Esther had given but one glance at him.  Her head under its lace veil bent lower and lower.  The flounces of her skirt stood out about her like the delicate bell of a hollyhock; she followed the way falteringly.  Joe, his young eyes radiant, inclined his curly head towards her, but she did not heed him.  The little procession was as an awkward garment which hampered and abashed her; but just as they reached the church the sun crept above the tree-tops, and from the bleakness of dawn the whole scene warmed into the glorious beauty of a June day.  The guests lost their aspect of chilled waiting; Esther caught their admiring glances.  For one brief moment her triumph was complete; the next she had overstepped its bounds.  She went forward scarcely touching Joe’s arm.  Her great desire became a definite purpose.  She whispered to a member of her Sunday-school class, a little fellow.  He looked at her wonderingly at first, then darted forward and grasped the rope which dangled down in a corner of the vestibule.  He pulled with a will, but even as the old bell responded with a hoarse clank, his arms jerked upward, and with curls flying and fat legs extended he ascended straight to the ceiling.

“Oh, suz, the Lord’s taking him right up!” shrieked an old woman, the sepulchral explanation of the broken bell but serving to intensify her terror; and there were others who refused to understand, even when his sister caught him by the heels.  She was very white, and she shook him before she set him down.  Too scared to realize where he was, he fought her, his little face quite red, and his blouse strained up so that it revealed the girth of his round little body in its knitted undershirt.

“Le’ me go,” he whimpered; “she telled me to do it.”

His words broke through the general amazement like a stone through the icy surface of a stream.  The guests gave way to mirth.  Some of the young girls averted their faces; they could not look at Esther.  The matrons tilted their bonneted heads towards one another and shook softly.  “I thought at first it might be a part of the show,” whispered one, “but I guess it wasn’t planned.”

Esther was conscious of every whisper and every glance; shame seemed to engulf her, but she entered the church holding her head high.  When they emerged into the sunshine again, she would have been glad to run away, but she was forced to pause while her mother made an announcement.

“The refreshments will be ready by ten,” she said, “and as we calculate to keep the tables runnin’ all day, those that can’t come one time can come another.”

After which there was a little rice-throwing, and the young couple departed.  The frolic partly revived Esther’s spirits; but her mother, toiling heavily along with a hard day’s work before her, was inclined to speak her mind.  Her brother-in-law, however, restrained her.

“Seems to me I never seen anything quite so cute as that little feller a-ringin’ that bell for the weddin’.  Who put him up to it, anyhow?”