"I shut his mouth. That's all he took--his rightful share; but I've got his receipts, and I can make it look bad for him. And I _will_ make it look bad for that old stiff-and-starched hypocrite if he lets me be driven to the wall." This defiance of Fenwick Grimes closed the case as far as any legal proceedings were concerned. The matter of recovering the money from Grimes would have to be tried in the civil courts. All the creditors of the firm were satisfied. To get Grimes indicted for his old crime would be a difficult matter in New York County. "But you have the whip hand," Dud Stone told the girl from Sunset Ranch again. "If you want satisfaction, you can spread the story broadcast by means of the newspapers, and you will involve Starkweather in it just as much as you will Grimes. And between you and me, Helen, I think Willets Starkweather richly deserves just that punishment." CHAPTER XXX HEADED WEST Just at this time Helen Morrell wasn't thinking at all about wreaking vengeance upon those who might have ill-treated her when she was alone in the great city. Instead, her heart was made very tender by the delightful things that were being done for her by those who loved and admired the sturdy little girl from Sunset Ranch. In the first place, Jess and Dud Stone, and their cousins, gave Helen every chance possible to see the pleasanter side of city life. She had gone shopping with the girls and bought frocks and hats galore. Indeed, she had had to telegraph to Big Hen for more money. She got the money; but likewise she received the following letter: "Dear Snuggy:-- "We lets colts get inter the alfalfa an' kick up their heels for a while; but they got to steady down and come home some time. Ain't you kicked up your heels sufficient in that lonesome city? And it looks like somebody was getting money away from you--or have you learnt to spend it down East there? Come on home, Snuggy! The hull endurin' ranch is jest a-honin' for you. Sing's that despondint I expects to see him cut off his pigtail. Jo-Rab has gone back on his rice-and-curry rations, the Greasers don't plunk their mandolins no more, and the punchers are as sorry lookin' as winter-kept steers. Come back, Snuggy, and liven up the old place, is the sincere wish of, yours warmly, "Henry Billings." Helen only waited to see some few matters cleared up before she left for the West. As it happened, Dud Stone obtained a chance to represent a big corporation for some months, in Elberon and Helena. His smattering of legal knowledge was sufficient to enable him to accept the job. It was a good chance for Jess to go out, too, and try the climate and the life, over both of which her brother was so enthusiastic. But she would go to Sunset Ranch to remain for some time if Helen went West with them and--of course--Helen was only too glad to agree to such a proposition.