umvirate kept very close together at the edge of the grass lawn,
and waited for the two gentlemen to approach. Very little of their
enthusiasm remained to keep up their spirits, for the erratic behaviour of
the plum-pudding made even the pursuit of good works seem foolish and
unnecessary.

'What are you children doing here?' asked the Canon, and his voice
distinctly took a note of disapproval. He did not know very much about
girls, though his niece assured him they were not unlike little boys; but
he was quite sure that it was not the right thing for plum-puddings to
be rolling across the lawn at that time of day, and disapproval seemed
to be demanded by the circumstance.

The effect on the three children of his mild attempt at severity was
immediate. Babs was struck dumb by it; anything so dreadful as the anger
of a Canon had never occurred to her as a possible result of feeding the
poor, and she had to think it all over before she could say anything.
Angela put down the apple dumplings, the weight of which had become
intolerable, and began to cry softly. Jean pulled herself together with a
frantic effort, and clutched the dish she was holding so fiercely that
the jelly on the summit of the cranberry pie shivered and shook.

'It was my fault,' she blurted out, looking steadfastly over the edge of
the dish at the well-blacked boots of the Canon. 'I made them go out of
bounds, and visit the poor, and--and climb into the larder window to fetch
things for the woman who looked so hungry. They wouldn't have gone, if
it hadn't been for me. I made them--it was my fault.'

'No, it wasn't; it was all our faults,' wept Angela, in a confused mumble.

Babs stepped forward and tried hard not to break down and cry too. 'Please
don't rag Jean for it,' she begged. 'The boy was crying, and we all
thought it was the opportunity come at last----'

'What opportunity?' asked the Canon, looking extremely puzzled.

'To--to do what you said in your sermon,--good works, and feeding the
poor, and all that,' faltered Barbara. Somehow, when she expressed it that
way, it seemed like putting the blame on the Canon, and she was sure it
could not be right for a little girl to blame a Canon. Added to this,
she was possessed with the dread that they had only made themselves look
ridiculous after all; and she expected that they would all three be
very heartily laughed at, as soon as the old gentleman began to understand
their story. She was determi