years the acquaintance between him and my uncle had been very slight,
but during the last summer they had had some real estate transactions
together, and had become intimate. Weatherley, who was comparatively a
young man and unmarried, had been invited to the house on Gerrard
Street, where he had more recently become a pretty frequent visitor.
More recently still, his visits had become so frequent that my uncle
suspected him of a desire to be attentive to my cousin, and had thought
proper to enlighten him as to her engagement with me. From that day his
visits had been voluntarily discontinued. My uncle had not given much
consideration to the subject until a fortnight afterwards, when he had
accidently become aware of the fact that Weatherley was in embarrassed
circumstances.

Here my uncle paused in his narrative to take breath. He then added, in
a low tone, and putting his mouth almost close to my ear:

"And, Willie, my boy, I have at last found out something else. He has
forty-two thousand dollars falling due here and in Montreal within the
next ten days, and _he has forged my signature to acceptances for
thirty-nine thousand seven hundred and sixteen dollars and twenty-four
cents_."

Those to the best of my belief, were his exact words. We had walked up
York Street to Queen, and then had gone down Queen to Yonge, when we
turned up the east side on our way homeward. At the moment when the
last words were uttered we had got a few yards north of Crookshank
Street, immediately in front of a chemist's shop which was, I think,
the third house from the corner. The window of this shop was well
lighted, and its brightness was reflected on the sidewalk in front.
Just then, two gentlemen walking rapidly in the opposite direction to