Frith looked as miserable as though the compliment just paid him had been a threat of dismissal, and replied, "The matter looks worse on paper than it was. Mr. Savell would not have taken such liberties but for Mr. Joynson, who was here before me."
And Frith, with the permission of his superior, told the whole story, softening matters as far as possible, and making excuses for Norman.
Mr. Fisher, the inspector, listened attentively, but, instead of making an immediate reply, he read over Frith's written statement. For a moment, the thought came into his mind that Frith had been bribed during the interval, to make the case seem better than it was, in order to save the offender. He looked keenly into Frith's face, in which he noted an expression of truthfulness and honesty, which contradicted the suspicion; but he remarked, "I find a great difference between the tone of your report and your verbal account."
The young man's face flushed, but he met the keen glance with honest eyes and words—
"I was angry when I wrote, and I am afraid I was thinking more about Mr. Savell having set me at defiance than of his offence against the law. I am not angry now, and though I can only tell the truth, I can do so without passion, and would gladly undo the effect of my first harsh words."
"What has caused this change of feeling?"
"After I had sent off the letter, I began to think of Mr. Savell's many excellences. He is a capital landlord, a true friend to the poor, a kind brother, and he ought to be married in a month to one of the sweetest girls in the world. He has been naturally accustomed to think a great deal of himself, as the largest landowner of the neighbourhood, and old Joynson had let him do as he liked with the mail-bags, and never said him nay. There are many things to be said in excuse for Mr. Savell."
"Were not all these things equally true when you wrote your report of the affair?"
"Yes, sir, but I was in a passion. A man does not like to be defied when doing his duty. I should have reported my own brother, or the Prince of Wales, I hope, if he had done what Mr. Savell did. All I wish is that I had written in a better and kinder spirit, instead of making the worst of things. That same evening, Mr. Savell came and apologized in the frankest way, and brought the letter to show me. He has no idea, I believe, of what he has laid himself open to, but he was sorry for having insulted me when I was doing my duty. Besides, he owned he had set a bad example, when his very position should have made him anxious to set a good one. Must you take any proceedings, sir?" asked Frith, after a brief pause, during which Mr. Fisher was evidently thinking things over.
"I must indeed, Frith. The mail-bags are trusted to the honour of the people, as it were, tied only with a string and secured by a seal which a child's hand could loose and break. They are flung down on the platforms as if they were of little importance, yet think what sacred deposits they enclose. Everybody is interested in their safety, and the law, while trusting so much, imposes a heavy penalty on any violation of the trust. An instance of the kind is rare indeed. Now, if we were to gloss over this offence of Mr. Savell, what would the world say?"