"I can't say exactly," he answered. "I didn't count it. There might have been seventy-five dollars, though perhaps the sum fell a little short of that."
"I can't give you the money, Mr. Coleman," said the clerk, briefly. "I have no evidence that it is yours."
"Really, that's ludicrous," said Coleman, with a forced laugh. "You don't mean to doubt me, I hope," and Madison Coleman drew himself up haughtily.
"That has nothing to do with it. The rule of this office is to return money only to the person who deposited it with us. If we adopted any other rule, we should get into no end of trouble."
"But, my friend," said Coleman, frowning, "you are putting me to great inconvenience. I must meet my friend in twenty minutes and pay him a part of this money."
"I have nothing to do with that," said the clerk.
"You absolutely refuse, then?"
"I do," answered the clerk, firmly. "However, you can easily overcome the difficulty by bringing the boy down here to authorize me to hand you the money."
"It seems to me that you have plenty of red tape here," said Coleman, shrugging his shoulders. "However, I must do as you require."
Coleman had a bright thought, which he proceeded to carry into execution.