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CAN'T AFFORD IT

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Mar 1, 1905

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 9.

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CAN'T AFFORD IT.

By Belle V. Chisholm

"HERE, Dan, is something that may interest you," said Farmer Brown, as he handed the boy a bulky letter.
"The postmaster missed his mark there, sure," said Dan, glancing at the untouched stamp.
"That will send a letter to your mother, Dan, and not make you any poorer, either," answered the farmer.
"I dare say it will," responded the lad, as he proceeded to moisten it at the mouth of the steaming tea-kettle.
"And you can have the two cents you thus save for marbles," suggested Mr. Brown, thoughtlessly.
"That would be cheating," whispered Dan's conscience. "The stamp has already done its duty in carrying one letter."
"It will carry another. It is not marked," argued Dan.
"But you know that was a mistake," argued the monitor within.
"That was the postmaster's fault, and not mine," was Dan's inward reply. "It is a very small thing, and the government will not miss it, no, not even know it."
"Will you not know it, and can you afford to be dishonest for so small an amount?" the small voice whispered.
Dan trembled, for it seemed that some one had spoken the words right in his ear. Flinging the stamp he had loosened into the fire, he exclaimed, "No, I can not afford to sell myself so cheap!"
"What's wrong?" asked the farmer, glancing up from his paper. "Lose the stamp after all your trouble?"
"Worse than that," replied the boy, sheepishly.
"What, burned your fingers with the steam?" questioned his employer.
"No," said Dan determinedly; "I sold my honor, or came near doing so."
"What do you mean, boy? The stamp is all right. It would never have been found out."
"But I knew it all the time, and two cents is a small amount to get for your own self-respect; besides"—
"Besides what?" queried the man.
"God knows about it, and He looks upon the heart," answered Dan.
"It's a mighty small thing to worry over, I am sure," replied Mr. Brown. The post-office department would not have been much the poorer, I assure you.""It would have been I who would have been poorer. Had I sold my honor for two cents, I should have made the worse bargain I ever did."
And so Dan gained a victory, and he was never sorry that he had obeyed the voice of conscience.—Belle V. Chisholm, in S. S. Times.