and in
half an hour bring a Warren check for the amount of the bill,
pretending, of course, that he had got it from me, but really getting it
from Mac, leaving the check for collection and to call the next day for
the bonds.

The same day that I introduced him to Jay Cooke & Co. I took him to the
Bank of England at a busy time of day, and while drawing L2,000, I
casually introduced him to the paying teller as my clerk, requesting the
teller to pay him any checks I sent. Then for the next few days I had
Noyes take checks to the bank and had him order two or three small lots
of bonds from Jay Cooke & Co., so that they became familiarized with
seeing him come on my business.

[Illustration: "I DEMAND A GUARD AND SHELTER FOR MY WIFE, THE
DUCHESS."--Page 282.]

The plan was complete at last. Everything was ready to carry out our
scheme in perfect safety to all, and, as related in the beginning of the
chapter, I was now on my way to the bank for my last visit, with the
Rothschild bill in my hand. Many accounts were given of this famous
interview in the English press just after the discovery of the fraud
and prior to my arrest, also when the details transpired at the trial.
The facts were simply these: I presented myself at the bank, and,
sending in my card to the manager, was ushered at once into his parlor.
After a few remarks upon the money and stock market, I produced the
bill, remarking that I had a curiosity to show him which had been sent
me by a correspondent in Paris. It was certainly a curiosity; it was a
thing entirely unknown in the history of the bank to have a bill of
exchange bearing the signature of a Cabinet Minister certifying that the
internal revenue tax had been paid on it. This, along with the
circumstance that the bill was made payable to myself, evidently made
considerable impression on the manager and confirmed him in his good
opinion of his customer. The unusual features of this bill of exchange
led him to relate some of the inner events of the bank's history, during
which I asked him what precaution the bank took against forgery. He told
me a forgery on the bank was impossible. But I asked: "Why impossible?
Other banks get hit sometimes, and why not the Bank of England?" To that
question he gave a long reply, ending with the assertion that "our wise
forefathers have bequeathed us a system which is perfect." "Do you wish
me to understand you have not changed your system since your
forefathers' tim