The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-02-28
HIS GIRL FRIENDS.
Mark Twain Dearly Loved Chill
dren as PIaymateS.
THE ANGEL FISH SOCIETY.
A Delightful and Touching Story About
Little Margaret, One of Its Members.
and the Genial Humorst-A Pretty
Compact and a Quaint Letter.

Little Margaret, One of Its Members.
and the Genial Humorist-A Pretty
Compact and a Quaint Letter.
Like many another great man. Mark
Twain was fond of children He never
outgrew childhood and he always
chose young playmates where they
were TO be found He formed curious
societies of these girl friends. Back
IN the nineties. when he was living in
Europe. he created a club which was
to consist Of one (only onel girl In each
country Of the globe, the duty Of said
member being to write occasionally TO
the chief officer. who faithfully replied
TO these random and far faring mes
sages or course these little girls were
swept into womanhood presently. but
even to the last years of his life the
member who signed herself France"
remained faithful to the law
Another club of girls. little girls. be-
came one of the chief interests during
his final years. 1t had It's beginning
III Dtl Qbi iliH OilN VI ui0 frequent
visits to those happy islands. 1t was
called the Angel Fish club. after
gorgeous swimmer Of those waters, and
he gave to each member an angel fish
pin as society badge. 1t was a sue
cessful club. and on his return to
America he elected other members.
enough to make twelve IN all.
His home at Redding. Conn, Storm
field. had been originally named In
nocence at Home. and as Angel Fish
headquarters Innocence at Home It
always remained Members with their
parents visited him there. and the bill
Hard room. where the fishes" were
likely to spend most Of their time
knocking the balls about. under the
chief members instruction. was called
the Aquarium. and gay prints of
many Bermuda fishes were hung along
the walls to carry out the idea. Each
member had the privilege OF selecting
one Of these as her patron fish and OF
identifying II with her name.
II was In Bermuda one day when he
was walking along the beach with one
of his angel fish members that he pick
ed up small irldescent double shell.
delicately hinged together. He sepa.
rated II and banded his companion half.
You will be going away from me
| pretty soon. Margaret" he said. "and
| growing up. and ] won't know you
shall a
Margarets. and now and then one OF
them will say she is my Margaret. but
! will say. No: you resemble my Mar
garet. but you are bigger than my
Margaret. and can't be sure Then !
will take out this shell and | will say.
III you are really my Margaret you
will have the other half Of this shell.
and II will At exactly Then II she
has the shell and Il fits shall know
that IL Is really my Margaret, no mat
ter how many years have gone by or
how much older she has grown"
All this he said very gravely and
earnestly. aud the little girl took the
shell thoughtfully and promised to
keep II always Next morning when
she came running up to meet him on
the hotel veranda he looked nj her
questioningly.
'You look Ike Margaret" be said.
"but | can't be sure. If you are really
my Margaret you will have n shell |
gave her once-the mate 10 this one
He got no further. The talisman was
promptly produced. and It fitted ex
actly. He returned to America. and
somewhat later Margaret received a
letter-one of the pretty letters Ne was
always writing TO children. In II he
said:
] am always making mistakes When
] was In New York six weeks ago ! was
on n corner OF Fifth avenue and saw a
small Girl-not n big one-start across
from the opposite corner. and exclaim-
ed TO myself ioyfuily. THAT Is certainly
my Margaret" so | rushed 10 meet her
hut as she came nearer | began TO doubt
and said 20 myself. Its Margaret that
is plain enough but I'm half afraid Il Is
somebody elses" SO when I passed her
] held my shell so she couldn't help but
see H. Dear. she only glanced at Il and
| phtteu on / Wnuutfeu VI sue toNlu nave
overlooked II. II seemed best 10 find out
so | turned and followed and caught W
with her and said deferentiaily. Dear
miss. already know your first name by
the look OF you. but would you mind
telling me your other oneg' She was
vexed and said. pretty sharply: ITS
Douglas. n you're so anxious TO know.
know your name by your looks. and I'd
advise you 20 shut yourself up with per
and ink and write some more rubbish
am surprised that they allow you TO run
nt large. You are likely 20 set run over
by baby carriage any time. Run alonf
now and don't let the COWS bite you"
What an idcal There aren't any co~'
on Fifth avenue. But I didn't smile
didn't let on to perceive how unculturce
she was. She was from the country. Of
course. and didn't know what a comica
blunder she was making
Margaret. with her mother, calleS
when they returned to America. Whei
the cards were brought TO him he look
ed Mt hers aud said:
We'll. the young lady, her NAM
. seems familiar. but | can't be sure ~
my Margaret without a certain tokei
which she is supposed to carry as
proof" The shell came up withou
delay. He took the two halves now &
n jeweler and had them set in gold n
charms. One OF these Margaret wor
on n ribbon about her neck, and tn