If a man is about to perform an action of doubtful propriety, he
is never at a loss to find arguments to defend the course he is
about to pursue, and though he may not be able to satisfy his
conscience, he can, at least to some extent, deaden the acuteness
of its pangs. Richard Ashton endeavored to justify his present
action to himself, in the moment which intervened between his
new-formed resolution and its consummation. The reader is no doubt
aware, from experience, that a great deal will pass through the
mind in the space of a single moment, and that sometimes a man?s
weal or woe, for time, yea, and for eternity, depends upon a
decision which has to be thus hastily given. It was one of these
crucial moments which Ashton was now passing through. Alas! his
decision was far from being a wise one, and he could not deceivehimself so completely as not to partially feel this
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