The Washington bee., 1911-11-18
HIS GIRL FRIENDS.
Mark Twain Dearly Loved Chill
dren as P'"''-.ateS.
THE ANGEL FISH SOCIETY.
A Delightful and Touching Story About
Little Margaret, One of Its Members,
and the Genial Humorist-A Pretty
Compact and 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 DinetieS, 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. Of 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 its beginning
in Bermuda during one of his 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 al angel fish
pin as a society badge. 1t was a sue
cessful club, and on his return to
America he elected other members,
enOush 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 it with her name.
1t was in Bermuda one day when he
was walking along the beach with one
of his angel fish members that he pick
ed up a small iridescent double shell,
delicately hinged together. He sepa-
rated it and handed his companion half.
''YOu will be going away from me
pretty soon, Margaret" he said, land
growing up. and | won't know you
any more. | shall see a great many
Margarets, and now and then one of
them will say she is my Margaret, but
I viii say, No: you resemble my Mar
garet. but you are bigger than my
I ton I
will take out this shell and l will say,
IF you are really my Margaret you
Will have the other half of this shell,
and it will fit exactly Then if she
has the shell and it fits l shall know
that it 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. and the little girl took the
shell thOughtfully and promised to
keep 1t always. Next morning when
she came running up to meet him on
the hotel veranda he looked at her
questioningly.
'YOU look like Margaret" he said.
"but / can't be sure. If you are really
my Margaret you will have shell l
gave her Once-the mate to 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
letteT-One Of the letters he was always
writing TO children. In it he said:
I am always making mistakes When
I was in New York six weeks ago was
on a corner of Fifth avenue and saw a
small girl-nOt a big One-start across
from the opposite corner. and | exclaim-
ed to myself ioyfully, "That is certainly
my Margaret" so | rushed to meet her
But as she came nearer I began to doubt
and said to myself IT'S a Margaret that
is plain enough. but I'm half afraid il Is
somebody else's." So when I passed her
1 held my shell so she couldn't help but
see 1t. Dear, she only glanced at it and
passed on. l wondered if she could have
overlooked it. It seemed best to find out.
so turned and followed and caught up
with her and said deferentia1y, Dear
miss, ! already know your first name by
the look Of you, but would you mind
telling me your other one?'' She was
vexed and said, pretty sharply: IT'S
Douglas, II you're so anxious to know. l
know your name by your looks, and I'd
advise you to shut yourself up with pen
and ink and write some more rubbish.
am surprised that they allow you to run
at large. You are likely to get run over
by baby carriage any time. Run along
now and don't let the COWS bite you
What an idea! There aren't any COWS
On Fifth avenue. But 1 didn't smile 1
didn't let on to perceive how uncultured
she was. She was from the country, of
course, and didn't know what a comical
blunder she was making.
Margaret, with her mother, called
when they returned to America. When
the cards were brought to him he look
ed at hers and said:
"Well, the young lady, her name
seems familiar, but l can't be sure it's
my Margaret without a certain token
which she is supposed to carry as a
proof" The shell came up without
delay. He took the two halves now to
a jeweler and had them set in gold as
charms. One Of these Margaret wore
on a ribbon about her neck, and the
other he linked to his watch chain.
where it remained till he died What
& sweet fancy it all wasI
He spent the last months of his life