"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 Ihad 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 Ihad 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 Icannot 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 Ibitterly 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 Inoticed that he laid particular emphasis on the last words.
I might have observed that I was an inexperienced young man, who, meaning no harm myself, suspected none in others, but Iwas confused, stunned, and my tongue seemed to cleave to the roof of my mouth.The men who had taken my horses to Horncastle, and for whom I had sent, as they lived close at hand, now arrived, but the evidence which they could give was anything but conclusive in my favour; they had seen me in company with an individual at Horncastle, to whom, by my orders, they had delivered certain horses, but they had seen no part of the money transaction; the fellow, whether from design or not, having taken me aside into a retired place, where he had paid me the three spurious notes, and induced me to change the fourth, which throughout the affair was what bore most materially against me.How matters might have terminated I do not know, I might have gone to prison, and Imight have been - just then, when I most needed a friend, and least expected to find one, for though amongst those present there were several who were my neighbours, and who had professed friendship for me, none of them when they saw that I needed support and encouragement, came forward to yield me any, but, on the contrary, appeared by their looks to enjoy my terror and confusion - just then a friend entered the room in the person of the surgeon of the neighbourhood, the father of him who has attended you; he was not on very intimate terms with me, but he had occasionally spoken to me, and had attended my father in his dying illness, and chancing to hear that I was in trouble, he now hastened to assist me.After a short preamble, in which he apologized to the bench for interfering, he begged to be informed of the state of the case, whereupon the matter was laid before him in all its details.He was not slow in taking a fair view of it, and spoke well and eloquently in my behalf - insisting on the improbability that a person of my habits and position would be wilfully mixed up with a transaction like that of which it appeared I was suspected - adding, that as he was fully convinced of my innocence, he was ready to enter into any surety with respect to my appearance at any time to answer anything which might be laid to my charge.This last observation had particular effect, and as he was a person universally respected, both for his skill in his profession and his general demeanour, people began to think that a person in whom he took an interest could scarcely be concerned in anything criminal, and though my friend the magistrate - I call him so ironically - made two or three demurs, it was at last agreed between him and his brethren of the bench, that, for the present, I should be merely called upon to enter into my own recognizance for the sum of two hundred pounds, to appear whenever it should be deemed requisite to enter into any further investigation of the matter.
