eks.

"As to the witnesses to the forged signature there was no difficulty. He
waited for a few days till his client called upon him, and then, after
his departure, called in his two clerks, who witnessed the signature as
a matter of course,--an irregular proceeding, doubtless, but not
altogether uncommon. That matter concluded he went to the bank. It was
above all things important that none of the directors should be
cognizant of his client having been put on the register, as being
friends of that gentleman they might have mentioned the matter to him
when they met him. Having the manager a good deal under his thumb, from
his knowledge of the state of affairs, he requested him to pass the
transfer with others at the next board meeting, in such a way that it
should be signed as a matter of routine without the names being noticed,
suggesting that the manager should transfer some of the shares he held.
This little business was satisfactorily performed and the name passed
unnoticed on to the register. There was one thing further to be done in
this direction, namely, that the bank should not fail before the death
of his client, and he therefore requested the manager to let him know
should there be any pressure imminent on the bank's resources, offering
to get some of the mortgages it held transferred, and so to bolster up
the bank for a considerable time. As a matter of fact he did raise
L20,000 in this manner, and so kept the bank going until after his
client's death, when he withdrew the offer, there being no longer any
occasion to keep it on its legs. You follow this, I hope, Mr. Brander.
It is interesting for ingenuity and boldness."

The lawyer made no reply. As Cuthbert spoke the ruddy color on his
cheeks had been replaced by a ghastly pallor. An expression of
bewilderment had come across his face, the perspiration stood out in big
drops on his forehead.

"Thus far you see, Mr. Brander," Cuthbert went on, "the first part of
the scheme had been ably carried out, but it still remained to reap the
benefit of this ingenuity. In the first place it was certain that the
estate of his client would, on the failure of the bank, come into the
market. Under such circumstances, and seeing there would be widespread
ruin in the county, the estate would fetch far under its value. It would
be advisable to get it cheaper still, and this could be managed by the
production of a mortgage upon it, and by the invention of a plausible
tale