one o'clock
It had been shown how the little building of the bank had been entered . Skilled locksmiths from the city had testified that the safe was opened with a key , and that the lock was broken afterward , from the inside -- plainly to raise the theory of a forcible entry by strangers . It had been proved that the only key in existence , not counting that kept by the president , was in the possession of Wood , who was filling , for a few days , the place of the cashier -- the president 's brother -- in his absence . It had been shown that Wood was met , at one o'clock of the night in question , crossing the fields toward his home , from the direction of the bank , with a large wicker basket slung over his shoulders , returning , as he had said , from eel-spearing in Harlow 's Creek ; and there was other circumstantial evidence . Mr. Clark , the president of the bank , had won the sympathy of every one by the modest way in which , with eye-glasses in hand , he had testified to the particulars of the loss which had left him penniless , and had ruined others whose little all was in his hands . And then , in reply to the formal question , he had testified , amid roars of laughter from the court-room , that it was not he who robbed the safe . At this , even the judge and Wood 's lawyer had not restrained a smile .