Belle, conversing with him a few moments longer, joined Fannie at the window, the two whispered together, when Belle, returning to the bedside, said:
"George, would you be entirely happy were I your wife?"
"Yes, I could even die happy, for I fear I am to live but a short time. Your faces tell me I am fatally injured. But it would be too much happiness to expect, to gaze upon you as my own wife."
Looking for a moment intently into his face, she gently raised his burned hand with her own, and said:
"George, I will be your wife, though myself is all I have to give."
Bending over the pillow, she touched the parched lips with her own, sealing her promise with a kiss.
"God bless you!" were all the words Alden uttered, as, closing his eyes, he fell back exhausted.
Belle joined Fannie in an adjoining room; the latter said:
"Dear Belle, you are a precious girl—but what will your parents say?"