"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."
"Who saw me?" I asked.
"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."
"How did you make it, Buck?"
"I made it honestly, and I did not steal it," was the only safe answer I could give.