New York, February 19th, 1849.
My dear Sir.
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 embarrassment 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 assistance 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 circumstances, 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 passing 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 principal occupant, through the glass 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.