ive with him; and, judging from what she had heard him say of Garrett
Bridges on one or two occasions, she did not feel encouraged to
propose this arrangement for him.

"'So the plan they agreed upon--which, in fact, I suggested, although
Rebecca would never have admitted it--was to go off quietly and get
married. Then she could write to her father and tell him all about it,
and when his anger had cooled down they could make him a visit, and it
would depend on him what they should do next. I worked out the whole
plan of operation, which Rebecca afterwards laid before Mr. Bridges as
the result of her own ingenuity, for which he commended her very much.
They both agreed--and you may be sure I did not disagree with them--that
the sooner they were married the better. The equinoctial storms were
expected before very long, and then a wedding-trip would be unpleasant
and sloppy. So they fixed on a certain Wednesday, which suited me very
well because my father and mother would then be away from home on a
visit, and that would make it easier for me to do my part.' ('You little
schemer!' said Miss Amanda. 'Of course you suggested that Wednesday.')

"'This place was quite in the country then, and eight miles from a
station, and there was only one train to town, at seven o'clock in the
morning. If they could get to the village where the station was at
quarter-past six, they would have time to get married before the train
came. Old Mr. Lawrence, the Methodist minister, was always up at six
o'clock, and he could easily marry them in twenty minutes, and that
would give them lots of time to catch the train. I would furnish the
conveyance to take them to the village, and would also attend to
Rebecca's baggage. Mr. Bridges could have his trunk taken to the station
without exciting suspicion. At five o'clock in the morning, I told
Rebecca, I would have a horse and buggy tied to a tree by the roadside
at a little distance from the doctor's house where the lovers were to
meet.

"'The night before, Rebecca was to put all the clothes she wanted to
take with her in a pillow-case, which she was to carry to a woodshed
near the house. Soon after they started in the buggy I would arrive with
a spring-wagon and an empty trunk. I would then get the pillow-case, put
it into the trunk, and drive to the station by another road.

"'Mr. Bridges approved of this plan, and thought she was very clever to
devise it. So everything was settled, and I went t