Ten Years Among the Mail Bags Part 7

"'Take a seat, Mr. L.' says he, 'I'll find your little account in a minit. Pleasant mornin', sir, good growin' weather.'

"Wal, I set down and found out purty soon that I'd got 'bout fifty dollars to pay for his _sarvices_,--blame 'em!

"'Now,' says I, 'Squire, that air's a good deal o' money for a man like me tu pay, and I don't blieve I can raise it all tu wonst. P'raps you'd take part out in _pro_duce, jest ter 'commodate.'

"'Oh, yes,' says he, 'Mr. L., I'll take anything you've a mind to bring.'

"'So,' thinks I, 'I'll git red of one plague by the means;' and I went home and got the old ram and carried him up to the Squire's house.

"'Good mornin', Squire,' says I, 'I've brought the fust instalment on my little account.'

"'The deuce you have,' says he, 'what do you suppose I'm going to do with that old buck?'

"'Donno, Squire,' says I, 'all I know is that you said you'd take anything I was a mind ter bring, and this ere ram is _legal tender_, anyhow.'

"Wal, he saw he was kinder stuck, so he 'greed to take it, and 'low me five dollars.

"I heerd arterwards that the Squire put the ram into an empty hog-pen, to keep him until he could sell him, but the darned critter went over the top on't, and tackled Miss Sharp, the Squire's wife, that happened to be a stoopin' down, weedin' her posies in the gardin, upsot her, and then put arter little Jim, one of her boys, and floored him, and ended off with knockin' down a crazy old well-curb, pitchin' into the well, and breakin' his neck, or drowndin' himself, I donno which.

"That's the end of my experience in law. The old ram cost me, fust and last, about a hundred dollars."

After the conclusion of this instructive narration, the general conversation, which for the time had been suspended, was resumed, and I gathered from what was said that the post master was one of the princ.i.p.al witnesses in the trial above alluded to by Messrs A. & C.; that arrangements had been made for an early start, as the place where the court was to be held was some twelve or fifteen miles distant, and that the hotel where we were was the place of rendezvous.

I observed narrowly every new-comer, and soon a well-dressed, intelligent-looking man, apparently about thirty years old, entered, whom I took to be the very gentleman I wished to see. My conjecture respecting him proved to be correct, for it was not long before some one addressed him, inquiring whom he had engaged to take charge of the post-office during his absence.

Deeming it unsafe to delay longer, I beckoned him out of the room, unnoticed by others, and in a friendly and familiar manner, introduced myself, taking care to throw him off his guard by remarking, that being in that vicinity I had concluded to make him a call and satisfy myself whether the complaints made to the Department respecting him were just or otherwise, adding that in many of these cases similar complaints had their origin in personal disagreements, or business rivalry.

"I am delighted to see you," he replied. "I am gratified that the Department has at last authorized some one who is impartial, to look into its matters here, and if I can have a day with you, I will convince you by the testimony of the best men of all parties, that the stories detrimental to me are the invention of enemies, who seem determined to put me down if possible. But they haven't succeeded yet, and what's more, they can't succeed. Things have come to a pretty pa.s.s when a man can't carry on a more flourishing business than his neighbors, without being set upon and slandered out of his life.

"I am summoned to-day to attend court, but if it is inconvenient for you to wait till my return, I shall run the risk of being in time to-morrow, with my testimony, as this business is of vital importance to me and mine, and must not be neglected, come what may."

"It _is_ very important," I replied, "and my advice is to risk the displeasure of the Court, and ask some of your friends to explain your non-appearance."

He concluded to follow my recommendation, and we walked over to the post-office, and retired within its sanctum, where we remained some time, combining pleasure with business, by inhaling the vapor of as good cigars as the mercantile department could furnish, while examining the post-office books, and the post master's general arrangements, and discussing various matters relative thereto.

My chief object was, if possible, to get a sight of the contents of the boxes where the two "decoys" should be if they had been mistaken for local letters, and placed in the "general delivery." The one enclosing the bank-notes and specie would come under the initial B., and this box contained quite a number of letters which I thought it unsafe to examine particularly. While I was endeavoring to devise some plausible mode of getting a satisfactory view of them, some one fortunately entered the store and inquired if there were any letters for John Barstow. All the B's were at once taken down by the post master, thus giving me exactly the opportunity I wanted of observing each letter, as he was running them over. The last one was reached, but the _mis-sent_ doc.u.ment did not appear; so one important requisite for proving his innocence seemed entirely cut off.

Soon after, we started out to call on some of the "first citizens," as he termed them, but I readily discovered that the select few to whom I was being introduced, although evidently sincere in the opinions they expressed, were a little bia.s.sed in his favor by one motive and another; and that they were quite as likely to be deceived as those whose interests, perhaps, fully as much as their regard for a faithful administration of the post-office, had led them to scrutinize more closely the conduct and principles of our injured friend.

Among those of his backers on whom we called, was a lawyer of some note in that region, who had recently received a nomination for Congress from one of the leading political parties. On our way to this gentleman's office, the post master, as my readers will easily suppose, took care to inform me thoroughly respecting these important particulars. Squire W. was evidently a tower of strength to him, and he spared no pains to impress upon me the great truth, that whomsoever the Squire thought fit to endorse, possessed irrefragable evidence of an immaculate character. We fortunately found the would-be future M.

C. in his office, no other person being present than a law student, also a warm friend to my companion, who quickly withdrew, owing probably to some silent intimation from one or the other of the gentlemen present, that his room was, for the time being, better than his company.

This was not, by the way, the post master's first visit here to-day, for he had stopped in as we were pa.s.sing in the morning, leaving me a moment for that purpose, on which occasion he doubtless suggested our visit, and the importance to him of a pretty strong backing.

He appeared immensely delighted to think that he had been able to bring me, a "green" Agent, upon whom his character with the Department depended, into contact with one whose a.s.surances were to dispel all the clouds that lowered about his head, and reveal him to the community with the double effulgence of injured innocence and undimmed integrity. This pleasing prospect seemed to beget an exuberance of spirits which rather astonished his friend, the Squire, as I judged by the occasional expression of his countenance.

"Now, Squire," said the post master, slapping him gently on the back in a persuasive manner, "I want you to tell this gentleman just what you think about the opposition made to me in this village. You know we have always been opposed in politics, and of course you are entirely disinterested in the matter. All you want is to have the office here well managed. You have heard all about the charges that some of my rascally enemies have made against me, and I believe I told you the other day, that they had sent complaints on to Washington. We'll see how their slanders turn out when the Agent here gets through with investigating the matter. All I want is the truth."

"Yes, yes, I see," said the Squire, clearing for action, by putting an extra stick into the stove, and materially lessening the contents of a good-sized snuff-box that stood upon the table. "It's just as my friend B. says, Mr. H----," continued he; "we've always belonged to different parties in politics, and are connected with different religious societies,--in fact, we don't seem to agree on anything of that sort. But I never mean to allow such things to affect my estimate of a man's character, and I hope I shall always be ready to do any one justice, however he may differ from me in opinion.

"The case, Sir, stands thus: Here is a young man fortunate enough to be possessed of more industry and enterprise than some of his neighbors, and accordingly succeeds in business better than they do.

Their envy is excited, he incurs their ill-will, and they attempt by slander to ruin his character. I don't think any of them would lose by exchanging characters with him. No, Sir," (fortifying his position with another pinch of snuff,) "all these charges are utterly without foundation, save in the brains of those who produced them,--a narrow foundation enough, in all conscience, for anything.

"I have, perhaps, as great an interest in the proper management of the post-office here as any one, as I receive and send through it probably more important correspondence than any other man in town; but I have never had cause to complain, and, so far as I know, everything has gone right."

Here a moment's pause followed, which the lawyer improved by replenishing the stove and his facial promontory. The post master cleared his throat, gave the Squire an approving nod, and rocked back and forth upon the hind legs of his chair, picking his teeth in a nonchalant way, apparently much at his ease.

"By the way, Squire W.," he broke out, rather suddenly, "perhaps the gentleman would like to hear about that letter that Marshall mailed here to go to New Haven, Ct., and which was misdirected to New Haven, Vt."

I replied, that I should be happy to hear any statements that would throw light on the subject in hand.

"Well," said the Squire, "there was a great handle made of that affair. You see, this Marshall is a careless, absent-minded genius, and he wrote a letter, into which he put fifty dollars for his old mother in Connecticut, and it didn't get there. Well, he came and consulted me about it, and wanted me to sue B. here, for the money.

"'Why, Mr. W.,' said he, 'I'm confident that B. has got it. People say he can't be trusted, and I believe it now.'

"'But see here, Marshall,' replied I, 'there are twenty offices or more between this place and the one where you sent your letter; and it is, to say the least, quite as likely to have been purloined anywhere else as here. You had better wait a few days, and I will make inquiries, and do what I can to find out whether B. knows anything about it. If it should appear at all probable that he does, I can a.s.sure you that I will not hesitate to sue him.'

"So I put off matters for a little while, and before Marshall got very urgent again, the lost letter turned up in the New Haven, Vt., post-office; no one being to blame but the very man who had made all the fuss! The enemies of our friend here, who had all the time been chuckling to think they had him on the hip, felt flat enough, I a.s.sure you, when the letter came to light, for they would rather have paid over the fifty dollars themselves, than to have lost this chance of confirming their accusations against him."

This turn in the conversation gave me an excellent opportunity of trying the nerves, or the innocence of the post master, without exciting his suspicions in the least; so I remarked,

"The New Haven, Vermont, post master must have been an honest man, or this money letter might never have been seen again; as no one would have thought of looking there for it, and if they had, it wouldn't have been very easy to prove that it ever went there."

Here I glanced at B., but his countenance betrayed no consciousness that my observation was designed to hit him, and with an aspect of unruffled coolness, he proceeded to say,

"That New Haven case reminds me of something very similar, which happened in this office only a day or two ago. A package of letters came here from Boston, which were intended for a town in New York. By the way, Mr. Agent, I wish the next time you are in the Rutland office you would request the mailing clerks to be a little more particular in addressing their wrappers, as our packages, both of letters and papers, frequently go astray, while those for other offices sometimes come here. Surrounded, as I am, by so many prying and fault-finding people, failures caused in this way are likely to be seized upon to make me trouble."

I replied, that I would try to bear his request in mind, being all the time well satisfied that it was a device adopted to turn attention from the _mis-sent_ package, to which he had unguardedly referred, and to prevent further allusion to it, which might awaken suspicion, and even betray guilt. He was indeed treading on dangerous ground. His voluntary admission, that a package similar to my decoy package had been in his hands, and that he had noticed the name of the place to which the letters were directed, was all that was wanting to confirm my belief that they had been purloined, since I already knew that they had not been forwarded from his office.

After our worthy legal friend had exhausted every ill.u.s.tration, and brought to view every fact at his command, corroborating his very high estimate of the post master's character, both personal and official, and had given the "enemies" the extremely low and degraded position which they, as maligners of spotless worth, and conspirators against tried honesty, ought justly to a.s.sume,--in short, after he had said, if not done, all that even the object of his advocacy could have desired, I proposed an adjournment for dinner, more for the sake of securing in that way an opportunity of telegraphing for the United States Marshal, than for administering to the wants of the inner man.

The victim of calumny and myself separated at the door of the Squire's office, agreeing to meet again soon after dinner; and while he was dispatching his meal, I was dispatching a telegraphic message, which ran thus:--

"----, Esq., U. S. Marshal:

"Come here by first train. I will join you at the depot, and explain business."

Just as I had left the telegraph office, I was addressed in a very private and mysterious manner by a substantial-looking citizen, whom I had before observed eyeing me very closely. He wished to know whether I was the United States Mail Agent.

I informed him that such was the t.i.tle of my office.

"Then I want an opportunity for some conversation with you about this business of the post office. I suppose you are here to examine into this affair, and are willing to hear both sides. There are some things in connection with the matter, which I think you ought to know."

"I was just going to the hotel for my dinner," said I. "Government officers must eat, you know, as well as other people, and for a while after dinner I shall be engaged; but if what you have to communicate is of importance, I will endeavor to confer with you before I leave town."

"I hope you will; and allow me one word now. I understand that you have been closeted with Squire W., and I want you to know something about his position in this matter. Everybody allows him to be an honest and a sincere man, but the fact is, he has been very active in effecting the removal of the site of the post-office from the other side of the river to its present location, and could hardly be called a disinterested witness in such an investigation as you no doubt intend to give the subject."

How far this dig at the Squire was just, I could not then certainly know; but a glance at his law dispensary and the post-office, distant from each other only a few rods, both being a good quarter of a mile from the old post-office site, gave some plausibility to the intimation that the Squire's interest and love for justice, happened in this instance, to run in the same direction.

My presence in the village had become pretty generally known, as appeared by various unmistakable indications, particularly some not very flattering remarks which I overheard at the dinner-table, such as "a one-sided affair," "consulting interested persons," "don't know how he expects to find out the truth," and the like; all of which I pretended neither to hear nor to notice. It was very evident that our man of letters hadn't many friends in _that_ house, for those of its inmates and frequenters who were not in some way influenced by rival interests, were no doubt more or less disaffected by the removal of the post office from that immediate neighborhood.