presented to him only twice or thrice. It was
as a result of my pursuit of this hobby that I first began to take
a real interest in the Dreyfus case. When the first rough and ready
facsimiles of the famous _Bordereau_ and of the authentic letters
of Captain Dreyfus were published side by side, it struck me with an
immediate amazement to conceive that any person who had given even the
most casual attention to this study of handwriting could possibly have
supposed that the various documents had emanated from the same hand. The
forgery of a signature is one of the simplest businesses in the world,
but the truly deceptive forgery of a document of any length is an
absolute impossibility--an impossibility as complete as would attend the
continued personification of a dual character by the most skilful mimic
under the observation of one who was able to maintain a sustained and
microscopic examination of the two.

It was an article in the _Strand Magazine_ communicated by that eminent
statistician, Mr Holt Schooling, which first enabled me to form a
judgment in this matter, and until it and its accompanying photographs
of original documents were brought to my notice, I had taken no more
than an ordinary passing interest in the case. But since it had
been decided, on the strength of an imagined resemblance between the
handwriting of the prisoner and that of the author of the _Bordereau_,
I had not a moment's hesitation in arriving at the conclusion that the
charge against him was unfounded and absurd, and it seemed to me to be
no less than a duty to bring other people to the conclusion which I so
strongly held. It was not easy. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote to me:--

"My dear Murray,--Its being a week-end will prevent my
coming up for I have always several visitors. I hope when
you can come down you will let me know. Very much interested
in your views upon the Dreyfus case. I fancy that the
Government may know upon evidence which they dare not
disclose (spy or traitor evidence) that he is guilty and
have convicted him on a bogus document,--Yours
very truly,

"(Sgd.) A. Conan Doyle."

For nine long days I went over the photographs of the authentic letters
and the incriminating _Bordereau_ with a powerful magnifier, and in the
end I succeeded in establishing no fewer than twenty-two distinct and
characteristic differentiations between them. I had already entered
upon the p