The next day was the Sabbath, and Mr. Levering went to church, as usual, with his family.  Scarcely had he taken a seat in his pew, when, on raising his eyes, they rested on the countenance of the lady from whom he had abstracted the dollar.  How quickly his cheek flushed!  How troubled became, instantly, the beatings of his heart!  Unhappy Mr. Levering!  He could not make the usual responses that day, in the services; and when the congregation joined in the swelling hymn of praise, his voice was heard not in the general thanksgiving.  Scarcely a word of the eloquent sermon reached his ears, except something about “dishonest dealing;” he was too deeply engaged in discussing the question, whether or no he should get rid of the troublesome dollar by dropping it into the contribution box, at the close of the morning service, to listen to the words of the preacher.  This question was not settled when the box came round, but, as a kind of desperate alternative, he cast the money into the treasury.

For a short time, Mr. Levering felt considerable relief of mind.  But this disposition of the money proved only a temporary palliative.  There was a pressure on his feelings; still a weight on his conscience that gradually became heavier.  Poor man!  What was he to do?  How was he to get this dollar removed from his conscience?  He could not send it back to the lady and tell her the whole truth.  Such an exposure of himself would not only be humiliating, but hurtful to his character.  It would be seeking to do right, in the infliction of a wrong to himself.

At last, Mr. Levering, who had ascertained the lady’s name and residence, inclosed her a dollar, anonymously, stating that it was her due; that the writer had obtained it from her, unjustly, in a transaction which he did not care to name, and could not rest until he had made restitution.

Ah! the humiliation of spirit suffered by Mr. Levering in thus seeking to get ease for his conscience!  It was one of his bitterest life experiences.  The longer the dollar remained in his possession, the heavier became its pressure, until he could endure it no longer.  He felt not only disgraced in his own eyes, but humbled in the presence of his wife and children.  Not for worlds would he have suffered them to look into his heart.

If a simple act of restitution could have covered all the past, happy would it have been for Mr. Levering.  But this was not possible.  The deed was entered in the book of his life, and nothing could efface the record.  Though obscured by the accumulating dust of time, now and then a hand sweeps unexpectedly over the page, and the writing is revealed.  Though that dollar has been removed from his conscience, and he is now guiltless of wrong, yet there are times when the old pressure is felt with painful distinctness.

Earnest seeker after this world’s goods, take warning by Mr. Levering, and beware how, in a moment of weak yielding, you get a dollar on your conscience.  One of two evils must follow.  It will give you pain and trouble, or make callous the spot where it rests.  And the latter of these evils is that which is most to be deplored.