Bangs helped Coristine to his feet.  The two divines mercifully made the service brief, and two well mated souls obtained each its chief desire.  Mr. Errol and the Squire were very patronizing towards their new made son and nephew.  The Captain was satisfied.  “I thought all along it was that sly dog Will-kiss-em was after the old man’s niece, the sly dog; but he’s off, and a good riddance to poor stuck-up rubbish, say I.”  The table speeches were marvellous.  Dr. MacPhun exhausted Dean Ramsay’s anecdotes, Mr. Bigglethorpe allegorized marriage as fishing in all its branches, Doctor Halbert said the great trouble with female nurses always was that they would go and marry their patients, and Mr. Bangs remarked that, if he could run down somebody who was wanted as quickly as Mr. Douglas had done, he would make his fortune.  Mr. Lamb lavished himself on Maggie MacPhun, and, as she was young, semi-rural, and unused to the masculine production of cities, his attentions were agreeable, much to his satisfaction; his peace of mind with himself nothing could disturb.

In the evening, Mr. Errol put on his gown once more, and Dr. MacPhun stood by his side, while in front of them there was a small table on which lay a Bible, and, a short distance off, a larger one with a marriage register, pen and ink, and duly filled certificates.  At a given signal, Mr. Hill appeared, leading his daughter Tryphena, followed by Christie Hislop and Malvina McGlashan.  Next came Sylvanus in the grasp of Saul Pilgrim, attended by Rufus, and the ubiquitous Mr. Bangs.  Without being asked, Mr. Pilgrim senior ostentatiously stated, after Mr. Hill had bestowed his oldest daughter, that he gave his son to be that woman’s husband, and trusted they would bring up their family, as he had done his, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  This bombshell excited some merriment in the rear of the procession, where Mrs. Rigby was pushing the corporal forward to exhibit his uniform and medals.  When the ceremony was over, the bride and bridegroom remained, but the fathers and the assistants returned to the kitchen.  Tryphosa now hung upon her father’s arm, and Timotheus was hauled in by Saul, receiving admonitions on the way.  The groomsmen and bridesmaids were as before.  Mrs. Hill, who stood by Mrs. Carruthers, wept copiously, when her favourite daughter’s turn came, and Hill senior gave her away with a qualm, especially as the parent of Timotheus presented him as the prodigy’s son come back from the swine husks.  So the last ceremony was over.  “Siccan a thing as five waddins in ae day was never heard o’ in Flanders before,” said the Squire, with a sigh of relief.  Of course, the people ought all to have gone away somewhere, according to all the rules that govern civilized marriage.  Mr. Errol went to his lodgings to pack up, and took Mr. Douglas with him.  As for the rest of the married people, they simply went on with their ordinary tasks and amusements as if nothing personal had happened.  Before these two