18 THE LAST PENNY.

 

mise. As he walked along, the argument
still went on in his mind. The more his
thoughts acted in this new channel, the
more light came into the cobbler’s mind, at
all times rather dark and dull. Certain
discriminations, never before thought of,
were made; and certain convictions forced
themselves upon him.

“What is a pipe of tobacco to a healthy
man, compared with an orange to a sick
child!” uttered half-aloud, marked at last
the final conclusion of his mind; and as
this was said, the penny which was still in
his fingers was thrust determinedly into his
pocket.

As he returned home, Claire bought the
orange, and in the act experienced a new
pleasure. By a kind of necessity he had
worked on, daily, for his family, upon
which was expended nearly all of his earn-
ings; and the whole matter came so much
as a thing of course, that it was no subject
of conscious thought, and produced no emo-
tion of delight or pain. But, the giving up