No matter where she went, he was determined to accompany her and propose to her, that very evening, come what might. He swallowed his chagrin in the most amiable manner possible, remarking with apparent calmness: “As the queen wills, I suppose. Here is an umbrella close at hand, fortunately,” and as he stepped out of the long French window after the bounding figure of the girl who preceded him, he comforted himself with the thought that the stake he must win that night was worth a thousand times more than his evening suit and new patent leather ties, which would, of course, be ruined by this mad escapade. In that moment he fairly hated this girl whom he had come there to win at all hazards--playing such a daring game for the great fortune involved. He would soon stop such mad freaks as this, after the knot was tied, even though he crushed her spirit, and broke her heart to accomplish it--he promised himself with a good deal of inward satisfaction. He wondered if there was ever a man on earth who proposed marriage under such trying circumstances. Jess scorned the use of his umbrella, and his arm, but ran on before him at a breakneck pace, and it was all that he could do to keep up with her and manage to keep the umbrella from turning inside out in the mad gale and torrents of downpouring rain. He even had the uncomfortable feeling that the girl was laughing at his plight and enjoying his discomfiture hugely. There was clearly not the slightest use, or opportunity, as for that matter, of uttering one word of the declaration he had prepared with such care, for he could scarcely catch his breath as it was. He must wait until they reached their destination, the cascade, and had time to recover himself after so swift a race at the girl’s heels. The half mile she had spoken of seemed three times that length to him, and he was nearly dropping with exhaustion when at last the welcome sound of the dashing of the water fell upon his ears. “Here we are, Mr. Dinsmore. I hope you are not tired,” said Jess, and if they had not been standing in the shadow of the trees he would have seen the amused sparkle in her eyes as she heard him actually panting for breath. “Not at all,” he remarked, grimly. But she noticed that he made all haste to throw himself down upon a fallen log to rest. “The rain will soon cease, for it is only a shower, then the moon will come forth from behind the clouds in a flood of silvery brightness, but the wind will take up the battle, and uproot the trees that the lightning failed to find.” “For Heaven’s sake, why should you elect to remain where there is so much danger?” he cried, as her words were verified at that very instant by the crashing down of a giant oak almost at his feet.