He took the candy with a shy , `` Thank you , ma'am , '' and sat holding it in his hand . `` Eat it , '' commanded the rosy lady authoritatively . `` That is what taffy is for , you know . '' So Chester ate it . It was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted in his life , and filled a void which even the crackers and cheese had left vacant . The rosy lady watched every mouthful he ate as if she enjoyed it more than he did . When he had finished the taffy she smiled one of her sociable smiles again and said , `` Well , what do you think of it ? '' `` It 's the nicest taffy I ever ate , '' answered Chester enthusiastically , as if he were a connoisseur in all kinds of taffies . The rosy lady nodded , well pleased . `` That is just what everyone says about my sugar taffy . Nobody up our way can match it , though goodness knows they try hard enough . My great-grandmother invented the recipe herself , and it has been in our family ever since . I 'm real glad you liked it . '' She smiled at him again , as if his appreciation of her taffy was a bond of good fellowship between them . She did not know it but , nevertheless , she was filling the heart of a desperate small boy , who had run away from home , with hope and encouragement and self-reliance . If there were such kind folks as this in the world , why , he would get along all right . The rosy lady 's smiles and taffy -- the smiles much more than the taffy -- went far to thaw out of him a certain hardness and resentfulness against people in general that Aunt Harriet 's harsh treatment had instilled into him . Chester instantly made a resolve that when he grew stout and rosy and prosperous he would dispense smiles and taffy and good cheer generally to all forlorn small boys on boats and trains . It was almost dark when they reached Montrose . Chester lost sight of the rosy lady when they left the boat , and it gave him a lonesome feeling ; but he could not indulge in that for long at a time .
Here he was at his destination -- XXXXX dark , in a strange city a hundred miles from home .
If about along at for from since to up with