shining river their talk flowed on. Beginning like it as a
shallow stream, it broadened and deepened on its way, till presently
fairy godmothers became its theme.

Miss Bentley was never able to recall what led up to it. The Candy Man
only remembered her face, as, holding a crimson bloom against her cheek,
she smiled down upon him thoughtfully, and asked him to guess what she
meant to do when some one left her a fortune. "I have a strange
presentiment that some one is going to," she said.

"How delightful!" he exclaimed, but did not hazard a guess, and she
continued without giving him a chance: "I shall establish a Fairy
Godmother Fund, the purpose of which shall be the distribution of good
times; of pleasures large and small, among people who have few or none."

"It sounds," was the Candy Man's comment, "like the minutes of the first
meeting. Please explain further. How will you select your beneficiaries?"

"I don't like your word," she objected. "Beneficiaries and fairy
godmothers somehow do not go together. Still, I see what you mean, and
while I have not as yet worked out the plan, I'm confident it could be
managed. Suppose we know a poor teacher, for instance, who has nothing
left over from her meagre salary after the necessary things are provided
for, and who is, we'll say, hungry for grand opera. We would enclose
opera tickets with a note asking her to go and have a good time, signed,
'Your Fairy Godmother,' and with a postscript something like this, 'If
you cannot use them, hand them on to another of my godchildren.' Don't
you think she would accept them?"

Under the spell of those lovely, serious eyes, the Candy Man rather
thought she would.

"Of course," Miss Bentley went on, "it must be a secret society, never
mentioned in the papers, unknown to those you call its beneficiaries.
In this way there will be no occasion or demand for gratitude. No
obligations will be imposed upon the recipients--that word is as bad as
yours--let's call them godchildren--and the fairy godmother will have
her fun in giving the good times, without bothering over whether they
are properly grateful."

"You seem to have a grievance against gratitude," said the Candy Man
laughing.

"I have," she owned.

"There are people who contend that there is little or none of it in the
world," he added.

"And I am not sure it was meant there should be--much of it, I mean. It
is an emotion--would you call it an emotion?"

"You might,"