26 THE POOR WOODCUTTER.

 

“The man is done,” said a domestic,
opening the door of the dining-room, while
this debate was still going on.

The time for the decision had arrived ;
yet the question was not settled. Regard
for another’s good had not been able to
gain the victory over selfishness. There
was still an active struggle. But the ne-
cessity for an instant determination caused
a slight confusion in the mind of Mr. Ed-
gar, and in this state the halfdollar was
handed to the domestic, who took the mo-
ney and retired. He heard her close the
door after her—heard her speak to the man
in the entry, and heard the man walk away ;
while a painful conviction that he had not
done right in the case before him impressed
itself upon his mind. Now that it was too
late to recall the act, he deeply regretted
what he had done, or rather what he had
neglected to do, and felt that in saving the
fourth of a dollar, he had gained only a
disquieted mind.

“To think,” he murmured to himself,