Balfour.
"They are, indeed, sir--quite wonderful reproductions."
"The work must have been done, then, by a very skillful man," said Mr.
Balfour.
The professor shook his head pityingly. "Oh, no, sir," he said. "None
but bunglers ever undertake a job like this. Here, sir, are two forged
signatures. If one genuine signature, standing alone, has one chance in
a million of being exactly like any previous signature of the writer,
two standing together have not one chance in ten millions of being exact
fac-similes of two others brought together by chance.
"How were these fac-similes produced?" inquired Mr. Balfour.
"They could only have been produced by tracing first with a pencil,
directly over the signature to be counterfeited."
"Well, this seems very reasonable, but have you any further tests?"
"Under this magnifying glass," said the professor, pushing along his
examination at the same time, "I see a marked difference between the
signatures on the two papers, which is not apparent to the naked eye.
The letters of the genuine autograph have smooth, unhesitating lines;
those of the counterfeits present certain minute irregularities that are
inseparable from pains-taking and slow execution.
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