38 THE POOR WOODCUTTER.

 

stances in which he had paid them their
small wages with a grudging spirit, and
meanly beaten them down in their prices
for work, when these prices were already
so low as to be scarcely sufficient for the
commonest necessaries of life. He thought
of the many times he had chaffered for a
sixpence or a shilling with a porter or poor
labourer, and after gaining a trifling ad-
vantage at the expense of justice, thrown
double the amount away in some foolish
expenditure. All this was humiliating,
but salutary. It was a lesson in life not
soon to be forgotten. In Mr. Harlan’s case
he took an active interest. He saw that
his family were properly cared for until he
was able to go to work again, and then ob-
tained for him the place of overseer on the
farm of an acquaintance who wanted a com-
petent farmer. When spring opened, Har-
lan went back to the country with a hope-
ful spirit, and Mr. Edgar went on his way
through life more thoughtful than he had
been, and far more considerate of the poor.