fairy had transformed her, outside, from an ordinary-looking girl into
a young woman with a look of remarkable distinction; just as Godmother
had transformed her, within, from a girl with a dreary outlook on life,
to one who found that

"The world is so full of a number of things,
I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."


"Is this the Secret?" she asked Godmother, that night.

"Oh, dear, no!" laughed Godmother, "only the first little step towards
realizing it."




IV

BEING KIND TO A TIRED MAN

One day when Mary Alice had been in New York nearly two weeks--and had
found several fairies--Godmother was obliged to go out, in the
afternoon, to some sort of a committee meeting which would have been
quite uninteresting to an outsider. But Mary Alice had some sewing to
do--something like taking the ugly, ruffly sleeves of cheap white lace
out of her blue taffeta dress and substituting plain dark ones of net
dyed to match the silk; and she was glad to stay at home.

"If an elderly gentleman comes in to call on me, late in the afternoon