"Indeed I do mean it, and I can hardly wait for the time when I shall return to America to claim my bonny bride."
She saw that a curious transformation had come over him.
His cheeks were flushed, and his dark-blue eyes flashed with joy.
She had never seen him look so radiantly happy.
But a sigh heaved her breast as she replied to his words:
"But I fear that I may never see her your bride, Leland, for her mother owns in the letter that the girl has formed an attachment for a poor young man she knew in New York when she was only a poor salesgirl at O'Neill's store. She clings stubbornly to this poor fireman, although she has been told all about her betrothal to you."
"She repudiates my claim, eh?" he laughed, gayly.
"It seems so," she answered.
"Let me see the letter, please, mother."
She gave it to him, and although it covered many pages, he read it with the deepest interest.