"I think you can trust me," she had answered; "even if," she had added,
with the ghost of a smile, "there were anybody that I know who would be
at all likely to be interested."

And now the temptation had come to her in a way of which she had never
dreamed. She had gone on with her copying, smiling to herself at the
coincidence which put into the hands of a Feltonville girl this plan
for the metamorphosis of the sleepy old village into a bustling
manufacturing town, but she had not considered that this scheme might
have important bearing upon the fortunes of her lover. She knew that
Stanton's father had owned meadows along the river where the new
factories were to lie, and she knew also that when old Mr. Stanton died
these had been sold with a condition of redemption, but until this
moment she had not connected the facts. She did not understand
business, and had been puzzling her brain as she wrote, to understand
what was meant by the statement that a certain company would sell a
"six months' option at seventy thousand dollars" on a water-power for
two thousand dollars. She did understand now, however, that were John
in possession of the secret of the syndicate's plans, he could redeem
his father's meadows with the money he had saved toward the payment of
the debts which had forced the old man into the bankruptcy that broke
his heart, and once he owned these lands lying in the midst of the
desirable tract, John could command his own price for them. She held in
her hand the secret which would free her lover from the heavy burden of
years, and bring quickly the wedding-day for which they had both waited
and longed so patiently.

The blood bounded so hotly in Melissa's veins as she realized all this,
that she could scarcely breathe; but like a lightning flash a thought