“What reason had you to anticipate this trial?”

“Well, sir, I am accustomed to providing for all contingencies.  That is the way I was made, sir.  It seemed to me quite probable that Benedict, if living, would forget what he had done before his insanity, and that, if he were dead, some friend of his boy would engage in the suit on his behalf.  I procured the autographs after I saw his boy in your hands, sir.”

“So you had not seen these particular signatures at the time when the alleged assignment was made.”

“No, sir, I had not seen them.”

“And you simply procured them to use as a defense in a suit which seemed probable, or possible, and which now, indeed, is in progress of trial?”

“That is about as clear a statement of the fact as I can make, sir;” and Mr. Belcher bowed and smiled.

“I suppose, Mr. Belcher,” said Mr. Balfour, “that it seems very strange to you that the plaintiff should have forgotten his signature.”

“Not at all, sir.  On the contrary, I regard it as the most natural thing in the world.  I should suppose that a man who had lost his mind once would naturally lose his memory of many things.”

“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.”

“And now, may it please the Court,” said Mr. Balfour, “I have some testimony to present in rebuttal of that of the defendant.  I propose, practically, to finish up this case with it, and to show that the story to which you have listened is false in every particular.

“First, I wish to present the testimony of Dr. Charles Barhydt.”  At the pronunciation of his name, the man in spectacles arose, and advanced to the witness-stand.

“What is your name?” inquired Mr. Balfour.