.

"Why, he said, didn't he tell me so? And wasn't it great to have her
ladyship there?"

"And what did her ladyship say?"

"She said he was a dear, and I forget what else. Oh, but listen! I'll
bet you can't guess what her name is."

He couldn't. He had racked his brain for a name at once sweet enough and
possessing sufficient dignity. He had not found it for the good reason
that no such name has been invented.

"It's a long name," said Virginia, "as long as mine. I am named for
my grandmother, Mary Virginia, but they don't call me all of it." She
paused to watch two white-plumed masons on their way to the commandery
on the next block.

"Well?" said the Candy Man.

She laughed. "Oh, I forgot. Why, it is Margaret Elizabeth. The doctor
came in; she's a lady doctor, you know, and said, 'Margaret Elizabeth,
there'll be muffins for tea.' And she said, 'All right. Dr. Prue.' And
Dr. Prue said, 'And cherry preserves, if you and Uncle Bob want them,'
and Margaret Elizabeth said, 'Goody!' And I must go now," Virginia
finished. "There's Betty looking for me."

Virginia might go and welcome. He had enough to occupy his thought for
the present. Margaret Elizabeth! Such a name would never have suggested
itself to him, yet it suited her. Beneath her young gaiety and charm
there was something the name fitted. Margaret Elizabeth! He loved it
already.

Why had he not guessed that the Little Red Chimney belonged to her?
Had not the sight of it stirred his heart? And why should that have been
so, except for some subtle fairy godmother suggestion? The picture of
Margaret Elizabeth and Uncle Bob eating cherry preserves was a pleasant
one. It brought her nearer. The Candy Man was inclined to like Uncle
Bob, to think of him as a broad-minded person whose prejudices against
Candy Men, granting he had them, might in time be overcome.

From being a bit low in his mind, the Candy Man's mood became positively
jovial. When the sad grey man known to the children as the Miser, and
invested with mysterious and awful powers, stopped to buy some hoarhound
drops, he wished him a cheery good afternoon.

The Miser was evidently surprised, but responded courteously, and
recalling the accident of two weeks ago, asked if the Candy Man had
heard anything of the injured chauffeur.

It chanced that he had heard the Reporter say, only yesterday, that the
man was doing well and likely to recover.

"And the young lady? I think I saw her the other d