"That certainly seems reasonable, but how is it that he does not recognize it, even if he does not remember the writing of it?"
"I don't know; a man's signature changes with changing habits, I suppose," responded the witness.
"You don't suppose that any genuine signature of yours could pass under your eye undetected, do you?" inquired Mr. Balfour.
"No, sir, I don't. I'll be frank with you, sir."
"Well, now, I'm going to test you. Perhaps other men, who have always been sane, do sometimes forget their own signatures."
Mr. Balfour withdrew from his papers a note. Mr. Belcher saw it in the distance, and made up his mind that it was the note he had written to the lawyer before the beginning of the suit. The latter folded over the signature so that it might be shown to the witness, independent of the body of the letter, and then he stepped to him holding it in his hand, and asked him to declare it either a genuine signature or a forgery.
"That's my sign manual, sir."
"You are sure?"
"I know it, sir."
"Very well," said Mr. Balfour, handing the letter to the clerk to be marked. "You are right, I have no doubt, and I believe this is all I want of you, for the present."