ndeed, to the naked eye, one signature is the counterpart of
the other, in every characteristic."

"How do you determine, then, that it is anything but a genuine
signature?"

"The imitation is too nearly perfect."

"How can that be?"

"Well; no man writes his signature twice alike. There is not one chance
in a million that he will do so, without definitely attempting to do so,
and then he will be obliged to use certain appliances to guide him."

"Now will you apply the same test to the other signature?"

Prof. Timms went carefully to work again with his measure. He examined
the form of every letter in detail, and compared it with its twin, and
declared, at the close of his examination, that he found the second name
as close a counterfeit as the first.

"Both names on the assignment, then, are exact fac-similes of the names
on the autograph letters," said Mr. Balfour.

"They are, indeed, sir--quite wonderful reproductions."

"The work must have been done, then, by a very skillful man," said Mr.
Balfour.

The professor shook his head pityingly. "Oh, no, sir," he said. "None
but bunglers ever undertake a job like this. Here, sir, are two forged
signatures. If one genuine signature, standing alone, has one chance in
a million of being exactly like any previous signature of the writer,
two standing together have not one chance in ten millions of being exact
fac-similes of two others brought together by chance.

"How were these fac-similes produced?" inquired Mr. Balfour.

"They could only have been produced by tracing first with a pencil,
directly over the signature to be counterfeited."

"Well, this seems very reasonable, but have you any further tests?"

"Under this magnifying glass," said the professor, pushing along his
examination at the same time, "I see a marked difference between the
signatures on the two papers, which is not apparent to the naked eye.
The letters of the genuine autograph have smooth, unhesitating lines;
those of the counterfeits present certain minute irregularities that are
inseparable from pains-taking and slow execution. Unless the Court and
the jury are accustomed to the use of a glass, and to examinations of
this particular character, they will hardly be able to see just what I
describe, but I have an experiment which will convince them that I am
right."

"Can you perform this experiment here, and now?"

"I can, sir, provided the Court will permit me to establish the
necessa