"To be sure, sir, to be sure," answered Sampson Wilmot. "Well, you see,
sir, one of the bills was brought to our counter, and the cashier didn't
much like the look of my lord's signature, and he took the bill to the
inspector, and the inspector said,' Pay the money, but don't debit it
against his lordship.' About an hour afterwards the inspector carried
the bill to Mr. Percival Dunbar, and directly he set eyes upon it, he
knew that Lord Vanlorme's acceptance was a forgery. He sent for me to
his room; and when I went in, he was as white as a sheet, poor
gentleman. He handed me the bill without speaking, and when I had looked
at it, he said--

"'Your brother is at the bottom of this business, Sampson. Do you
remember the half-sheet of paper I found on a blotting-pad in the
counting-house one day; half a sheet of paper scrawled over with the
imitation of two or three signatures? I asked who had copied those
signatures, and your brother came forward and owned to having done it,
laughing at his own cleverness. I told him then that it was a fatal
facility, a fatal facility, and now he has proved the truth of my words
by helping my son to turn forger and thief. That signature must be
honoured, though I should have to sacrifice half my fortune to meet the
demands upon us. Heaven knows to what amount such paper as that may be
in circulation. There are some forged bills that are as good as genuine
documents; and the Jew who discounted these knew that. If my son comes
into the bank this morning send him to me.'"

"And did the young man come?" asked the junior partner.

"Yes, Mr. Balderby, sir; in less than half an hour after I left Mr.
Percival Dunbar's room, in comes Mr. Henry, dashing and swaggering into
the place as if it was his own.