"'Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.'
"'There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.'
"'He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.'
"These are not all the texts bearing on the subject, but will suffice for the present."
"Father," said Don, "God doesn't need our money, does he? Why does he tell us to give it to him?"
"For our own good, my son. Don't you remember Jesus said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'? He cannot be happy who indulges a mean, sordid disposition; the less selfish we are, the more ready to help others and share our good things with them, the happier and the more like our heavenly Father we shall be. Try it, my boy, and you will find it is so. And the more constantly we practise giving, the more we shall be in love with it."
"And then shall our gifts be pleasing to God," added the mother. "'Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him live; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.'"
"Well, it seems, if we obey the Bible rule, we will give a tenth of our pocket-money, and of all we can make beside," remarked Rupert.
"And I am very glad I can earn something by teaching music," said Mildred.
"I think you can each find some way of earning something for this good purpose," the mother said, glancing smilingly around the little group.