"Why will you persist in saying you didn't do it?"
"You carry the mail to Riverport and back."
"I know it; but I don't have any key to the bag."
"You know where the key is," said he, earnestly. "This morning I had a letter from Miss Larrabee's brother, saying that he sent his sister forty dollars, which must have come on before she left."
"That don't prove that I took it," I interposed; for I wished to know what the trap was before I said anything about Ham.
"It proves that the letter came. I've been down to Riverport this forenoon, and seen the postmaster there. He says the name was an odd one to him, and he distinctly remembers seeing it when he sorted the mail. I haven't any doubt the letter came to this office."
"Nor I either," I replied, glancing at Ham, who had taken position by his father's side to hear what was said.
"What do you mean by that?" demanded Captain Fishley, puzzled by my remark.
"You haven't proved that I took the letter."
"It came here, but none of us saw it. The very night the mail containing that letter came in, you were seen counting money."
"Ham saw you--didn't you, Ham?" replied the captain, appealing to his son.
"Yes, I did. After I came home from Crofton's, I put on my old rubbers, and went out to the barn after the lantern. I found Buck on the hay-loft, counting a roll of bank bills," answered Ham, glibly.
"How much was there?" asked the postmaster.
"I asked him how much he had, but he wouldn't tell me," replied Ham. "He said it was a little money that he had made on his own account."
"I made it honestly, and I did not steal it," was the only safe answer I could give.
I confess that it must have looked very bad for me; but I could not expose Squire Fishley, and my lips were sealed.
"How much did there appear to be, Ham?" continued Captain Fishley; and I must do him the justice to say that he now appeared to be only anxious to elicit the truth.
"I don't know. I thought there were five or six bills. It was a good deal of money for him to have, anyhow. I didn't think much about it till since we found this letter was lost."
"Didn't you, Ham Fishley?" said I, looking him right in the eye. "_You_ know very well that I didn't take that letter."
"I know it!" repeated he, trying to bluster; but I saw that it was hard work.