and have had previous dealings with them?" he
remarked.

I well remembered the familiar card of the
house. Three years previously I had had
dealings with Messrs. Jondermain, to whose
agents in the West Indies I then exported
largely. But I had done nothing with them
since that time.

"My name," he continued, "is Alfred Harris.
I am Messrs. Jondermain's agent in Havre.
They are extending their connexion in various
quarters, and I have been associated with the
firm but recently—much later than the period
at which you formerly did business with
them."

I then inquired after the health of the junior
partner, which I knew had been very delicate.

"Young Mr. Jondermain is still in a most
precarious state; he has been in Madeira for
the last few months; but is sinking rapidly, and
we fear will never return."

All this tallied with what I knew of the
young gentleman. If I had had any suspicion
at the time (which I had not), this would
have dispelled it.

"A widow lady at Havre, a friend of Mr.
Jondermain's," Mr. Harris proceeded, "newly
returned from the West Indies, and accustomed
to use one of your carriages there, has commissioned
me to purchase a similar carriage of your
make, for her present requirements. I left Mr.
Jondermain in London this morning, who has
endorsed the order, and, in fact, given me a
draft to pay for it."

Mr. Harris was then taken into the show-
room, where he immediately selected the
carriage required. This again looked right, for it
was one of the kind previously sent, per
Messrs. Jondermain, to the West Indies. It
was a large door-cab phaeton. I informed Mr.
Harris that this carriage was already sold, that it
would take some weeks to finish another like
it, and that the price was one hundred and
forty pounds. He appeared much disappointed,
told me that the lady could not wait, and that he
must get a carriage of that particular sort
immediately. I showed him smaller carriages
of the same sort, but without doors, at a
hundred guineas. For some time he was sure
one of these would not do. At length he
said that on his own responsibility he was
unable to buy anything except exactly what
was ordered, but he would go and telegraph
to Messrs. Jondermain to ask if they would
sanction his taking the smaller carriage? With
this decision he left, promising to return in a
few hours, as soon as he could get a reply
from his principals.

When he was gone, my clerk told me that
Mr. Harris knew this particular phaeton he
appeared anxious for, to be sold, for that he had
been told so. I attached, however, but little
importance to the fact at the time.

In about three hours—one hour after banks
closed—Mr. Harris again presented himself
with a telegraphic reply received from his
firm, to the effect that as he best knew the
lady's requirements, they would leave the
matter to his judgment.

On this, Mr. Harris agreed to take the
smaller phaeton at one hundred guineas, and
requested an account to be made out and
receipted. The customary discount to the firm
having been deducted, he begged very hard for
a commission on the transaction for himself;
indeed, he was nearly a quarter of an hour
haggling over this question with true Israelitish
skill; but the claim was not allowed.

Thereupon protesting it was a very hard case,
Mr. Harris produced a cheque, given him that
morning, he said, by his employers, with which
to pay for the carriage. The amount of the cheque
was one hundred and thirty pounds, intended, as
he explained, to purchase the larger phaeton.
After the amount of bargaining he had
previously displayed, it appeared reasonable enough
to suppose that his first intention had been,
after beating me down as low as he could, to
have finally offered this draft for one hundred
and thirty pounds in payment for the one
hundred and forty pounds carriage. So far it looked
natural and in accordance with Hebrew
business. In the present instance, however, he
required thirty pounds change from his cheque.

Always accustomed to regard with suspicion
anything like an exchange of cheques, more
especially after banking hours, I made an excuse
respecting the situation in which the crest
should be painted, in order to get Mr. Harris
down-stairs into the show-room with my clerk,
so as to give me five minutes to myself with the
cheque. I made the most of this time. Turning
out from my pigeon-holes the bundle of
correspondence for 1861 marked J, I drew out three
or four of Messrs. Jondermain's letters of that
date. One of them happened to be an advice
of forwarding money, as follows:

"Herewith we have the pleasure to hand you
our draft on English and Irish Bank," &c.

Mr. Harris's draft appeared so far in order
that it was also on the English and Irish Bank.
Next for the signature. As nearly as I could
recollect, the previous cheques I had received
from the firm had been signed "Jondermain and
Co." Mr. Harris's draft was signed "John
Jondermain." This might have been suspicious
but for two reasons; first, the signature "John
Jondermain" was, to all appearance, written
by the same hand which had signed my letters
"Jondermain and Co." I satisfied myself of
this by comparing it with three or four letters.
The handwriting in the body of the cheque was
also the same. Secondly, it was not improbable
that his son being away and not likely ever to
return, Mr. Jondermain might have taken to
sign drafts in his own name. At all events,
having compared the handwriting, I saw no
reason to doubt its being the same as the
handwriting of many similar drafts I had received
from the same firm.

Taking into consideration the familiarity of
Mr. Harris with the son's illness, and some
other circumstances about the establishment of
Messrs. Jondermain; which I have not thought