vy had said, and the penny, hidden away in its crimson
corner, while Alene fumbled in vain for it, held them longer in the
public gaze.

Laura gave a relieved sigh and Ivy a squeak of delight when it at last
appeared, and Alene dropped it, as if it burned her fingers, into the
outstretched cap.

As she turned away with cheeks that were blazing to match the hue of
the bag, a tall boy standing near lifted his hat courteously, and gave
way to her.

"Sir Mark!" whispered the irrepressible Ivy. "And looking as grave as
a cemetery, without the ghost of a smile!"

"If he hadn't, I'd never, _never_ have spoken to him again!" declared
Alene. "Girls, I can sympathize now with those who would like to help
others and can't."

"Giant Generosity with his pigmy purse," suggested Ivy.

"It's so much pleasanter as well as more blessed to give," remarked
Laura.

"But, after all, money isn't everything!" said Alene. "If we are poor
we can still give love and sympathy and unselfishness--"

"And advice," broke in Ivy. "And feel the richer the more we give!"

Alene said never a word to her uncle, that evening, relative to the
state of her finances. She kept her collapsed purse hidden away.

"When one is poor, one is too proud to beg!" Which reflection did not
keep her from being very glad when Mr. Dawson remarked:

"Here, child, is a nickle for the little maid who trimmed my lamp so
nicely."

She dropped him a courtesy.

"Thank you, Uncle. I think she will be very glad to get it. I feel
quite prosperous again," she said, shutting the coin away in her
crimson bag.

Mr. Dawson laughed.

"I suspect you will find that wealth has its uses, and when you are of
age and have command of a large sum of money, I only hope that you will
use it well. I think your experiences as a Happy-Go-Lucky will teach
you much that you would not otherwise learn."

"There's one thing I should like to do--find that clever doctor who
cures the lame children, and have him cure Ivy. When I'm grown up I'll
build a hospital just for the poor children--but then it will be too
late to help her!"

"My friend Dr. Medway, who assists in those operations, promised to pay
me a visit this summer," remarked the gentleman.

Alene clapped her hands.

"Oh, I'm so glad!"

"What about, Miss Jump-at-Conclusions?"

"To think that if I'm not grown up, someone else is," said Alene
mysteriously.

Uncle Fred made no reply but smiled thoughtfully as he p