o
men in Court who saw the paper executed, namely, the assignor and the
assignee. The former has declared, with an effrontery which I have never
seen equalled, that he never signed the document which so unmistakably
bears his signature, and that the names of two of the witnesses are
forgeries. I do not expect that, in a struggle like this, the testimony
of the latter will be accepted, and I shall not stoop to ask it."

Mr. Cavendish hesitated, looked appealingly at the Judge, and then
slowly took his seat, when Mr. Balfour, without waiting for any
suggestions from the Court, rose and said:

"I appreciate the embarrassment of the defense, and am quite willing to
do all I can to relieve it. His insinuations of foul dealing toward his
witness are absurd, of course, and, to save any further trouble, I am
willing to receive as a witness, in place of Mr. Phipps, Mr. Belcher
himself, and to pledge myself to abide by what he establishes. I can do
no more than this, I am sure, and now I challenge him to take the
stand."

The Judge watched the defendant and his counsel in their whispered
consultation for a few minutes, and then said: "It seems to the Court
that the defense can reasonably ask for nothing more than this."

Mr. Belcher hesitated. He had not anticipated this turn of the case.
There appeared to be no alternative, however, and, at last, he rose with
a very red face, and walked to the witness-stand, placing himself just
where Mr. Balfour wanted him--in a position to be cross-examined.

It is useless to rehearse here the story which had been prepared for
Phipps, and for which Phipps had been prepared. Mr. Belcher swore to all
the signatures to the assignment, as having been executed in his
presence, on the day corresponding with the date of the paper. He was
permitted to enlarge upon all the circumstances of the occasion, and to
surround the execution of the assignment with the most ingenious
plausibilities. He told his story with a fine show of candor, and with
great directness and clearness, and undoubtedly made a profound
impression upon the Court and the jury. Then Mr. Cavendish passed him
into the hands of Mr. Balfour.

"Well, Mr. Belcher, you have told us a very straight story, but there
are a few little matters which I would like to have explained," said Mr.
Balfour. "Why, for instance, was your assignment placed on record only a
few months ago?"

"Because I was not a lawyer, sir," replied Mr. Belcher, del