en she saw us coming, how proud she was to be
able to do this thing, how she ushered us into the little parlour, that
was all swept and polished, and how naturally and warmly she welcomed
the other woman, dazed and exhausted, and took her hat and veil and
almost carried her up the stairs. And later on I found out from Miss
Grower, who lives here, Mrs. Bledsoe's history. Eight or nine years ago
her husband was sent to prison for forgery, and she was left with four
small children, on the verge of a fate too terrible to mention. She was
brought to Mr. Bentley's attention, and he started her in life.

"And now Mrs. Garvin forms another link to that chain, which goes on
growing. In a month she will be earning her own living as stenographer
for a grain merchant whom Mr. Bentley set on his feet several years ago.
One thing has led to the next. And--I doubt if any neighbourhood could
be mentioned, north or south or west, or even in the business portion of
the city itself, where men and women are not to be found ready and
eager to do anything in their power for him. Of course there have been
exceptions, what might be called failures in the ordinary terminology of
charity, but there are not many."

When he had finished she sat quite still, musing over what he had told
her, her eyes alight.

"Yes, it is wonderful," she said at length, in a low voice. "Oh, I can
believe in that, making the world a better place to live in, making
people happier. Of course every one cannot be like Mr. Bentley, but all
may do their share in their own way. If only we could get rid of this
senseless system of government that puts a premium on the acquisition of
property! As it is, we have to depend on individual initiative. Even the
good Mr. Bentley does is a drop in the ocean compared to what might
be done if all this machinery--which has been invented, if all these
discoveries of science, by which the forces of an indifferent nature
have been harnessed, could be turned to the service of all mankind.
Think of how many Mrs. Garvins, of how many Dalton Streets there are in
the world, how many stunted children working in factories or growing up
into criminals in the slums! I was reading a book just the other day
on the effect of the lack of nutrition on character. We are breeding
a million degenerate citizens by starving them, to say nothing of the
effect of disease and bad air, of the constant fear of poverty that
haunts the great majority of homes. Th