The letter was addressed to Miss Mary Stavely. It ran:
“My dear Mary,
“I have just received five pounds that I had given up for lost, and, remembering what you told me at Easter of the importance of distributing a little money in the village, I think you had better have it and become my almoner. An almoner is one who gives away money for another. I shall be interested in hearing how you get on.
“Your affectionate
“Uncle Herbert.”
Inside the letter was a five-pound note.
Mary read the letter for the twentieth time, and for the twentieth time unfolded the crackling five-pound note—more money than she had ever seen before. She was thirteen.
“But what shall I do with it?” she asked. “So many people want things.”
“Oh, you mustn’t ask me,” said her mother. “Uncle Herbert wants you to decide entirely for yourself. You must make a list of every one in the village who wants help, and then look into each case very carefully.”
“Yes,” said Harry, Mary’s brother, as he finished breakfast, “and don’t forget me. My bicycle ought to be put right, for one thing, and, for another, I haven’t any more films for my camera. If that isn’t a deserving case I’d like to know what is.”