The story of my life ; or, The sunshine and shadow of seventy years / by Mary A. Livermore ... with hitherto unrecorded incidents and recollections of three years' experience as an army nurse in the great Civil War, and reminiscences of twenty-five years' experiences on the lecture platform ... to which is added six of her most popular lectures ... with portraits and one hundred and twenty engravings from designs by eminent artists ...

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THE STORY OF MY LIFE.

at the cabin, both tricked out in the cast-off clothes of their
master and mistress, donated for this occasion. Pompey,
the groom, wore a pair of embroidered slippers, much too
large for him, and Susan, the bride, stout brogans, too small
for her. A half-worn maroon-colored merino gown, too
small in the waist, with sleeves slashed at the elbow, because
they were too tight, and a skirt three inches too long, completed Susan's bridal attire. Pompey wore checked trousers,
a white vest, and a brown linen duster, that would have
encased two men of his size. But if he had been an Adonis
and a Beau Brummel combined, he could not have been
happier nor prouder.
"Now stan' up Pompey an' Susan," commanded Uncle
Aaron, "an' take hol' o' han's. You git de broom, Lucy an'
Sam, and hol' it in de middle o' de room. Hol' it jess down
b'low youah knees,- thar! -so! Now, stiddy! You mus'
be very solem', Pompey an' Susan, fo' dis yere is as solem' as
a buryin'. Yo's gwine t' jump in t' de married state, an' may
God hab mercy on youah souls! Look squar' at de broomstick! I'll count three, an' den you jump. All ready now!
One -two- three - jump! Now you is husban' an' wife,
an' orter live happy all de rest o' youah days! Lucy an' me
wants you t'eat youah first supper heah; an' she'll gib you
ash-cake, stewed rabbit, an' lots o' apple toddy."
"De fiel' han's am willin' t' jump de broomstick, but
when de house sarvans gwine t' marry, dey wants a white
preacher;" said Uncle Aaron; "but de broomstick's jess as
bindin' as de preacher." He was right. No marriage was
binding among the slaves, if the master or mistress chose to
break it. We remained a short time after the ceremony.
Pompey was a favorite of Uncle Aaron, and he had arranged
for music and dancing, notwithstanding it was Sunday night.
His protege was to have a good send-off. The company