surprised at
the freedom with which Elijah spoke to her, she was too wise to show it.
Though not heralding the fact, she never tried to conceal that she was
not in business for her health or from purely philanthropic motives. She
was no innocent fledgeling, nor was her knowledge purchased with
sacrifice. Individuality was the atmosphere which surrounded her; an
atmosphere where everyone was somebody or nobody. She was simply
determined to be somebody. She was beautiful. She knew that. She had a
clear, alert mind, a quick grasp, a ready tact, a capacity for throwing
herself heart and soul into any work that came to her hands to do. She
valued these as effective tools with which to shape her ambition, to
individualize herself, to get on in the world. She had a heart; but of
this she was not conscious. She had innate honesty and she was a woman.
It had never occurred to her that a woman's heart and a woman's sense of
honor were liable to become paradoxes with the certain death of one. She
looked frankly at Elijah, not concealing her interest.

"Your work is the kind of thing that's going to save this part of
California." Helen spoke with conviction.

"You don't approve of all this?" Elijah glanced toward the bustling
street.

"No. You've been giving me figures, now I'll give you some. This city,
two miles wide, is laid out in streets three miles long. Sixty blocks
long and forty wide; two thousand four hundred blocks. At one hundred
dollars a front foot (that was the price, a few minutes ago), Ysleta is
selling at the rate of two hundred and fifty-three million, four hundred
and forty thousand dollars, unimproved."

Elijah looked at her in surprise. She too had been thinking in figures
for herself.

"Who gave you these figures?"

Helen laughed. She had noted Elijah's surprise and had divined its
cause.

"Wait. That isn't all. Before there can be any solid returns in this
investment, it will have to be trebled at least, for sewers, pavements,
sidewalks, and buildings. We will leave out odd hundred thousands, only
millions count now." She smiled. "Seven hundred and fifty million
dollars at least. Let's see about the population. At five hundred and
twenty to the block, Ysleta should have a population of one million, two
hundred and forty thousand. Quite a neat little town for a new country!"

Elijah's surprise grew. Helen was not even consulting notes.

"The total population of California isn't a million today. Mo