Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 December 1894 — Has to Chase His Bride. [ARTICLE]

Has to Chase His Bride.

Amone the Arabs a curious wedding custom prevails. After various ceremonies the bridegroom is led In the evening into a large, dimly-lighted room. Here huddled on the floor on one side, he finds the female relatives and friends of the bride, all of the same height and sue, all wearing precisely similar clothing and closelv veiled. One of these is the bride, and he h«s to find out which it is. If he has been wise he has bribed some of tue spectators to give him a sign to guide him, but if not he attempts to seize the veiled figure whom ho suspects to be his bride. If possible she slips from his grasp and runs away, with him in hot pursuit. An exciting chase follows until he succeeds in catching her, when he tears the veil from her face. If it turns out that ho has chosen correctly and that she is the bride, the game is ended, but if not he must try again, after the captured girl has had time to arrange her drees and take her place among the others. Again he makes a selection, and after another chase possibly finds that he has the wrong gi 1 once more. Many hours are consumed in this way, and it is often daylight before the unlucky bridegroom secures his bride.