"You--oh, God! Marion, do you--care?" He reached out and caught her by the shoulders. "You mustn't. I'm not fit for a girl like you. Maybe some day--" "Some day doesn't mean anything at all. This part of today is what counts. I'm going with you. I--I feel as if I'd die if I didn't. If they send you to jail, I'll make them send me too--if I have to rob a Chinaman!" She laughed confusedly, hiding her face. "It's awful, but I simply couldn't live without--without--" "Me? Say, that's the way I've been feeling about you, ever since Lord knows how long. But I didn't suppose you'd ever--" "Say, my feet are simply freezing!" Marion interrupted him. "We'll have to start on. It would be terrible if we missed the train, Jack." "You oughtn't to go. Honestly, I mean it. Unless we get married, it would--" "Why, of course we'll get married! Have I got to simply propose to you? We'll have to change at Sacramento anyway--or we can change there just as well as not--and we'll get married while we're waiting for the train south. I hope you didn't think for a minute that I'd--" "It isn't fair to you." Jack moved out from under the sheltering cedar and led the way up the gully's rim, looking mechanically for an easy crossing. "I'm a selfish enough brute without letting you--" Marion plucked at his sleeve and stopped him. "Jack Corey, you tell me one thing. Don't you--want me to--marry you? Don't you care--?" "Listen here, honey, I'll get sore in a minute if you go talking that way!" He took her in his arms, all snow as she was, and kissed her with boyish energy. "You know well enough that I'm crazy about you. Of course I want you! But look at the fix I'm in: with just about a hundred dollars to my name--" "I've got money in my muff to buy a license, if you'll pay the preacher, Jack. We'll go fifty-fifty on the cost--" "And a darned good chance of being sent up for that deal the boys pulled off--" "Oh, well, I can wait till you get out again. Say, I just love you with that little lump between your eyebrows when you scowl! Go on, Jack; I'm cold. My gracious, what a storm! It's getting worse, don't you think? When does that train go down, Jack? We'll have to be at the station before dark, or we might get lost and miss the train, and then we would be in a fix! I wish to goodness I'd thought to put on my blue velvet suit--but then, how was I going to know that I'd need it to get married in?" Jack stopped on the very edge of the bank, and held back the snow-laden branches for her to pass. "You're the limit for having your own way," he grinned. "I can see who's going to be boss of the camp, all right. Come on--the sooner we get down into lower country, the less chance we'll have of freezing. We'll cross here, and get down in that thick timber below. The wind won't catch us quite so hard, and if a tree don't fall on us we'll work our way down to the trail. Give me a kiss. This is a toll gate, and you've got to pay--"