“No, not just that; but it says—wait, I'll get my Bible and show you what it does say.”
She ran into her room, and bringing her Bible, sat down on a low chair and eagerly turned the leaves. Marty knelt close beside her, bending over the book also, so that her brown curls pressed against Edith's wavy golden hair.
“Here's one of the verses,” said Edith. “Leviticus twenty-seventh chapter and thirtieth verse: 'And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's; it is holy unto the Lord.'”
“There's nothing about tenths in that,” said Marty.
“Tithes means tenths—the tenth part,” Edith explained.
“Oh! does it? Well, you see, I didn't know.”
“Yes; here it is in the thirty-second verse: 'And concerning the tithe of the herd or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.'”
“But there's nothing in all that about money,” Marty objected. “It's all fruit and flocks and herds.”
“I know,” Edith replied, “but mamma says that flocks and herds and money are all different kinds of property. The Jews hadn't much money; their property was flocks and herds and such things. Giving tenths of what they had for the Lord's service was a very important part of their religion.”
“Yes, but you are not a Jew,” said Marty. “Besides, you give your tenths to a mission-band.”