The captain interrupted. "Don't try so hard, Jed," he continued. "Take time to get your steam up. You'll bust a b'iler if you puff that way. Let's see what it is I don't understand. You found this money behind those boards?"
"Eh? Yes . . . yes . . . but—"
"Wait. And you found it this mornin'?"
"Yes . . . yes . . . but, Sam—"
"Hold on. You saw it layin' on the floor at the bottom of that crack?"
"Well—well, I don't know as I saw it exactly, but—but— No, I didn't see it. I—I felt it."
"Oh, you felt it! Thought you said you saw it. Well, you reached down and felt it, then. How did you get your arm stretched out five foot long and three-quarters of an inch thick? Put it under the steam roller, did you?"
Jed swallowed twice before replying. "I—I—" he began. "Well— well, come to think of it, Sam, I—I guess I didn't feel it with my fingers. I—I took a stick. Yes, that was it. I poked in behind there with a stick."
"Oh, you felt it with a stick. And knew 'twas money? Tut, tut! You must have a good sense of touch, Jed, to know bills when you scratch across 'em with the far end of a five foot stick. Pick 'em up with a stick, too, did you?"
Mr. Winslow was speechless. Captain Sam shook his head.