s, which it was well
known I had carried thither.

'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 I had 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 circumstances--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 I
had disposed of certain horses at the fair, it was very possible 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 had certainly 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 I
cannot 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 I bitterly 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
forthwith 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," said 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