the thing works out. In the first place, although
your father was not a man of business, it was singular that he should go
out of his way to take shares in the bank, when he must have known that
in the case of things going wrong his whole property would be involved.
No doubt that idea must have occurred to yourself."

"Certainly; it astonished me beyond measure that he should have done
such a thing. I wrote to Brander at once hoping for some sort of
explanation. I was at the time satisfied with that that he gave me, but
it was, as you know, because the matter, on reflection, has since seemed
so extraordinary that I came to you to try and get some further
information about it."

"You saw your father after this supposed transaction, Mr. Hartington?"

"Yes, I was down there for a fortnight."

"And he did not mention it to you?"

"Not a word!"

"Was it his habit to talk on business matters with you?"

"He never had any business matters except about the estate, and he
generally told me if he had any difficulty about his rents, and
discussed any improvements he thought of making, but beyond that there
was never any question of money. Sometimes he would say 'My balance at
the bank is rather larger than usual, Cuthbert, and if you like an extra
hundred you can have it,' which I never did."

"Well, of course it is only negative evidence that he made no allusion
to his having purchased those shares, still, as he was in the habit of
speaking to you about things, he might very naturally have said 'I have
been investing some spare cash in the shares of the bank here.'"

"Yes, I should have thought he would have done so!"

"You don't think he would have abstained from telling you, because he
might have thought you would have considered it a rash speculation."

"Certainly not," Cuthbert said, warmly, "I should no more have thought
of criticising anything he chose to do with his money, than I should of
flying."

"Well, at any rate, you may take it that there is no proof whatever that
Mr. Hartington was aware of this transaction at the time of your visit,
nor that he was aware of it up to the time of his death." Cuthbert
nodded. "Now let us suppose that this transfer was a forgery, and was
committed by Brander, what course would he naturally pursue? Exactly
that which he followed, namely, to get it placed on the register without
its being noticed by the directors. These men were all personal friends
of your father's. Know