About three o'clock
in the morning
Some two hours later the bridesmaid , with two or three others , managed to steal away the bride unobserved ; and proceeding to a ladder at one end of the apartment , ascended to the chamber above , and saw her safely lodged in bed . In the course of another half hour the same number of gentlemen performed a like service for Isaac -- such being customary at all weddings of that period . During the night Black Betty , in company with more substantial refreshment , was sent up to the newly married pair some two or three times ; and always returned -LRB- Black Betty we mean -RRB- considerable lighter than she went ; thus proving , that if lovers can live on air , the married ones do not always partake of things less spiritual . About three o'clock in the morning , Algernon and Ella took leave of the company and set out upon their return -- he pleading illness as an apology for withdrawing thus early . The remainder of the party keep together until five , when they gradually began to separate ; and by six the dancing had ceased , and the greater portion of them had taken their departure . Thus ended the wedding of Isaac Younker -- a fair specimen , by the way , of a backwood 's wedding in the early settlement of the west . Deep and gloomy were the meditations of Algernon Reynolds , as , in company with Ella Barnwell , he rode slowly along the narrow path which he had traversed , if not with buoyant , at least with far lighter spirits than now , the morning before .