THE POOR WOODCUTTER. 28

 

room being in the basement, Mr. Edgar
could hear him piling the wood below. It
was full three hours since the work was
commenced, and yet it was not completed.
He was in a warm, bright room, clad in his
dressing-gown; and with his family around
him, while the poor woodcutter was in the
cold cellar, alone, toiling by the light of a
dim lamp, with his thoughts turning, per-
haps, upon his little ones who awaited his
coming that they might divide the loaf he
would bring them.

As he thought thus, Mr. Edgar felt how
small was the price that awaited the com-
pletion of the poor man’s task.

“T will pay him more,” said he, in his
own mind. But the moment this was con-
cluded, he remembered that, to do so, would
increase the price of his half-cord of wood.
The poor feeling came back, and he said—

“T can’t afford this. If I were to over-
pay every one after this fashion, I would
find myself badly off by the end of the year.
The carter and wood-sawyer are just as