Craig
was deeply in love and so was Mary, but like many other girls she liked
to play the coquette occasionally.
Their wedding-day was set for Christmas, 1863, and the prospective bride
felt secure. One evening, however, the pretty Mary pushed her coquetry
too far. On December 7, 1863, Farmer Barker gave an old-fashioned
"sociable" in honor of his daughter's approaching wedding. Craig was
there, of course, but his happiness was marred by the presence of a
Pittsburg youth--a new comer. Mary allowed this young man to pay her
many attentions.
Craig was madly jealous. After all his attention he thought his
betrothed showed too much regard for his rival, and as she only laughed
at his pleadings he grew angry and threatened to leave. Her seeming
indifference made him desperate, and he declared:
"If you dance once more with that fellow you will not see me again for
twenty years."
"You couldn't leave me for even twenty hours if you tried ever so hard,"
she replied, and with a coquettish smile she went off to dance with his
rival.
Craig went home alone that night and the next day was missing. The most
careful search failed to reveal any trace of him.
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