There was just a suspicion of light in the east, a mere hint of a glow, when Lyman walked cautiously around the corner of the house and tapped at Marietta's window. She was sleeping soundly and did not hear, for she had been restless during the first part of the night. He tapped again, and the girl woke without knowing what woke her. Lyman put the blade of his pocket-knife under the window and raised it a little, and then placed his lips to the crack, and spoke in a sepulchral tone, half groan, half whisper: "Merry! Merry Etty!" The dazed girl sat up in bed and listened, while her heart almost stood still. "Merry, it's me--Lime. Come to the winder." The girl hesitated, and Lyman spoke again. "Come, I hain't got much time. This is your last chance t' see me. It's now 'r never." The girl slipped out of bed and, wrapping herself in a shawl, crept to the window. "Boost on that winder," commanded Lyman. She raised it enough to admit his head, which came just above the sill; then she knelt on the floor by the window. Her eyes stared wide and dark. "Lime, what in the world do you mean"---- "I mean business," he replied. "I ain't no last year's chicken; I know when the old man sleeps the soundest." He chuckled pleasantly. "How 'd y' fool old Rove?" "Never mind about that now; they's something more important on hand. You've got t' go with me." She drew back. "Oh, Lime, I can't!" He thrust a great arm in and caught her by the wrist. "Yes, y' can. This is y'r last chance. If I go off without ye t-'night, I never come back. What make ye gig back? Are ye 'fraid o' me?" "N-no; but--but"---- "But what, Merry Etty?" "It ain't right to go an' leave Dad all alone. Where y' goin' t' take me, anyhow?" "Milt Jennings let me have his horse an' buggy; they're down the road a piece, an' we'll go right down to Rock River and be married by sun-up." The girl still hesitated, her firm, boyish will unwontedly befogged. Resolute as she was, she could not at once accede to his demand. "Come, make up your mind soon. The old man 'll fill me with buck-shot if he catches sight o' me." He drew her arm out of the window and laid his bearded cheek to it. "Come, little one, we're made for each other; God knows it. Come! It's him 'r me." The girl's head dropped, consented. "That's right! Now a kiss to bind the bargain. There! What, cryin'? No more o' that, little one. Now I'll give you jest five minutes to git on your Sunday-go-t'-meetin' clo'es. Quick, there goes a rooster. It's gittin' white in the east."