"And it's trouble enough that I've had," he replied, "with the sickness of meself, and the death of little Pat, and now ye'd have me father all the thievish tricks of the whole office, would ye? Ye'll find, if ye look sharp, that it's another that's got the letters ye speak of; for sure haven't I seen him, while 'facing up,' throw something under the counter, among the waste paper, and then go looking there agin, after his task was done? And wasn't they large, thick parcels that he dumped under the table?" I have never had a doubt that he was then describing the exact process by which he committed his own depredations. "Very well," I answered, "you will soon see who is answerable;" and calling the officer, who had remained outside the door during the conversation, Pat was notified that his person must undergo a thorough search--and it _was_ thorough. Among the contents of his wallet were some forty dollars that agreed very well with the description of the kind of money mailed at Joliet, and also the receipt for the aforesaid grave-stones. On examining his hat, which he had taken off on first entering the office, and placed at some distance, on the top of a secretary, there appeared, snugly stowed away under the leather lining, $165, all in fives of the Middletown Bank, with the well-known marks on each bill! But even this discovery produced but little impression on him; declaring, as he did very promptly, that he could show where he obtained that money; and no doubt he could! Pat was left in charge of two suitable persons, and the remainder of the day was spent by the officer and myself in searching his house and premises for the balance of the missing funds, which was done without giving any information to his wife of the real object of our examination, or the unpleasant situation of her husband. The woods were also thoroughly ransacked, though the chances appeared to be, that the booty had been removed to the house or vicinity, as he went directly from home that morning, having a part of the funds about his person, with the design, as it was afterwards ascertained, of purchasing tickets for himself and family, and several others, to Illinois. But our researches were unavailing, and I returned to the post-office somewhat disappointed; for the proof was not yet sufficient to convict him, on account of the impossibility of identifying the bills with certainty, as I have already mentioned. Before leaving, I had made known to him our intention to search his house, and when we returned, he for the first time showed signs of great uneasiness, and walked the room constantly, evidently anxious to know if his treasures had been discovered. His anxiety was natural enough, for it turned out that the whole of the money was secreted in the house, and that at one time during the search, I was separated from its hiding place, only by a half-inch board!