ext checks in 'Frisco. What were you
mulling over this morning?"

Helen laughed.

"How to get even with you and Ralph."

"Get even with us!" Elijah looked at her in surprise.

"Yes."

"What do you mean?"

"You wouldn't let me into Las Cruces on the ground floor, so I am
planning a building of my own."

"That was Ralph's doing; he didn't want you to run the risk of losing."

"My five thousand was as good, so far as it went, as Seymour's hundred.
He got in at fifty. He's made good at one hundred and forty. If you had
let me in, I would have had twelve thousand five hundred now. It will
take me a long time to earn that." She spoke with assumed levity.

Elijah was regarding her through half-closed eyes. He spoke very
deliberately.

"You are right, I wanted to do it, but Ralph wouldn't consent. He meant
all right," he added hastily. "I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll let you
have five thousand dollars of my stock at fifty. That will set you
straight."

"No it won't." There was no levity in Helen's voice.

"Why?" Elijah's eyes opened in surprise.

"Because that would be a present, and I don't want presents. What I get,
I want to get myself."

"It wouldn't be a present. It would be a reward. You've earned it."
Elijah spoke earnestly and warmly.

"From you, not from the company," she replied decidedly and with
finality. "Besides, I've discovered a way to help myself. That's
better."

"That brings us back to the first point. What were you mulling over?"

Helen drew the map toward them and weighted down the corners.

"Oranges don't mind a breath of cold air now and then; they're dead set
against a freeze out." She was looking quizzically at Elijah. An
expression of assured satisfaction came over her face at Elijah's
astonishment.

His head was thrown back as he raised his eyes to Helen's face.

"What do you mean?"

"As if I needed to tell you." Her lips were scornful at the limitations
Elijah had put upon her. A smile softened the scorn and left a doubt as
to which emotion was dominant. "You know that oranges on a hillside with
southwestern exposure will do better than in an unprotected river
bottom."

Elijah looked up fiercely.

"Has Ralph been talking?"

"No; but you have."

"I never said anything of the kind to you."

"I'm not a phonograph."

"You've no right to make use of information that you get from a
confidential position." Elijah's voice was decided. There was a startled
look on his