m sure we can," he assented.

"You see it will begin where organised charity leaves off, of necessity.
Also where that can't possibly penetrate, and it will be singularly
free, because secret."

"Again you sound like the minutes of the first meeting," said the Candy
Man.

"Margaret Elizabeth!"

It was Uncle Bob's voice at the door. "I hate to disturb you, but that
old bore at the club wants your father's address."

"You aren't disturbing. Come in and hear about the Fairy Godmother
Society."

"You don't mean really?" Uncle Bob stood before the hearth and looked
from his niece to the Candy Man.

"Indeed we do," she answered. "You see we have ten times as much money
as we thought we had. So why not?"

"Quite correct, as we thought we hadn't any," murmured the Candy Man.

Uncle Bob rubbed his hands in delight. "I told Prue you'd do something
of the sort; that you wouldn't just settle down to be ordinary rich
people. But Prue says riches bring caution."

Margaret Elizabeth, going to her desk for the address, laughed. "We
aren't going to forget our humble beginning," she said; "and we'll act
quickly before we are inured to our new estate."

"But then, you know, there is another side to it," her uncle interposed,
in a sudden access of prudence. "You must consider the matter carefully
with an eye to the future. For instance now, there may be heirs."

A silence fell. The fire crackled, and the clock ticked with unusual
distinctness. Then Margaret Elizabeth spoke.

"Here's the address," she said. "I'll put it in your pocket, where you
can't forget it." And as she tucked it in, she added, stoutly, with a
lovely deepening of the colour in her cheek: "If there are, Uncle Bob,
they will be fairy god-brothers and sisters, so it will be all right."

It was after the door had closed upon Uncle Bob, and Margaret Elizabeth
was back on her low seat again, that the Candy Man left his chair and
sat on the rug beside her. "Girl of All Others, is there any one else
in the world as happy as I?" he asked.

Margaret Elizabeth smiled at him with eyes that answered the question
before she spoke. Then she said, slipping her hand into his, "One
other."

THE END

End of Project Gutenberg's The Little Red Chimney, by Mary Finley Leonard

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE RED CHIMNEY ***

***** This file should be named 15406.txt or 15406.zip *****
This and all associated files of various form