Ten Years Among the Mail Bags. James Holbrook
frequent characteristics of a country congregation—a noisy choir, a gorgeous display of ribbons and other "running rigging" by the fairer portion of the audience, and a peculiarly ill-fitting assortment of coats, but never a Quakerish garment. By the time the preacher had drawn his last inference, I had drawn mine, namely, that it is easier to identify a man by his face than by his coat, inasmuch as he cannot lay aside the one, while he may the other. The day, indeed, was remarkably mild, and few over-coats made their appearance. Mr. F. was present, however, at both services, as I afterwards learned, and occupied a seat in the choir—a base singer, probably.
I have now to mention one of those singular coincidences which are so frequently brought about, as if with the design of aiding in the exposure of crime, and of pointing out its perpetrators with unerring accuracy. The numerous instances which are every day occurring, illustrative of this principle, leave us no room to doubt its truth. "Murder will out," and so will all other crimes. Let the guilty one envelope himself in a seemingly impenetrable cloud of secrecy; let him construct, ever so cunningly, the line of his defences, sparing no pains to fortify every exposed point, and to guard against every surprise; yet some ray of light, darting, like the electric flash, he knows not whence, will pierce the darkness which surrounded him; some hidden spark will kindle an explosion, which will bury him and his works in ruin. "Trifles light as air" harden into "confirmation strong as words of Holy Writ."
Assuming that the aforesaid coat, if it had any connection with the author of the robberies, was probably manufactured at the only tailoring establishment in the place, I happened in there on Monday morning, and inquired of the presiding genius his price for a respectable over-coat, intending in some roundabout way to find out whether he had made one like that which I was in pursuit of.
"That depends," replied he, "on the material and style of making."
While continuing a desultory conversation with him on the subject of coats, their various shapes and styles, &c., my eye fell upon a small slip of paper pinned to the sleeve of a garment hanging near the door, and on approaching it, I found the name W. F. written upon the paper.
"That coat belongs to Mr. F., our post master," remarked the knight of the goose. "It was a trifle too small, and I have been altering it."
Its color, unusual length, and peculiar make, were circumstances almost conclusive to my mind of the identity of its owner with the individual who had been exchanging the twenty dollar notes.
I bid the tailor good morning, feeling pretty well satisfied that I had laid the foundation of a more important suit than any which his art could furnish.
The distance from this place to the town where the academy was situated, was about twenty miles, and the next thing to be done was to ascertain whether F. had been there within a week or two. A little reflection suggested a tolerably safe and direct mode of ascertaining this fact, which was, to see the merchant before referred to, as being cognisant of the passing of the twenty dollar notes, who had already been partially informed of the object of my former inquiries concerning them; and to request him to address a line to Mr. F., inquiring whether he recollected seeing a person, apparently insane, in the stage-coach, while on his way home after the Exhibition. This certainly could do no harm in case he was not present on that occasion, while if he had been, he would very naturally confirm the fact in answering the question proposed. The next mail brought a reply to the effect that he did not return home by the stage, but in his own private conveyance, and therefore saw no such person as the one inquired about.
I had thus made a beginning in laying a foundation for the superstructure of evidence which I was endeavoring to raise; a foundation, of which a tight coat was the corner-stone. If Mr. F.'s outer garment had not required alteration, I should, up to this time, have failed in establishing a most important fact, viz., his probable identity with the individual who passed the bank notes; and as long as this point was involved in much uncertainty, I should hardly have felt prepared to push my researches with much energy or hope.
The following facts were now in my possession: Mr. F. was in the same town where the Exhibition was held, and upon that occasion; his general appearance corresponded to that of the person who had then and there exchanged the notes; and his position as post master gave him sufficient opportunities to have committed the robberies. All this seemed to authorize and require more definite and concentrated measures on my part.
In the mail from Boston, which was to pass on that route on the following day, sundry tempting-looking packages might have been found, which were not altogether valueless in a pecuniary point of view, and would assuredly have been missed had they been stopped anywhere short of their place of destination. In other words, these packages were what are called decoy letters—a species of device for entrapping the dishonest, which will always be effectual, and whose detective power the shrewdest rogue is unable to withstand. The utmost sagacity will never enable one to distinguish between a decoy-letter and a genuine one, so that the only way of securing safety from these missives is to let all letters alone. The coat of arms of Scotland—a thistle, with the motto "Noli me tangere,"—would be an appropriate device for these paper bomb-shells.
This set of packages, however, passed the suspected point in safety on this occasion, and several times afterwards, for the very good reason, as it subsequently appeared, that, in the absence of the post master, an honest person overhauled the mails.
The snare was laid once more, and with better success.
Upon a certain day, as the mail was leaving Boston, a letter containing some fifty dollars, in good and lawful money, duly marked and recorded, that it might afterwards be identified, was placed in the package of letters for the post-office which had suffered so many losses before, and to pass through the office over which he of the tight coat presided. This package was watched by the Special Agent for the distance of seventy miles or more, until it had arrived unmolested within ten or fifteen miles of the suspected office.
About this time I again fell in with General Pierce, who kindly offered to act in concert with me until the result of that day's experiment should be decided; he taking the stage which was to convey the mail, and I intending to follow after by private conveyance, both to meet again, and to examine the contents of the bag after it had passed the office at C. The object of this temporary separation, as my readers will readily see, was to prevent the possibility of any recognition of my person, which might have been incurred had I been seen traveling with a gentleman so well known as the Hon. Mr. Pierce. Much curiosity would inevitably be manifested to know whom the U. S. District Attorney had with him, and speculations on the subject might approach too near the truth for the interests of public justice.
The united efforts of the sixteen legs which impelled the "leathern conveniency" containing my friend, the Attorney, were soon too much for the four that hurried along "Cæsar and his fortunes;" and the first-mentioned vehicle ere long was "hull-down" in the distance. I had often been over this route before, yet in some incomprehensible way, either by turning off too often, or not turning often enough, I got upon the wrong road, and came near making a bungling job of it. Pressing on as fast as possible to get a glimpse of the stage once more. I had driven furiously for several miles, until, becoming convinced that I was not likely to overtake it though I should go in that direction till doomsday, I halted at a farm-house which stood near the road, and addressed a man who apparently had been engaged in cutting wood in the yard, for he stood, axe in hand, with an unsplit log lying before him. The sound of my wheels had undoubtedly arrested his attention. Dropping his axe with alacrity, he lounged up to the fence, and leaned his elbows upon it, evidently prepared to refresh himself after his bodily toil, with a little social intercourse.
"Is this the road to G.?" said I.
"What are yer in such a darned hurry for, now," replied my interlocutor. "I've heerd them air wheels of yourn a rattlin, rattlin, this half hour by spells, and I don't bleive I've cut the vally of an armfull of wood all that time. I do'no what She'll say."
Here he glanced uneasily over his shoulder towards the house, as if he feared Her awe-inspiring presence.
"But, my friend," I remonstrated, "this don't tell me anything about the road. I am in a hurry, and no mistake; and I'll be