"I was there, parson." Regnan then told of the chill, the broken string, and the accident to the rider.
By this time the people were around the edges of the room, leaving Kitty, Regnan, and the preacher in the middle.
Regnan kissed his wife, and said: "Are you my Kitty?"
"Since you and the parson are so much alike in dress and story, he may answer for me."
"I will, my good woman." He said a few solemn words, and the important business of the night was over.
For many days the town was alive with the story of Regnan's anniversary. Thereafter, whenever Regnan wished to tell Kitty the story he always played a march on the fiddle first.
The preacher later turned his boy over to Regnan to be punished for his mischief.
It was decided that he should go on the wagon with Regnan for three months and cry out: "Rags, old iron." The lad did so willingly. During his enforced apprenticeship his father died, leaving him homeless, as his mother had died in his infancy, and Regnan adopted the boy, who became a valuable assistant to the old man in his business. Before the lad was of age Regnan and Kitty both died, and left the preacher's son a snug little fortune. He kept the fiddle to remind him of the ways of Providence.