breathed more freely, nodded to both men, and, walking through the shop,
passed out into the street and disappeared.

Long after he had gone, the pawnbroker and his friend, Levi, sat with
the door locked and the diamond before them, eagerly inspecting it.

"It's a great risk," said the pawnbroker. "A stone like that generally
makes some noise."

"Anything good is risky," said the other somewhat contemptuously. "You
don't expect to get a windfall like that without any drawback, do you?"

He took the stone in his hand again, and eyed it lovingly. "It's from
the East somewhere," he said quietly. "It's badly cut, but it's a
diamond of diamonds, a king of gems."

"I don't want any trouble with the police," said the pawnbroker, as he
took it from him.

"You are talking now as though you have just made a small advance on a
stolen overcoat," said his friend impatiently. "A risk like that--and
you have done it before now--is a foolish one to run; the game is not
worth the candle. But this--why it warms one's blood to look at it."

"Well, I'll leave it with you," said the pawnbroker. "If you do well
with it I ought not to want to work any more."

The other placed it in an inside pocket, while the owner watched him
anxiously.

"Don't let any accident happen to you to-night, Levi," he said
nervously.

"Thanks for your concern," said Levi grimacing. "I shall probably be
careful for my own sake."

He buttoned up his coat, and, drinking a glass of hot whisky, went out
whistling. He had just reached the door when the pawnbroker called him
back.

"If you like to take a cab, Levi," he said, in a low voice so that the
assistant should not hear, "I'll pay for it."

"I'll take an omnibus," said Levi, smiling quietly. "You're getting
extravagant, Hyams. Besides, fancy the humor of sitting next to a
pickpocket with this on me."

He waved a cheery farewell, and the pawnbroker, watching him from the
door, scowled angrily as he saw his light-hearted friend hail an omnibus
at the corner and board it. Then he went back to the shop, and his
everyday business of making advances on flat-irons and other realizable
assets of the neighborhood.

At ten o'clock he closed for the night, the assistant hurriedly pulling
down the shutters that his time for recreation might not be unduly
curtailed. He slept off the premises, and the pawnbroker, after his
departure, made a slight supper, and sat revolving the affairs of the
day over another