Miss Allison smiled at her persistence. "Wait until I finish this," she
said. "Then I'll go down-stairs and put the matter before her, and
report to you at dinner-time. Now are you satisfied?"

"Yes," they cried in chorus, "you're on our side. It's all right now!"
With a series of hearty hugs that left her almost breathless, they
hurried away.

When Miss Allison kept her promise she did not go to her mother with the
children's story of Jonesy, to move her to pity. She told her simply
what they wanted, and then said, "Mother, you know I have begun to teach
the children the 'Vision of Sir Launfal.' Virginia has learned every
word of it, and the boys will soon know all but the preludes. There will
never be a better chance than this for them to learn the lesson:

"'Not what we give, but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare.'

"This would be a real sharing of themselves, all their time and best
energies, for they will have to work hard to get up such an
entertainment as this. It isn't for Jonesy's sake I ask it, but for the
children's own good."

The old lady looked thoughtfully into the fire a moment, and then said,
"Maybe you are right, Allison. I do want to keep them unspotted from a
knowledge of the world's evils, but I do not want to make them selfish.
If this little beggar at the gate can teach them where to find the Holy
Grail, through unselfish service to him, I do not want to stand in the
way. Bless their little hearts, they may play Sir Launfal if they want