uried for two years; and, having ascertained only what has been above
related, he felt sure of the fact that the old gentleman was the
keeper of one ninth, at least, of the money stolen. He also felt
confident that he had gathered enough of the truth to make a powerful
impression upon the man he had gone so far to see, and that if he was
not altogether given over to the service of this band of bad men, he
could state facts enough, which the old gentleman knew were profound
secrets, to stagger his mind and arouse his conscience. After an
interview of less than an hour this detective, by an art of which we
cannot conceive, and by a magnetism and eloquence that no other man of
my acquaintance ever possessed a tithe of, actually induced the father
of these two women to dig up out of his garden two thousand dollars in
twenty-dollar gold-pieces and hand them over to--my friend Mr. Sidney,
_who sits at the other end of the table_. And not only so, but he
prevailed upon the old gentleman to go with him to Baltimore in
order to get possession of the other two thousand dollars held by
the proprietor of the aforesaid saloon, which he also actually
accomplished at a little inn about six miles from Baltimore, where the
saloon-keeper and his wife met her father and my friend.

"Yesterday in the Supreme Court I had occasion to avail myself of Mr.
Sidney's marvellous ability as an expert in handwriting. The case
turned entirely upon his testimony, although some twenty witnesses
testified on each side that they had seen the defendant write, and
that, in their opinion, the signature was or was not genuine. Mr.
Sidney did not arrive till the moment the case was about to be given
to the jury, and I had no opportunity of conversing with him, except
to ascertain that in his judgment the signature was not a forgery.

"After he took the witness-stand and had qualified himself as an
expert in handwriting, the note in suit was handed him, and he was
requested to state whether or not in his opinion the signature was
genuine. It was some minutes before he responded. During the latter
portion of the time of his silence his mind seemed intent upon
something else. The presiding judge inquired of him if he intended to
answer, when he replied:

"'I was considering the matter, not whether the signature was genuine,
but how I could convince the jury of the truth of what I have to say.
This signature is genuine. The man who wrote it is a moral and
reli