But later on that evening, when the short winter day had departed, and the blackness of night lay over the land, Ronald stole away from the inn, and went stealthily down through the fields till he found himself by the side of the river. Of course, there was nothing visible; had he not known every foot of the ground, he dared not have come this way; but onward he went like a ghost through the dark until he finally gained the bridge, and there he paused and listened. ’Meenie!’ he said, in a kind of whisper; but there was no reply. And so he groped his way to the stone dyke by the side of the road, and sate down there, and waited. This was not how he had looked forward to meeting Meenie again. Many a time he had pictured that to himself—his getting back to Inver-Mudal after the long separation—the secret summons—and Meenie coming silently out from the little cottage to join him. But always the night was a moonlight night; and the wide heavens calm and clear; and Loch Naver rippling in silver under the dusky shadows of Ben Clebrig. Why, he had already written out that summons; and he had sent it to Meenie; and no doubt she had read it over to herself more than once; and wondered when the happy time was to be. The night that he had looked forward to was more like a night for a lovers’ meeting: this was the message he had sent her— _O white’s the moon upon the loch,_ _And black the bushes on the brae,_ _And red the light in your window-pane:_ _When will ye come away,_ _Meenie,_ _When will ye come away?_ _I’ll wrap ye round and keep ye warm,_ _For mony a secret we’ve to tell,_ _And ne’er a sound will hinder us_ _Down in yon hidden dell,_ _Meenie,_ _Down in yon hidden dell._ _O see the moon is sailing on_ _Through fleecy clouds across the skies,_ _But fairer far the light that I know,_ _The love-light in your eyes,_ _Meenie,_ _The love-light in your eyes._ _O haste and haste; the night is sweet,_ _But sweeter far what I would hear;_ _And I have a secret to tell to you,_ _A whisper in your ear,_ _Meenie,_ _A whisper in your ear._ But here was a bitter cold winter night; and Meenie would have to come through the snow; and dark as pitch it was—he would have to guess at the love-light in her eyes, so cruelly dense was this blackness all around. Then his quick ear detected a faint sound in the distance—a hushed footfall on the snow; and that came nearer and nearer; he went out to the middle of the road. ’Is that you, Meenie?’ The answer was a whisper— ’Ronald!’ And like a ghost she came to him through the dark; but indeed this was no ghost at all that he caught to him and that clung to him, for if her cheeks were cold her breath was warm about his face, and her lips were warm, and her ungloved hands that were round his neck were warm, and all the furry wrappings that she wore could not quite conceal the joyful beating of her heart.