WINTER SKIES 



to you. I did it in a most clumsy way, but I 

 want you to know that I would not have dared 

 to do it, even in that round-about fashion, if I 

 had not intended to ask you to be my wife.&quot; 



She stopped suddenly and looked at me. Her 

 eyes were full of water, and I thought she looked 

 a little frightened. 



&quot; Oh, you mustn t,&quot; she said. 



&quot;Must not oh, come, now; when you have 

 thought it all over, and know how deliberate and 

 sincere it is, you will be able to listen to me with 

 out any timidity. Is there any good reason why 

 I should not at least ask you ? &quot; 



&quot;Yes there is. I m engaged to be married 

 already. I ought to have told you before.&quot; 

 Then she whipped out her little handkerchief, 

 and it gleamed in the dusk a moment like a 

 night-moth. 



I stood mute. We were not far from the cabin. 

 The door was open, and a red glow shot across 

 the space in front like a patch. In it I saw the 

 silhouettes of Charlie and the yellow dog. I 

 think I called her &quot; Miss Hotchkiss,&quot; and said 

 something about begging her pardon, that must 

 have been awfully unlike my previous tones. 

 But she only said, &quot; It s my fault. I ll tell you 

 about it at some other time. You have made 

 me so nervous that I cannot talk now. Let me 

 go back, please, alone.&quot; 



And then she fled away into the shadows. I 

 saw her cross the red glow that came from my 

 door, all her sylphlike beauty coming out sud- 



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