ed, cautiously, "I was led to
suppose that the will did not exist."

"You remember the form, terms, and conditions of the document drawn
by yourself on that occasion?"

"I do, perfectly," he replied, with more assurance.

"State whether the will read in your hearing this morning is
identical with the one drawn by yourself."

Hobson now saw the drift of the attorney's questions, but it was too
late.

"As near as I can recollect," he stammered, but a word from Mr.
Sutherland recalled him.

"You just said you remembered perfectly."

"I believe they are identical in form."

"Mr. Hobson," said the attorney, spreading out the document before
the witness, but still retaining his hold upon it, "will you state
to the court whether that is your writing, and whether the last name,
that of the second witness, is your signature."

With great precision, Hobson adjusted a pair of eyeglasses and
proceeded to scrutinize the writing closely. "Well," he remarked,
at length, very deliberately, "I do not deny that to be my writing,
nor am I prepared to positively affirm that it is such. The fact
is, my chirography varies so much from time to time that I often
find it difficult for me to verify my own signatures."

"Here are some papers which may assist the gentleman, and may be of
some use to the court," said a deep voice with rich, musical
inflections, but slightly tinged with sarcasm, and the English
attorney handed a small package to Mr. Sutherland. "They contain,"
he added, "some specimens of the witness's chirography of about the
same date as the will."

"The writing in both cases is identical," said Mr. Sutherland, as,
having examined the papers, he showed them to Hobson, but a glance
at their contents seemed rather to confuse the witness than
otherwise, for he remained silent.

"Do you acknowledge these letters to be of your writing?" inquired
the attorney.

"I do, sir; and I have no doubt but that the other is my writing
also."

"You acknowledge this, then, as the will which you wrote at the
dictation of Ralph Maxwell Mainwaring the night before his death?"

"I believe it is, sir."

"Mr. Hobson, why was this will not make public following Mr.
Mainwaring's death and burial?"

"On the day after his death, I gave it into the keeping of his son,
Hugh Mainwaring, at his own request, and he afterwards gave me to
understand that it was lost."

"And you were paid for keeping silent as to the existence of such
a