“How could that have been done?”
“Well, sir, it has been done on more than one occasion, for the purposes of fraud, and it is managed in this way: The original writing is taken out by chemicals, then the manipulator imitates the handwriting of the drawer, and places a much larger amount in than the cheque was originally drawn for.”
“It is a very extraordinary proceeding. I do not remember, in the whole course of my experience, meeting with a similar case.”
“I deny most positively that the cheque has been tampered with. If it has, it has not been done with my knowledge,” exclaimed the prisoner. “The charge is a false and malicious one.”
“That is my opinion,” cried Sharpthorne, “and if this be the case the matter will not rest here. The bank directors have laid themselves open to an action for damages and false imprisonment. I say, again, it is not at all likely the matter will be allowed to be hushed up.”
“Hushed up, Mr. Sharpthone! What can you be thinking of to make so unjust an observation?” cried the bank clerk. “Do you suppose that we have any vindictive feeling towards this young man?”
“I purposely avoid replying to your query,” returned the lawyer. “I have my own opinion of the matter, which, for cogent reasons, I choose to keep to myself.”
“But you have cast a slur upon the bank directors, and I say it is not just or proper for you to do so. We have good reasons for acting in the way we have.”
“Oh, I dare say,” sneeringly observed Sharpthorne. “No doubt you think yourself on the safe side.”
“Let there be no squabbling,” said the magistrate, interposing. “The bank think themselves justified in the course they have adopted, and it is but fair to assume that they have good reasons for their line of action. It is not at all likely that a respectable and old-established firm would be rash or indiscreet enough to institute these proceedings without due consideration.”