"Only come home alive, and no matter what you lose, yes!—yes!" she whispered, brokenly.
"But it's a conditional proposal, Lenore," he insisted. "You must never marry half a man."
"I will marry you!" she cried, passionately.
It seemed to her that she loved him all the more, every moment, even though he made it so hard for her. Then through blurred, dim eyes she saw him take something from his pocket and felt him put a ring on her finger.
"It fits! Isn't that lucky," he said, softly. "My mother's ring, Lenore.…"
He kissed her hand.
Kathleen was standing near them, open-eyed and open-mouthed, in an ecstasy of realization.
"Kathleen, your sister has promised to marry me—when I come from the war," said Dorn to the child.
She squealed with delight, and, manifestly surrendering to a long-considered temptation, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him close.
"It's perfectly grand!" she cried. "But what a chump you are for going at all—when you could marry Lenorry!"