It is true that my four friends were my chief--in fact,
almost my only--creditors, but still, the debts existed, and had to be
paid.
"Now these four friends of mine--named respectively Leach, Pitford,
Hearn, and Jezzard--were uncommonly clever men, though the full extent
of their cleverness was not appreciated by me until too late. And I,
too, was clever in my way, and a most undesirable way it was, for I
possessed the fatal gift of imitating handwriting and signatures with
the most remarkable accuracy. So perfect were my copies that the writers
themselves were frequently unable to distinguish their own signatures
from my imitations, and many a time was my skill invoked by some of my
companions to play off practical jokes upon the others. But these jests
were strictly confined to our own little set, for my four friends were
most careful and anxious that my dangerous accomplishment should not
become known to outsiders.
"And now follows the consequence which you have no doubt foreseen. My
debts, though small, were accumulating, and I saw no prospect of being
able to pay them. Then, one night, Jezzard made a proposition.
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