h, of course not, but it takes experienced hands to do anything as
good as this," continued Mr. Richards, turning the pages slowly and
examining each one carefully.

"Well, Uncle Ben knew the kind of workers we were when he trusted us
with his pet hobby!" declared Ned, proudly.

Mr. Richards looked rather helpless, so Mrs. Talmage explained who
"Uncle Ben" was and what part he had taken in the enterprise.

Light gradually began to break in upon the young man's brain as he heard
the story of the magazine. Suddenly he sat up as if electrified with a
new idea. He looked about at the children, the house, lawns, and ladies;
finally he took his return railroad ticket from his pocket and noted the
name printed on the card--Oakdale.

"Well, well, well! is this place called 'Mossy Glen'?" he asked.

"It is," replied Mrs. Talmage, wonderingly.

"And these youngsters, the same that set folks agog last summer with
their 'Fresh Airs'?"

Mother Wings bowed affirmatively, but the Blue Birds, who had never
dreamed that their doings had ever been heard of outside of their own
little community, were as surprised as their visitor.

The solicitor looked everyone over with a new interest after that, and
breathed softly to himself, "Great Scott! What a piece of luck to get
the lead in this idea!"

"We do not understand exactly what you mean," said Mrs. Talmage, with
dignity.

"Well, I was present at a meeting a short time ago when the talk veered
to a project evolved by some children. It was creating quite a little
interest among the older men, but I paid little attention to it at the
time, for I had my mind full of other matters. But I remember hearing
one of the leading publishers state that he believed we would hear of
this undertaking in the future, for he knew some of the children who
were in it. Now, here I am, unconsciously dropped into the heart of it."

From that moment Mr. Richards was the enthusiastic collaborator of the
company. He went over the pages of the magazine again and made some
valuable suggestions for the future. When he expressed a desire to visit
their plant, everyone jumped up ready to show him the B. B. & B. B.
Publishing House.

Another great surprise awaited Mr. Richards. He had an idea that the
work was done upon toy machinery, or hand presses; but, to find a shop
equipped with electric motors and up-to-date machines, to say nothing of
type-stands and a real office, was more than he could comprehend