“But I can do this, Bishop,” said the General, 60 rising. “If you will come over here to the end of the room, I can tell you, privately, what I know. You can then use your own prudence to judge how much you can tell these young people.”
The Bishop followed to the window at the other end of the room, where the two men stood and talked in undertones.
“Jeffrey,” said Ruth through teeth that gritted with impatience, “if you don’t tell me this instant what it’s all about, I’ll––I’ll bite you!”
Jeffrey laughed softly. It took just that little wild outbreak of hers to convince him that the young lady who had swept into the room and faced the Bishop was really his little playmate, his Ruth, after all.
In quick whispers, he told her all he knew.
The Bishop walked to the door with the General, thanking him. From the door the General saluted gravely and stalked away.
“The answer,” said the Bishop quietly, as he came back to them, “is one word––Iron.”
To Ruth, it seemed that these men were making a mysterious fuss about nothing. But Jeffrey saw the whole matter instantly.
“No one knows how much there is, or how little there is,” said the Bishop. “The man lied to you, Jeffrey. The road has no eminent domain. But they can get it if they get the options on a large part of the farms. Then, when they have the 61 right of eminent domain, they will let the options lapse and buy the properties at their own prices.”
“I’ll start back to warn the people to-night,” said Jeffrey, jumping up. “Maybe they made that offer to other people besides me!”