THE SCRATCH TEAM. 333 



something that I may show him to prove that the 

 terms are agreed to ;' and he produced what appeared 

 to be a small slip of paper, saying, ' If you just 

 write across this " Accepted," and sign your name, 

 that will be sufficient.' 



The reverend gentleman wrote on it as requested, 

 when the Ensign put it in his pocket, and politely took 

 leave of his companion, who returned to his son and 

 told him all that had taken place, concluding with 

 the facts respecting the paper. The son, who 

 was thoroughly acquainted with the nature of bills 

 of exchange, was horror-struck, as he at once saw 

 that his father had signed a paper which might 

 be converted into a bill of exchange amounting to as 

 much as he was worth, and that the document was in 

 the hands of a man of whom neither of them knew 

 anything, and who, for all that they knew to the 

 contrary, might be a swindler. 



The poor old man was nearly frantic ; but it 

 happened that he had a nephew practising as a 

 solicitor in town, so to him he went and told the whole 

 story. The nephew, not being conversant with 

 criminal law, immediately went to a Mr. Harmer 

 of Hatton Garden, at that time a noted Old Bailey 

 lawyer, whose services were generally secured by any 

 unhappy individual charged with a criminal offence, 

 and having the wherewithal to pay the fees. Mr. 



