We  are  not  prepared  to  sustain  the  objection.  It  is  true  that
there  is  no  direct  evidence  by  any  witness  who  claims  to  have
seen  the  act ;  but  it  is,  of  course,  too  well  settled  to  call  for  ar-
gument or  authority  that  a  conviction  of  a  public  offense  may  be
had,  and  very  often  is  had,  upon  convincing  circumstantial  evi-
dence. There  is  direct  evidence  by  several  witnesses  that  the
word  ** first"  or  **lst"  was  written  into  the  contract  immedi-
ately before  the  word  ''mortgage,"  and  that  such  was  its  form
at  the  time  it  was  executed  by  the  parties,  and  that  later,  after
its  execution  and  after  the  deal  was  closed,  it  was  discovered  that
the  word  ** first"  (or  **lst"),  before  the  word  ** mortgage,"  had
been  erased  by  someone.  There  was  also  evidence  tending  to
show  that,  after  the  contract  was  signed,  and  just  before  the
deal  was  closed  by  the  initial  payment  and  delivery  of  the  deed,
the  defendant  had  the  contract  in  his  possession  for  a  brief
period,  when  not  in  the  presence  of  the  other  parties,  thus  af-
fording him  an  opportunity,  if  so  disposed,  to  make  the  erasure.
