After a few moments' silent stroking of his beard, he suddenly faced the frightened woman.
"You oblige me, Mrs.Baker, to speak more frankly to you than I had intended.

You have--unwittingly, I believe--given information to a man whom the Government suspects of peculation.

You have, without knowing it, warned the postmaster at Hickory Hill that he is suspected; and, as you might have frustrated our plans for tracing a series of embezzlements to their proper source, you will see that you might have also done great wrong to yourself as his only neighbor and the next responsible person.

In plain words, we have traced the disappearance of money letters to a point when it lies between these two offices.

Now, I have not the least hesitation in telling you that we do not suspect Laurel Run, and never have suspected it.