fairly made his hair stand on end. For this well-known peculiarity, the country gos- sip assigned a reason. When a young man of five- and-twenty, Morgan had fallen in love with a beautiful girl, and was paying his addresses to her. Knowing his dreadful temper and dissipated habits, her parents were opposed to the match, and did all that they could to turn her mind against him. For a time she wavered between her parents and her lover. Unluckily for Morgan, he made his pro- posal when half drunk and was refused. She gave him her reasons for rejecting him. The shock sobered him. Morgan promised faithfully to drink no more and pleaded earnestly with her. “Try me, Mattie,” he entreated her; “just give me a trial and see if Ido not love you well enough to keep my word.” Again she wavered. What girl ever yet failed to be flattered by thinking that a man’s fate is in her own hands, and that she has his life to make or mar? She finally acceded to his request and promised to be his wife if he could come that day, twelve months, and honestly say that he had drank no liquor. For eight months Morgan kept his pledge, but at the end of that time Mattie Allen was enagegd to Daniel Guerry, the young and handsome preacher who had just come upon that circuit. Morgan was wild in his rage, and threatened to shoot the preacher, who had, he thought, so cruelly wronged him; but ere the new couple returned his Eomichbooks.¢co