noon
No little old party or buggy ride is going to get any one out this time . There 's just one chance , she says , and she 's taken it . This morning she confessed to her father that she is engaged to one of the men who is to come up for trial to-morrow morning . They think the old man will be well enough to unmuzzle before noon , but he 's been acting like a bad case of dog-days all morning . He 's given her twenty-four hours to name the man -- and Martha thinks that by night he 'll be resting comfortably enough to promise to let him off to-morrow . And she has given us the privilege of choosing the man she 's engaged to . Now , it 's up to this council to pick out the lucky chap .