"Yes--Elberon. Dud says there is a chance for another lawyer there. And he came back here and entered the offices of Larribee & Polk right away, so as to get working experience, and be entered at the bar all the sooner. But say!" exclaimed Jess, "I believe one reason why he is so eager to go back to the West is because _you_ live there." "Oh, Miss Stone!" "Do call me Jess. 'Miss Stone' is so stiff. And you and I are going to be the very best of friends." "I really hope so, Jess. But you must call me Helen, too," said the girl from Sunset Ranch. Jess leaned out from her saddle, putting the horses so close that the trappings rubbed, and kissed the Western girl resoundingly on the cheek. "I just _loved_ you!" said the warm-hearted creature, "when Dud first told me about you. But now that I see you in the flesh, I love you for your very own self! I hope you'll love me, too, Helen Morrell--And you won't mind if I talk a good deal?" [Illustration: "HERE'S THE VERY NICEST GIRL WHO EVER CAME OUT OF MONTANA." (Page 246.)] "Not in the least!" laughed Helen. "And I _do_ love you already. I am so, so glad that you and Dud both like me," she added, "for my cousins do not like me at all, and I have been very unhappy since coming to New York." "Here we are!" cried Jess, without noting closely what her new friend said. "And there is Dud waiting for us on the porch. Dear old Dud! Whatever should I have done if you hadn't got him out of that tree-top, Helen?" CHAPTER XXIII MY LADY BOUNTIFUL That was a wonderful breakfast at the Casino. Not that Helen ever remembered much about what she ate, although Dud had ordered choice fruit and heartier food that would have tempted the most jaded appetite instead of that of a healthy girl who had been riding horseback for two hours and a half. But, it was so heartening to be with people at the table who "talked one's own language." The Stones and Helen chattered like a trio of young crows. Dud threatened to chloroform his sister so that he and Helen could get in a word or two during Jess's lapse into unconsciousness; but finally _that_ did not become necessary because of the talkative girl's interest in a story that Helen related. They had discussed many other topics before this subject was broached. And it was the real reason for Helen's coming East to visit the Starkweathers. "Dud" was "in the way of being a lawyer," as he had previously told her, and Helen had come to realize that it was a lawyer's advice she needed more than anything else. "Now, Jess, will you keep still long enough for me to listen to the story of my very first client?" demanded Dud, sternly, of his sister. "Oh, I'll stuff the napkin into my mouth! You can gag me! Your very first client, Dud! And it's so interesting." "It is customary for clients to pay over a retainer; isn't it?" queried Helen, her eyes dancing. "How much shall it be, Mr. Lawyer?" and she opened her purse.