Not “when,” exactly; because, as she protested she would marry me, I had something to say about it; I had been run away with by a milliner in Vermont, and I had no idea of beings forcibly wedded by a widow in Maine.  I pleaded that my business was not sufficiently established; I was liable to be called away from time to time; I had affairs to arrange in New York and elsewhere before I could settle down; and so the happy day was put off to an indefinite future time.

By-and-by I had business in Boston, and the widow declared that she would go with me; she wanted to visit her friend’s there and do some shopping; and without making particular mention of her intention to her relatives, she went with me, and we were in Boston together more than two weeks.  At the end of that time she returned to Biddeford and notified her friends treat she was married to the doctor, though she had no certificate, not even a Troy one, to show for it.

I deemed it advisable not to go back with her, but went to Worcester for a while.  In a few days I went to Biddeford, keeping somewhat close, for I did not care to meet any of the relatives, and at night I called upon the widow.  She told me that her family had raised a tremendous fuss about me, and had learned as much as they, and indeed she, wanted to know about my adventures in Vermont and New Hampshire.  They had not gone back of that, but that was enough.  It was dangerous, she told me, for me to stay there; I was sure to be arrested; I had better get away from the place as soon as possible.  We might meet again by-and-by, but unless I wanted to be arrested I must leave, the place that very night.  She gave me seven hundred dollars, pressed the money upon me, and I parted from her, returning to Worcester, and going from there to Boston.  Besides what the widow bad given me, I had made more than one thousand dollars in Maine, and was comparatively well off.

Then came the joyful intelligence that Henry was released.  His mother had worked for him night and day.  She bad drawn up a petition, secured a large number of sterling signatures, had gone with her counsel to see the Governor, had presented the petition and all the facts in the case, and the Governor had granted a pardon.  Henry served only six months of the eighteen for which he was sentenced, and very soon after I received word that he was free, he came to me in Boston, stayed a few days, and then went home to his mother in Unadilla.

With the release of my son, I considered the Scheimer account closed, and I have never made any effort to see Sarah or our boy since that time.

From Boston I went to Pittsford, Ontario County, N. Y., where I had many friends, who knew nothing about any of my marriages or misfortunes, my arrests or imprisonments.  I went visiting merely, and enjoyed myself so much that I stayed there nearly three months, going about the country, and practicing a little among my friends.  I was never happier than I was during this time.  I was free from prisons, free from my wives, and free from care.  As a matrimonial monomaniac I now looked upon myself as cured.