“Thereupon, I produced from my pocket-book the third note, which was forthwith pronounced a forgery.  I had scarcely produced the third note, when I remembered the one which I had changed for the Horncastle dealer, and with the remembrance came the almost certain conviction that it was also a forgery; I was tempted for a moment to produce it, and to explain the circumstance—­would to God I had done so!—­but shame at the idea of having been so wretchedly duped prevented me, and the opportunity was lost.  I must confess that the agent of the bank behaved, upon the whole, in a very handsome manner; he said that as it was quite evident that I had disposed of certain horses at the fair, it was very probable that I might have received the notes in question in exchange for them, and that he was willing, as he had received a very excellent account of my general conduct, to press the matter no farther, that is, provided--” And here he stopped.  Thereupon, one of the three magistrates, who were present, asked me whether I chanced to have any more of these spurious notes in my possession.  He certainly had a right to ask the question; but there was something peculiar in his tone-insinuating suspicion.  It is certainly difficult to judge of the motives which rule a person’s conduct, but I cannot help imagining that he was somewhat influenced in his behaviour on that occasion, which was anything but friendly, by my having refused to sell him the horses at a price less than that which I expected to get at the fair; be this as it may, the question filled me with embarrassment, and I bitterly repented not having at first been more explicit.  Thereupon the magistrate in the same kind of tone, demanded to see my pocket-book.  I knew that to demur would be useless, and produced it, and therewith, amongst two or three small country notes, appeared the fourth which I had received from the Horncastle dealer.  The agent took it up and examined it with attention.  ‘Well, is it a genuine note?’ asked the magistrate.  ’I am sorry to say that it is not,’ said the agent; ’it is a forgery, like the other three.’  The magistrate shrugged his shoulders, as indeed did several people in the room.  ‘A regular dealer in forged notes,’ said a person close behind me; ‘who would have thought it?’

“Seeing matters begin to look so serious, I aroused myself, and endeavoured to speak in my own behalf, giving a candid account of the manner in which I became possessed of the notes; but my explanation did not appear to meet much credit; the magistrate, to whom I have in particular alluded, asked, why I had not at once stated the fact of my having received a fourth note; and the agent, though in a very quiet tone, observed that he could not help thinking it somewhat strange that I should have changed a note of so much value for a perfect stranger, even supposing that he had purchased my horses, and had paid me their value in hard cash; and I noticed that he laid particular