rolina and has a
good position, and is able to get married (I know
because I asked him), and any minute day or
night in the past eighteen months in which Amy
would have agreed he would have married her
and taken her away, but Amy wouldn't agree.
Things have been dragging along this way so
long that the nerves of both are frazzled out, and
there's nothing to hope for but death, and, of
course, it isn't respectful to think too hopefully
of death and a grandmother. And then I popped
in and gave things a little push and the curtain dropped.

The way it dropped was this. I mean the way
they got married. Taylor was in town the last
two weeks in August, and, as everybody invited
him to their parties, he and Amy managed to see
a good deal of each other (also the seeing wasn't
altogether at places where other people were
around). But she wasn't allowed to meet him
on the square or to receive letters from him
straight. And sometimes, if he wanted to say
something in a hurry, or send her candy or a new
book, or any of the usuals, he had to give a signal
by throwing pebbles on her window at night,
and then she would throw out a string and he
would tie the thing to it and she would haul
up, and the Personage, who was usually asleep,
would be none the wiser. The Personage is deaf,
which is a great help.

Well, one night three of the town girls and
myself, with a boy apiece, had been to see Amy,
and when we went up-stairs (just the girls) to
see a new hat a city cousin had sent her, we heard
a little tap at the west window. It had been
raining, which accounted for our being indoors
with the windows lowered, and when we heard
the tapping we were so excited we could hardly
breathe. It was fearfully thrilly, just like things
one reads about in books, and I told the girls
to put out the light quick, and when it was out
I went to the window and saw Taylor standing
in the shadow of a big tree. He signaled me to
drop the line, but when I threw the piece of
twine Amy gave me I threw it wrong and it got
caught in a broken piece of shingle on the edge
of the porch and hung there. I couldn't get it
back and Taylor couldn't get it down, and,
seeing it was necessary for something to be done, I
pushed aside the curtains (they were made of
striped calico, blue and white) and told the girls
I was going to lean out of the window on the roof
of the porch to get the string loose, and they
must hold on to my feet, for the roof