Sentence:  ... this man worked at his business all the harder, with the brightness of the home-joys fading. But it went very hard with him, more than once, when he made a good stroke of <WSD>salesmanship</WSD>, to have to put the money in the bottom of his pocket, without even rubbing a bright half-crown, and saying to himself, “I have a'most a mind to give this to Mary.” 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The skills and knowledge of how to sell.