"Oh, yes, I know," smiled Miss Maggie, a little sadly. "But—" Her countenance changed abruptly. A passionate earnestness came to her eyes. "Don't blame the money—blame the SPENDING of it! The money isn't to blame. The dollar that will buy tickets to the movies will just as quickly buy a good book; and if you're hungry, it's up to you whether you put your money into chocolate eclairs or roast beef. Is the MONEY to blame that goes for a whiskey bill or a gambling debt instead of for shoes and stockings for the family?"

"Why, n-no." Mr. Smith had apparently lost his own irritation in his amazement at hers. "Why, Miss Maggie, you—you seem worked up over this matter."

"I am worked up. I'm always worked up—over money. It's been money, money, money, ever since I could remember! We're all after it, and we all want it, and we strain every nerve to get it. We think it's going to bring us happiness. But it won't—unless we do our part. And there are some things that even money can't buy. Besides, it isn't the money that does the things, anyway,—it's the man behind the money. What do you think money is good for, Mr. Smith?"

Mr. Smith, now thoroughly dazed, actually blinked his eyes at the question, and at the vehemence with which it was hurled into his face.

"Why, Miss Maggie, it—it—I—I—"

"It isn't good for anything unless we can exchange it for something we want, is it?"

"Why, I—I suppose we can GIVE it—"

"But even then we're exchanging it for something we want, aren't we? We want to make the other fellow happy, don't we?"

"Well, yes, we do." Mr. Smith spoke with sudden fervor. "But it doesn't always work that way. Look at the case right here. Now, very likely this—er—Mr. Fulton thought those three hundred thousand dollars were going to make these people happy. Personification of happiness—that woman was, a few minutes ago, wasn't she?" Mr. Smith had regained his air of aggrieved irritation.

"No, she wasn't. But that wasn't the money's fault. It was her own. She didn't know how to spend it. And that's just what I mean when I say we've got to do our part—money won't buy happiness, unless we exchange it for the things that will bring happiness. If we don't know how to get any happiness out of five dollars, we won't know how to get it out of five hundred, or five thousand, or five hundred thousand, Mr. Smith. I don't mean that we'll get the same amount out of five dollars, of course,—though I've seen even that happen sometimes!—but I mean that we've got to know how to spend five dollars—and to make the most of it."

"I reckon—you're right, Miss Maggie."