Ten Years Among the Mail Bags Part 4

Your letter of the 16th inst. is before me, soliciting the sum of seventy-five dollars. This singular request has very much surprised me, as in the first place I have no available means in my hands belonging to you, and besides, if I had, I should not be in a hurry to relieve you from the embarra.s.sment which you seem to be in, as it may learn you to be more cautious in future.

I have understood that your compensation is ample for your support, if you are economical; but if you lend your money to spendthrifts, and get swindled out of it, it is your own affair.

This is the opinion of

Yours, &c.,

HENRY S----.

It can be imagined how much a response of this description was calculated to open the heart, or invite the confidence of the unfortunate Thomas. His pride felt sorely the repulsive tone which his uncle adopted, and the supposed disgrace of making an unsuccessful application for money, to say nothing of the slurs cast upon his own discretion, and the honor of his companions. At this critical juncture in the character and affairs of the young man, such a cold rebuff was like a death-blow to all purposes of future fidelity and honesty; and as I listened to this part of the instructive narration, I could not but feel that the uncle, by withholding needed sympathy and aid, was in some degree responsible for the after course of his erring nephew.

All hope of a.s.sistance in this direction having been abandoned, desperation suggested a further departure from honesty.

"It is but a little more risk," whispered the fiend. "Take enough to make this quarter's account square, and you will come out right somehow before another settlement."

Weakened conscience was unable to withstand the pressure of circ.u.mstances, and the plausible scheme proposed for relief. So, money letters, which heretofore had been perfectly safe, were emptied of their contents to meet the present exigency.

Indications not to be mistaken, that some one was robbing the mails in that vicinity, soon began to appear, though among all the complaints, not one referred to the loss of any letter mailed at or addressed to the office at E. They all related to important letters posted at other offices, but pa.s.sing through E., and it was not until all sorts of tests and experiments had been tried in vain at other points, and every other mode of operation exhausted, that the Agent took up temporary quarters at the private residence of an acquaintance, from which, without being observed, he could overlook this office, hitherto the least suspected on the route.

The opportunity afforded after dark of taking a glance at the interior of the office and its princ.i.p.al occupant, through the gla.s.s boxes in front, was of course properly improved, and this little experiment furnished, as the result showed, an important clue to the whole matter; for on the first evening's watch, I discovered what I deemed evidence of the clerk's guilt.

Stepping silently and unnoticed into the vestibule of the office, and gaining a position whence I could observe his motions, I distinctly saw him thrust what appeared to be a letter into the stove, afterwards taking up a wallet from the table and placing it hastily in his pocket. I must have made some slight noise, for after doing this, he suddenly turned and looked sharply in my direction.

This may have been nothing more than the instinctive glance of distrust which those who have not the entire control of themselves are apt to cast around after doing something that they would dislike to be detected in.

However it may have been, thinking that he had discovered me, I stepped boldly up to the "general delivery," and inquired for a letter for "Robert Marshall, railroad contractor," taking occasion to observe him closely as he was engaged in running over the letters. He seemed confused, his hands shook a little, his face was flushed, and his voice Was inclined to tremble, as he replied that there was "nothing for Robert Marshall." I attributed all this to fear lest his previous movements might have been observed, and left the office, strongly suspecting that Thomas L. was the author of the depredations in question.

A few experiments in the way of "decoy letters," mailed so as to pa.s.s through that office, soon converted suspicion into certainty. One of these letters, containing sundry bank-notes, disappeared, and one of the notes was traced directly back to his hands. How this was done, the reader will probably insist upon knowing, and it is my intention to gratify this thirst for information, although in so doing I shall be compelled to reveal a degree of unskilfulness in the game of ten-pins which would deter the most sanguine gamester from betting on my head.

In the bas.e.m.e.nt of the hotel was a bowling saloon, which, as I had ascertained, the suspected clerk was in the habit of visiting in the evening, after closing the post-office, and this fact suggested my plan. I might have arrested and searched him at once, but I thought it the better way to watch the money exchanged by him, in the hope that some of the missing bills might thus come to light.

For if he should chance to have none of these about his person, a search would spoil all, by putting him on his guard, whereas if he should offer none of them, no harm would be done, and things would remain _in statu quo_.

With these views I made a confidant of the landlord of the hotel which contained the bowling saloon, and agreed to meet him there early in the evening for a "roll," and arranged that in case the young man came in as usual, my partner should excuse himself, and subst.i.tute L. in his place, to oblige a stranger, who, of course, was rolling merely for exercise.

My design in making this arrangement was to fasten the expense of the evening's recreation upon L. by a brilliant and overpowering display of my skill in bowling, calculating that he would probably pa.s.s some of the stolen money in payment. This was my programme--how it was executed I shall proceed to show.

"Mine host" and I had been rolling perhaps half an hour, when a fine-looking, well-dressed young man entered the saloon, whom I at once recognised as L. The landlord and myself happened to be the only ones then engaged in playing, as it was rather early in the evening for the appearance of most of those who resorted there; so L. watched our game for a while, till the landlord, looking at his watch, remarked that he had an engagement which must be attended to immediately, and turning to L., said,

"Here, Tom, you take my place with this gentleman, for I've got to go away."

"Enough said," replied Tom. "I am always on hand for most any kind of a _ball_."

As I looked at the pleasing features and intelligent countenance of the young man, a pang of sorrow shot through my heart, to think that over his head the invisible sword of justice was even now suspended.

But such reflections are unprofitable, inasmuch as they tend to unfit one for the discharge of painful duty. So I dismissed them as far as I could, and applied myself to my double game--

"Rolling down at once, by a double stroke, A man, as well as a pin."

The first roll of my new antagonist shook my faith in the feasibility of my plan, for the ball went clattering among the wooden platoons like the grape-shot at Balaklava, and in an instant ten _block heads_ bit the dust.

"A rather bad beginning," thought I; "but I don't believe he can do that again."

Comforting myself with this reflection, I applied all the practical and theoretical skill I was master of, to vanquish my experienced foe.

I called to mind my long dormant and slender knowledge about the angles of incidence and reflection. I considered the nature of resultant forces, and the effect which a ball impinging on pin A would have upon the uprightness of its neighbors, B, C, &c. I thus devised theoretical "ten strikes," which (doubtless from some defect in the reasoning) would fall short of my ideal standard by as much as four or five pins; and on several occasions, the ball strayed almost innocuously through the ranks, prostrating only one or two of the outposts. I had a few transient gleams of light when my adversary grew somewhat careless, perhaps from continued success; but darkness soon returned upon my prospects, and I saw in my mind's eye the money coming from my pocket and not his.

We held but little conversation during the progress of our game, for my thoughts were preoccupied with my ultimate object, and L. made no great effort to overcome my taciturnity; yet some casual remarks were made which showed that he identified me as the person who inquired for letters for "Robert Marshall, railroad contractor."

After playing thus for some time, he invited me to take a gla.s.s of ale, which proposition I gladly accepted, as it would give me one more chance to know something about the contents of his pocket book. I began to think that my toils were nearly over, and as we stood imbibing the fluid, I could hardly wait until the gla.s.ses were emptied, in my impatience to see the bank-note produced which was to settle at once the bill, and him.

Delusive antic.i.p.ations! The credit system interposed to crush my hopes, for L. said to the bar-tender, "Put it down to me, Jim."

As "Jim" put it down, _I_ felt put down, and followed my companion back to the alley as humbly as if we had changed places, and I was the suspected one.

"Come, Mr. L.," said I, after we had resumed our game, "you play so much better than I that you will be safe in giving me some little advantage. Just allow me twenty on a 'string,' and let me see if I can do any better at that."

"Very well, sir," said he, "I will do it, although I am afraid you will be too much for me."

But I was not, and after playing until the establishment closed for the night, I found myself under the disagreeable necessity of paying some three dollars for the privilege of being thoroughly defeated, deducting the benefit received from more than two hours' hard work!

[Ill.u.s.tration]

One other expedient suggested itself, namely, offering in payment a twenty dollar note, in the hope that the proprietor, finding it inconvenient to make change, would call on the victorious clerk to accommodate him, and thus would bring to light the missing bills. But this device also failed.

I did not yet "give up the ship."

"I don't know how it is with you, L.," said I, "but I feel rather empty about the epigastric region, after such a pull as you have given me, and I should think you might afford to treat a fellow."

"Well, I don't care if I do," said he. "_I_ feel a sort of gnawing under my vest. Come up stairs, and we'll get something."

To this I replied that I was tired of the noise, and would rather go to some more quiet place. He readily a.s.sented, and led the way to a neighboring restaurant. We ensconced ourselves within one of the curtained recesses, and here I devoted myself to the consumption of as much "provant" as my digestive organs could dispose of, with the intention of running up as large a bill as possible, in order that a bank-note might be offered in payment, and the desired proof of my companion's guilt secured. I saw through the corner of my eye that he seemed to be studying my physiognomy, and the thought came into my mind that his readiness to "treat" was owing to his wish for a good opportunity to find out something more about me. We had begun to talk about various kinds of occupations, and he inquired,

"Is not your business a profitable one, Mr.--Marshall, I believe?"

I acknowledged the name, and said that my business was anything but a profitable one.[A]

[A] See Act of Congress establishing the compensation of Special Agents.

"Isn't it a rather ticklish one, now-a-days? so much rascality you know."

"Yes, but I mean to look out sharp for rogues, and to be pretty sure that I deal with people I can trust."

"I have a very good situation in the post-office," said he, "but I sometimes wish to be where I could have more variety--some kind of business that would require me to travel."

"You had better be contented where you are," replied I; "this seventeen-year old fever never did any one much good. If you are faithful in your present place, you will have no trouble in getting a better situation a few years hence."

To this he made no reply, and the conversation dropped.

After I had appeased "the sacred rage of hunger," and added some works of supererogation in that line for the furtherance of my object, we emerged from our retreat, as "the iron tongue of midnight" was tolling twelve, which sounded to me like the knell of my companion's doom, for I felt confident that the time had now come for the _denouement_ of the two-act drama which we had been playing that evening. It seemed extremely improbable that there should be here any accommodating "Jim"