k-candy."

"Did he like it?" asked Tom.

"I don't think he did," replied Righty, "but he never let on that he
didn't."

"Well, anyhow," put in Lefty, "it's time we had something to eat and we'd
better set out for the Lobster shop or the Candydike--I don't care which."

"Or the what?" asked Tom.

"The Candydike?" said the Lefthandiron. "Didn't you ever hear of the
Candydike?"

"Never," responded Tom. "What is it?"

"It's a candy Klondike," explained the Lefthandiron. "There are Gumdrop
Mines and Marshmallow Lodes and Deposits of Chocolate Creams beyond the
dreams of avarice. Remember 'em, Righty?"

"Oom, mh, mh!" murmured Righty, smacking his lips with joy. "Do I remember
them! O, my! Don't I just. Why, I never wanted to come back from there. I
had to be pulled out of the Peppermint mine with a derrick. And the
river--O, the river. Was there anything ever like it?"

Tom's mouth began to water, he knew not why.

"What about the river?" he asked.

"Soda water flowing from Mountain to the Sea," returned the Righthandiron,
smacking his lips again ecstatically. "Just imagine it, Tom. A great
stream of Soda Water fed by little rivulets of Vanilla and Strawberry and
Chocolate syrup, with here and there a Cream brook feeding the
combination, until all you had to do to get a glass of the finest nectar
ever mixed was to dip your cup into the river and there you were."

Tom closed his eyes with very joy at the mere idea.

"O--where is this river?" he cried, when he was able to find words to
speak.

"In the Candydike, of course. Where else?" said the Poker. "But of course
we can go to the Lobster shop if you prefer."

"Not I," said Tom. "I don't care for any Lobster shop with a Candydike in
sight."

"Don't be rash," said the Bellows, who apparently had a strong liking for
the Lobster shop. "Of course we all love the Candydike because it is so
sweet, but for real pleasure the Lobster shop is not to be despised. I
don't think you ought to make up your mind as to where you'll go next in
too much of a hurry."

"What's the fun in the Lobster shop?" asked Tom.

"Purely intellectual, if you know what that means," said the Bellows. "You
get your mind filled there instead of your stomach. You meet the wittiest
oysters, and the most poetic clams, and the most literary lobsters at the
Lobster shop you ever saw. For my part I love the Lobster shop. I can get
something to eat anywhere. I can get a stake at any lumber yard