When he was brought to trial there must have been fifty charges against him. In Washington his offence only called for a fine and if it amounted to $100 he could plead the Debtors’ Act and go scot free. What became of Max and his insane delusions I do not know as I afterwards lost all track of him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER XI NOTED EXPERTS IN FORGERY America has furnished some of the most noted, nervy, brainy experts in the line of forgery that the annals of crime have known. Authorities agree that forgery is a crime of the highest order, that needs patience, a cool head and the skill of a genius. At the present day it requires several persons to carry out every well laid scheme of this kind. Most of the great forgeries of the past forty years were the work of gangs who owned printing, engraving and lithographic plants. According to the Pinkertons, who have been running down forgery-crooks for the American Bankers Association for half a century, every well laid scheme of forgery, by which banks and corporations have been robbed of millions of dollars, was the work of at least four persons. These consist of the following: (1) _The forger or tracer_, who is an experienced penman and ready at all times to carry out the will of the gang; (2) _The capitalist_, who advances money to open accounts in the various banks where business is to be done; (3) _The middle man_ between the forger and the capitalist; and (4) _The business manager or advance agent of the gang_. The bold single forger who passes one or two checks is discovered as soon as his paper reaches the clearing house or the bank. But a gang of forgers can work their schemes for months before they are discovered. By that time they are able to get to the ends of the earth where they are beyond the reach of the police, at least for a season. [Illustration: The roll call at midnight at a New York station house.] [Illustration: Men’s prison.] [Illustration: Women’s prison.] Some of the brightest and brainiest men that ever lived belonged to this class. In private life they were kind and loving and tender and would scorn to do a mean act. And I have wondered often why such men would commit crime and bring shame and remorse on themselves and their relatives, if they were not partly insane.