"Oh, Joe!" the girl exclaimed. "I'm going to get my money here--at least that part of my fortune which isn't tied up in bonds and mortgages. We must celebrate! I think I'll give a little dinner at the hotel for you, Bill Watson and some of my friends." "All right, Helen. Count me in." The letter stated that a representative of the firm would call upon Helen that day in Portland, and turn over to her the cash due from her grandfather's estate. That afternoon Helen sent word to Joe that she wanted to see him, and in her dressing room he found a young man, toward whom Joe at once felt an instinctive dislike. The man had shifty eyes, and Joe always distrusted men who could not look him straight in the face. "This is Mr. Sanford, from the law firm, Joe," said Helen. "He has brought me my money." "Is he your lawyer?" asked Mr. Sanford, looking toward Joe. "No, just a friend," Helen answered. "Is he going to look after your money for you?" "I think Miss Morton is capable of looking after it herself," Joe put in, a bit sharply. "Oh, of course. I didn't mean anything. Now if you'll give me your attention, Miss Morton, I'll go over the details with you." "You needn't wait, Joe, unless you want to," Helen said. "I'd like to have you arrange about the little supper at the hotel, if you will, though." "Sure I will!" Joe exclaimed. The circus was to remain over night, and this would give Helen a chance for her feast, which she thought had better take place at the Portland hotel, as it would be more private than the circus tent. Joe went off to arrange for it, leaving Helen with the lawyer's clerk. CHAPTER XIX JOE IS SUSPICIOUS Joe's day was already a full one, though he did not tell Helen so. He gladly undertook to arrange the little supper for her at the hotel, and it was only a coincidence that it happened on the night of a day when he had decided to work in a new trick on his trapeze, when he performed alone. It was not exactly a new trick, in the sense that it had never been done before. In fact there is very little new in trapeze work nowadays, but Joe had decided to give a little different turn to an old act. It required some preparation, and he needed to do this during the day. He was going to "put on" the trick at night, and not at the matinee. But for the time being he gave up his hours to arranging for Helen the supper which would take place after the night performance. Joe saw the hotel proprietor and arranged for a private room with a supper to be served for twenty-five. Helen had many more friends than that among the circus folk, but she had to limit her hospitality, though she would have liked to have them all at her little celebration. She chose, however, after Joe and Bill Watson and Benny Turton, the women performers who were more intimately associated with her in her acts, and some of the men whose acquaintance she had made since joining the Sampson show.