20 THE POOR WOODCUTTER.

 

for so small a pittance,” he said to himself,
as he sighed and moved from the window.
He made an effort, in doing this, to turn
his thoughts. from the man; but this was
not so easily accomplished. In thinking
of him, he could not help contrasting his
own labour and its reward, with the labour
and reward of the woodcutter.

“Tt will take him at least two hours to
get through with this work,” said he men-
tally; “and what will the hard labour yield?
Fifty cents! And, in all probability, he
has a wife and children at home. Ah me!
the condition of the poor is hard enough.”

With these thoughts came an inclination
to pay the man more for his work than he
had agreed to give him. This, however,
was met, instantly, by an opposing argu-
ment that arose in his mind almost spon-
taneously.

“A halfdollar for two hours’ work,”
said he, “is very good for a labouring-man.
Why, that would be two dollars-and-a-half
for a day’s work of ten hours.”