Lord Maugham:-

In the months of January and February 1926 one T.R. Nickson, who resided in the City of Vancouver, found himself in a position of considerable difficulty. He controlled and managed two companies, the Prudential Holdings, Limited and the Nickson Construction Company, Limited, in which he was practically the sole share-holder, and he was being pressed by the Royal Bank of Canada to discharge the sum of $15,500 which was owed by the Construction Company to the bank. There had been a loan made to the Construction Company the security for which proved to be worthless, and early in February Mr. B.L. Mitchell, the manager of the Royal Bank in Vancouver, sent for Nickson and told him that the loan must be repaid immediately. Nickson applied to a friend of his, the late C.V. Cummings of Vancouver, for assistance, and Cummings thereupon called upon Mitchell at the bank, and after verifying certain statements made by Nickson, informed Mitchell that he was ready to make an advance upon having security. Nickson was not called at the trial of the action for some unexplained reason. Mitchell, however, was called and in addition to him a Mr. Coulter, a barrister and solicitor practis