A VENERABLE PAIR OF OFFICIALS.

35

old gentleman who had numbered his three-score years and ten, a veteran in the service, having held the post which he then filled, "from time immemorial." He looked the worthy representative of that class of men, whose moral principles are applied to the discharge of public duties as strictly as to those of a private character,-men like that high-minded worthy, who, when his son attempted to help himself to a sheet of paper from a desk containing public property, rebuked him thus: "Take some paper from my desk, if you want it. That paper belongs to the United States."

It is generally necessary in investigating cases of depredations, to inquire into the honesty of the clerks in the offices to which we direct our attention; but in the present instance, such a precaution was uncalled for, since the only assistant of the old post master was his wife, a venerable, motherly matron, of about his age, who had aided him in his official duties, and had been his help-meet in the household for many, many years. The correspondence of a generation had passed through their hands, and they were enabled to note the changes in the number and appearance of the letters which were placed in their charge during the long period of their incumbency,changes produced by the increase of population, the freer intercourse between distant places, and the facilities for epistolary communication, which had been progressing ever since they had assumed the responsibilities of their office. At first few letters were transmitted but those of a sturdy, business-like appearance, written on coarse paper, and sealed with wafers of about the dimensions of a modern lady's watch,-wafers that evidently had in charge matter of weighty import, and were mighty embodiments of the adhesive principle. Then, as Time and Improvement advanced, and the cacoëthes scribendi became more generally developed, documents appeared of a milder grade, and of a more imaginative aspect, not only representing the cares of business life, but indicating, by the fineness of their texture, the laboriously neat and often feminine character of their superscriptions, and the delicacy of their

36

PRESIDENT PIERCE ASSISTS.

expressive waxen seals, that Love and Friendship, and the interests of domestic circles, were also beginning thus to find

utterance.

Our worthy pair, having been connected with the postal department during such a large portion of its existence, had naturally come to feel much interest in whatever concerned it, and of course were especially anxious that no blot should come upon the reputation of the office in their charge, and that the delinquent in the present case should be brought to light and to justice.

The old man was slow to believe that a fraud had been committed by those connected with any office in his neighborhood, as he thought he could vouch for the character of every one of his brother post masters with whom he was acquainted, and the information which he gave me respecting them seemed to exonerate them, so far as his opinion could do it.

My first proceeding at that point, was to examine the books of the office, by which it appeared that Boston packages were received only once or twice a week, while they had been sent daily, according to the records of the Boston post-office.

After passing over the entire route several times incog., and taking as minute a view of the several offices as it was in my power to do without incurring the danger of being recognised, I concluded that my duty required me to seek an interview with the United States District Attorney, whose functions were then discharged by no less a personage than Hon. Franklin Pierce, now President of the United States. On laying the whole matter before him, he expressed much regret at the seeming implication of the "Granite State" in such acts of dishonesty and systematic fraud; at the same time confidently expressing the belief that the incumbents of two or three post-offices, to which I felt satisfied the difficulty was confined, could not be the guilty parties, as they were personally known to him.

Although I greatly respected his judgment, yet I ventured to suggest the possibility that his desire to think well of his acquaintances might have led him to view the characters of

THE QUAKER COAT.

37

some of them in a too favorable light. So, in order to establish more firmly their trust-worthiness in my estimation, he kindly went over to the State-house, where the Legislature was in session, and confidentially consulted the representatives from each of the towns in question.

One of the members thus consulted, and who readily endorsed the favorable opinion of the Attorney, happened to be a brother of the post master who had done all the mischief, as it was afterwards ascertained. I have reason to believe, however, that this gentleman was not aware of his brother's delinquencies, and that he was incapable of doing anything to countenance or forward such dishonorable practices.

One of the lost letters contained several twenty dollar notes on one of the Boston banks. On the occasion of a public Exhibition, held at the close of the term, in the Academy before referred to, a large number of visitors from abroad were collected together, and as money at such a time would be circulating in the town more freely than usual, it seemed not unlikely that one or more of those bank notes might find their way into the current of business, and furnish, by their identification, some clue to the perpetrator of the robberies. With this hope, I inquired privately of several merchants in the place, whether they had recently taken any such bills, and learned from one of them that, about two weeks before, at the time of the Exhibition, several of those or similar bills had been offered for exchange by a stranger, which fact would perhaps have attracted no particular attention, were it not for the absence of any apparent object in this exchange. The imperfect description of the stranger which I obtained, agreed tolerably well, as far as it went, with that of Mr. F., post master in the town of C., where was one of the offices through which the many missing packages should have passed.

The most decided mark of identity which was furnished me, was a brown overcoat, cut something after the Quaker style, which my informant remembered to have been worn by the stranger for whose accommodation he had exchanged notes

38

THE QUAKER COAT.

similar to those described. Deeming it unsafe to inquire of any neighbor of the suspected post master whether he possessed such a coat, I adopted the expedient of attending, on the following Sabbath, the church of whose congregation he was a member, for the purpose, of course, of listening to a good sermon, not forgetting, however, under the scriptural license furnished in Luke xiv. 5, to look about now and then for the Quaker coat and its owner,—a wolf in sheep's clothing. I observed the frequent characteristics of a country congregation, a noisy choir, a gorgeous display of ribbons and other "running rigging" by the fairer portion of the audience, and a peculiarly ill-fitting assortment of coats, but never a Quakerish garment. By the time the preacher had drawn his last inference, I had drawn mine, namely, that it is easier to identify a man by his face than by his coat, inasmuch as he cannot lay aside the one, while he may the other. The day, indeed, was remarkably mild, and few overcoats made their appearance. Mr. F. was present, however, at both services, as I afterwards learned, and occupied a seat in the choir,--a base singer, probably.

I have now to mention one of those singular coincidences which are so frequently brought about, as if with the design of aiding in the exposure of crime, and of pointing out its perpetrators with unerring accuracy. The numerous instances which are every day occurring, illustrative of this principle, leave us no room to doubt its truth. "Murder will out," and so will all other crimes. Let the guilty one envelope. himself in a seemingly impenetrable cloud of secrecy; let him construct, ever so cunningly, the line of his defences, sparing no pains to fortify every exposed point, and to guard against every surprise; yet some ray of light, darting, like the electric flash, he knows not whence, will pierce the darkness which surrounded him; some hidden spark will kindle an explosion, which will bury him and his works in ruin. “Trifles light as air” harden into "confirmation strong as words of Holy Writ." Assuming that the aforesaid coat, if it had any connection with

THE INSANE TRAVELER.

39

the author of the robberies, was probably manufactured at the only tailoring establishment in the place, I happened in there on Monday morning, and inquired of the presiding genius his price for a respectable overcoat, intending in some roundabout way to find out whether he had made one like that which I was in pursuit of.

"That depends,” replied he, "on the material and style of making."

While continuing a desultory conversation with him on the subject of coats, their various shapes and styles, &c., my eye fell upon a small slip of paper pinned to the sleeve of a garment hanging near the door, and on approaching it, I found the name W. F. written upon the paper.

"That coat belongs to Mr. F., our post master," remarked the knight of the goose. "It was a trifle too small, and I have been altering it."

Its color, unusual length, and peculiar make, were circumstances almost conclusive to my mind of the identity of its owner with the individual who had been exchanging the twenty dollar notes.

I bid the tailor good morning, feeling pretty well satisfied that I had laid the foundation of a more important suit than any which his art could furnish.

The distance from this place to the town where the academy was situated, was about twenty miles, and the next thing to be done was to ascertain whether F. had been there within a week or two. A little reflection suggested a tolerably safe and direct mode of ascertaining this fact, which was, to see the merchant before referred to, as being cognisant of the passing of the twenty dollar notes, who had already been partially informed of the object of my former inquiries concerning them; and to request him to address a line to Mr. F., inquiring whether he recollected seeing a person, apparently insane, in the stage-coach, while on his way home after the Exhibition. This certainly could do no harm in case he was not present on that occasion, while if he had been, he would very naturally