me you are free. It is more than a coincidence. It is a miracle, Sally."
"But I'm not free, Merry."
"Why not?"
"I haven't told Neale or mother. I don't know what they'll say to me. That's why I sent for you. I felt that then they couldn't exactly throw me to the lions! That you'd find some way to save me."
"Easy enough. We'll be married tomorrow without telling them. You can meet me in Baltimore."
"Merry, I haven't said 'yes.'"
"Dear child, there's no time for formalities. You can say 'yes' when the clergyman asks you questions." The golden eyes were dancing.
Sally found herself protesting with a quaver in her voice. "But things like this don't happen to me, Merry. I shall wake up presently and find myself in the wood with the Wolf walking beside me."
"You'll wake up and find yourself in Harford County, walking up the stairs of my old house with a candle in your hand—which is much better. And now—come over here and let me kiss you, Sally!"
It was the next night that Neale, arriving with his bag of birds, found a note from Sally. She had written it before she went to town: She would, she told him, be married to Merry by the time he received it!
Winslow's world crashed! He crumpled the note in his hand and went to look for Mrs. Hulburt. He met her hurrying down from the upper floor to the first landing.
"You've heard?" he demanded.
