A low call came while he was speaking, like the sweet note of the last evening bird. It travelled over the meadow from the river, and Margaret looked up quickly. Her dark eyes flashed, and her lips parted with pleasure; then she sent back an answering cry, full of soft, rich music. The stranger, watching her pale face, saw the flush of colour darken it, and, worn out though he was, he marvelled at her beauty, and smiled to himself. "Pardon me for a moment, sir," she exclaimed, when her answer ended. "I will come back again." While she spoke she moved away with hurried steps to meet a young man who had appeared on the bank of the broad river. He had been bending low to fasten his boat to the root of one of the willows, but when he saw her coming he came to meet her, and, throwing his arms about her, he kissed her till she asked for breathing time. "There's a stranger yonder, Herman, and he will see us," she exclaimed, her face burning at the thought. "A stranger?" Herman cried, flushing at being caught like that, and the girl's laugh rang out when she held back, still in his arms, and saw the colour of his browned face deepen. "'Tis what I have told you, Herman, again and again," she said roguishly. "You ought to look before you love." "Look before I love!" the young fellow blurted. "I looked, and saw a girl so sweet and lovely that I lost my heart at once. That's looking before you love, is it not? But where's the stranger? I can't see anyone." Her lover's arm was still about her when Margaret turned to point to the man she left standing near the chestnut tree. "He's gone!" she exclaimed, in real surprise, and, breaking away from Herman, she ran to the spot where she and the stranger had been standing. Then a cry of dismay broke from her lips. The man lay in a heap in the hollow, and, leaping into it, she dropped on her knees, and gazed at him with startled eyes. "Is he dead?" cried Herman, who had come at her heels, and now was in the hollow by her side. "God forbid!" the girl exclaimed, beginning to chafe the unconscious man's hands. "He came here while I was waiting for you, Herman. He wanted to know how far it was to the city, and he seemed so distressed when I told him the gates would soon be shut--long before he could reach them. We cannot leave him here, poor man!" She broke off almost abruptly at a thought that came. "I might have known! He asked if there was any place where he could buy some food, but when your call came I left him to go to you. It was so thoughtless of me!" she added reproachfully. "You couldn't come to anyone better," said Herman, with a laugh, but only in jest, for he fully appreciated her regret. "He must be hungry," the girl exclaimed. "He shall have some of this to help him on till he can get a good meal."