"where on airth have you been?" said mrs. fishley, chiming in with her husband; and if i had not realized before, i did now, that the squire had actually gone home.
"i haven't been a great ways," i replied.
as the fact of my absence, rather than where i had been, was the great grievance with my tyrants, i concluded not to tell them in what precise locality i had spent the forenoon. the old order of things was fully restored. it was snap, snarl, and growl. but i soon learned that there was something more than this. captain fishley and ham both looked glum and savage; but they ate their dinner in silence.
"buck, i want you," said the captain, in a very ugly tone, as i was going to the barn after dinner. "come into the store."[155]
i followed him into the shop. he sat down behind the post-office counter, looked at me sternly, and then gazed at the floor.
"where have you been to-day?" said he, after his gaze had vibrated for some time between me and the floor.
"i haven't been far."
"buck, have you got any money?" he added, sharply, and putting the question as a home thrust at me.
"yes, sir, i have," i replied, startled by the inquiry; for it was evident to me now that the storm was coming in the shape of a tempest.
"how much have you got?"
"i haven't got any of your money," i answered.
if ham could rob the mail, it would not be a very hard step for him to take to rob his father's pocket-book; and i began to think he had done so, charging the crime upon me.
"i didn't say you had got any of my money," added captain fishley. "i asked you how much you had."
"what do you want to know for?"[156]
"no matter what i want to know for. why don't you answer me?"
"because i don't choose to answer you," i replied, saucily.
i felt innocent, and i could not tell him anything about my money without exposing his brother. he made a movement towards me, and i thought he was going to seize me by the collar. i jumped over the counter, for i had all my money in my pocket, and i did not care about being searched.
"come back here!" said he, savagely.
"i am just as well here."
"will you tell me how much money you have got, or shall i send for the constable?" he continued.
"you may send for the constable, if you like; but i haven't any money that belongs to you, or anybody but myself."
"yes, you have! you have been robbing the mail!" retorted my tyrant, fiercely.
robbing the mail! i saw through the mill-stone. the postmaster had heard from miss larrabee, or her brother, in regard to the missing letter, and[157] i was accused of purloining it! no doubt captain fishley thought i was the robber. probably ham had charged the crime upon me, and his father was willing to believe him.
"i have not robbed the mail," i replied, smartly.
"yes, you did; and i can prove it. you had better own it, and give back the money."
"i didn't take the money."
"what's the use to deny it, buck?" said he, more mildly. "if you will own it, and give back the money, i will try and make it as easy as i can for you."
"i tell you i didn't take the money, and i won't own it when i didn't do it."
"well, just as you like, buck. if you won't give up the money, i shall have to hand you over to the constable, and see what he can do."
"you may hand me over to the constable as much as you please. neither he nor anybody else can make me own up to what i didn't do."
"why will you persist in saying you didn't do it?"
"because i didn't do it."[158]
"i can prove it."
"let's see you prove it."
"you carry the mail to riverport and back."
"i know it; but i don't have any key to the bag."
"you know where the key is," said he, earnestly. "this morning i had a letter from miss larrabee's brother, saying that he sent his sister forty dollars, which must have come on before she left."
"that don't prove that i took it," i interposed; for i wished to know what the trap was before i said anything about ham.
"it proves that the letter came. i've been down to riverport this forenoon, and seen the postmaster there. he says the name was an odd one to him, and he distinctly remembers seeing it when he sorted the mail. i haven't any doubt the letter came to this office."
"nor i either," i replied, glancing at ham, who had taken position by his father's side to hear what was said.
"what do you mean by that?" demanded captain fishley, puzzled by my remark.[159]
"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.
i confess that it must have looked very bad for me; but i could not expose squire fishley, and my lips were sealed.
"how much did there appear to be, ham?" continued captain fishley; and i must do him the [160]justice to say that he now appeared to be only anxious to elicit the truth.
"i don't know. i thought there were five or six bills. it was a good deal of money for him to have, anyhow. i didn't think much about it till since we found this letter was lost."
"didn't you, ham fishley?" said i, looking him right in the eye. "you know very well that i didn't take that letter."
"i know it!" repeated he, trying to bluster; but i saw that it was hard work.
"yes, you know it, if your father don't."
"i don't see who could have taken it, if he didn't," added ham, turning to his father.
"don't you, ham?" i shouted, in my excitement.
"of course he took it," said the postmaster. "he isn't willing to tell where he got that money, which he don't deny having."
"i can't tell where i got it, without injuring some one else; but i most solemnly declare that i did not steal it, nor take the letter."
"that's all in your eye," said ham.
"it was all in my eye the night the mail was [161]robbed," i replied. "i didn't do it; but i saw it done; and i know who did it, ham fishley."
"humph! i shouldn't wonder if he meant to lay it to me, father!" added ham.
"that's just what i mean to do. i saw ham take the money out of the envelope, and then burn the letter."
"well, that's a good one!" said ham, laughing heartily; but his face was pale, and his laugh hollow.
captain fishley looked at his son earnestly. perhaps he saw the unrealness of his mirth. ham was extravagant in his demonstrations, and so far overdid the matter, that even his father must have been troubled with a suspicion that all was not right in relation to him.
"buck bradford, you have a large sum of money about you," said he. "have you not?"
"no matter how much," i answered.
"you have forty dollars. will you deny it?"
"i will neither own nor deny it. i have nothing to say about it."
"ham saw you have five or six bills. now, you [162]must tell me where you got that money, or i shall believe you robbed the mail."
"i shall not tell you," i replied, firmly. "if it was right for me to do so, i would; but it isn't right, and i can't."
"that's rich!" sneered ham. "if you want any better evidence than that, you will have to send to texas after it. his trying to lay it to me is the best proof i want."
"ham fishley, you know that what i have said is true," i continued indignantly. "you know that you opened that mail-bag after you came home from crofton's, put the money in your pocket, and burned the letter."
"of course that's perfectly ridiculous," said ham, angrily.
"i'm tired of this jaw," added captain fishley, in disgust. "buck, come round here."
"i know what you want, and i think i won't do it," i replied, leaving the store.
"ham, go over to stevens's, and tell him i want to see him," said my tyrant, coming to the door.
stevens was a constable. i was not anxious to [163]see him. i went to the barn, and by a roundabout way reached the swamp. i need hardly say that i was in great excitement and alarm. the constable was to be put upon my track; but i was not at all afraid that he would find me in the swamp, which for nearly half a mile had three feet of water on the ground. he could not reach me at the raft without a boat.
i went to work upon the interior of the house, put up a partition to divide flora's room from the rest of the space, and built a bunk in her apartment. i had already rigged a steering oar, and at one end of the raft i had set up a mast, on which i intended to spread a square-sail for use when the wind was favorable. i worked very hard all the afternoon, and kept sim as busy as i was myself in sawing boards of the right length for the work.
the raft was in condition to go down the river, though it was not yet finished. i was ready to start that very night, if necessary. i was confident that i was to be persecuted, if not prosecuted, for robbing the mail. as long as i could not explain where i obtained the money which ham had unfortunately[164] seen, i was not able to clear myself of the suspicion. before i left the swamp, i concealed all my money, but a few dollars, in the hollow of a tree.
i was not afraid of the constable. i determined to go back to the house, and trust to my wits for safety. i went into the kitchen as usual, where captain fishley and his wife were just sitting down to supper.
"where have you been all the afternoon?" asked he, in a milder tone than i expected to hear him use.
"keeping out of the way of the constable," i replied.
"i don't want to call the constable for you, but i shall if you don't give up the money," added captain fishley.
"i haven't got it. what i said about ham was the truth."
"the wicked wretch!" gasped mrs. fishley. "why don't you send for the constable?"
poor flora had heard the story about me, and she trembled with apprehension. how i pitied her![165]
"i will hand him over to stevens to-morrow, if he don't give up the money before that time," added the captain.
i was not permitted to go after the mail that night. the postmaster went himself, and his wife accompanied him to "do some shopping."
