pleasant to hear, and I at once proposed to Mary to go to Scheimer's
and tell Sarah that I was there; I would give her ten dollars if she
would go. "O! she would gladly serve us both for nothing."

So she made herself ready, got into the buggy, and we started for
Scheimer's. When we were well on the road I said to her:

"Now, Mary, attend carefully to what I say: you will need to be very
cautious in breaking the news to Sarah that I am here; she has
already suffered a great deal on my account, and may be very timid
about my being in the neighborhood; but if she still loves me as you
say she does, she will run any risk to see me, and, if I know her,
she will be glad to go away with me. Now, this is what you must do;
you must see her alone and tell her my plan; here, take this diamond
ring; she knows it well; manage to let her see it on your finger;
then tell her that if she is willing to leave home and marry me, I
will be in the woods half a mile above her house to-morrow afternoon
at 5 o'clock, with a horse and buggy ready to carry her to
Belvidere. If she will not, or dare not come, give her the ring, and
tell her we part, good friends, forever."

It was a beautiful afternoon as we drove along the road. We talked
about Sarah and old times, and I made her repeat my instructions
over and over again and she promised to convey every word to Sarah.
We neared Scheimer's house about six o'clock, and when we were a
little way from there I told Mary to get out, so as to excite no
suspicions as to who I was; she did so, and I waited till I saw her
go into the house, and then drove rapidly by towards the Belvidere
bridge, and was safely at Oxford by nightfall. I told my friend, the
landlord, what I had done, and he said that everything was well